Easter 2003 (B)

Text: Mark 16:1-8

Silent No More!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Come! Come, let us celebrate together!

Today is the feast of victory of our God!

Come! Come, let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!

Rich and poor, young and old, good and bad.

Come, all, and feast royally,

for the table of the Lord is bountifully spread!

Let no one go hungry.

Partake, all, of the banquet of faith.

Enjoy the bounty of the Lord’s goodness!

Let no one grieve being poor,
for the universal reign has been revealed.

Let no one lament persistent failings,
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death,
for the death of our Saviour has set us free.

The Lord has destroyed death by enduring it.
The Lord vanquished hell when he descended into it.
The Lord put hell in turmoil even as it tasted of his flesh.

Hell grasped a corpse, and met God.
Hell seized earth, and encountered heaven.
Hell took what it saw, and was overcome by what it could not see.

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?

Christ is risen, and you are cast down!
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and life is set free!
Christ is risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead.

Christ is risen from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Christ be glory and power forever and ever. Amen!

Each year we look forward to this greatest of all celebrations in the Christian calendar. To the joy and hope of Easter. We look forward to be able to say with exuberance and conviction, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

But as we go back to that first Easter described in our Gospel reading, we find something quite unusual. The Easter joy and gladness seems elusive and lost. The angel’s greeting to the women: “He is risen!” is met with fear; with trembling and bewilderment. What is worse, and what has bewildered Biblical scholars for 2000 years, is that it is exactly there where Mark ends his Gospel: “They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Afraid. Thus ends the Gospel according to Mark.

I believe that Mark intentionally leaves us hanging and crying out, “It can’t just end like that!” And if St. Mark were here today, I’m sure he would respond to us, with a gleam in his eye, “You are right! It can’t just end like that. So, what are you going to do about it?” Are you going to walk away from this Easter celebration, silent, not telling anyone about what you have heard and seen? Are you going to walk out of here, afraid of what other might think about you, should you let them know of your hope in the resurrection of the dead?

Yes, there is more to the story than fear and silence. And that is where we come in. The Easter story is not just about the women at the tomb. It is also the story of our journey with Jesus. Our journey begins at the tomb of Jesus. But how is it going to end? Is it going to end with silence and fear? That is the question Mark leaves us with at the end of his Gospel.

The angel tells the women to go and tell the disciples that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee where they will find him. Galilee. That is the place where the Gospel of Mark begins. After John is put in prison, Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. That is where the Gospel of Mark begins. That is where the disciples are to go. It is in Galilee that Jesus commissions his disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

As we come to the end of the Gospel of Mark, we too are redirected to Galilee, back to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. But we are not just directed to the Galilee of Jesus 2000 years ago, but to our Galilee, to our city of Toronto; to your neighbourhood, to your school and workplace, your street and home. For that is where Jesus is going on ahead of you to meet you. He has work to do there and is waiting for you to catch up and join him in your own Galilee.

This morning we rejoice to have Jalal and Nelson join us as fellow children of God and workers in his kingdom here in our Galilee of Toronto. Jalal, born into a Muslim family in Iran; Nelson, born into a Lutheran household in Toronto (but whose parents are originally from Zimbabwe in Africa). Jalal, an adult whose heart has responded to the call of the Gospel; Nelson, an infant, whose mother has responded to the offer of God’s free grace in Baptism. Two individuals, a world and a generation apart, and yet, born into the same family of God in this place and at the same time. Such is the grace of our lord Jesus working here in our Galilee 2000 years after that first Easter.

So, how about you? Have you come to this Easter celebration looking for Jesus? Yes, we must come here first, for we are soiled and stained by sin. Here, in the Lord’s Supper we meet Christ crucified. Here we come to feed on his body, crucified for us and to drink his blood, shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Here we receive the cleansing first extended to us in our Baptism. Here we are assured of God’s ongoing forgiveness, acceptance and presence with us through his Holy Spirit.

But as we receive Christ’s body and blood, the Easter miracle also happens to us! Even as we eat the body and blood of our crucified Lord, he is resurrected within us; he becomes alive in us through the power of the Spirit. With Christ living in us, we no longer remain at the tomb, but are called forth into the world as his disciples, proclaiming God’s peace and love to all mankind. We are silent no more. Fear has been banished by the living Christ. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.