Mary H. Marlow was a member at St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Michigan. This sermon was preached at Vermeulen-Sajewski Funeral Home in Plymouth.
Separation is difficult. Talk to parents who have been separated from a
child. It does not take long for concern
to become panic. Or think of a soldier
who has been deployed. His wife longs
for his safe return, even wondering if he will ever return. Death is a separation which is especially
difficult. A lost child can be
found. A deployed soldier hopes to come
home. But when a loved one dies, you
know and feel the finality of it. That’s
why we find Mary Magdalene crying outside of Jesus’ tomb in our reading. She dearly loved Jesus. She was not only heart-broken that he
died. Her pain was compounded by the fact
that his body was missing from the tomb.
There is another
separation that occurs in death. The soul
is separated from the body. We commit
the body to the grave, but the soul returns to the God who gave it. This is not what God created us to be. Bodies and souls were never meant to be
separated from one another. But that is what
happens when someone dies.
Death comes because
of sin, which had produced another separation—separation between God and people. God is the source of life and every blessing. But our first parents, Adam and Eve, thought
they could gain greater blessings by defying God’s word. That still happens with us. We think we know better than God. We go off on our own, trying to find
happiness by disobeying God. All are
born sinners. As kind and caring as your
mother and grandmother was, she was still a sinner. We all are.
Sin separates us from God who is the source of life. It produces death.
Our Lord Jesus Christ
came to earth to rectify all these things.
Jesus came to reconcile us to God by taking away our sin. By making our sins his sins, Jesus also
received the cursed death we deserve. He
was forsaken by God the Father when he hung on the cross. He was condemned for us. In doing so, he has delivered us from sin and
its curse. But in doing so, Jesus had to
die. He was placed in a tomb. That’s where Mary Magdalene last saw
Jesus. On Sunday morning, he was gone. Missing.
Doubly separated from her.
Mary Magdalene
was too grief-stricken to understand that Jesus’ death was necessary to save
her. She only knew that she lost a dear
friend and teacher. And to be fair, a
dead Jesus does us no good either. If
Jesus is still dead, he did not do enough to pay for our sins. If Jesus is still dead, death has won. If Jesus is still dead, then we are hopeless,
and all we have are grief and tears. But
Jesus is risen! He has overcome death. He has paid for all sins. Therefore, we do not face the grave without
hope. Tears, sure, because separation is
difficult. But you are not without hope. Mary Marlow did not go into death
hopeless. She died with comfort and
confidence because she has a risen Savior who knows her, loves her, and saves
her.
What is your comfort and confidence today? It is this: Our risen Savior knows us, loves
us, and saves us. Jesus showed that to
Mary Magdalene. Jesus showed that to
Mary Marlow, and he wants you to know it too.
At first, Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus. She assumed that he was the gardener. Did you recognize what it was that jolted
Mary Magdalene to recognize her risen Savior?
It is when he called her by name.
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned
and said to him in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher)” (John 20:16). Mary Magdalene was not some nameless, faceless
person to Jesus. She was precious to
him, and he tended personally to her in her sorrows and confusion.
The Lord Jesus has
the same love and concern for Mary Marlow.
She was not just one of millions in a crowd. No, Jesus knew her by name. Our risen Savior knows her, loves her, and
saves her. When Mary was baptized, God
put his name upon her. When Mary was
baptized, God wrote her name in the Book of Life. Our risen Savior knows her, loves her, and
saves her. She learned more and more
about her Savior as she went through life, and she needed it. Death touched her life long before it took
her life. She bid farewell to her
parents, to a brother, and to a beloved husband. Such separations are difficult. But she was never separated from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
His love and his promises remained hers.
They remain yours today, too.
Our risen Savior
knows us, loves us, and saves us. On February
12, 2022, the Lord Jesus summoned her: “Mary.” She passed from this world and got to see the
Savior who redeemed her. She is with him
in the glories of heaven and will be forever.
Our Lord will
address the separations that still remain.
Mary Marlow’s body and soul are still separated, but it will not be that
way forever. When Jesus rose from the dead,
he did not rise as a ghost or a spirit.
Mary Magdalene was quick to grab Jesus because she did not want to lose
him again. She did not grab thin air,
but a risen body. Just as Jesus rose
from the grave as a body-and-soul man, so will we. Today, we commit Mary’s body to the ground
with the assurance that she will rise from the dead again. Body and soul will be rejoined, and she will
live with a glorious, perfect body just like Jesus’ risen body. Mary Marlow will never have weakness or sickness. She will never know a bad day or
frustration. She will be raised to a
glorious and everlasting life. She will
never be separated from her Lord and all his blessings because our risen Savior
knows her, loves her, and saves her.
That leaves us
with only one more separation—the separation of loved ones from each
other. The Lord Jesus rectifies this
separation as well. Our risen Savior knows
you, loves you, and saves you. He delivers
his salvation to you through his word and sacraments. By these, Jesus keeps you in the saving
faith. Through these, Jesus delivers you
from sin, death, and every evil. On the
Last Day, the grave will give back all the dead. Those who believe in Jesus will be united in
an eternal, joyful dwelling. Just as
Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene, so he will summon your loved one: “Mary,” and he
will bring her back. And he will call
you by name to be with him forevermore.
Our risen Savior
knows us, and we are all dear to him.
Our risen Savior loves us, enough that he died under God’s curse to
rescue us from sin and death. Our risen Savior
has saved us. Mary Marlow has not been
lost. Not even death could separate her
from her Savior. She lives with him,
just as he lives and reigns forever.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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