Now What? -- An Easter Message for 2024

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!