Mark 16:1-8

Mark 16:1-8 = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = &nb= sp; “Hope Behind the Stone”&= nbsp;

Apr= il 12, 2009 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &= nbsp; = By Rev. Kathy McDowell

Easter is one of the = most highly attended services of Christian worship.

We can see it right h= ere in our own church today.

Something has drawn u= s to attend church on Easter Sunday.

Maybe you’re on= e of the regulars here at PCCC and Ea= ster Sunday is a highlight for you.

Maybe you’re he= re because a friend or family member invited you.

Maybe you live in the neighborhood and Easter seems like a good time to check out this church you drive by every day on your way to work.&nb= sp;

If you are a guest to= day, and don’t have a church home, we especially welcome you.

There is something ab= out Easter - something hopeful - that draws us,

even for those who aren’t regular church goers. <= /span>

Maybe especially this= year, as many of us are struggling with all the bad news - unemployment or underemployment, financial losses -

we’re looking f= or good news.

If so, you’ve c= ome to the right place - for good news is another name for the gospel.

The Greek word evangelium is translated as good news or glad tidings.

The reading we just h= eard comes from the Gospel of Mark, and good news is what Mark promises.

If you check out the = very first verse of Mark’s Gospel, it says right there:

“The beginning of the good news of J= esus Christ, the Son of God.”

From that beginning, = to the very end of the gospel which we heard today,

Mark gives us an acco= unt of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But the reading we ju= st heard ends with the women running away,

filled with terror and amazement. There’s fear= , not hope.

How can this resurrec= tion account be good news? <= o:p>

Even though Mark̵= 7;s gospel is the shortest one, it is rich in details,

and this reading is no exception. One of the details= that weave through his account is that

despite the fact that= his disciples betray, desert and deny him,

there are several wom= en who stay with him throughout,

Mary Magdalene, Mary,= the mother of James and Joses, and Salome.

In all of the gospels= , women are the first witnesses of the empty tomb and the Risen Jesus. <= /span>

Of course, women didn= ’t record the gospels.

But if they had, can = you imagine what might have been

the story of these th= ree women who came to the tomb? <= br style=3D'mso-special-character:line-break'>

Of course, their stor= y must begin before this scene at the empty tomb.=

For these women are o= n the scene, standing at a distance when Jesus dies on the cross,

even as all of his di= sciples have deserted him. They are o= n the scene, watching, as Joseph of Arimathea takes t= he body from the cross, and lays it in an empty tomb.

Can you imagine the story of these women? For they had a story too . . . PAUSE

“We stood from a distance, watching Joseph.

We watched each agoni= zing step; he wrapped Jesus’ dead body in a linen cloth,

carried it into the t= omb, and then rolled the heavy stone across the front.

But it wasn’t u= ntil he rolled the stone against the door of the tomb that all our hopes died.

We had so trusted in = Jesus, and in all his promises about the kingdom of God. =

Now he was gone, cruc= ified, laid in a tomb, and his promises seem buried behind the stone, too.

It a Sabbath evening,= so we returned to our families and our homes

and went through the = motions of the Sabbath, our hearts heavy with grief.

But we were determine= d to return to the tomb. We knew someone had to care for the body of our beloved Jesus,

just as we had cared = for him while he lived, offering him a place of rest and refreshment,

a chance to get away = from the crowds whenever he was in Galilee.

Now, he would need so= meone to anoint his body, to prepare it for burial.=

It seemed like such a= small act for the grief we felt.

But it was often that= way for us.

Women did the small a= cts, while the real changes were left to our husbands,

to the elders, to the= Roman government. But we could nurs= e the babies, cook for our families, teach the children, keep the family rituals. And we could bury the dead.

When the Sabbath was = over, we bought the spices and perfumes we needed from the few shops that reopened t= hat evening. But we had to wait till very early the next morning, a Sunday,

before we could go to= the tomb, which was outside the city.

We met together and, = then as best as we could, we hurried;

we knew we had to att= end to his body which had been dead now for three days.

But as we walked in t= he rising heat, all we talked about was the stone, how heavy it was, who could help us move it. We couldn= 217;t bring ourselves to go over again what had happened.

That’s what gri= ef does to you. All our hope had disappeared. Our hearts were weighed down in grief= ,

but all we could talk= about who could help move the stone from the tomb.

It’s difficult = to describe how we felt as we came to the tomb.

