Scripture Reading Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint
Jesus’ body.
Very early on the first day of the week, just after
sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away
from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which
was very large, had been rolled away.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in
a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus
the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the
place where they laid him.
But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead
of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled
from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Here ends this reading of the Word of God
for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
Spirit of power and new
possibility, through the scriptures, open our minds to understanding, our
hearts to loving, and our wills to carrying out the mission of the Risen
Christ, God’s Living Word. Amen.
Message
Now
What?
Christ the Lord is Risen today! – Alleluia!
In our reading of our scripture
this morning, we are left with a cliff hanger. Mary Magdalene, Mary
the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body and
prepare him for burial. In a more ideal situation, they would have done that
work soon after Jesus died….if he had died in a less brutal way on a
different day of the week, he would have already been anointed. But many
unusual things happened when Jesus died….so the women went to care for the body
of a man who had been dead three days. The women loved Jesus so much they would
work through any unpleasantness to care for his body.
The women were brave….by going to tend to the body, they risked their own
arrest. It was dangerous to be connected to Jesus. It was dangerous to be
connected to people the Roman government executed for committing sedition. Even
in our own country, how many people line up to care for the bodies of people
the government executes? Most of us are probably not contributing to
“Go Fund Me”s to pray for funeral expenses of people on death row. We
keep our distance – we look away. We don’t want to be associated with
whatever tragedy leads to those kinds of deaths.
The brave women went at daybreak to tend to Jesus’ body. It seems like they
were a little unprepared for their trip – they didn’t think they
would be able to roll the stone away from the entrance of the grave. They hoped
there was someone there to help them. But, when they arrived, the
stone was already moved away and the grave was open. So,
the women walked right into the grave. They had work to do!
But, when they entered the tomb, the women were startled to find a man
they didn’t know sitting in it. A strange young man wearing a white
robe was sitting in the tomb. Where was Jesus?!?
The man told the women Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus would meet them and
the other disciples in Galilee. Jesus had prophesied about his death
and resurrection…now Jesus’ prophetic words had come
true. He was risen and wasn’t in the grave
anymore.
The man told the women to tell the other disciples and Peter about Jesus’
resurrection and that they all should go meet him in Galilee. Maybe
this was part of the plan—that they were to go to the region where Jesus
grew up and lived most of his life to meet with him.
But the women were scared. According to Mark, they didn’t say
anything about the man or the empty tomb to anyone because they were
afraid. They were stunned into silence. Instead of finding the man’s words
to be comforting, the women were terrified. Mark doesn’t tell us
when they told others about the empty tomb and the words of the strange
man.
Even if the women had not spilled the news, we know what happened next…..the
Disciples found out Jesus was not in the tomb. They
initially weren’t sure what to believe about his
absence. But, later that same day, Jesus appeared to two disciples
who were walking to the town of Emmaus. After their encounter with Jesus, those
two disciples rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the others. After they arrived and
told the others about their thrilling encounter with Jesus, Jesus appeared to
the whole group of disciples. During the 40 days after Easter, Jesus
appeared again and again. And, then Jesus left the world on his own
terms when he Ascended and went to be with God.
The Easter Miracle of Jesus’
resurrection is part of what we consider the greatest story ever told. God
loves the people of the world so much that God chose to come to earth as Jesus.
God chose to take on the form of a human being. God chose to live among us, as
a weak and vulnerable baby, as a child who could skin his knees, as a man who
could eat too much and be thirsty and cry when he was sad and be delighted when
he witnessed beauty. God chose to live among us. And, God
chose to die a human death.
God allowed Jesus to be
crucified. God gives us free will – we have the freedom to do good things
and bad things. God is not a puppet master controlling us. God gives us
the freedom to do wonderful things and horrible things. On the first Good Friday,
the people of the world, the people of Jerusalem, killed Jesus. God allows us
to do horrible things. But, God is more powerful than us...God is
wiser than us...God is greater than us. God knows what is best for us even when
we don’t know what is best for ourselves. And, on the first Easter morning, God chose for Jesus to be
resurrected. So, even though we made the mistake of killing Jesus,
God wouldn’t allow that mistake to stand forever. Jesus was
resurrected.
Jesus was resurrected to remind
us that no matter what mistakes we make, God
love us. No matter how much we hurt each other, God loves us. No matter how much we hurt ourselves, God loves us. Even when we ignore God, God loves us.
God came to live among us as
Jesus the Christ. At the time Jesus walked the earth, some people listened to
him, some people were alarmed by him, some people ignored him, some people
killed him. But, on the first Easter Sunday, Jesus was resurrected. Jesus was
resurrected for all people, the ones who “got” him and the ones who hated him.
Jesus came to teach all of us about God’s love for humanity, God’s desire for
us to love each other, and through that love, to treat all people with
compassion, warmth, and care.
On this Easter Sunday, we are
blessed to be followers of our loving God, the God of the Good News. “For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save
the world through him.” We are saved by God’s love. It is our work as people of
faith to share God’s love with others.
When Jesus was asked what
commandment is the most important law of God’s to follow, he answered that we
are to “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ “ and we are to…”: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ “ In response to God’s sacrificial love for us, we are called upon
to love God in return and to love all other people as much as we love
ourselves. So, this is our duty and our challenge as Christians. It is one
thing for us to say we love other people; it is entirely another thing to live
with a consistently loving attitude and outlook as we interact with others.
In the next few months, our already
contentious national political scene will go into overdrive as we prepare for
the elections in the fall. And, most of us take sides – it is us versus them,
the right people verses the wrong people, the smart people verses the ignorant
people, the people who understand the big picture verses the people who only
see the “right now.” No matter what side we are on, we tend to vilify the
people who we don’t agree with.
Christians don’t fall into a
monolithic group when it comes to American politics. We don’t have a consensus
on our views. Some of us are Republicans, some of us are Democrats, and some of
us are Independents. There is not a Christian party; instead, there are
Christians who are part of all the parties.
As we enter into this intense
political season, we must remember that we are first and foremost followers of
God and Jesus Christ. We are called to be people of love as a response to the
love of God. And, as loving followers of God, we are to treat all people with
consideration, compassion and resect, even if we disagree with each other.
For God so loved us, God sent Jesus
to die for us. We are saved through that love. Let us love God and love one
another, no matter what.
Thanks be to God.
Christ the Lord is Risen Today.
Alleluia!
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