"Now What?" 2012

Mark 16:1-8, 1:1

 

Mark 16:1-8, 1:1

16When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. 1The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

When a friend of mine ran for elected office a few years ago,

            it was my first exposure to the real world of politics…

                        … a reality   somewhat darker and more devious

                                    than the political science course I took in college.

 

In the beginning the campaign was wonderfully exciting.

            He was a natural leader and shot way ahead in the polls.

Then just before election day, with little time left to respond,

            some inflammatory and misleading news stories appeared

                                     … which blew up and unfairly cost my friend the election.

 

It was a dirty trick. 

            The news stories were intentionally misleading.

Unfortunately,  when the truth did finally came out  it was too late.

            A retraction didn’t matter because the election was over,

                        and a good man had already been crushed and devastated.

 

All along his campaign staff had high hopes, ideals and dreams,

        and the now somber look on their faces after losing the election

                        was a stark picture of sorrow, regret, despair, andà                                                                        questioning, what if I’d tried some other way instead?

 

            Winning the election had seemed such a sure and good thing,           

                        and there was no way to make sense of what happened.

I think the Saturday after the Friday crucifixion of Jesus

            was probably something like that …

                  … the followers of Jesus were in stunned & devastated shock.

 

It had all started out so well, with crowds waving palm branches

                        and shouting “Hosanna” as Jesus entered Jerusalem.

            But the week ended with Jesus unjustly and unfairly condemned,

                        and the shocking horror of his suffering and crucifixion.

 

For three years, his followers had lived and traveled with Jesus.

                        They heard his wonderful teaching and parables,

                                    saw his miracles, and compassion toward outcasts.

 

            They believed he was the long-promised Messiah,

                        who would restore Israel and change their lives forever.

They had such hope and high expectations until

            it all came crashing down with the arrest on Thursday night.

 

Then    since Jesus  was crucified and died late Friday afternoon,

            there wasn’t time to bury him properly before Sabbath sundown,

                        so they hurriedly put him in an empty tomb, planning

                                    to finish the unpleasant task after the Sabbath…

 

     … and how long and sorrowful that next day must have been.

                        - afraid and wondering,

                                    were they going to come after his followers now?

 

-- or for the women

                        who looked on at the horror of Jesus dying on the cross;

            and then spend that long Saturday-Sabbath with

                 those brutal and hideous images seared into their memories.

Imagine what a long and sorrowful day that must have been.

 

-- or the disciples knowing that when Jesus had needed them most,

               when Jesus asked his disciples to pray, they fell asleep,

                        then at his arrest, abandoned him and fled into the night.

 

Imagine their sense of despair, sorrow and disappointment;

            but even worse was living with their regret, shame and guilt,

                    and questioning, “what if I had done this or that instead?”

Have you ever experienced anything like that?

 

vs. 1~3

            When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. … they went to the tomb.

 

With that endless and gloomy Saturday finally over, 

            they could at last perform one final service to their Lord;

                        and fulfill their longing to express their love and sorrow

                                    by caring for his viciously beaten and broken body.

 

The women expected, that they could do nothing more

            then pour perfume and spices over his decaying body.

But when they arrived things weren’t what they were expecting.

            Instead of finding the tomb filled with his dead body

                        they instead   found the tomb     filled with Easter.

 

Easter   means new possibilities beyond our expectations;

            that we don't have to remain trapped – entombed by the past,

                        and whatever our present circumstances, or Saturdays

                                    they certainly don't have final say over our future.

 

Easter means that Saturday's gloom and despair,

            disappointment and losses are not final or the end;

                        and that God promises us far better and more wonderful

                          than just pouring perfume & spices over a rotting corpse.

 

vs. 4~7

            When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.              As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. ”

 

That is the heart of the gospel… the Good News,

            that God does not just pour perfume over the dead and dying,                                       …         but that God raises the dead, raises us to new life.   

And what matters is not just what happened way back then,

      but the difference the resurrection of Jesus still makes today…

            …  because Easter resurrection is just the beginning of  story.

           

The Easter story in Mark’s gospel, is the one pastors often duck,

            because it’s difficult, & there’s no resurrection appearance,

                       but rather, it ends with terrified women running off

                               and afraid to tell anyone what they have seen or heard.

vs. 8

            So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

 

An actor memorized the gospel of Mark to perform it on stage.

