Readings: Psalm 118:1-2,14-24, Isaiah 25:6-9, Acts 10:34-43, Mark 16:1-8
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, April 4th, 2021
In the gospel according to Mark, three of the ladies go along to the tomb of Jesus early on a Sunday morning. They are going with the intention of anointing the dead body of Jesus as He is laid to rest. They are not feeling at all positive … indeed question if their whole venture was an exercise in futility because over the entrance of the tomb a huge stone had been placed. It was placed there by the authorities, who feared that rumors of anything weird happening to the corpse would not be good!
The account we have in Mark, refers to several resurrection appearances that take place. It is often thought to have been a late addition to the gospel of Mark as it does not appear in some of the earliest manuscripts that have been discovered of his gospel. But then... things like resurrections take time to come to terms with. It was beyond belief!
Other gospels speak of Peter and John going to the tomb, and of Jesus meeting with the disciples for a fish supper, down by the lake before His Ascension. Paul, in his letters, tells us that there were numerous appearances, including one where a crowd of some 500 folk witnessed His presence.
While the details are as though somebody was explaining a mind boggling explosion of light into darkness... and all intensely personal... we know that this event, the resurrection, while hard to define, had an impact on the disciples that was so profound that they gave the rest of their lives to proclaiming that Jesus Christ had been raised from death, that they had seen Him, and that His love could transform people’s lives if they were open to the living, loving influence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, at work... within them and at work in the world around them.
His truth was marching on. The kingdom was still coming. Death had been swallowed up in resurrection. For evermore the Church were to be an Easter people, and “Hallelujah” was to be their song. Even after a year of pandemic we still take time out to celebrate, because we know this is worth it!
The sentence that struck me when reading the Mark passage was verse 3 “They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"”
There is that sense, in the words, of hopelessness, of almost, “What's the point in doing this, we know nothing can come of it, the obstacles are so great! ” It is a statement of disillusionment.
As we survey the state of Christianity in Western Civilization at the beginning of the 21st Century, there is a lot that can cause anxiety. The church has seen better days. Many, many people are no longer looking to the church for their spiritual life. There are many, many commitments that people are making that make it increasingly difficult to do so.
Folk are worried after COVID what the church will look like. Will people come back? Will they have become so used to staying home and watching services in their P.J.s with a cup of coffee in hand that they will not make the effort? We have reached folks we never reached before by having online services. Do we have to carry on doing everything online as well as in person?
Society is no longer built around the church calendar. Sunday is no longer a Sabbath to be kept holy, but just another day. Even church members, those who have stood in the front of their congregations and promised, “We will be faithful” find it virtually impossible to be even find one hour a week on a regular basis to be together in worship.
Finding volunteers to step up to the tasks that need doing is an ongoing battle. I am so thankful for those who take up their responsibilities with great seriousness, but I am also aware that as they do so, they can become quickly burnt out, because they are few. Our losses outnumber our gains. It feels like an irreversible tide.
There is the politicization and polarization of the faith that has taken place, causing huge divisions and great skepticism of people’s genuine religious commitment. When people throw themselves wholeheartedly behind political figures, either of the right or the left, and use their views as a basis for their moral decisions, things tend to become chaotic.
The negativity, the lack of respectful discourse, the ability to both glorify and demonize at the drop of a hat, the treatment of truth as a commodity... all this and more seems like an irreversible trend that is leading us on a road to nowhere.
I know for sure, that the nation I moved to over 20 years ago, is not the nation I am currently experiencing. And yes of course you can all give me a hundred reasons why... and we can all point the finger at people or events, but the fact remains... we are not where we were!
So, do I become disillusioned? Oh yes. I too, like the women on Easter morning, find myself asking... “Who will roll away the stone for us?” The stone of disbelief. The stone of hopelessness. The stone of disillusion. What happens to the women?
Firstly, we read, in verse 4 “They looked up.” They moved from a position of “Oh my gosh, what is going to become of us” to a position of “Oh my gosh, the stone has moved!” They do not know why the stone has moved. They do not know how the stone has moved. They just know the stone has been moved.
We are in a better position than the women. We know that the stone has moved because Jesus has been raised from death. They would get there! But for now, they are just looking up and wondering. Friends I do not know what the future holds. But I know who holds the future. God moved the stone. And … all the shifting and rumbling and trouble going on around us, dare we believe that God is still in control. Resurrection faith invites us to do that. To trust in what God is doing, that we not seeing! Look up!
Look up in prayer. Look up in faith. Look in hope. Look up in trust. We are not where we were, but neither are we called to stay where we are! There is a future. God has not finished with us yet. We have children. We have grandchildren. We love them and God loves them, and God cares for them just as God has cared for us throughout our lives. Look up!
Then we read in verse 7 “He is going ahead of you.” Who is the “He” in this verse? The verse is talking about Jesus. Jesus is going ahead of us. So maybe, like Peter, we need to put on our running shoes so we can keep up! There is a group of folks in our Presbyterian Church denomination who identify themselves as “Next Church.”
As part of this groups statement of faith they include these words “We believe God’s Kingdom comes not because we are confident in our own capacities, but because we trust in God, who can do more than we can ask or imagine. We are humbled and amazed that, in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God includes us in the work of redeeming all creation and reconciling the whole world.”
They acknowledge that we are going through an unusual time, but they keep asking, “What's next?” and recognize that in answering that question, God is way ahead of us! I mean isn't that the story of every day?
What did we do to make the sun rise this morning? Were we pulling the levers? Is there a little man just over the hill, in a little booth, like the Wizard of OZ, manipulating the galaxy so that the light arrived in time to celebrate an Easter outdoor service? Is somebody going to come running out and declare, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain?” Is a great big Easter bunny gong to hop into view and say, “April Fool”?
Verse 4 “They looked up.” Verse 7 “He is going ahead of you.”
Here around the communion table, as we share and reflect on Easter hope by sharing bread and wine, is a time to reinvigorate our lives and seek the faith that will get us through. As we, in the quiet and sanctuary of our homes, make this memorial, let us recall what a tough year we have travelled through. Let us remember all we have lost.
But let us not be embraced by despair. We are rising again from out of this crisis. The Stone is rolling away. Our God is good and able and powerful. We are the on the other side of midnight, walking in the Son’s light. Today is not the day for feeling a little down or a little disillusioned. Today is not the day we focus on the immovable stone.
Easter Day is the day we look up and declare, God has moved the Stone.
Easter Day is the day we declare, Christ is Risen, “He is Risen indeed!”
Easter Day is the day we declare we are Easter people and Hallelujah is our song.
Easter Day is the day when we declare, He... Jesus Christ... is going ahead of us.
So, do not fear, do not be discouraged. We believe that as there has been a yesterday church, as there remains a today church, so God is working on a next church. And we pray... Lord, help us, Lord keep us, Lord guide us, Lord feed us, Lord help us look up and help us remember that our lives and our times are always in Your hands! Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
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