Well, thank you for joining me.
We're going to talk a little bit about the sermon today, and we're going to be joined
with Rob in just a few minutes, which is going to be really nice.
How did you find the sermon series that we had leading up to Easter, which was all about
Jesus's last words on the cross?
The sermon series was really good, as usual.
It was really nice to have the words that Jesus spoke while he was going through stuff,
and it was just a sort of encouragement to us.
It was, and it was a great lead-in to what we have today, too, wasn't it?
Absolutely.
We've got Rob joining us.
So, thank you, Rob.
It's a busy morning for you, I assume.
It is, it is, but there's so much energy in the room that it just kind of keeps you going,
and it's very exciting.
It's so nice to see such a full house.
We've got another service coming up, wonderful music, great prayers, great worship.
So very, very exciting.
It was.
Well, I just want to see how sharp you guys really are this morning, first of all.
So, you might notice there's an Easter basket between your chairs.
You probably didn't, because you just walked in.
There's an Easter basket, and yesterday we had the amazing community Easter egg hunt.
So I was here.
I had the privilege of being here for that, and I tested this out, and I want to see if
you can make a really good estimate.
There's an empty Easter basket, and how many Easter eggs can fit in that empty Easter basket?
It does make your basket.
Like the little chocolate ones?
No, I'm talking about like a standard, actually, Erica and I were talking about this before.
She asked about the question as well.
I'm like a classic chicken egg style.
Oh.
Like egg shape.
We do have a conversation coming up, so I'm asking.
I think that's going to be four dozen.
I'm going to say 48 eggs.
48 eggs.
Um, probably 33.
Well, actually, the answer is one, because after you put one egg in it, it's not empty
anymore.
Oh, gosh.
You got it.
Gosh.
Thank God you had that.
Well, happy Easter.
And we came to today, actually, we journeyed through Lent, right?
So that's the season that we prepare for Easter, and that began way back on Ash Wednesday, which
fell on Valentine's Day this year.
And you reminded us, Rob, actually, this is the message that you remind us that everything
on earth is going to die, right?
You mean these flowers here are going to die and pass away.
But when we were talking about that, you reminded us that the one thing that will survive and
will live forever is the word of God.
Yes, that's right.
Yeah.
And then we continued through Lent and we actually looked at the words of God, those
seven final words that Jesus had on the cross, and they were like these awesome words of
promise and forgiveness and connection, humanity.
And then, wow, today, we get to experience that Jesus's final words were actually not
his final words.
Yeah, that's right.
He gets to have brand new, fresh resurrection power words.
And I was hoping that in the few minutes that we have today, both of you could share with
me a little bit more about the impact of those words and the significance of those words.
And in the sermon, Rob, you really broke it down into four different types of words.
And what were they again?
So I said, when Jesus rose from the dead, the first word that he spoke was this amazing
word of caring and compassion.
And then following that, he uttered this word of, I call it kind of a word of searching.
It's at least it's a word that he speaks to people who are searching.
I guess you said then he has this word of knowing where he names Mary Magdalene and
says, Mary.
And then the last one, of course, is when he issues this word of sending saying, now,
go and tell my brothers and go and go and tell.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
So out of those first four words, he has the first words, which you mentioned were words
of caring.
Yeah.
So I'm just wondering why you think Jesus chose words of caring.
So our Lord Jesus, his first words were caring, not, hello, here I am.
It could have been anything, really.
But he opts for words of caring.
Yeah.
You know, I mean, Eric, why don't you go first?
Because Eric can is the head of Trinity's care ministry here.
She's our care coordinator.
So I'd be really curious to hear from Eric.
And what it sounds like when you hear Jesus saying, Hey, why are you crying to someone
after just rising from the dead?
Yeah.
Thank you so much, Rob and Elizabeth.
Yeah.
I think Jesus always identifies with our pain and he's concerned when we're in pain.
Actually, scripture says that, you know, he identifies with us.
He wants us to stop crying more or less, whatever is causing the tears.
And so even here at Trinity, we do have a great caring ministry because we want to follow
in the footsteps of Jesus.
