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Hespeler, 17 April 2022 © Scott McAndless – Easter
Isaiah 65:17-25, Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, Luke 24:1-12

The Gospel of Luke tells us about a very particular group of women who went out to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning. They were “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women.” But here is the interesting thing. This is not just a random bunch of women that the gospel writer is talking about at this point. Luke actually went out of his way, to introduce these women at an earlier point in his story. And here is what he says about one of them back in chapter eight. He tells us that she was Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza. (Luke 8:3)

Chuza’s Wife?

And I know that, at first glance, that might not seem to mean anything at all, but think about it for a minute. This was a woman who was married and yet she was apparently traveling all over the Galilean countryside with a bunch of men to whom she was not related. I know that, if that were to happen today, it might hardly raise any eyebrows, but think about what that meant for a woman back then. Back then, that would have been considered wildly inappropriate conduct for any woman at best. All sorts of sordid accusations would have certainly been made.

And then there is the question of who Joanna was married to. She was married to Chuza who was a very important official of King Herod – that is Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch of Galilee. Herod is someone who we are told was literally trying to kill Jesus at one point in this gospel (Luke 13:31). So, do you really think that Herod’s top official, Chuza, was good with the idea that his wife was wandering all over the Galilean countryside with a guy that his boss wanted to kill? Somehow, I do not think so! So, what was Joanna’s story?

The Women Go to the Tomb

As she made her way towards the place where he had been buried together with Mary Magdalene, the other Mary and the other women, Joanna was undoubtedly the one who wept the loudest and was the most inconsolable. Jesus had done so much for each one of them. Mary had had such a huge number of problems that it had been said of her that she had been beset by seven demons. But, of all of them, Joanna had been the one who had felt the most unsafe and alone until Jesus had reached out to her.

A Bad Marriage

Joanna had been given to her husband, Chuza, at a very young age by her parents. Chuza was at least two decades older than her and he had already been married twice before. Joanna was never told what had happened to the other wives, why they had died so young, but once she had gotten to know her new husband a bit, she began to have her suspicions.

Chuza was very wealthy and a very powerful official in the king’s court. Much to her surprise, Joanna found herself the mistress of a very prosperous household, with many servants at her beck and call. She had jewels and fine clothes, and she tried to do her best to be kind to all the people of the household.

But Chuza was also a very cruel and demanding man. I will not tell you all of the ways that he mistreated his wife and most of the people of the household. I will just tell you that Joanna quickly found her life to be filled with fear and dread. So hard was her life, that her health began to fail, and it was as if she was fading away.

Sympathetic Servants

But then, one day, the servants decided that they simply could not allow this to go on anymore. They had already watched as two mistresses had faded and died under their watch. They came together and made a plan to save this one who had been so kind to them.

Servants, it turns out, know a great deal about their masters. These ones knew enough about Chuza and, in particular, about how he managed the affairs of his master, King Herod, to cause him a few problems. There were secretaries who kept his accounts for him and other slaves who managed the king’s storehouses on his behalf. They had known for some time that the steward had been embezzling from Herod.

The Servant’s Plan

The plot was fairly simple. The proofs of Chuza’s deceptions were assembled and sent to the king anonymously by means of the trusted slave of another lord who was the distant relation of one of the secretaries. Of course, Herod was furious when he received it! Soon, a summons from the king arrived at the house—a summons that could neither be ignored nor refused. He fretted and complained, but Chuza had no choice. He packed up immediately and headed off to Herod’s court. He would not be able to return for weeks.

Once he had left, the servants went and explained everything to their poor mistress. It was not easy, but they persuaded her that she needed to escape and save her own life. She did not leave empty-handed but took with her some jewels and fine fabrics—not because she desired these things, but because she knew that they could be exchanged for money. It also felt as if she was at least getting some revenge on her husband by taking these things from him.

A Harrowing Journey

Two servants went with her—personal slaves who were very devoted to her and to whom she had grown very close. They were debt slaves from the region north of the Sea of Galilee and their task was to conduct her safely to Capernaum at the northern tip of the lake. The route was very carefully planned, and the travelers were hosted in the slave quarters of many prominent houses without the masters of those households even being aware.

When they arrived at Capernaum, Joanna gave the two slaves their freedom (a small thing for her to give them in exchange for taking such a risk for her sake) and they left her with many tears and cries of blessing, clutching manumission papers in their hands.

