Easter Message

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. (Mark 16.1–8 NRSV)

Is this the way you think the Gospel should end?

The story that begins with "the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" ends with "and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." Can that be right?

If you opened up a Bible and went to the end of the Gospel of Mark, you would see that there are more words that come after the word ‘afraid. You will find words that tie up the story and bring it resolution. Words that assure us that the disciples did not stay in a state of terrified silence, but rather were convinced by more appearances of Jesus that he truly had been raised from the dead. There are more words that tell us that the disciples were commissioned to share the good news with the whole world — and they did, proclaiming the good news everywhere.

But you may also notice there a footnote, or brackets that explain that these words are not found in the earliest and most reliable copies of the Gospel of Mark that have been discovered. In other words, they were added later. The first version of the Gospel of Mark truly ended with silence and fear.

But how can that be right? Why would the Good News of Jesus according to Mark leave us in a place of confusion…of chaos…of uncertainty?

I think we can understand how those faithful women who went to the tomb might have felt that way. Imagine the events they had witnessed: their friend and teacher had been brutally crucified. They had seen him sealed in the tomb. And now his body was missing. Of course they felt afraid.

It’s a place we know too well. I’m sure you can relate to that feeling. That feeling that comes when you do not know the next step. That feeling when the rug has been pulled out from under you. That feeling when something or someone you trusted in is no longer there.

It’s not a good feeling. Sometimes it just causes us a moment of confusion. Maybe it leaves us in a funk. But sometimes it’s worse. I will guarantee that you know someone — if you haven’t experienced it yourself — that has felt this feeling so strongly that they did not want to even live anymore.

When it becomes hard to believe that our lives can ever be fixed, we lose hope.

So it seems almost irresponsible that this Gospel would leave us there in that place where all hope seems lost. We need more from this Gospel. We need more from God.

We yearn for a sense of finality. We long for decisiveness. We need a real ending…proof that everything is in its right place. We need confirmation that the Good Guy wins in the end.

But God doesn’t play the game of life to win. God loves. God is love.

And you might have noticed: love doesn’t seem to come with finality. Love does not provide proof. Love does not work in absolutes.

Love struggles. Love is patient when things do not work out. Love is kind to those who do not deserve it. Love grows, love adapts, love hangs in there.

You see, the Gospel of Mark leaves us right at the place where God finds us.

God does not wait for us to reach the end to love us. God loves us where we are. Here, in the midst of confusion and chaos.

We are not loved because we are worthy, we are worthy because we are loved.

We are found by God in the gap between what we know and what we can only hope for. And it is there, in that place, where God loves us into something new. It is there that God gives us hope. It is there that God gives us faith.

If you have ever felt as if you could never find your next step — that’s the place.

If you have ever felt unworthy to be where you are — that’s the place.

The next time you have the rug pulled out from under you, and you cannot picture an end to the brokenness…an end where the Good Guys wins, remember: God finds you right where life leaves you.

This is what God does. God brings good from bad. Good bring love from brokenness. God makes a way where there was no way.

Those first disciples did not succeed in taking the Good News to the ends of the earth because they finally found their way to the end of the story. God found them in terror. In chaos and in fear. In doubt and uncertainty. Right where God finds us. And God brings us all into the next step together.

No matter what stands in the way. God brings life from death.

Alleluia! Christ is risen indeed!

— Pastor Keith