The Greatest Story Still Being Told ~ Mark 16:1-8 ~ Easter Sunday ~ April 8, 2012

To have a great story, you must have a great ending…

A great ending rewards us for our interest…  A great ending makes us feel that the story was worth hearing… 

But one thing we could say about the Gospel of Mark is that its ending is a little bit disappointing.

We hear the good news that Jesus has been raised from the dead—but there’s no word of any post-resurrection appearances to the three women in this story—or to anyone else.

Secondly, the three women who witness his resurrection are so overcome with fear and amazement that they tell no one of what they’d witnessed.

And just like that, the Gospel ends.

This ending was so disappointing that it’s believed that two “endings” were added on to the book of Mark long after it was written.  This is suspected because the oldest manuscripts of Mark still in existence don’t include these endings.  Both of these “endings” give accounts of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances which would make for a more satisfying end to Mark’s Gospel story as a whole.

So if we take our Gospel text to be the ending of Mark’s story of Jesus, we may be disappointed with the way it ends. 

But this is not a story about Jesus letting people down…  So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of these three women… 

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were among the few who had stayed with Jesus to the very end.  They were there when he was crucified; they were there when he died.  And they were going to be there for him one more time, bringing spices to anoint his body as it lay in the tomb.

And when they arrive at the tomb, they are met with the last thing they’d expect: the stone is rolled away, and a man in a white robe tells them that Jesus has been raised.  He tells them that they are to go and tell his disciples that Jesus is going home to Galilee.  He promises them that they and the disciples will see Jesus alive.

But they run away; perplexed and scared to death over what had just happened.  And who could blame them?  They saw their Messiah die and be buried in the tomb.  This very event would have been enough to absolutely destroy their faith.  And to find out now that Jesus was alive would have only added to the crisis.

But remember—the white-robed man promised that they would see Jesus.  All they have to do is to go home, and there, they will see him—just as he had promised.

And even though they’re scared; even though they fail to share the good news of the things they had witnessed, Jesus will keep his promise.

This is good news for us because all of us will have walked in the shoes of these three women at some point in our lives.  We know what it’s like to be in crisis.  We know what it’s like to suffer losses and trials so great as to call into question everything we’ve ever believed about God.  And we know what it’s like to hear God’s promises and find them to be un-believable.

But the story of the resurrected Jesus teaches us that he will not leave us behind in our times of crisis.  Jesus goes ahead of us to meet us wherever we are when the crisis comes.  Not only will he be there for us, we will see him.  He will reveal himself to us as one who gives us hope and sustains us in those times when we feel as though we cannot go on.  He will do whatever it takes to make his presence real to us.  A risen and living Savior is not one who stays up in heaven, far removed from us as we struggle down here, below.  A risen and living savior is one who does amazing things to bring hope and new life to all that is dreary and dead in the world. 

And even though we may fail Jesus and by not obeying him or trusting in his promises, Jesus will not fail us.  His love and compassion will continue to flow into our lives even in those times when we cannot see him or believe.

The purpose of God’s Word to us this Easter day is that we would believe in the risen and living Jesus.  And even though this can be so difficult to do, we believe in him by receiving him in all the ways he comes to us.  We’re given the gift of Scripture, through which we come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and learn of his will for our lives.  We’re given the gift of baptism, where he claims us; and the gift of Holy Communion, where he feeds and nourishes us.  And we’re given the gift of sisters and brothers in the faith; in whom we can see and experience Christ’s love.

The story of Jesus is not one that’s confined to the pages of Scripture; it is a story that is still being told in your life and mine.  Your Jesus is alive so that you can experience all of the treasures of God’s unconditional love and ever-present care.  And even though we don’t know what ups and downs lie ahead of us in this life, we know that Jesus will work in our lives to lead us to resurrection and everlasting life in the presence of God. 

What a great hope we have to celebrate this morning! 

And what better way can we celebrate than to join together as One Body in Jesus Christ to tell the story of his love with the world?