Sermon for Easter Sunday 3-31-24

He has been raised; he is not here. … tell his disciples he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you. 

The passage from Mark’s gospel appointed for Easter morning actually ends “ they fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”   Not exactly the rousing message of hope and new life we expect to hear on this day. I suspect that’s why we most often add the second part of verse 8, and all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter….

It’s Easter and we expect to hear a rousing proclamation of Christ’s resurrection, like the one that started our service – Alleluia, Christ is risen!  But all the stories tell us that the women who first shared the news of Jesus’ resurrection were more overcome with shock, alarm and amazement than leaping for joy. And really that is how resurrection life works for us all, it takes time for new life to unfold. 

John’s account of Easter morning tells us Jesus’ tomb was in a garden. I suspect in most of our imaginations it’s a late Spring garden, full of birdsong, greenery, bold colorful flowers, like the ones which fill the church today. But Mark’s account offers us another image to consider – an early Spring garden, like the one on the side of the church, or perhaps in your yard and mine. Shoots of greenery poking through the ground, some buds ready to unfurl, perhaps a few brave daffodils showing their faces. New life has come, but right now all we see are glimpses, hints of the promised abundance coming our way.

The women go to the tomb carrying spices, they go in fear – They find amazement, uncertainty and terror.  

These are the same woman who stayed with Jesus through his suffering and death. As the male disciples fled in fear or denied any connection with Jesus, They accompanied Jesus to the last. Mark says they watched from a distance, John puts them at the foot of the Cross. Regardless, they were there, and now they come to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.  It was risky to be a follower of Jesus, the disciples had locked themselves in the upper room for fear they would be arrested too. Perhaps a little less risky for these women who had less social standing, but risky nonetheless.  And yet, here they are, their arms full of oil and spices, determined to care for Jesus’ body, out in those early dawn hours when the birds have just begun to sing, wondering, who will roll away the stone so we can enter the tomb?

Their first surprise is the stone is already gone, the second the young man dressed in white who tells them you are looking for Jesus he has been raised he is not here. 

After all the shocks of the past few days, it’s no wonder their first reaction was terror and amazement. It surely seemed like way too much to believe that Jesus had been raised, that all the words he told them about rising on the third day were true, that the bonds of death have been broken.

That is the Easter story. In Jesus’ resurrection, God has overcome death in all its forms – violence, hatred, oppression – all that harms God’s beloved creation. The world is put right again, back to how it was intended in that first garden. 

The truth is God’s victory over death is not more readily apparent to us than it was to those first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. Our world has just as many shadows, just as much uncertainty as the early dawn light which lit their way to the tomb and their journey back to the gathered disciples.  But take heart because as our gospel today makes clear, Easter Day is just the beginning of new life. Even for those first disciples, resurrection life takes time to unfold. 

I hope you can see resurrection life peeking through the shadows, poking through the cracks and crevices around you. As the story of the women in the gospel reminds us, resurrection life is not always obvious. It’s not all trumpets and lilies and proclamations that Christ has risen. 

We expect our encounters with resurrection to be readily apparent, as brilliant as these flowers, as notable as the sweet scent that fills the church, as unmistakable as the heat of a summers day. But if the experience of Jesus’ resurrection was filled with shock, uncertainty and confusion for those first disciples, why would our experience be any different? 

Resurrection takes time to unfold. Time for Mary Magadene, Mary the mother of James and Salome to comprehend, to get past their shock and fear, to tell Peter and the other disciples, and to have enough experiences of Jesus’ risen self they were ready to proclaim the good news.  We are no different.  So if you’re not quite ready to go tell your neighbor Jesus has risen, it’s OK, you’re in good company. 

Resurrection life is all around us, if we have eyes to see. It may be as subtle as offering comfort to someone in pain or as brilliant as the churches who raise funds to pay off medical debt for for their neighbors. We see resurrection life when those who were estranged join hands in friendship, when nations seek the way of peace together. We see resurrection life in those who feed the hungry, offer shelter to the homeless or shoes to those who need them.

Thankfully Easter is too great a feast to be limited to one day. We have the full 50 days of Eastertide in which to begin to understand Jesus’ resurrection, to take into our hearts and souls and minds the truth that death shall have no dominion. We need these fifty days to grow into people who can live the Psalmists declaration – I shall not die but live, and declare the works of the Lord.

The Easter story, the story of life overcoming death is still unfolding here and now. Over the next 50 days we will hear how Jesus’ appears to his disciples, how they come to understand…  And we’ll ponder how resurrection unfolds in our lives and in our world.

Resurrection life is still unfolding, for us and for our world. Just like the women who went to the tomb, we too are called to be witnesses, to speak up about what we have seen and heard, to share the new life we’ve received, to tell of the works of the Lord.

In this Easter season, as we move from the amazement to understanding and from understanding to courage, I wonder what new life we will proclaim?  What works of God will our lives declare? Yes, our world is still full of shadows, still in need of the light of Christ’s resurrection.   The good news of Easter is that God is already victorious over all the powers of death – violence and isolation, pain and anguish.

What part of that story is yours and mine to tell?

May we listen well this Easter tide, so we can hear the voices of those who need the good news, so we can become confident witnesses of Christ’s resurrection.

Alleluia, Christ is risen, the Lord is risen indeed, alleluia.

 

© Karen Lawler, OEF