Unfinished business

Unfinished business 040515

Mark 16:1-8

Well, that’s not what you expected, is it?   You probably came here this morning expecting something different, probably the Easter story as John’s gospel tells it, with angels, a garden, and Mary Magdalene having a close encounter of the divine kind. 

Mark’s version, the first written down some 30 plus years after Jesus, reads very differently!   It reads more like a dry report than the emotional story we’re used to hearing on Easter….no scene of the risen Jesus to answer our doubts and questions…instead, a cliff hanger of failure and fear…. Full of terror and amazement they fled; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  We don’t expect words like that on Easter!

Those women didn’t get what they expected either.  Expecting a closed tomb and a dead body to clean and anoint, what they got was an empty tomb and a divine messenger (young man in white was code for angel).   No wonder they were afraid.

Indeed, tales of the unexpected.  So unexpected in fact that others added a more satisfactory ending, and other gospels wrote about all manner of divine encounters after Jesus death…. St Paul, who wrote even before Mark, had some tales of Jesus sightings, tho no empty tomb or angels or gardens.  All that stuff got added later; but the first Easter story written down ends abruptly with fear.

And that makes it a story for today.  

·        These women were used to the natural flow of life and death, so anything that didn’t fit with their cultural understanding was to be feared.  Many of us too have a tendency to dismiss anything that doesn’t fit with our preconceived ideas.

·        This may have struck a vague chord of memory of what Jesus had told them, just as many of us have vague memories of what Jesus says but when we’re deep in a troubling time, we don’t remember…..and they may have been afraid of being wrong

·        Afraid of risking ridicule

·        Afraid of what others might think of them.

·        Afraid of the implications for their lives

So better to keep quiet.

 It strikes me that this unfinished easter story is a direct challenge to those who call ourselves Christians, or Jesus followers.  In a world where death and war and abuse are rife, we keep quiet except to bemoan the state of the world. Fear rules.

So if those women said nothing, how come we’re here? 

Because someone said something.

Altho these women didn’t have a Mary-in-the-garden encounter with the risen Jesus, their experience was still real, spiritual, vital, valid.  Not all spiritual experiences are alleluia mountaintop moments. They encountered a being that told them the unexpected news that Jesus is alive and at work in the world.   And told them “Do not be afraid”…..that’s no less a deep spiritual experience than something much more media popular. 

 I read this week “fear can be a stepping stone; it can point the path to justice as well as to hate”.   It’s what we do with our fear that counts.

the message of Jesus is that Life wins, not death….or it will IF we engage with it in life-giving ways….

just as someone finally did 2000 years ago.  The message of easter is that God isn’t done yet; God’s love and life continues to work against fear, and the resulting evil we see in our world.  The state of our world can be alarming and fear-mongering media doesn’t help….ISIS, Russia, Nigeria, racial unrest in the US and dysfunction in Washington all contribute to fear which leads to hate which leads to violence. 

Unless…..unless we heed the unexpected call to do something different with our fear….to trust that Life is more  powerful – to trust that God is indeed still at work.  There is still unfinished business for our souls, our churches, our daily lives.

This easter story in  Mark’s gospel isn’t about Jesus’ triumph of life over death, with all its lilies and trumpets and springtime images…..a story we can celebrate once a year and be done.

The resurrection isn’t some weird Christian dogma that is set in stone, pardon the pun.

No, as I read this week, “the resurrection isn’t a conclusion, it’s an invitation”  (David Lose, Working Preacher) 

I believe that the very unexpectedness of this story is what makes it so relevant today.  It’s an unfinished story. And that’s the point.  We’re not called to believe certain things about the resurrection.  We’re being set up to live resurrection lives and continue the story….(Lose)

Continue the story until  heavy stones of fear  are rolled away from our hearts and Jesus is set free to touch our well-guarded souls 

 Continue the story until we live out God’s dream of a world of justice and peace   

until we learn not to be silent, but to speak up and speak out where we see death and fear ruling…..

it’s an unfinished story….yours, and mine.

Amen.