The Gospel according to Mark 16:1-8

The Resurrection of Jesus

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But 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. But 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.’ So 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.

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Good morning! I love Easter, but I think it’s really hard to talk about Easter without talking about Good Friday, and it’s hard to talk about Good Friday without talking about Easter. When I talk about Good Friday, I have to assume that the congregation knows “the rest of the story.” And on Easter morning, it’s hard to get what this really means to us without talking about the cost. And the cost is Good Friday.

So, before we get to what Easter means, I’m going to back up a bit. Actually, I’m going to start at Christmas. (But if you only come on Christmas and Easter, you don’t get double credit for this service!) Here we go:

The only way that God, Love, could invite us wonderfully good and terribly bad creatures into a loving relationship was to come among us as one of us. There were lots of other ways Love could have enforced compliance or obedience, but what Love wanted was love, and you can’t force that. So Love came among us as a human being. His name was Jesus, and he taught us so much about how Love, pure love, lives in the world.

And, of course, in this world whose structures and powers depend on control and coercion and violence and division and all the things Jesus taught against, the story ended badly, very badly. Jesus was betrayed, and framed, and tortured, and subjected to an agonizingly painful and humiliating death.

This was the price that Love paid for wanting to be in loving relationship with us. God, Jesus, Love, was subjected to the worst pain and the worst evil the world had to offer.

And so we come to this morning. This morning when Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome walk through the pre-dawn darkness to the tomb where Love lies dead, murdered. And they worry about the stone at the entrance of the tomb. They aren’t strong enough to move it, and they need to prepare the body for burial. Their hearts are breaking. It is over. Pure Love is dead. Dead. It is finished.

And then, of course, Easter happens! The stone is moved! The tomb is empty! The angel says, “He is not here; he is risen!” Easter! Alleluia! And they run away in terror and amazement, and they are too afraid to tell the greatest news of all time.

Originally, Mark’s gospel ended there, with the women fleeing in terror and amazement and too afraid to tell the Good News. Mark could end the gospel there because he knew that his readers knew the rest of the story. And in a nutshell, the rest of the story is this: Love was not dead. It was not finished. When Jesus walked among us as Pure Love and we did the most horrible things that can be done, Pure Love said, “You can humiliate me; you can torture me; you can kill my body, but you cannot kill my longing, my yearning, my desire to be loving toward you, to be in loving relationship with you.

So, on Easter Morning, Pure Love says one thing: “Your very worst cannot chase me off.”

Now, that’s Good News. Because every one of us, — every person on this planet — has done, or left undone, or said, or thought things that in the eyes of Pure Love require forgiveness. Some more than others; but none are exempt; we all require forgiveness. So what Good News we get this morning when the Risen Christ of Pure Love says at the empty tomb, “Your very worst cannot chase me off. I am still committed to being in loving relationship with you.”

That should feel wonderful. If you really get that, it has to feel wonderful. And I probably ought to just let it go there. If I wanted a TV ministry, I’d let it go there. If I wanted to be the pastor of a mega-church, I’d let it go there. I’d send you home with memories of an empty tomb, a Resurrected Christ, breakfast and Easter eggs — feelin’ good.

But I’m about to limit my career, because my problem is this: I don’t believe that Pure Love made that unbelievably costly commitment just to make us feel good. I believe that Pure Love wants more for us, wants us to be better. I believe Pure Love, God, made that costly commitment not just so we could be in a loving relationship (as important as that is), but also so that we could be transformed. Transformed. Changed.

And there’s the rub, because you can’t be transformed without being — discomforted. So this wonderful Easter news, this, “You can’t chase me off,” should make us feel so good, but it probably should also make us uncomfortable.

As you know, I’ve been using our beautiful stained glass windows to teach a Sunday school class on the Bible. A few weeks ago, we studied the Resurrection Window. I talked about how Pure Love had walked among us teaching a radical love, a love that embraced the dignity of every human being (if you don’t think that’s radical, read the paper), a love that healed, a love that refused violence (if you don’t think that’s radical, read the paper), a love that taught us to love even enemies (if you don’t think that’s radical, I can’t help you!), a love that rejected all social and religious divisions that created outcasts, cared for the poor and powerless, and taught us that God’s power comes from selfless love, not force or coercion. And I talked about Good Friday and Easter Morning and how this is the story that absolutely forms us. It absolutely forms who we are.

And then Blanche Shropshire quietly raised her hand. (I love Blanche.) And she asked the child’s question. You know, the kind of simple, devastating question that a child might ask. Blanche quietly raised her hand and asked, “Then why aren’t we changed? Why aren’t we different? Why aren’t we transformed?”

This Easter, I want the Good News — “You can’t chase me off even when you do your very worst” — to make you feel good, so good. Let it flow over you. Revel in how deeply committed Pure Love is to being loving toward you. Take comfort in knowing that even if you terribly mess up your part of the relationship, Pure Love will never abandon you, no matter what you do. When you’re in trouble, you hang on to that Easter message: at the empty tomb God says, “You can’t chase me off even when you do your very worst.”

But also remember that our God, our God of Pure Love, wants you to be able to love more, to love better, to be transformed. So, feel good about the Easter message, but also let yourself be discomforted by Blanche’s devastating Easter question: “So, why aren’t we changed?”

This Easter we sing praises because Pure Love loves us so much, and has paid such a price, and wants so much for us. And all of that is Good News! Alleluia!

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