To Begin Again Easter 2018 Scripture: Mark 16:1-8 This year we read our Easter story from the gospel of Mark. Mark is the very earliest of the four gospels in the Bible, and it is the shortest. As soon as Jesus enters the story he gets to work, preaching and healing among the rural poor. Mark’s gospel rarely pauses for breath. His favorite word is “immediately.” As soon as Jesus has completed an act or teaching, he goes “immediately” to do the next. The reading we heard today is from the very last sentences of the gospel. The three women have come to the tomb in Jerusalem, very early in the morning the day after the Sabbath. They bring sweet smelling herbs and spices. Ministering to the body is the one thing they can do for Jesus now that he is dead. They are terrified and amazed to find that the stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty. And they are most terrified of all to be greeted by this man in white – an angel of God – who gives them a message from Jesus. “Go back to Galilee.” Galilee is the region 70 miles to the north, from whence they came. There they will meet Jesus. True to Mark’s form, Jesus hasn’t waited around for them, He has gone “immediately” back to Galilee. The women are supposed to go and tell the other disciples. It is their job to pass along the message. And yet, at least for Mark, that is where the story ends. Here they stand, paralyzed and silenced by fear. They do nothing. That’s it. The end of the story … “they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.” As a writer, Mark is really not good at endings. And it turns out that he’s really not good at beginnings either. Here is the way the gospel starts out: “This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God,” and then “Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God.” This is the beginning of the good news? Does it mean that this is the beginning of the story of the good news? Or does it mean that the whole gospel is only the beginning? Does it mean that the good news that is not complete? What does Mark mean? It’s confusing, and, yet, Mark has something important to tell us in this strange beginning and ending. Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, and Salome had been with Jesus’s group for a while. There were many other women too, who had traveled with Jesus, through the countryside from Galilee. Jesus preached and taught and healed the sick along the way. They had amassed quite a following of folk, who had nothing to lose from joining the band of followers and coming up to Jerusalem. But no one really understood Jesus and what he was about. His predictions of his crucifixion and resurrection made no sense to them. The women took care of the preparation of food on this awe-inspiring journey. This is the work that they generally did: cooking, cleaning, giving birth and preparing the dead for burial. It had been a grueling journey. The constant crowds, the daily packing up and moving on. And they had realized that their beloved Rabbi, Jesus, was heading to Jerusalem for the Passover. This made the women anxious. How would his message of love and liberation for the poor go down with the Roman rulers? How would the temple authorities react, as they balanced a tricky half-peace between the Romans and the people? The women had feared that there might be trouble, but they’d never imagined what would come to pass. Jesus had been taken away to be crucified. The male disciples had scattered in fear. But the women had been able to blend into the crowd and watch, silently weeping. Then Jesus’s body was hastily placed in this lonely tomb. No one had stayed with him. No one had prepared his body according to the law. And so, on this morning after the Sabbath, these three brave women decide to fulfill that responsibility. This is where we meet them, today, as they receive that strange message from the man in white “He has gone back to Galilee, as he told you he would… he will meet you there.” And so, they are to go back … not only to Galilee, but to the beginning. The beginning of the story. They are to begin again, this story of the good news. Only this time they will understand. They have been told the endgame by the messenger in white. And it is good news! It is the news that love wins and death is overcome. Credit to these woman, paralyzed by fear and amazement. They do get over it, and they tell. We know because we are here today, hearing this story from Mark. The crowd of followers, who are the disciples, grows, through the ages, and spreads around the world. Even today, the crowd of followers grows here at Wollaston Congregational Church. And yet again, we receive the message: We are told to go back to the beginning, and meet Jesus there. For our gospel writer, Mark, there is no other story. This is Easter. The powers of darkness attempted to extinguish the light of Christ, but now he lives on. Just go back to the beginning and meet him there. So we may well ask: is that it? Is Easter simply a pause, just a break in routine: - a weekend to enjoy the new signs of spring and to forget depressing news. - a weekend to celebrate crocuses breaking through the ground and beginning to bloom. And to notice buds on the trees ready to burst into blossom. - a weekend to captivate the excitement of children, stashing brightly colored eggs found in the grass and the crevices of trees. To revel in fresh new clothing and happy feasting? All of these are wonderful things. But what happens when we go back to work, school, or routine on Monday … when it’s back to ‘business as usual’? Does it make a difference, that we are to go back to the beginning, the beginning of the good news, again? Will Easter make a difference? For citizens of the United States, forty-six days ago, Lent began with something totally counter to God’s good news. You remember the terrible events in Parkland FL on Ash Wednesday. Since that day students, teachers, parents, and others who care about children in schools, have been demanding change. They have been standing up to powerful groups, such as the NRA, who seem to be holding our elected leaders hostage. Last Saturday I went to walk in the Boston “March for Our Lives” protest with a number of young women from this church. The mood in the crowd was uplifting. The feeling of doing something for change seemed to buoy the marchers up. Being around so many companions chanting, singing and waving signs was encouraging and energizing. I got into a number of conversations, during the march and afterwards. Everyone asked the same question: “Do you think things will change? Will it make a difference?” It is a good question: will it make a difference? We cannot know the answer at this time. But this is likely to be a long hard struggle for those who are involved. To make a difference, the student marchers and their supporters will need to resist their own fear and despair. They will need energy and resilience for the journey. Of course, student marches for change are not the only issue of our time. There are many other struggles in our culture. Today I think of the shooting of Stephon Clark, by the Sacramento police, and the alarmingly disproportionate loss of young black and brown lives in our times. I’m also thinking of the group of Veterans who used our social hall over the weekend as a base, while they generously gave their time and energy to help repair storm damage in this community. Whenever, someone chooses to engage with powerful forces for the sake of God’s children and God’s creation, they will need resilience, perseverance, and hope. And then, of course, there are those of us who are facing personal journeys that also require hope and resilience. - Perhaps you are a recovering alcoholic, and know your need for perseverance and hope to begin each new day. - Perhaps your realize that your work or career is hurting your soul, and you need to muster the hope and energy to find something new. - Perhaps you are in a relationship that needs to begin again on more honest terms, being clear about your own needs and the needs of the other. My friends, going back after Easter is not business as usual. It does make a difference that we go back to the beginning. We, like the women in our story, are told to meet Jesus there. We come around and begin again, because the good news of God has not yet come to completion. The Easter resurrection story is like an injection of life and hope into weary people who are tempted to despair. But, we do not need to be paralyzed. We do not need to fear the road ahead. Because Jesus has already gone there ahead of us. It is the risen Christ who will meet us there. May all God’s people say “Alleluia!”
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