Alone in Capernaum

As she watched them go, Joanna realized how alone she was now. She had no friends and no family. No one would dare to help her. She had the precious things that she had brought with her but could not safely sell or trade them for what she needed. She might easily have ended up robbed and beaten to death on the side of some road, or perhaps forced to ply the trade of a prostitute just to survive, if no one had come to protect her. All the same, she could not regret having chosen to live, for a little while at least, free of the tyranny of her husband.

No one should have helped her. To assist a woman who had fled from her husband—and especially a husband as powerful as Chuza—would have been madness for anyone.

A Rescue

That is exactly what the followers of Jesus told him when he heard about her. Peter actually tried to forbid Jesus from even approaching her. But Jesus said to him, “Simon, if I had been governed by fear I would never have even begun.” With that, Jesus simply pushed his way past the Rock that stood in his path and moved directly towards the woman who looked so very lost in the town square. From that day on, Joanna was part of the group, and no one ever questioned it again.

What his Death Meant to her

So perhaps you can understand why Joanna was so distraught on that early morning of the third day after his crucifixion. When she had been at her worst, most lost and alone, he had seen her for who she was. Everyone else had seen her as a problem, a risk. As a woman who was on the run from her husband, she was damaged goods because she would never be able to escape her husband’s power and influence.

But Jesus had seen none of that. He had only seen a beloved child of God. His open embrace of her was the bravest thing she had ever seen anyone do, and yet he done it without fear and without hesitation. The very idea that such a brave man could even live in the world had given her enough hope to go on living and to actually find the first true joy she had ever known in her life in this community of women who had come with him to Jerusalem.

But now his lack of fear, his willingness to do the right thing no matter what the cost, had brought him to this. If the world could destroy such perfect love as was found in him, what would happen to her?

The Incident at the Tomb

The women came to the place where he had been buried. You have all heard about what happened next. The tomb was open. They immediately feared that it had been plundered or, worse, that wild animals had gotten to the remains. Their worse fears seemed to be confirmed when they discovered that his body was gone.

But then, even while they were still in shock, trying to understand what they were seeing, two strangers appeared seemingly from nowhere. They were dressed all in white and their sudden appearance was overwhelming. Already struggling with grief and confusion, they now found themselves filled with fear and terror.

But then the men began to speak, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” said one. “He is not here, but has risen,” added the other. And then they began to speak to them of some of the things that Jesus had said about what was to happen when he went to Jerusalem. And then they were gone—disappeared so quickly that the women were left wondering if they had imagined the whole thing or if it had been a vision.

Joanna Makes Sense of it

The women stood in confusion for some time. It was not immediately clear to them what all of this meant. But it was Joanna that was the first to start to make sense of it all. For suddenly, in the midst of all of the darkness that had been overwhelming her, she could see the possibility of a little bit of light.

When she had been utterly defeated and alone, as good as dead, he had brought her back to life by giving her a place where she belonged. Now he had been defeated in turn. But what if his defeat were able to be turned into a new victory beyond hope and beyond reason. Even the possibility seemed to change her perspective on everything.

What the Resurrection Means

On this day we celebrate that Jesus, once killed, was raised up to new life. And we talk about what that means. We talk about forgiveness, how we can be forgiven for our failures, shortcomings and defaults because of his suffering and his resurrection.

We talk about reconciliation as Jesus brings together all of the warring parties of the earth and demonstrates to us all that violence and power do not bring victory, but his submission does.

Sometimes we talk about how his rising means that we also may be raised and that gives us the hope of heaven. But we mostly think about it in terms of what Jesus’ resurrection accomplishes for us and for people like us.

Raised for Joanna

But we need to realize that Jesus was raised for Joanna who escaped an abusive marriage. He was raised for Mary Magdalene who had been so damaged by the suffering of her life that it had been said of her that she had had seven demons before she met him. Jesus was raised, above all, for the broken ones of this world.

He did it because he was often the only one who was brave enough and loving enough to reach out to them when no one else dared. Throughout his ministry, he had already put his life on the line many times by standing up for people who had no one else to help them. So, of course, when the time came, he was willing to literally lay down his life for them because he knew that no one else would.

Jesus came back for the Joannas and Marys because no one else would. That is how much Jesus cares for those who have been broken by this world. If we want to know the true power of his resurrection, then I would suggest that the best way to do that is to take up that same task—to stand up for the rejected and scorned of this world. As we come alongside them, I promise you that we will see such power in action.