Surreal and sorrowful, hopeless and helpless, all at the same time.

But then as we looked= up we realized that the stone had already been rolled back.

We went in the tomb a= nd we were struck with awe and amazement at what we saw.

There was a young man, sitting in the tomb, dressed in white.

We had never seen any= thing like it. He must have read the terror on our faces because he spoke with such assurance: Do not be alarmed; you are looking= for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.

He has been raised. H= e is not here.

But go, tell he disci= ples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee.

There you will see hi= m, just as he told you.

We had never seen or = heard anything like it. Maybe it wa= s the lack of sleep. Maybe it was our grief.

But all of us were ov= ercome with fear and awe and amazement and bewilderment.

And then we ran. We were stunned into silence. We were seized by fear.”

We’ve been imag= ing what the women at the tomb might have written.&= nbsp;

And in our imagining, that’s where the women’s story ends, for that is where MarkR= 17;s gospel ends too. <= /span>

But it seems like suc= h an awkward ending.

The early Christians = thought so too, and they added a couple of alternate endings,

one in the second cen= tury, and another century. Most Bib= les have notes about these endings.

These endings were a = way to more effectively say “The End.”

But we have to look a= t what Mark’s gospel was trying to do to understand this ending.

In his short, to the = point way in his gospel, the intention was to inspire disciples to continue his w= ork -

even the disciples who betrayed and denied and deserted him, the ones whose faith was wracked with grief and sorrow, the ones whose fear made them wonder if REALLY COULD cont= inue Jesus’ work.

Mark, with this endin= g that doesn’t seem to be an ending, is saying

that the gospel, this= good news, is “to be continued,” and by none other than us his followers!

And of course, we kno= w that Mark’s gospel did continue.

Someone once wrote th= at

“Easter says yo= u can put truth in a grave but it won’t stay there.”

The scene of the women fleeing in terror and amazement

was NOT the end of the story.

The presence of 2 bil= lion Christians worldwide,

nearly a third of the planet’s population, testifies to that.

Early that morning ne= arly 2000 years ago,

as the sun was rising= in the dawn sky over Palestine, Mary and Mary Magdalene and Salome were seized by fear. <= /p>

But they were also se= ized by hope. Hope that they would see their beloved teacher again.

Hope that despite the= ir failures, they were invited to follow Jesus.

Hope that he was goin= g ahead of them to Galilee, where they would see him just as he= told them.

Hope that Jesus lives= ! They were worried about the stone, but the stone had already been rolled back. <= o:p>

And as the stone was = rolled back they were seized by hope.

For each of us, the s= tone looks a little different.

For some of us, it is= a stone of despair and hopelessness.

For some of us, it is= a stone of cynicism and doubt.

For some of us it is = a stone of loss and grief.

For some of us it is = a stone of fear and faithlessness.

For some of us it is = a stone of anger and resentment.

For some of us it is = a stone of change that we cannot control.

But Easter invites us= into new beginnings.

A new beginning that = is based on something deeper,

something more sustai= ning, something more powerful, something that will last.

In the past we have p= ut our hopes in so many other things -

things that have crum= bled around us in the past year - =

money, jobs, success, achievements, status, our homes, our cars, our stuff.

Out of the dust of al= l that, maybe it’s time to put our hopes

in the good news of J= esus Christ, who alone can roll back the stones of our lives. =

That promise is as re= levant now as it was 2000 years ago.

The good news is the = Risen Christ goes before us, meeting us in Galilee. <= o:p>

And Norcross, and Duluth, and Atlanta, and Dunw= oody, and Lilburn, and Lawrenceville, and Roswell, and Decatur. The Risen Christ goes before us, meeting us where we’re at.

As we put our hopes and trust in Christ, we begi= n to see that the stones are already rolled back.

One author has writte= n this for Easter and it is my prayer for you:

“When we are all despairing

When the world is ful= l of grief;

When we see no way ah= ead

And hope has gone awa= y:

Roll back the stone.

Although we fear chan= ge;

Although we are not r= eady;

Although we’d r= ather weep and run away:

Roll back the stone.

Because we’re c= oming with the women;

Because we hope where= hope is vain;

Because you call us f= rom the grave and show the way:

Roll back the stone. [1]<= o:p>

This Easter, may you = see and trust in Jesus Christ,

who promises to be at= work in your life, rolling back the stones. Amen.