And so to try and live out the Jesus life, we have a ministry that provides care, different
types of care for people in grief, in need, needing prayers.
It's a very robust ministry that we have here at Trinity.
It's interesting when you said that Jesus associates with our pain and our suffering.
It's interesting because normally when we think of Jesus and his connection with human
suffering, we're thinking of Good Friday.
We're thinking of the last words.
He's hanging on the cross.
That's where the connection is happening.
And yet now on the other side of the grave, when he's risen from the dead, he is still
connecting with our pain, our suffering, which is actually quite fascinating.
It's actually just who Jesus is.
It's not part of his ministry, the part that happened on the cross.
It's part of his resurrection ministry as well.
It's just his character.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Actually, that is fantastic.
So we had words of caring.
The next words were words of searching.
He says, what remind me what Jesus says again in his searching?
He says to Mary, whom are you looking for?
Who are you looking for?
He says that right after.
And you said in your sermon that he knows who Mary is looking for.
He must know.
He's Jesus after all.
So why are these words?
Yeah.
I mean, again, I mean, Eric and I, we chatted.
Well, actually, the three of us, we chatted about this a little earlier.
But yeah, what do you take from that?
Well, I think we're always looking for something as Christians, even when we come to Trinity.
We come because we're looking for somebody or something.
Yeah.
So I think the question goes way beyond what Jesus said to Mary, even applying to us today.
Whom are we looking for?
Whom are we looking for when we come to follow Jesus at Trinity?
I think it's just something that we have to reflect on and ask ourselves.
He's reminding us to reorganize our thoughts and be very specific and directed when we
come to Jesus and say, Whom are we looking for?
Yeah.
I think that sometimes, I mean, people could say, oh, Rob, when you're up there talking
and you were taking these words apart.
And I mean, you were taking so many liberties.
You were, I mean, you were going so deep on these words, which on the surface seem very,
you know, you know, who you're looking for, right?
But I think we have to also realize that especially in John's Gospel, nothing is there by accident,
right?
Like all of these words, every sentence, every word is there for us to unpack and go deeper.
So I think that's exactly what Jesus's invitation is to us, especially on Easter Sunday is to
unpack that longing that we have, that's the searching that we have within us to actually
really like do some introspection, you know, do some soul searching.
And a lot of people, I think maybe they don't want to do that work or they think they already
know the answer to what they're looking for.
It's a what, right?
I need more of this, more of that, more house, more salary, more friends, more family, more
vacation, whatever.
And we think if we just got that, got our hands on that, then that itch, that emptiness
would go away.
But Jesus is saying, no, no, no, look, look deeper, take some time.
It's not even a what you're looking for.
It's a who, whom are you looking for?
That reminds me of the sermon series we had about half a year ago where we were talking
about what makes you happy.
And the very first thing that you mentioned or that we learned as a church was that scientifically
proven what makes people happy and fulfilled was not a what, but it was a who, it was a
relationship.
So Jesus explains that right there in that statement, which is really neat.
And I just, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that again, I think Alpha, which is
coming up is the perfect forum for people who are searching, people who are longing for
something and they can't even put their finger on it or they have questions.
You know, Mary Magdalene, I think could have taken Alpha.
I think anyone who's watching or anyone who's in church, we're really inviting everybody.
April 10th at Trinity, we're beginning Alpha.
It's a place where you can ask those questions.
We provide a nice meal for the evening.
There's childcare.
It's all there.
You can go to trinity streetsville.org slash alpha and you can register and join us and
at least give it a try, but it's the perfect place to ask those big questions.
Yeah.
That's right.
That's exciting.
That's coming up.
It is.
Yeah.
All right.
But Jesus then I'm going to take us back to that garden where he's with Mary and he
then state some words that you mentioned were words of searching.
Nope.
Knowing, knowing.
I'm moving into the knowing now.
Yes.
That's right.
Yeah.
Knowing or you might even say recognizing.
Again, you know, it's funny on a Sunday like today, you look out of the crowd and there's
lots of people I don't know.
And a lot of people I don't recognize and I can only assume everybody's feeling that
way.
So, I don't know.
Again, Eric, can you take it?
What is it about Jesus naming Mary that is so powerful on Easter Sunday?