            The first time he did it before an audience,

                        there was an uncomfortable silence after this last verse;

 

            so he added something, and said, “Amen”, 

                        which relieved the silence and broke the tension,                  

                            the audience applauded and went home feeling satisfied.

 

Later as he thought about his performance and Mark’s text,

            he realized that by easing the tension and silence,

                        he had dishonored the text and the author’s intent…

   …  because the abrupt and unresolved ending is intentional,

                          so that we are left wondering,  how does this story end?

 

The gospel ending is abrupt,   it’s awkward and it’s ambiguous;

            intentionally leaving us unsatisfied, the mystery unresolved

 

  … something is supposed to happen from this unspecified ending.

 

The point is,

            Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.

                                    The story of Mark’s Gospel

                                                doesn’t have an ending because it isn’t over.

 

When is an end  not an end?

            When the end is really just the beginning

                        of a story about the promise of eternal and abundant life.

 

When I was in fifth grade,

            our teacher wanted us to learn about creative writing,

                        so he would give us a few lines as the beginning of a story

                                    which we were to continue and write as our own story.

What he gave us was just the beginning, and we had to decide

            how the story would continue and flow, the plot and the ending.   

The gospel of Mark intends     to goad us into continuing the story,

            as we are challenged to decide once again  for ourselves,

                        how will we respond to the emptied tomb?

                               how will we live with the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

                           and will we make the truth of God’s gracious love known?

 

The gospel of Mark was first written when Nero was emperor in Rome.

        He was an incredibly cruel & sadistic persecutor of the Church,

                        and it was a terrible time of suffering for Christians.

 

Mark’s readers were certainly aware of the resurrection story,

            but it’s retold in a way intended to speak to their situation;

                        their need  for hope and encouragement

                                    to persevere and faithfully endure their suffering.

 

Historically, we know

            that Nero tried to end Christianity through persecution.

 

            But when he attacked the Church and Christians in one area

                        they would move on to another area… evangelize there,

                                    and so his efforts to stamp out the church,

                 actually spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.

 

The Christians of Nero’s time were faithful and committed,

            they wrote an amazing story of perseverance and faith,

                        and one of the most convincing proofs of the resurrection

                                    is the willingness of those Christian martyrs

                                                to suffer and die for the sake of Jesus and faith.

 

For the Christians living through the terror of Nero’s persecution

            the future looked stark, hopeless and certain destruction,

                        yet the story those à

                                    faithful and committed Christians wrote in blood;

                                                was not an ending in defeat, but just a beginning

                                                            of Christianity

                                                                 overcoming the power of the Roman Empire.

As I consider our world, this church and Christianity in general,

            these are not easy days of comfortable complacency,

                        and the challenges we’ll face in the future are stark.

 

For many the difficulties of these days are intense.

            Our economy is unsure, the job market is weak, marriages fail,

                        we worry about our children, grandchildren and loved ones

                               issues of health, difficult decisions, and so it goes…

… turns out that life isn’t always easy, sometimes it’s hard.

 

But there is real and great hope, and huge possibilities

            because the story didn’t end Friday or on Saturday.

                        It continued and went on through Easter resurrection,

                                    and for the followers of the risen Jesus Christ,

                                                Easter is just the beginning of the story.

 

Indeed, the Christian story, the truth and God’s word continue

            and all through the ages,  the story continues to  be written

                        and we will add to the story by the living out of our lives.

 

We decide, we choose whether or not we will obey God’s Easter,

            whether or not we will live out its promise and hope…

                        …for the gospel story is still ongoing and in process.

 

Easter is God's call of renewed hope and gracious love

            especially for those of us who have ever failed or doubted,

               because Easter's truth and resurrection are all true,

                   and Saturday's despair is replaced by Easter joy & renewal.

 

Our call is to let God break through our darkness and struggles,

            to see with new eyes of confident hope and trusting faith,

                        for there are new possibilities beyond our expectations.

 

So today,

            we celebrate that God is with us for Jesus is risen and lives,

                        and since the story is still unfinished, the question  is,

                                         what now?  what am I, what will you,

                                                and together what are we going to do about it?

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!    Now what?