First Lutheran Church / The Table
April 4, 2021 + Easter Sunday B
Mark 16:1-8 1When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint [Jesus’ body]. 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.
Sermon “Rise Up To New Life”
This year’s appointed Gospel reading for Easter comes from The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. And Mark’s account of that first Easter morning is at first glance a little “underwhelming.” Like the rest of the Gospel of Mark, it’s short and to the point. And perhaps strangely, unlike the other gospels, there is no mention of the risen Christ appearing to his followers. All we get is “a young man dressed in a white robe” announcing to the women who have come to tomb, that Jesus has risen and will meet up with everyone in Galilee. Mark’s Gospel, the Easter morning story according to Mark, then abruptly ends with the women fleeing the tomb, “for terror and amazement had seized them.” And they say, “nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” There is no great Easter proclamation in Mark.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we get an earthquake, an angel rolling the stone away, the appearance of Jesus, and the great commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
In the Gospel of Luke, we get two men in dazzling clothes, the empty tomb and the left behind linen clothes. Jesus appears on the Emmaus Road, and then again to the disciples in Jerusalem. And finally in Bethany, in glory he ascends into the heavens.
And in the Gospel of John, we get the sentimental story of Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus in the garden outside the tomb, Jesus appears to the disciples who are hiding behind locked doors, and finally another whole chapter that tells the story of Jesus appearance to the disciples fishing on the Sea of Tiberias.
But today, in the Gospel of Mark, we just get the bare bones; the announcement that Jesus has risen and will meet his followers in Galilee. We don’t get a feel-good story, we don’t get a faith-filled witness to the resurrection, we don’t get any certitude, we’re left in the midst of doubt and fear; all we get is the invitation to travel to Galilee and to find Christ there.
Mark doesn’t finish his Easter story, but from all other accounts, we know that the disciples did in fact travel back to Galilee, back to the place where their life with Jesus began. And once they got back, they realized that everything had changed. In fact, they discovered there was no way to “really go back” to Galilee!
I imagine they might have had thoughts of going back to the way things used to be, back to the old routines, back to the old vocations, back to fishing. But when they get back, at least according to the plan in Mark’s gospel, that’s when and where they discovered the risen Christ. And back in Galilee, after the encounter with the risen Christ, they too “rise up” and a new chapter in their life begins. And it is a chapter that will change the world. The kingdom they had discovered in Jesus was now alive inside of each of them, and it was compelling them to go out into all the earth and proclaim the good news of the Gospel, all that they had learned, seen, hoped and experienced in Christ Jesus. They went back to Galilee, perhaps to learn and to discover that there was - no going back, only going forward in the new risen life of Jesus.
So where will we end up going after this Easter morning is over and done? What will happen when we get back to our “Galilee?” Will we learn and discover that there is “no going back?” Will we be compelled and embolden by the risen life, to start something new? Will the kingdom we discovered in Jesus become suddenly and dramatically and wonderfully alive in us? Will all things become new? Where will we end up going after this Easter morning is over and done?
Lately, as the COVID-19 pandemic seems to finally be coming to some kind of end, I find myself talking hopefully about life, “returning back to normal.” Here at the church, we find ourselves talking about “returning back” to in-person worship. Yet as I sit here on Easter morning, as I ponder the Easter gospel, as I ponder those first disciples returning to Galilee, I am wondering if we need to be careful about the language that we use to talk about what might come next, what might come next after this Easter, what might come next after this pandemic is finally over. Will we be returning back to the way things used to be, or have we been changed, will we be coming back together again to begin something new? Has the pandemic simply been time off, or perhaps more of a death and life, resurrection experience?
This past year has been hard and difficult. And while there are so many things about his past year that I want to forget and leave behind, there are a few things that I hope I will remember, a few things that I have learned that I will want to keep integrated into my life.
You see, on one level, for me, this past year has been one really big values clarification activity. In the process of giving some things up and having lots of time on my hands to reflect, I have been able to clarify what is really important to me. The pandemic has afforded me the opportunity to put some things clearly into perspective.
In my personal life I have come to more fully appreciate my relationships with family and friends. I have become more aware of how valuable my time is, and how I want to spend it. In short, I am more aware of the things that are truly important to me, and the things that are not, which things in life I want to cling to and which things I am ready to let go.
When it comes to the life of the church, I am more aware of how important it is to have a clear sense of mission. I love and I miss our fellowship, and I look forward to gathering together again, but I realize it is our mission that truly keeps us together. It is our mission that has kept us together this past year.
This past year has been hard and difficult, yet “in all these things” I have also been re-fined and re-formed, humbled and inspired, tested and made strong. The Spirit has been at work, and so it is that even in death I have found resurrection. And so, as this time of pandemic comes to an end, I do not want to “return to normal,” “return to in-person worship,” “return to old patterns,” I really don’t want to “return” to anything. I want to start something new, begin again, - rise up to new life! I am ready to come back to “Galilee” not to “return to old patterns” but to begin a new chapter in my life, and in our life together.
The Easter story found in the Gospel of Mark is actually my favorite version. I like it precisely because it does not have any of the “feel good endings” you find in the other gospels. I like it because it comes to us – unfinished! I like it because it compels us to finish the story. Mark leaves us hanging in the balance, amazed and in terror at the same time, dealing with all our doubts and fears, facing the unknown of that trip back to Galilee. The “finished” story is nice, but it doesn’t meet me where I find myself living these days, it doesn’t meet me on the other side of the pandemic, it doesn’t compel me to begin a new adventure into the unknown, it doesn’t meet me where my faith is seeking new understanding.
As this Easter morning comes to an end, and as we face the new day that is tomorrow, let us remember that the Galilee we knew in the past is no longer there. We will not be “returning to normal,” but rather coming back together to enter more deeply into the resurrected life. Let us remember and cling to St. Paul’s promise found in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united with Christ in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with Christ in a resurrection like his.”
I am excited to travel back to “Galilee,” not to live in the past, but to encounter the newly risen Christ. I am excited to gather together again in person to begin the next chapter in our life together. I am excited to discover how the kingdom we experienced in Jesus yesterday, will rise up in, with, and through, us tomorrow.
I would like to conclude this morning, with the prayer I shared with you one year ago. At that time, we were just beginning to understand the true implications of the pandemic that was before us. Today the prayer is just as relevant, as the pandemic begins to fade and the journey back to “Galilee” and our risen life with Christ is about to begin again.
Let us pray. Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Christ is risen!
Christ it risen indeed!
Alleluia!