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Hespeler, 10 April 2022 © Scott McAndless – Passion Sunday, Baptism
Isaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14-30

Nicole and Charles, I just have to begin this morning by thanking you for sharing such an important event in the life of your family with us today. It really means a lot to me and to us that you should have invited us into this very meaningful moment. And yet, while I greatly appreciate you, I cannot help but acknowledge that you have given me an enormous challenge today precisely because you’ve given us such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate a joyful event.

The Season of Lent

Here is my problem. Normally, in the church, we are only too happy to focus on the positive and promising things of life. But today is the final Sunday in the season of Lent. And Lent is a bit of a different time for the church. It is still a joyful time of the year, but it is also a season when we do feel it’s important to dwell on the simple reality that there is a lot of darkness and discouragement in the world too.

For how can we be a truly joyful people if we do not come to terms with some of the very real struggles that people have in this world? And so, during this season, we do turn towards difficult questions like what do we do about violence and poverty and hatred. How do we deal with the challenges of living with everything that life can throw at us?

A Difficult Season

And, yes, during this Lenten season we have really embraced that struggle because the situation kind of demanded it. As we entered into the third year of a global pandemic, as Canadians became more sharply divided over questions about how to deal with it and as we dealt with the reality of war in Ukraine and a less peaceful, more chaotic world, we acknowledged those realities. We have symbolized the growing darkness of this world each week by extinguishing a candle each Sunday.

In many ways, this Sunday is meant to be the moment when the darkness feels the greatest. The tradition in the church has long been to read the entire account of the suffering and the death of Jesus from one of the Gospels. I mean, how dark is the world when an innocent man is being tortured to death? And somehow, I need to find a way to connect all of that to the joyful and lovely celebration of Charlotte’s new life that we have just had.

Plans Go Astray

Let me be clear, Nichole and Charles, that I do not blame you for the timing. I know that you didn’t plan it this way. In fact, you tried to make it happen earlier in the year or even tried to make it work last week. But guess what happened to all of those plans. That same thing happened to those plans that have happened to a whole lot of plans over the last couple of years. Covid happened, together with all of the restrictions, guidelines and limitations that it brought. A whole lot of us have thrown out a lot of plans over the last couple of years, haven’t we?

But despite all of that, I am so glad that we got to do this today. I’m convinced that, even though we didn’t exactly plan it to work out this way, that God did. I’m pretty sure that God has a message for us that speaks to us right at this moment.

A Dark Moment

In our reading this morning from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and his disciples have come to a pretty dark moment. They have come together to celebrate the Jewish Passover, which should be a moment of celebration, but it doesn’t particularly feel like one.

Ever since they came down to Jerusalem for the festival, tensions have been extremely high. The disciples are not complete idiots. They have seen just how much trouble Jesus has been getting into. They understand that he has made a number of very powerful enemies in the city. It is really looking as if this whole story is going to end very badly – maybe even on a cross. And then Jesus takes the bread and starts talking about how his body is going to be broken and then he takes the wine and talks about his blood being poured out. I don’t know about you, but this is not sounding to me like a light and happy celebration.

A Stressful Time

So, I do feel as if the disciples are in the place where we all are at the end of this season of Lent. The stress of the situation is getting to us. We are exhausted by the experience of a pandemic that just doesn’t want to end. We are frustrated by the limitations and strictures that we’ve all been putting up with for way too long. We are frightened and angry with Vladimir Putin and his decision to victimize the people of Ukraine and take the whole world to the brink of disaster. Add to that some inflation, a housing crisis and various other economic factors and you have a perfect storm. I know that some people might not want to admit it, but the simple truth is that all of this is stressing us out and we’re understandably not really handling it all that well.

And so, what do human beings do when things get that stressful? It is actually perfectly predictable. In the initial phases, as we saw at the beginning of the pandemic, people will pull together and support one another. But as the situation goes on and on, we get into another reaction. We start to turn on each other. We saw that happen during this Lent here in Canada – we literally saw it on the streets of our capital city in the supporters and opponents of the trucker convoy. That is just a very concrete example of what’s been happening in many places in our society most recently. We are cracking up under stress.

