Mark 16:1-8 Common English Bible
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they could go and anoint Jesus’ dead body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they came to the tomb. They were saying to each other, “Who’s going to roll the stone away from the entrance for us?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. (And it was a very large stone!) Going into the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right side; and they were startled. But he said to them, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He isn’t here. Look, here’s the place where they laid him. Go, tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” Overcome with terror and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen indeed!
People since the dawn of time have looked for something beyond.
Death and sorrow just could not be the final word.
In 1994, on Palm Sunday, Kelly Clem (married to my seminary roommate Dale) and the congregation of the Goshen United Methodist Church in Piedmont, Alabama were gathered for worship.
As the children were singing, “The Lord Will Provide” a tornado destroyed the sanctuary, injuring 90 people and killing twenty. Six of the dead were children, including four year old Hannah Clem, the daughter of Dale & Kelly.
Dale later wrote a book about that terrible experience in which he proclaimed that God does not send tornadoes to kill young children who are singing God’s praises.
The same God behind the creation of the universe is at work even now, wherever there is crisis or sorrow or pain.
Again and Again --- God is at work bringing comfort, hope, and resurrection.
It is not surprising that the earliest Christian celebration was not the season of Advent --- in which we welcome the birth of the messiah.
The earliest cycle to develop was the Passion story --- which over time came to be developed into what we know of as Lent and Holy Week.
Holy week was created to help us experience the fullness of Jesus’ passion story.
We begin on Palm Sunday
Celebrating the arrival of our Messiah
This year we processed not through our beautiful sanctuary bur through our neighborhood
Shouting Hosanna that our Messiah has entered our lives
By Tuesday Jesus has cleansed the temple and gotten the authorities attention
Jesus didn’t just cleanse the temple --- Jesus disrupted the status quo ---
Jesus challenged the dominate power structure of his day
Unsurprisingly --- they begin to plot ways to get rid of him
Thursday evening, we gathered with the Disciples in the Upper Room to celebrate what we call “the Last Supper”.
That same evening, we follow Jesus into the garden of Gethsemane where he is betrayed
Friday --- Friday --- we find ourselves at the cross
As we watch our Lord be crucified
Murdered
Executed
And the disillusionment and confusion kicks in.
How can the messiah die?
Especially on a cross?
Had not God proclaimed in the Torah ---
“anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23)
Was Jesus cursed by God?
The disciples and followers of Jesus were confused and bewildered.
Then there is Saturday --- the world is silent while Jesus lies in the tomb.
The disciples have gone into hiding.
Some even heading home to get way from the authorities.
Their disillusionment seems to reach a crescendo on Saturday as their hope and dreams have all been dashed.
It has feels like we have been stuck in Holy Saturday for the last year --- waiting.
So many of our hopes and dreams have been smashed against the pandemic
The pandemic has been one long period of waiting --- and wondering.
We gather today --- as a testament to the reality that death and despair are NEVER the last word.
Tony Campolo reminded us years ago:
“It was Friday.
The cynics were lookin at the world and sayin’, ‘as things have been so they shall be. You can’t change anything in this world, you can’t change anything.
But those cynics didn’t know that it was only Friday. It’s Friday but Sunday’s comin’!”
I hope that you were able to join us out on the front lawn this morning as we welcomed the sunrise.
One of my favorite activities is to attempt to capture the beauty of a sunrise on film
I have taken hundreds, if not thousands, of photos of sunrises over such places as the Sea of Galilee, Hawaii, Florida --- pretty much anywhere I can
I think I do it because it is easy for sunrises to become commonplace --- I mean think about --- it happens every day.
Most of us pay no attention to the rising sun.
The truth be told --- most of us just sleep through the sunrise or we are busy checking out our emails or social media to even notice
Despite our failure to notice --- the sun still rises every day
Mark’s version of that first Easter is both fascinating and frustrating.
Mark’s whole Gospel is fascinating and frustrating.
Mark has no miraculous birth story --- Jesus just appears on the scene as an adult.
And the resurrection story seems to end abruptly.
