Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
A curious thing
happens in the Gospel of Mark that leaves us wondering.
There is a
secret, known as the “Messianic Secret”.
Who is Jesus?
As Jesus cast out
demons, “he would not permit the demons
to speak, because they knew him.”
Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell
down before him and shouted, "You are the Son of God!" But he sternly
ordered them not to make him known.
He cured the
leper, but instructed him saying, "See
that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer
for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
When he cures the
Gerasene Demoniac he does instruct him, a foreigner to "Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done
for you, and what mercy he has shown you."
But then after
raising a young girl from the dead he again “strictly
ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something
to eat.”
After curing a
deaf man with a speech impediment Jesus
ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously
they proclaimed it.
His disciples saw
Jesus transfigured on the mountain, his appearance radiating heaven’s light and
glory, yet “As they were coming down the
mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after
the Son of Man had risen from the dead.”
In spite of all
these warnings, Jesus fame as a miracle worker spread throughout the region, so
much so, that he could not go anywhere without being followed by the crowds.
Then, there is
the turning point in the Gospel, when Jesus sets his sight on Jerusalem, and
begins to teach his disciples that he must go there to suffer and die.
As Jesus was led
to the cross, his disciples fled out of fear.
And on the cross,
Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
"Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?"
And he died.
Then came that
morning, the women at the tomb, and the angel’s message to the women, "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. 7 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."
Throughout the
Gospel, he has admonished people to not say anything, but now, finally, comes
the command to go and tell.
But the women “fled from the tomb, for terror and
amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were
afraid.”
And there, the
Gospel of Mark ends.
For they were
afraid.
Finally there is
a message to proclaim, but terror and amazement seized them and they were speechless.
Hearing this
ending to the Gospel, we go, “wait, what, but they must have told someone!”
There has got to
be something more. Someone has to tell
the story, otherwise, how would we know?
Someone has to
share the Good News.
And there is
where the Evangelist turns to us.
Someone has to share the good news, how about you?
We live in a
world that desperately needs to hear a good word.
A man, Stephan
Clark, was standing unarmed in his back yard when the police decided to open
fire, and kill him. He was shot 8 times,
and six of those shots hit him in the back.
Rogue officers once again targeting the people they are called to
protect, and killing primarily black people.
This is the
nation and the times we live in.
15 students and
two teachers are gunned down at Parkland high school. 6 minutes and 20 seconds was all the time it
took.
Our children are
being killed in their schools, and they’d rather not be.
They march,
thousands filled the streets last weekend.
“Do something” is
the demand. “Do something.”
And yet we
probably won’t, and there will be another shooting, another act of violence,
and the senselessness of it all will be on display for all to see, once again.
This is the
nation and the times we live in.
We have been
embroiled in two different conflicts, military campaigns, in the Middle East.
It all started
that fateful September morning in New York and Washington, DC. Four airliners, two skyscrapers, and the
Pentagon were hit. Over three thousand
people died. And so we responded.
In Afghanistan.
In Iraq.
Overwhelming
military force quickly toppled those governments. But the wars linger on. The violence continues. Are we safer?
Many of us
rejoiced that the cold war was over, but now, as tensions increase once again
between us and Russia we wonder where we are headed.
And North Korea
is flexing its muscle, actively testing and deploying nuclear weapons.
This is the world
and the times we are living in.
We could use some
good news.
“But they said nothing to anyone, for they were
afraid.”
We live in a Good
Friday world, standing at the foot of the cross, with violence, suffering, and
death in full view, and yet we look with hope to the empty tomb.
That’s the Easter
message.
There are two
truths that stand out for me this day:
First, that as
sinful human beings, our power and authority is far too often exercised in
violent ways leading to death and destruction.
That’s the power we have.
As Commander in
Chief the President can order the death of whole nations.
Terrorists can commandeer
an airplane and wreak havoc on our world.
A troubled youth
with a AR-15, a gun that is far too easy to purchase, can in the course of a
few moments end the lives of his classmates and teachers.
And a few bad
officers, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of vengeance, can open fire and end
a life, at will.
This is the power
we have. Power to kill and destroy.
But secondly, the
other truth is more important than the first.
God’s power and
authority resides in his ability to conquer death, and give life.
“"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of
sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
This last
September, my father, who had come to live with us, died.
One of the things
that was so important to his faith is summed up in two words: “so that”.
As Paul states in
Romans:
Therefore we have been buried with him by
baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Christ died and
rose again, “so that”
We were baptized
into Christ’s death, “so that”
There is a rhyme
and reason to it all, there is a “so that”
“So that we too
might walk in newness of life.”
The prophet
Isaiah describes this newness of life when he speaks God’s word:
“They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
So that we
too might walk in newness of life.
So that we
shall not hurt or destroy on all God’s holy mountain.
Faced with all the
violence and death in our world, we stand not defeated, but rather we live as
and “Easter People”.
We live, trusting
in the power of God to give life.
We live, trusting
that death will not have the final say.
And we live as
people of the promise.
The Resurrection
of Jesus points us not only to a future hope, but also to a present reality.
Life is not defeated.
And Love wins.
One of the most
moving things about the youth movement led by people such as Emma Gonzales, a
survivor of the Parkland shootings, is that these young people have found their
voice.
They are shouting
out to the nation and world that it need not be this way.
I believe that
we, as the followers of Jesus, need to once again find our voice.
The women fled
from the tomb and said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.
Fear seeks to drown
out the message we are called to proclaim.
But we can’t let
our fear, be the final word.
We need to bear
witness to the Author of Life, and to the fact that life, not death, will
prevail.
It is certain
that the violent forces in our world will not end soon. They will continue.
But neither is
God’s work done yet. Resurrection is
happening, even now, as we gather.
And a new life in
Christ is coming.
For Christ is
Risen, he is Risen indeed, Alleluia.
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