What will you do?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
April 4th 2010
Easter Meditation
Communion Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Isaiah 65:17-25; Mark 16:1-8
“What Will You Do?”

This is a story that we know well. Jesus lived, Jesus died, and Jesus lived again. It is pretty simple and a bit too familiar. Our familiarity with this story is probably more of a hindrance than a help. We know it; there is no need to dwell on it, so let us focus on where we will have our Easter meal. After all, if the whole affair is settled, the only thing left to talk about is the other stuff of the holiday.
One of the things we often focus on is the right way to celebrate. But I must admit that I am not interested in the cultural concerns about Easter. The questions like what does the Bunny have to do with this holiday? Or, what does chocolate, and decorated eggs have to do with the resurrection? There is even a movement afoot to get Christians to stop calling this holiday Easter and refer to it instead as Resurrection Sunday. I believe the conversations around the “cultural war” issues and even the type of food served for dinner is about on the same level of ultimate importance. When God overcame death, I believe we can and should be attentive to that which has ultimate impact.
On that first Easter Sunday, the woman went to the tomb. They expected to find Jesus dead. But, before they did that, they observed the Sabbath. Despite their entire world collapsing, they still observed the Sabbath. When everything was gone they still believe that God could be trusted. It was a supreme act of trust. But despite trusting God, despite having spent three years learning from Jesus, they could not believe what they found. These women were part of the community of faith. They knew the stories of the New Heaven and New Earth. They were raised, and raised others, on the vision of the wolf and the lamb. They knew that one day God would bring about this reality. But I wonder if their familiarity with the story that it had lost its’ power to transform. Were they thinking about the afternoon meal which would follow their early morning visit to the tomb? On that first Easter, their neatly ordered world of faith came apart. Despite being with Jesus for three years, and more, they just did not expect to find anything other than death. Hearing about the resurrection and the new day dawning had not prepared them to see an empty tomb. When the knowledge of faith came face to faith with experience, these first witnesses to the Resurrection the respond in terror. Terror is the first response to Easter. And we sing Alleluia.
The Gospel of Mark was the first written Gospel. In the oldest versions of this Gospel it ends when the women run away in terror. The story ends in terror and silence. The do not tell anyone. It is an odd way to end the gospel. After all, if they did not really tell anyone, we would not be here this morning. So why did it end that way? It is rather disturbing. It is so disturbing that later Christians thought it necessary to add more information. But, in adding to this strange ending, we miss something powerful.
If the story ends with the woman saying nothing and yet we have obvious proof that they told at least one person, there is something deeper at work. If we know how the story goes and we know they told others, what possibly are we to take from this? I believe the ending of the gospel in this way, invites us into the story. More than just knowing the details and being able to say: “He is risen!” The truth is that until we are able to get in touch with the terror, the implications of the empty tomb, our alleluias will lack vigor and possibly authenticity.
The empty tomb should cause us terror. Or at least before we sing alleluia we should ask ourselves, what reason we would have to be terrified at the empty tomb. Today is the forty-second anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I think this anniversary brings home the reality of what can happen to people who stand up for the love and peace of God. The vision of a world where all children would join hands – black and white – slave and free – is the vision of the Wolf and Lamb feeding together. And when we hear it we all want to say yes. But, when the vision meets the hard work of implementation, we start to get nervous. Terror arises with the realization that an assassins’’ bullet or a cross might be the end result. It is then when we can begin to grasp the terror facing those women.
The women run in fear because they knew that from now own they did not need to live in fear. However, this way of living might very well cost them their lives and that is the root of the terror. But despite fear, they do speak. After realizing that death no longer had the last word the terror subsided and faith took root. Where are the places of your fear? As you sit down to eat with family and friends on this day, take a moment and remember. Remember that we have so much more for which to be thankful, but it is not always what we expect. So we have come, we have seen the empty tomb, there is just one thing left to say: “What will you do, now that you know? Amen.