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Let's pause for a moment before reading the Scripture for this morning.
Jesus is not dead! He's alive! We have been celebrating that amazing good news this morning, as we should. We have had upbeat music, and flowers, and smiles, and laughter-all certainly appropriate for the day on which our Lord was raised from the dead.
But let's pause for a moment.
Many of us have been waiting for this day with great anticipation, throughout Lent in particular. We have had days, weeks, maybe even years, to prepare for this celebration. We rehearsed this celebration last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. And the year before that.
We know the stone has been rolled away. We know that the tomb is empty. We know that death could not contain the Holy One of God and he is alive. Many of us have come to this moment filled with joyful anticipation, because we know that the news is good. We can hardly wait to hear it again.
So let's pause for a moment.
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, and Salome came to the tomb that day, not knowing what they would find. They did not begin this day with joyful anticipation.
Friday afternoon Jesus hung on a cross and he died. Late Friday afternoon Jesus' body was laid in the tomb. At sundown on Friday the Saturday Sabbath began. There was just enough time to take Jesus' body from the cross and lay his body in the tomb.
Mark tells us that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, and Salome saw where Jesus was laid. Sunday morning was their first opportunity to prepare Jesus' body for burial. They brought spices with them for that purpose.
The Scripture reading this morning is Mark's account of the journey of Mary and Mary and Salome to the tomb that morning. The Scripture reading this morning is Mark's account of what they found there. They found a lot more than they anticipated!
All these women anticipated was one last chance to say 'goodbye' to the One they loved so much-a chance to weep together over all that had been lost, a chance to comfort one another so that they might go on facing a world where, in the end, death has the last say.
Let's pause for a moment, so that those of us who have rehearsed the celebration so many times might-this morning-go to the tomb with Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses and Salome.
Some of us have rehearsed the celebration so many times that we have learned that Easter morning, of all mornings, we must paste a smile on our face, wear bright clothes, and declare to the world that our lives are full of joy, and hope, and purpose. Some of us have rehearsed the celebration so many times that we are convinced that today, of all days, we have to put away our despair, lock up our grief, and pretend a sense of purpose whether we have one or not.
Some of us, deep down inside, hidden behind our pasted-on smile, are just like Mary and Mary and Salome. Some of us are only looking for a chance to weep over all that has been lost. Some of us long only for comfort enough to go on facing a world where, in the end, death has the last say.
Let's pause for a moment.
For those of us who are already filled with joyful anticipation, the account of Mary and Mary and Salome is simply a sweet reminder. The account of Mary and Mary and Salome is not primarily for us.
The account of Mary and Mary and Salome is for those who, deep down in side, wonder if life isn't one long process of being prepared for burial. The account of Mary and Mary and Salome is for those who are carrying a burden of grief over all that has been lost. The account of Mary and Mary and Salome is for those who are struggling to face one more day in a world where, in the end, death has the last say. The account of Mary and Mary and Salome is, first and foremost, for those who long ago gave up anticipating much of anything.
May you find in Mark's account of Mary and Mary and Salome a whole lot more than you anticipated!
The Reading...Mark 16:1-8.
Mark's Gospel is different from the other accounts of Easter morning. It's sparce. It's lean. It's also unfinished. It pretty much ends where we stopped reading. The verses that our Bibles show following verse 8 are not in the earliest documents.
Mark's resurrection account is unfinished. There are no post-resurrection appearances. No risen Lord meeting his followers on the road. No wounds to touch. No gentle Jesus calling Mary's name.
Here in Mark there is only a stone mysteriously rolled away, a strange young man, and a missing body. And a promise-a promise that causes trembling and bewilderment in those who hear it. Another translation (NRSV) of this same passage puts it in even more startling terms: "So they went out and fled from the tomb for terror and amazement had seized them."
Terror is what happens when the future rises up before you suddenly and isn't anything like you expected. It's nothing like your past, and it's not at all in your control. You are walking along a mountain trail that you have walked dozens of times before and without warning the ground gives way beneath you. When you are in free fall and you have no idea when you will land, that's terror.
Listen to the message that the women were given that morning:
"You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified."
Yes-the women are looking for the crucified One. They aren't looking for Jesus. Jesus is gone. They are looking for Jesus' body. They know what happened. They were there. They saw him die. They saw his body laid in the tomb. They had not expected Jesus to die when he did, but death is inevitable and final. All that lives must die. All that dies is over and done with.
