Risen Indeed

Sermon Mark 16:1-8 April 1, 2018 Easter

Risen Indeed

Everything in the gospel of Mark happens in real time. Have you noticed that as you’ve read it? It’s as if we are there with the women going to the tomb. Listen to their worries. ‘Mary do you have the spices?’ ‘Yes, I do Salome-we bought them together.’ ‘They got up early to buy what they needed before they went to the tomb. The stores weren’t open the day before but on the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath, they could go and buy what they needed.

With their arms full of sweet smells, they go to the tomb. They go with only one expectation- to anoint the body of Jesus.

They know he is dead.

They sat at the foot of his cross and watched him die. There is no denying his death. They went along with Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea as they took the body of Jesus and laid him in the tomb. They saw exactly where he was laid. Then they watched as the Roman guards came and rolled the stone in place. They watched from a distance. They looked at the size of the stone and at the guard standing in front of it. Puzzled about the need to guard the dead, they went home. They went together, the women. It would be up to them to care for the body of Jesus. A task handed down to the women from their mothers and their mothers before them. It wasn’t a duty of dread. It was a gift and an honor to be the one to bring dignity and honor to the bodies of their loved ones even as they fade away to the dust.

The women are going to the tomb and as they go they look at each and ask the next real time question-‘who is going to roll away the stone?’

Everything about these wonderful women reminds of us of our real time questions. It reminds us of our real time needs. It keeps our reality real. We don’t go through our day expecting the unexpected. We don’t go through our day waiting for the next shoe to drop. We don’t go through our day with the anticipation of another April Fool joke-ok, maybe just today. These women remind us that we all live our lives in real time and that’s okay! We live out lives in the ordinary. We live our lives going through the joys and the sorrows of the day. We get up, drink our coffee, get the kids to school, read the paper, go to work, make our list of chores to do, visit friends, write emails, and perhaps make a few plans for the future. We live in the ordinary just as these women did and that is just what God wants from us as followers of Jesus.

Because, it is in the ordinary that God shows up. It is in the ordinary where miracles happen. It is in the ordinary where God is revealed. And when we get to the place where we are in the face of the unexpected, we hear God’s words, ‘Do not be afraid.’

Jesus is not where we expect him to be. And that hasn’t changed from the day the women found the tomb empty. The unexpected is that Jesus is alive. The unexpected is that Jesus is NOT dead.

The unexpected is that God’s promises are true.

And when we like these women find out that Jesus is not where we expect him to be-we too can be upset, fearful, amazed, and just a little terrified.

Why?

Because on that day of resurrection God made it known that God will not be contained in a box or in any human expectation.

God is on the loose-look out!

Jesus is alive!

Jesus has gone before us to Galilee and expects us to follow him. Do not be afraid.

The women are so afraid and so amazed by what they see and hear they run away. And isn’t that also comforting. God’s revelation can be very unsettling. The promise of God can be nerve-wracking.  Imagine how Abraham and Sarah must have felt-you’re going to have a baby-and Sarah laughed-yeah, sure God in my old age. And yet, God fulfilled that promise even in the fear and in the amazement of those two.

Faith seems to show up when we are afraid. We are gripped by fear in the unexpected and yet, God shows up and holds us and gives us strength.

Jesus has gone ahead of us to Galilee. Galilee is where Jesus healed the sick, gathered the children, raised people from the dead, taught on the hillside. We do not know Galilee will be for us, but we know that Jesus is going ahead of us to prepare the way. So we can ‘go and tell’ and not be afraid.

It is Easter! We can rejoice! Do not be afraid. He is not here. But go! Tell! In real time we can believe, we can trust, we can have faith, and we can go! Alleluia, Alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord, Alleluia, Alleluia, give praise to his name! Amen.