Oh my God.
It is so comforting again and encouraging because we all want to be known by name.
We like it when people walk up to us and recognize us and call us by name.
That means we're not just one in many.
We're special.
We're unique.
And so I think in that calling Mary, Mary, Jesus is saying a number of things.
I know you, Mary.
I see you.
I know everything about you.
And it's very in that one word, there's a lot of wholesomeness.
There's a lot of comforting and acknowledgement of who he is or who Mary is, which is really
what we do here at Trinity.
Yeah.
So, again, it's all a part of Jesus comforting Mary.
Yeah.
When you're fairly new to Trinity, I should say, but you're newer than I am.
But did you find it hard to actually get to know people or to feel like people knew you
when you joined a community like this?
Well, yeah, it always is a bit challenging, but Trinity was very unique.
I have found Trinity to be very, very warm, very hospitable.
I have written about it.
I've talked about it.
They go out of their way to know people.
And it's even right from when we come into church.
We have nametags so we can call each other by name.
We're not just saying, hey, hi.
So that's unique.
It's great.
Yeah.
And just as we're talking, you guys can't see this, but there's a coffee hour going on
out here.
There's this hubbub, this din of people, chitting and chatting.
And this is so important to what we do on a Sunday because this is how we actually go
from being faces in the crowd to actually, hey, I'm Rob.
Oh, your name's Elizabeth, right?
You actually start to know that name.
You move past strangers.
You become friends and you start the journey of getting to know people.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
And actually, even for our online people, we have a check-in process now.
And so many of you, if you're watching online, have been using that.
And I love it because I know you by name.
One of my favorite parts during the pre-show is when Elizabeth looks at her laptop or whatever
and she says, I see that Alexander is out there and Bruce and there's Alison.
And it's good to have you.
It's so true, Elizabeth, that we want people to be known even if they can't be here in
person, which is hard.
But we're really trying and we're really working at that.
And I think you're doing a great job of getting us there.
Thank you.
And I mean, Jesus says that, and scripturally, I think back to the Old Testament in Isaiah,
Zia, it's fear not.
I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name.
You are mine.
So the importance of the name.
And then he chooses Mary.
So you were mentioning there was a couple people at the grave there.
Jesus waits until there's one.
And why Mary?
I wonder, not that you necessarily have the answer, but what are your thoughts on that?
No, that was actually something you said a couple days ago.
And I'm still waiting for an answer.
So I'd like to know your thoughts on it.
Yeah.
But it was when we were chatting about this ahead of time, it was you who said, like,
why didn't he do it when the three were there?
Why didn't he wait until just Mary was there?
And I think that's actually a really good question.
There was, have you thought more about it?
I thought about it.
I certainly don't think I necessarily have all the answers, but I can see some parallels
between two gardens, the beginning garden with Eve.
And I can see the beginning garden there with Mary.
So a new start.
I also see Mary as someone who stayed close to Jesus and just lived such a humble, real
life as a follower who was a sinner, who was turned around.
And I just think it speaks to how Jesus cares really so much about every single person and
about the redeeming quality that Jesus has that can happen in anybody's life.
You know what?
I mentioned this in my sermon, but actually being known by somebody or really letting
yourself be known by someone is very, can be risky.
Because what if you get rejected?
What if they find out who you are and they're like, I don't want to be with that person?
And actually, Mary, now that I sit here and think about Mary Magdalene was one of those
people, if I remember the biblical story, I think she was said to have been possessed
by demons or something like that.
Like she obviously was the kind of person that maybe others did not want to get to know
very much at all and would have avoided.
But or maybe she would have even tried to hide that part of herself from Jesus or from
others.
But it's perhaps because she was vulnerable and she was able to let herself be fully
known that she could be fully healed.
And that way maybe she's the perfect person for Jesus to call by name on Resurrection
Day because here is a model for us to let everything be known, give our whole, give
all that we are, the good, the bad, the ugly, right?
Because Jesus knows us just to let our guard down and be known and be loved by Him.
And last but not least, at least as far as we know from the Gospels, when he's speaking
with Mary, he gives her these words of sending.
