Sermons (Page 57)

In years past, this gospel story was one of the easier ones to preach. It has great connections to the gathering of God’s people in the Hebrew Scriptures from Moses to Elijah to Elisha; it’s an easy connection to when Jesus broke bread gathered around a table with his disciples at the Last Supper; and it naturally focuses us toward our shared meal at the table of Holy Communion. But this year, it’s different. This time around, the world has changed. You and I, we are not gathering together, we are not able to legally gather with twelve other friends to celebrate at a restaurant, and we are not physically gathering at the table of Communion…

“Mary Magdalene has an image problem. If she had a PR firm, we’d want to avoid them. After all, Mary Magdalene’s reputation is at best confusing and at worst defamation…”