Easter - What Is God Calling Us to Do?

 

 

It was the best of times it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.      Charles Dickens might as well have written the opening to the “Tale of Two Cities” to describe our present time; Easter 2021.

 

Echoed in line from Dickens, is Paul’s reflection from 1 Corinthians on the foolishness of the cross; echoed is the conundrum the women find themselves in at the empty tomb; echoed is our reality of living in the tensions of belief and incredulity, hope and despair; echoed is the truth that there is nothing and everything before us – just as the Gospel of Mark ends the story where the women say nothing to anyone because they were frightened.  In the Greek text it literally reads ‘they were afraid for...”

 

The Gospel of Mark – this Easter morning story- is early.... Mark does not use theological expressions, he gives no Christological titles, doesn’t use proofs or prophecy from scripture, no descriptions of the resurrection are present, and  the description of the angel at the tomb is basic – not extrapolated.

I know there are some of you who will take your Bible and look at the ending of Mark to verify that this is indeed how the Gospel ends.  Be warned that you will find more verses after verse 8. Generally publishers will mark the verse ‘shorter ending’ and ‘longer ending.’  Both of these were added later – you can google ‘ending Gospel of Mark’ to learn more.  Two of the oldest scrolls of the Gospel, dating to 300 CE end at verse 8.

 

Throughout the seven weeks of Easter we  will hear stories of resurrection appearances from the other Gospels. As beautiful as these stories are – in the story told by Mark there is something simple and honest and oh so very real.

This is my favourite ending because I get it, I can put myself in the group of women; I get lost in conversation with them about who will roll the stone away; I feel the confusion of finding not a body, but, a young man in an empty tomb. I feel devastated that my final gift of love – to anoint the body of a friend and teacher- is not going to happen. How am I ever going to grieve this loss? And I am afraid because this is not what I was expecting, I don’t understand, and this is going to get someone or a group of someones in a lot of trouble. 

Standing at the tomb I sense something beyond understanding; there is a truth that I just can’t quite put my finger on; a change has occurred may I not be too afraid to live into it.

As an introvert I walk away, pondering, seeking options to answer the how, the why, the what now  --- what can this mean?

 

What is God calling us to do?

The women, Mary, Mary, and Salome, were asked to go and to tell the disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of them to Galilee; there they will see him. 

Peter is specifically mentioned because Peter would have been living in the guilt of denying Jesus the night before his death. A specific invitation to come, invites Peter back into the fold --- still loved, still a disciple, still a member of the community.  It also book ends the Gospel of Mark for at the beginning Jesus’ first invitation to be a disciple is given to Simon (Peter) who immediately leaves his nets to follow Jesus.  In literature of this time, to come full circle naming a specific person at the beginning and at the end – is to say that the telling of the Gospel is based on the eyewitness account of the person mentioned. Mark relates Peter’s account of Jesus. At the end, Peter would not have an account, if Mary, Mary, and Salome chose to live as if nothing was the matter, as if nothing changed; if they chose to be silent in fear, rather than grapple with the possibilities before them.

 

What is God calling us to do?

When in the Gospel of Mark I stand at the tomb, I sense something beyond understanding. I feel a change.

This resurrection account feels like our present reality – our journey through pandemic.  Things have changed and won’t ever be the same, but, looking forward we can’t see what resurrection experiences await, or what possibilities will grow.

I imagine the women - having the empty tomb experience-  work its way through their brains; their fear subsiding enough that they chose to tell the disciples and Peter what they found and heard.  Little by little as the days go on, as the group leaves Jerusalem to go back to their homes in  Galilee, more and more truth is accepted and sprouts new life. COVID won’t just one day end, rather, living in a changed world happens little by little as the days go on and then we open our eyes and hearts and we will find ourselves – the community- in a new place.

 

What is God calling us to do?

This is one of various questions that will be posed to you -to us as a community- through the Season of Easter. The question asks us to wrestle with Jesus’ resurrection, and what it is to live this resurrection through our lives today; it is a question to help us move as a community through pandemic to participate in what God is doing – what God is wanting to do- in this neighbourhood, in this world, in creation- through the community’s hands and faith and proclamation of the resurrection. Despite fear, perhaps because of fear, we are called to go and tell!

We are to consider the concrete ways we as individuals and a community can do this. This is our task:

Calm your fears enough that you can  tell someone the story of Jesus and the resurrection –

 particularly in

The best of times and in the worst of times, in the age of wisdom and foolishness, in the epoch of belief and incredulity, in the season of light and darkness, in the spring of hope and the winter of despair, when we have everything before us and when we have nothing before us, whether we are moving heavenward or the other direction...

 

Go tell others -especially those whom you know by name- that the empty tomb has brought change, a mystery not be ignored, and in emptiness offers possibilities for new life.  Jesus has gone before you and will meet you in the neighbourhood.

Thanks be to God. Amen.