April 12 Easter Sermon “Who Will Spread the News?” Based on Mark 16:1-8
Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties in our Easter service and do not have a video for it. Below you will find Pastor Fran’s Sermon.
I tried this week as much as possible to imagine what it might have been for the women in our scripture and the disciples to find out that Jesus was raised from the dead. Really most of them were in disbelief that he was dead. How could he let them kill him? Why did we desert him, maybe we could have made a difference? Their hopes and dreams were dashed. They had given up everything for Jesus and now look at what has happened. Was it all for naught? Was it all really worth it? Three days they sat in mourning. Three days they sat in disbelief at all that had happened to them. I’m sure these three days felt almost like an eternity to them. It was a dark and dismal time for them.
The talk around town was probably one of an, “I Told You So!” He couldn’t have been the Christ. He was just like all the rest of them who told us they were the Messiah. Deep down the disciples knew differently, but they couldn’t explain his death. They couldn’t explain his departure on the cross. It just didn’t make sense. And there the disciples sat on Easter Morning, hidden away in a house, worrying about their own safety, and what they should do next.
The women though, got up very early in the morning to go and anoint Jesus’ body. They went, purchased spices and headed to the tomb where Jesus was laid. Along the way they wondered about the stone. Who was going to move it for them? Who was going to push it out of the way? It would take a miracle to move it. They began to worry about this only to find that the tomb was already open when they got there. The stone had been rolled away. But by who?
They marched into the tomb and there was a young man in there dressed in a white robe. This must have been an odd and weird site to see. Immediately seeing him they were alarmed. They were distressed, upset, shocked. The young man, being an angel, says the normal angelic meeting words, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
What? Where? Huh? I imagine the women just backed out of the tomb stumbling over each other. They didn’t know what to say. This was beyond comprehension. This was beyond understanding. This had never happened before.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry the disciples and others were told to keep quiet about Jesus and the very moment that they are commanded to tell, commanded not to keep silent, these women don’t say anything. Fear has kept their mouths from opening. Mark’s Gospel does not end in a loving story of Jesus and the disciples living happily ever after. All is well with the world and everything is ok. No, it ends with a question. If these women are keeping silent, then who will spread the news? Who will tell the story?
We’ve seen this fear before haven’t we? Just this past Friday we heard of Peter who standing before the angry crowds was questioned about whether he knew Jesus, whether he was a follower, but Peter, like the women, kept his mouth shut, denying that he knew him. And I’m sure all of us have faced a similar situation, in which instead of standing up for God, we have allowed our fear to keep us silent. We have allowed the resurrection story to go untold, but is the resurrection story just a story we can pull out once a year and admire it only to push it to the back of our minds again until the next Easter?
I don’t think it is. It’s not a story that can go without others hearing it and we are here today not because of the women who kept silent, not because of the disciples who deserted Jesus, not because of the millions of Christians who have kept silent throughout the last 2000 years, but because God didn’t let the story go untold. One of the greatest things we learn in the resurrection is that God continues to bring strength out of weakness. He continues to advance his kingdom and will despite our failings. He knows how important it is that we hear about the resurrection, that we know about his love, that we understand his grace.
I think Mark ended his Gospel like this because it forces us to enter the story. We are the next chapter. The baton has been passed to us. And the question isn’t what will the women do or how long will they keep silent, but what will we do now that we have been let in on the news? Will we flee in fear and become silent? Will the story die with us? Will we obediently follow Jesus to Galilee or try to hunker down in our safe building?
The number one saying that is reverberated throughout scripture is, “Do Not Be Afraid.” I think God says it so much because we are a fearful people. We need to be reminded daily if not more than that to trust God, not to fear. Many around our world today will come to worship and hear this marvelous news about the resurrection only to leave church, have a wonderful Easter dinner, and go back to the routines of their lives. They are not changed, not caught in awe, not compelled to keep the story going by telling someone else.
One of our biggest fears I believe is being left out there alone. Being the only one telling others, the only one that may be banished from places, the only one persecuted for our actions or words. We are afraid to stand up alone for the truths of God that each of us know, but there is something we missed in the angel’s words if we think that way.
Let’s revisit his words. He says, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you.” Jesus is going ahead of you. Where God asks us to go, what God asks us to do, is what he has already been involved in. He leads the way. He makes the path. He will give us the words and you know what, if you feel like you’re going to fail or have failed in the past, the disciples felt the same way about Jesus’ death on the cross, but the power of God made it the greatest act ever done.
The resurrection was not just a nice occurrence. This was a mind-shattering unbelievable impossibility. And it represents the greatest news we could ever hear. That despite our failures and sin and shame and all the stuff that nailed Jesus to the cross, we have the privilege, the gift, of that same resurrection. It means that death does not have the final word. That the grave is not the end but we have an eternity to look forward to and not just one in a place like earth, but one in which we dwell in the presence of God. In a place where there is no more pain or sorrow or weeping or dying. A place in which God will wipe away our tears. And if that isn’t the best news we’ve ever heard I don’t know what is.
I don’t want this to be a guilt ridden sermon, but I want us each to realize the wonderful gift we have been given. I want us to realize our fear and I want us to now step past that fear. Do not be afraid said God to Abraham when he brought him to a new land. Do not be afraid God said to Moses as he sent him to Pharaoh to lead his people. Do not be afraid God said to Joshua as he entered the Promised Land. Do not be afraid God said to Gideon as he led the people back to God. Do not be afraid Jesus said to his disciples, but have faith. Do not be afraid God has said to every generation and church and person as he has led them throughout history. And today he says do not be afraid to us to be his church, his people. To stand up for him, to spread his word. Do not be afraid to carry the message on, to tell the story, to spread the news.
It is safer to remain silent, to treasure all these things in our hearts rather than to bare our hearts to others. But God isn’t looking for safety, he’s looking for people willing to step beyond that like he did to reach the world for him. Who will spread the news? Who will tell the story? I hope today, you get rid of the fears that keep us silent and say I will. Amen!