"He is not here."
If the body is just missing, then Jesus is still dead, and nothing has changed. He was alive once-a beacon of goodness and wholeness. But he was crucified, dead, and buried. Evil won that day. It's best not to expect too much from life. Enjoy what good happens your way. Learn how to deal with the practical concerns. You can pretty much predict how things will go because nothing new ever really happens. Resign yourself to the rocks and keep walking. Death has the last say.
When Jesus was alive, there were hints that maybe things could be different. He commanded the storm to be calm, and the winds and the waves obeyed his command. He demanded that evil spirits to let go of their victims, and they did. He touched the eyes of the blind, and they saw. The sick came to him from near and far, and he healed them. He blessed a few fish and some loaves of bread, and a multitude was fed. He spoke words that had never been heard before-never with so much authority-and sinners repented and followed him.
If Jesus is dead, then those were just glimpses of good in a bad world.
"He is not here. He has risen!"
If Jesus has been raised, then everything has changed! If Jesus is alive, then in the hands of God life is more powerful than death. If God has raised Jesus, then the whole history of creation has been turned on its head. Evil did not win. Death does not have the last say. God-the God of life and hope and purpose-has defeated evil and death. If Jesus is alive and at large, then nothing is secure anymore…nothing is fixed…anything can happen…the future is open-ended.
For Mary and Mary and Salome, this was all out of their understanding, out of their experience, and out of their control.
"He is not here. He has risen! He is going ahead of you."
What a promise! The future is open-ended, out of their understanding, out of their experience, and out of their control, but Jesus is going ahead of them. They will not step into this new and unexpected future alone.
Still, if Jesus has gone on ahead of them, then following after Jesus means stepping into that open-ended future where nothing is fixed and anything can happen. Forgive the women if they felt terror before they felt joy.
The women came to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body for burial. They found a lot more than they anticipated. Beyond their wildest expectations, these women became the first to have their days directed by the Kingdom for which Jesus was anointed as living and eternal King.
If Jesus is alive, then the world is not the same as it always was.
If Jesus is alive, then the future is suddenly very different.
If Jesus is alive, then the winds and the waves still obey his voice.
If Jesus is alive, then evil spirits have indeed been defeated, and they can not hold onto anyone who is held by Christ.
If Jesus is alive, then ears and eyes will be opened and those who have no words will be given speech.
If Jesus is alive, then sickness cannot win-not in the end.
If Jesus is alive, then there will indeed be enough for all and plenty left over.
If Jesus is alive, then forgiveness is indeed powerful enough to make any repentance possible.
If Jesus is alive, then people really can change…people really can be changed…more than they ever would have dreamed.
If Jesus is alive, then comfort and joy will overcome grief and resignation.
If Jesus is alive, then in the hands of God life is more powerful than death, and because he lives, we will live also.
While their feet were still firmly planted in the kingdom of this world, the women who came to the tomb that first Easter day were given a vision of the Kingdom of the living Lord. They were given a promise that would make it possible for them to enter.
"He has risen! He is going ahead of you."
Terror isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it takes something as intense as terror to break through something as foggy as resignation.
When our feet are firmly planted in the kingdom of this world, we will never-as a matter of natural progression-see a vision of the Kingdom of the living Christ. We need the supernatural sound of God's voice thundering and the supernatural touch of God's powerful Spirit. We will never-as a matter of natural progression-enter into his Kingdom. We need the supernatural promise that our Lord is going ahead of us.
You who come to the tomb this day: You know the stone has been rolled away. You know he's not here.
If resignation still covers you like a shroud…if you look around and still see the world as it once was…then by the power of the Holy Spirit, shake loose and look up. He is not here. He has risen. He is going on ahead of you!
The comfort and joy of Easter-you'll find them where he is going. True comfort and joy. The kind that will carry you through suffering without denying it. The kind that will enable you to forgive even those who are unforgivable. The kind that will allow you to deal with the rocky terrain of life with endurance and not simply resignation. The kind of comfort and joy that don't come as a matter of natural progression like the warming of the air in the spring and the greening of the trees and the blooming of the buds. The kind of true comfort and joy that come only supernaturally when you follow the One who has defeated death.
Christ is risen! Alleluia! Amen.
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