Threatened With Resurrection

 By Rev. Gusti Linnea Newquist

April 8, 2012 Sermon--Resurrection of Christ Sunday

Mark 16:1-8


“So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to no one, for they were afraid.”

Oh, dear.

This really was not what we were expecting. We have become so used to John’s Gospel story on Easter Sunday. An entirely enthusiastic reunion with Mary Magdalene and Jesus and Peter and a gardener to set us free in lily-white dresses and blue satin sashes. Which is what we all want in the end, is it not?

Somehow we have ended up here. Gospel of Mark version, original ending restored. Our key witnesses over-laden with unused ointment, tongue-tied in terror, an alleluia stuck in their throat, replaced with something that sounds more like a resounding, “aaaaaaaaaaa . . ?”

They are threatened with resurrection, here at the empty tomb. Where things just aren’t making a whole lot of sense . . .

It is worth remembering, of course, that these three women (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome), they have seen it all. They have birthed and they have bled and they have fed and they have bathed their young, like good Jewish women of Galilee. They have scrubbed the scales of the fish in the Lake of Galilee until they had no more scales to scrub, working their fingers to the bone. They have figured out ways to make ends meet that they were sure were not ever going to meet. And they have buried their old, and far-too often they have buried their young. And they have seen the cross a thousand times. And yes, they were there when they crucified our Lord . . . 

And the thing is, they can handle all of that! In a way, they can handle all of that. They know all too well the fragile thread of human existence, and death is nothing new to them, and bitterness is nothing new to them, and doubt is nothing new to them, and resentment is nothing new to them. And they have figured out a way, in their own way, to handle all of that!

It’s the other side of that cross that brings them to their knees. This “nothing” that is a profound something by its very nothingness . . .

Which is that He is not here! He has been raised, as he said!

Which means that how they have been “handling all of that” is now radically undone! It doesn’t need to be “handled” at all! Jesus has gone right on back to work in Galilee! Right on back to where the ministry began in the first place! Right on back to preparing a place for them—and us!—to follow. And by God, the angel says to anyone who will listen, if you know what is good for you’ll get right on out of whatever tomb your cross has put you in and get back to work right along with him! Because God isn’t done with Jesus yet. And Jesus isn’t done with you yet. And God knows Jesus isn’t done with me yet!
Alleluia! Amen!


But can we just admit the threat of resurrection for a minute? Can we just admit that Jesus knows how we too easily entomb within the holy temple of our bodies a burning rage or despair or sadness over whatever cross we have borne. Or guilt. Or vengeance. Tell the truth! And that tomb of terror sits right here, where the compassionate heart of God is supposed to be beating with joy within us. Can we just admit we might very well be more threatened by the thought of God emptying that tomb that dwells within us than we are by the cross that put it there in the first place? Because that tomb makes sense to us. We have oil and spices to lay on those bitter wounds. We have figured out how to “handle” it.

And yet here we are on Easter Sunday morning. With two Marys and Salome. And the stone on that tomb that has encroached itself around the beating heart of God within us been rolled away, with no effort on our part. With absolutely no effort on our part! And what do we find instead . . ?

That the beating breathing boundless body of Christ bids us back to that life-giving Lake of Galilee. Wherever that lake may be in your life and in mine. To resurrect together his ministry of justice and peace and healing and wholeness. And grace, in the end. And grace . . .

Which is what the ministry of Jesus has always been about, after all. And a little thing like a crucifixion isn’t going to get in the way of that. Not now. Not ever. And that is the gospel truth.

Alleluia. Amen.

We at Madison Square know this story in our bones, do we not? We know how God can wrestle a resurrection out of a devastating despair, because God has done it right here in our midst. Can I get an Amen? We know that a trip back to Galilee to figure out how to do Christ’s ministry in a new way for a new day is worth the weary ride.

We have seen a resurrection in this congregation, have we not? And we will see it again . . . and again . . . and again . . . and again because it is the mission of Madison Square “to seek and be receptive to the Spirit of God” in all things, and that Spirit is indeed “working all things together for good for those who love God and are called to God’s purpose,” and that means us!! And that Spirit has already rolled away the stone, and has already gotten us started on this resurrection life, and we are just getting started!

Alleluia! Amen.

And so when the angel says, “Go and tell,” we really can go and tell. Because we have seen it, and we have lived it, and we know it can change the world. We know that it already has.

“There is no bad from which good cannot come,” the beautiful Spanish proverb is translated into English. No hay mal que por bien no venga. And this is the gospel truth. There is no bad from which good cannot come.

So whoever you are, from wherever you have come, whatever you have done, whatever has been done to you, whatever has been left undone . . . the tomb is empty for you! The ministry continues for you! The alleluia has been shouted for you! The new life begins with you!

So go . . . and tell!

Alleluia! Amen.