He doesn't just leave it there.
He gives her some words of sending.
Go and tell.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I said, I don't know if you think it's true, but I said, oh, this is the part that everybody
hates when the preacher says, now go and tell others.
Now go and tell others.
Am I right about that?
Like, is that intimidating for people?
Yes or no?
A lot of times yes.
But that's only to the extent that you're trying to do it by yourself.
But when there is a recognition that it's kind of each time you send your child or somebody
is close to you on an errand, you empower them to do what you want them to do.
And so when there's the acknowledgement that there is an empowerment, if Jesus is saying
go, then he's empowering us to go.
So when we look at it that way, it's not that intimidating.
That's right.
He definitely felt like she could do it.
Yes.
And she was talking because she was a woman and a culture and a time when, yeah, like
of all people, why her?
But he believed she could do it and she did do it.
And what I was trying to say, and maybe I didn't say really well at the end was that,
yes, we think going and telling means what Mary said, which is, I have seen the Lord,
he has risen, right?
And that, of course, when you walk into a conversation with someone and just say that,
it's like kind of tone deaf.
People aren't ready to hear that.
But that's why I really, I really latched on to where it says, and then she told them
the things Jesus had said to her.
And we just talked about the things that Jesus had said to her and what had Jesus said to
her?
He had said, Hey, why are you crying?
This emotional connecting thing.
He says, what are you looking for?
Write this searching word and this, you know, this word of identification and knowing like,
Hey, who are you?
What's your name?
I feel like, although we feel like going and telling has to be this big and bold thing,
like, you know, he is risen.
Jesus is risen.
It actually can be as simple as starting by just saying, Hey, what's going on?
Looks like you're sad.
How can I help you?
Or, Hey, it looks like you're searching for something or let's talk more about that.
Or, Hey, what's your name?
Right?
Like it can start with just that.
And then it's in the context of a relationship that Jesus, the risen Jesus kind of speaks
through us and gets through.
So it's not as scary as we might think.
How is we might make it?
Yeah, that's true.
Thank you.
I agree.
Absolutely.
And so I guess how do we take those words now on an Easter Sunday on this resurrection
Sunday?
Really?
How do we take those into our lives?
Are we to go to our coworkers?
Are we supposed to?
Do you think this is empowering us to talk to those family members around the dinner
tables tonight and just begin with those types of words?
What do you think, Erica?
Yeah, no, absolutely.
Like Rob just said, it isn't a very scary thing to do.
It's just in the basic things, in the mundane, in the everyday conversations that and also
in who we are, you know, just trying to just be human with another person, just the way
Jesus was.
So, yeah, I think it's just a mandate to go to everybody and anybody.
Yeah.
I think for real sharing of the good news to happen, 99 times out of 100, it happens
in the context of a relationship.
So if you already have a relationship with someone, like a friend or family member or
whatever, then I think you've maybe earned, you've earned a certain amount of trust to
be able to say something and be heard.
But again, it's a different thing when you're going to a stranger.
You maybe need to begin with building that relationship and building that trust in order
to maybe earn a hearing.
So yeah, again, that's a good question.
I'm hoping people go out of here realizing that if this message was shared with us, then
it's one to be shared with others.
And just like Mary Magdalene could do it, despite every stroke that was against her
and how she was like, you know, again, her culture and context, she did it.
We're here today because she did it because she told others.
If she had failed to do that, the message would have been truncated, I guess at that
point, but she did it and we can do it too.
Absolutely.
So what I can take away from this is that Jesus cares for us.
He loves us.
He knows what we need.
He knows what we want and need.
And he knows us by name and that we are called on a mission.
And that is something that we should be sharing.
What you just said was a beautiful summary.
Good news.
That is the good news.
So thank you very much.
We have another service to get to, guys.
Wow.
So out there in the coffee hour, I can hear the people from our 9.15 service and I can
also hear people from our 11.15 service trickling in as well.
So again, thank you and happy Easter to both of you.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
Happy Easter to everybody who's joined us online.
Happy Easter, Erickand.
Happy Easter, Rob.
High five.
All right.
See you soon.
Thanks.
All right.
Thanks, everyone.