An Easter sermon on Mark 16

Meditation on Mark 16. 1-8
For Worship in the ecumenical centre on Monday April 23 2007
Ecumenical Prayer Cycle: Somalia and Djibouti.
When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Roll away the stone

They had stood and sat for hours at the foot of the cross
watching minute by minute the torture, suffering and death
of the one they had followed,
the one who had taught them more about the meaning of life than anyone.

There had been no time at the end of that tragic day for much more than a hurried burial
And so at the earliest moment following the day of rest
the women return to the grave
Their hearts are weighed down with grief
And in their hands they carry the pungent perfumes and sad spices
for anointing a precious dead one
Yet their talk, their chatter if you will,
was of the practical problem of how they will manage to roll away the stone.
Those of you who have had to organize the funeral of a loved one will understand this need to focus on and talk about practical matters ... the funeral tea, food, transport, papers…
Talking about these things rather than about our beloved means that our voices don’t break down and tears don’t run down our cheeks the whole time,
nor do we feel quite so laid down by the leaden lethargy of grief …

Focusing on the practical unction with perfume and the heavy stone to be rolled away
no doubt helped those first female disciples to rise from their beds so early that morning
Their rising early and setting off for the tomb also speaks to us in a profound way of how the wondrous work of resurrection is already under way on that first Easter morning
Although unaware, they have already been touched by its energy, renewal and transformative power

When they arrive at the tomb the stone is rolled away,
no need now to find the muscle power they feared they lacked.
But the body of their teacher,
the one who taught them righteousness, justice, love and meaning, is not there.
The anointing cannot happen.
So much for focusing on the practical.
The young messenger robed in white, tells them, shows them, what has happened
Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified has been raised!
And the messenger gives them a new task – which is both practical and spiritual
That of going and telling the other disciples and Peter that Christ precedes them to Galilee.
To become bearers of this resurrection message they will need to roll away even larger stones than the one that covered the tomb:
The massive stone of their own fear,
the stone of their aphasia – they must dare to speak,
dare to say what they have experienced and seen, dare to be ridiculed and not believed –
And the stone of others’ prejudice will also need to be rolled away – why should anyone want to believe three grief-stricken women?

Yet even though the text says “and they said nothing to anyone” we know they overcame their fear and spoke,
We know this because we are still telling the story today. (I could of course make an easy joke about it always being difficult to shut women up, I’ve heard something along those lines in Easter sermons over the years.)
Actually the resurrection makes it difficult to shut any of us up.
Christ’s mighty resurrection destabilises and transforms the status quo,
women who are struck dumb with fear are given a message to announce – roll away the stone

incredulous disciples are given a new truth and a new path – roll away the stone

the perfume of death is replaced with the sweet smell of life triumphing – roll away the tomb

the grieving are given grounds for rejoicing – roll away the stone…

And yet I wonder,
particularly as we reflect and pray this week with the peoples of Somalia and Djibouti,
and over coming weeks with other countries in the horn of Africa
do I really believe in the resurrection? Do we believe in the resurrection?
Can it be possible to roll away the stone in southern Somalia - after more than a generation of misrule by local warlords?
Can the illegal trade in small arms and light weapons be transformed into a culture of peace? Will the many unemployed in Djibouti ever find decent work?
Will the tens of thousands of refugees ever be able to build homes and live in peace?
Will famine be overcome and a just sharing of the world’s food resources ever be possible?

And do I really believe that my concern, my prayers, my campaigning, my anger, my voice, my action make any difference?

I suppose I really do – even the western European, doubting, secularised, cynical kind of Christian that I am does really believe that my, that our, bearing spiritual and practical witness together with others will make a difference.

And given how cynical I can sometimes be that is certainly something the transformative power of resurrection has done – roll away the stone.

As the three women fled the tomb in fear on that first Easter morning
I am sure that as they began to slow down and calm down they will have begun to see things differently, and perhaps also begun to say to each other, just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke's resurrection story,
“this morning was different, even before we got to the tomb, we could feel something, a presence, his presence burning inside us helping us on our way.”
That presence of the living Word will have helped them find words to tell the resurrection message, and opened the ears of others to listen
The message is simple – there is hope, there is hope, there is life, there is love.

The message entrusted to those first three witnesses was practical and spiritual.

There are many more than three of us today. Yet we too are often in fear.

Christ’s resurrection calls us out of our lethargy of grief and helplessness
as we look at our own lives and today's world,
and offers us transformative practical and spiritual hope, concrete hope which we must share. Calling us to focus not on the perfume of death but on the risen one who precedes us and calls us and all humanity insistently back to life.

It is a serious but also a joyous task.

In the face of personal tragedy, death camps, famine, genocide, child soldiers and war
In the face of high school massacres, battered children … and much, much more -
roll away the stone.

Amen

copyright: Jane Stranz/WCC