Sure, you can say to me --- there are more verses than what we read today.
Yes that is true --- but it is clear that those stories were added later.
Maybe they were added as a way of apologizing, or correcting Mark ---
Because Mark ends so unsatisfyingly.
Regardless --- Mark leaves us hanging.
Mark ends his Gospel with these words:
“Overcome with terror and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”
Where is the joy?
Where is the hope?
The terror of watching Jesus murdered by the state seems to have been replaced with a new kind of terror.
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome arrive at the tomb and find the stone removed.
Not only that, but they also meet a strange young man with a ridiculous story.
Nothing makes sense to them --- they have come to anoint Jesus’ body.
Instead of providing comfort for the deceased Jesus --- they find themselves terrorized.
There is no comfort here.
Mark makes that clear when he says that they ran away --- unable to even speak about what they saw.
The good news is --- despite their terror --- despite their fear ---
Resurrection came anyway!
If you watched the new PBS series on the Black Church, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright offered a profound comment. He said:
“Jesus never conducted any funerals ---- Jesus conducted Resurrections!”
While the women gathered for a funeral --- God had other plans.
God always has other plans.
Again and Again --- we remember that the tomb is never the end of the story!
In November 1982, Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union died. Vice President George Bush was sent to Moscow to represent the United States at his funeral.
The entire funeral procession was marked by its military precision.
There was a coldness and hollowness that enveloped it.
Since the Soviet Union was officially atheistic, no comforting prayers or spiritual hymns were sung. Only the marching soldiers, steel helmets, and Marxist rhetoric were offered.
There was no mention of God.
Vice President Bush was close to the casket when Mrs. Brezhnev came for her last good-bye.
Vice President Bush said:
“She walked up, took one last look at her husband and there—in the cold, gray center of that totalitarian state—she traced the design of the cross on her husband’s chest. I was stunned. In that simple act, God had broken through the core of the communist system” (Christianity Today, October 16, 1986)
Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen indeed!
We gather today to remember, that the Son always rises.
Again and again, the tomb is not the end --- God has a bigger plan.
Over these last six weeks we have looked at how God is constantly trying to move us from the grave to the kin-dom.
We began by remembering that we are invited to be a part of this kin-dom.
God wants us to experience life in its fullness.
We saw how God meets us where we are.
How God calls us to let go of the things that hold us back --- things like shame, guilt or inaction.
How God shows us that they way to the kin-dom is through the cross.
How God, who loves us unconditionally, desires to re-shape us from the inside out.
How God empowers us to walk through the valleys of despair, deceit, and even death.
Because again and again --- God is always with us.
And there is always more to the story.
God is trying to change the way we look at the world.
In Paul Tillich’s sermon, “Born in the Grave,” he shares a story that was told at the Nuremberg trials.
A woman was hiding from the Nazis in a Jewish cemetery in Poland.
She was not just hiding in the cemetery ---- she was actually hiding in a grave that had been dug.
While she was there, she gave birth --- in the very grave.
With her in that grave there was an old man, who was also hiding --- he was dressed in a shroud.
When the newborn baby uttered its first cry, the old man took the child, held it up to heaven and proclaimed:
“Great God, hast Thou finally sent the Messiah to us?
For who else than the Messiah Himself can be born in a grave?”
Again and Again, God reminds us --- that the grave is not the end.
The Son rises --- today, tomorrow, and forever when we allow the Christ to change our hearts and see the world in a new way.
I know this sounds crazy --- but I would rather preside over a funeral than a wedding.
Too often, weddings are just the preliminaries to get to the party.
The couple really aren’t all that interested in the service, or even God.
They are just doing what they think they are supposed to do.
And want to get it over with as fast as possible to move on to the party.
Funerals, on the other hand, are all about the party!
The party that is the kin-dom of God.
It is at the funeral that we get to shake our fists at death and say:
Death --- We reject your lies!
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15)
Again and Again, the sun rises on a new day!
Again and Again, Jesus rises to offer us new life, and new possibilities!
CHRIST IS RISEN
CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED!
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