Turning on Each Other

That’s exactly what happens to the disciples too. With that whole world turning against them, instead of supporting each other, they start fighting. “A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” And isn’t that just typical? They don’t want to face up to the people who are actually trying to kill them and so they start making enemies of each other. What’s more, they specifically start fighting over which one of them is most important, which one gets to have his way. This is so on the nose about where we are as a society right now that it is kind of scary.

Jesus’ Response

So when Jesus – who, don’t forget, is the actual target of this entire dangerous situation – responds to what the disciples are doing, I think we ought to pay very close attention. Since they are arguing over questions of leadership, he reminds them that he came to model a very different kind of leadership than what they seem to be imagining “‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors,” he says. “But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.”

True Leadership

He is saying, first of all, that true leadership is not what the world generally assumes it is. The world assumes that it is all about power and dominance. But I suspect that Jesus is saying that that is not a reflection of true strength but rather of a deep weakness and insecurity on the part of a leader. We certainly see that on display in the world right now as everything that Russian President Vladimir Putin does to cow the world with displays of power and force only seem to convince the world of what a poor leader he really is.

But I am particularly interested today in what Jesus has to say about greatness. It is, I think, the more important issue given the challenges we are facing. I really do think that many of the failures of leadership that we have seen in the last couple of years (and I don’t think I need to convince you that there have been many, many such failures) have all come down to various leaders trying to convince themselves and the world that they matter – that they are great.

True Greatness

So what does Jesus teach us about greatness? “The greatest among you must become like the youngest.” And this is what I love about Jesus’ teaching. He doesn’t just offer a definition or explanation of greatness – he shows us something. He promises us that if we look closely at the youngest among us and seek to be like them, we will find greatness.

That is why I am so convinced that Jesus has sent Charlotte as a prophet to us today. There is no question that she is the youngest among us. What’s more, she comes among us at a moment when we have not seen a lot of young people in the sanctuary for quite a while. Jesus sent her to us to teach us about true greatness.

How We Got Here

In order to catch that lesson, we need to perhaps step back and look at the bigger picture of what brought her here. It started with a passion for excellence. Nicole, her mother, had a passion for highland dance. She wanted to be one of the best and to be able to represent her country of Canada. That dream took her to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo where she danced in celebration of the Queen’s ninetieth birthday.

Meanwhile in the United Kingdom, Charles was pursuing excellence in his own ways – including by serving his country in the military. His distinguished service led to the prestigious position of serving in the Queen’s Guard at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in honour of the Queen’s ninetieth birthday.

Was it just random chance that took both of them to that same place and time as they both achieved great personal accomplishments? Some would say so. But I say that God was planning to bring Charlotte here to teach us all something about true greatness. All of a sudden, their pursuit of personal excellence was transformed into a brand-new challenge – a harder one in some ways – building something in partnership.

Parents’ Hopes

I asked Nichole and Charles to share with us today what their hopes and dreams are for their little girl at this moment in time and this is what Nichole wrote to me:

“As parents, our hopes and dreams for Charlotte is for her to live a full, content and happy life. We hope she discovers her passions and hobbies and may they present her with many opportunities. We hope that she has the courage, determination and confidence to always choose the right path. We hope that she is resilient throughout all of life’s ups and downs, stays true to herself and that she shines bright wherever she goes.”

In some ways, I know, that is similar to what many parents might say, but I think you’ll agree with me when I say that those words take on special meaning when you know a little bit about the people who are saying it. You just know that they are going to let her have her own personal passions and will do it with an expectation that something very special (and perhaps surprising and unexpected) will also happen as a result of that.

Charlotte’s Message to us

So, what, then, is Charlotte teaching us about greatness today? Well, she comes among us today in great weakness. At this point in her life she is entirely dependent on others. I think she is telling us something about the true strength that is found in vulnerability.

But she also comes to us as a huge bundle of possibility. As her parents have pointed out, she could grow up to do anything. And as she comes terms with who she is and what her particular passions and talents are, it may lead to some big surprises (just like a chance encounter in Edinburgh led to big changes) but can also bring great new things into the world.

The darkness of these present times can be overwhelming – so much so that they begin to mess up our relationships. Only true leadership and greatness can lead us out of that kind of darkness. We affirm today that Jesus came to offer us that leadership and that kind of greatness. Charlotte, too, has come today to demonstrate that kind of leadership and greatness – a symbol of hope and new possibility during the challenges of a difficult time.

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