Sermon: St. Mary Magdalene - 2020

22 July 2020

Text: John 20:1-2, 10-18 (Prov 31:10-31, Acts 13:26-31)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Few people have been as misunderstood as St. Mary Magdalene. 

She is revered by feminists as one of their own.  She is believed by feminist theologians to have been an ordained woman, one of the apostles, whose ministry was covered up by the sexists and misogynists who wrote the Bible.  These feminist theologians also believe that calling God “Father” is part of a patriarchal conspiracy.  One so-called church in San Francisco even worships a goddess and prays a prayer called the “Our Mother.” Poor Mary Magdalene.

She is also revered by skeptics of Christianity, including the wacky Dan Brown, who has achieved a cult following for his silly Da Vinci Code books.  In his version of Clown World, Mary was Jesus’s secret wife, and their children became the founding dynasties of the crowned heads of Europe.  Poor Mary Magdalene.

She has gotten a raw deal from the Church as well, beginning with Pope Gregory the Great, who erroneously confused her with another biblical character who was a prostitute.  And so for centuries, St. Mary has been portrayed in Christian art an in sermons as a harlot.   Poor Mary Magdalene.

But the real Mary is anything but a character to be pitied.  She is a true saint, a person for us Christians to emulate, a heroine of the Church.  

She was brought to our Lord when she was tormented by seven demons.  Jesus cast them out and freed her from her bondage.  From that day forward, she followed Jesus and studied under Him.  She became a disciple.  Contrary to the wacky theories of feminism and feminist theologians, our Lord Jesus Christ indeed allowed women to be disciples, to study with Him.  He did not, however, ordain them into the office of preaching and administering sacraments.  The holy work of holy women was often a ministry of hospitality, of nurture, and of “providing for [the church] out of their means.”  This loving work of service to those who proclaim the good news and raise the dead by their preaching is seen as beneath the dignity of modern women.  They say that women should be pastors and bishops and generals and CEOs – not making sandwiches and wiping runny noses of children.  

The real Mary was honored to serve where the Lord placed her, to hear the Word and carry out a holy vocation of diakonia, that is, service.  And as His servant, the Lord placed her in the greatest position of honor, for she was among the very first to learn about the resurrection of Jesus, and she was charged to tell Peter and the others about it.  She is sometimes called “the apostle to the Apostles.”  And given that in those days the testimony of women was useless in a court of law, God used Mary to shatter that myth and to prove that the writers of the Gospels were being honest in reporting even something that would be an embarrassment at the time.  

And far from being our Lord’s wife and the mother of worldly kings and queens, St. Mary Magdalene is an example for the Church.  For the Church is our Lord’s Bride.  We are the Bride of Christ, we who serve Him, obey Him, and submit to Him, even as He, our Bridegroom, lays down His life for us, sparing nothing for the sake of His beloved Bride.  

Instead of insisting on being “equal” to the apostles, instead of agitating to be ordained, instead of beating the drum to be considered important in the eyes of the world, St. Mary kept her eyes on our Lord.  She was present at the cross.  She was present when they “took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.”  She was present at the tomb with the intent of anointing His body on the first day of the week. 

It was Mary who wept at the absence of the Lord’s body.  It was with Mary that the angels conversed.  It was to Mary that the risen Lord first spoke, saying her name.  It was Mary who received the first instructions following our Lord’s resurrection: “Go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”

Far from being a prostitute, St. Mary was faithful.  Whether she married or not, we do not know.  But we do know that she served and was blessed with a love of service.

Instead of being our Lord’s wife as her slanderers assert, St. Mary typifies feminine excellence as a member of the Bride of Christ.  St. Mary is an inspiration to women who are disciples of our Blessed Lord, but also to men, who are likewise members of the Bride of Christ.

The Church is called to be the Proverbs 31 woman, “an excellent wife” who is “more precious than jewels.”  She is trusted by her Husband, and He gains on account of her.  The excellent wife does her Husband “good, and not harm.” 

And far from the stereotype that Christianity reduces women to chattel – like Jesus, the Church elevates womanhood, as Proverbs 31 speaks of the ideal woman as a home-based entrepreneur and manager.  She “provides food for her household” and “considers a field and buys it.”  She is a planter of vineyards who works to earn a profit.  

She is also kind to the poor and needy, she can make her own things, and her husband is honored for her sake.  “Strength and dignity are her clothing.”  She expresses her opinion with humor, wisdom, and the “teaching of kindness.”  She is always at work, never eating “the bread of idleness.” 

And as the author of this tribute to both the excellent wife and the Bride of Christ, King Lemuel concludes: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

The feminist theologians are wrong.  The skeptics are wrong.  And even many preachers of the Church are wrong.  St. Mary Magdalene became a heroine to women and to all Christians by faithful service in her vocation, as a woman and as a Christian.  We all do well to learn from her, to emulate her virtues, and to revel in the service that the Lord asks of us in our own callings and vocations – remembering that our Lord has also delivered us from bondage to the demons, and has also freed us to be slaves of Christ.

All praise for Mary Magdalene,

Whose wholeness was restored

By You, her faithful Master,

Her Savior and her Lord.

On Easter morning early

A word from You sufficed;

For she was first to see You,

Her Lord, the risen Christ.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.