Sunday of the Last Week:  The Day Everything Changed!
Rev. Marti Zimmerman
Smoky Hill UMC

Scripture:  Mark 16:1-13    NRSV

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.

Not much of an ending to the greatest story ever told if you ask me. Mark wrote the first gospel even thought the editor placed it second.  He tells how three women came to the tomb.  Remember, the body had been removed from the cross just before the Sabbath candles were lit on Thursday night.  Sabbath law meant nothing could have been done, no work,  no care of the dead body until the Sabbath prayers were completed.  According to Mark,  the women were up early,  like the folks out at Red Rocks this morning,  up before dawn,  up before the sun rose.  They worried how they would enter the cave to prepare the body. The stone was too big for them to move,  but they went anyway.

Much to their surprise, the cave was open,  Inside Mark says there was an angel who asked them why they look for the living among the dead? Jesus was risen.  They should go tell the disciples including Peter,  --you remember Peter--  the one who promised to stand beside Jesus no matter what, but who ended up running scared when Jesus got in trouble. Jesus would be waiting for them --including Peter,  back in Galilee where the whole Kingdom of God business had begun.  The women didn’t actually see the risen Christ themselves. They left too afraid to tell anybody about their angel encounter or the amazing thing God.

 So who did tell?   

Matthew’s story has only two women at the tomb, who also had an angel encounter but as they turned to leave, 

they met the Risen Christ himself. They too are told to go back to Galilee,  the fishing region where it all started.

Luke’s gospel tells us there were five women at the tomb early Sunday.  There they encountered two angels who told them   “Jesus was alive.” Like Mark’s story, they didn’t see the Risen Christ in the garden. Luke has the disciples, men and women, encounter Jesus in and around the city of Jerusalem, until the spring harvest festival of Pentecost some 50 days later.  

Finally, John’s gospel says only one woman, Mary Magdalene, came to the garden,  and there saw and spoke to the Risen Christ before rushing back to tell the disciples what she had seen. 

My grandma and I used to argue about whether the Bible was inerrant, is it word for word with no errors true?

She could read these four passages and see no contradictions. I couldn’t. What I learned from those heated discussions between two persons of deep faith and strong opinions, was that I read the Bible seriously,  but not literally. 

It seems to me that the four Gospels are a bit like my dad’s family. My aunt Ruth started a family history a few years ago,  but when her brothers and sister read the stories,  they,  who had been present too,  didn’t remember the details the same way.  At all! So my aunt Zeal and my uncle Jerry are now writing their own versions,  to set the story straight.  That’s just what Mark says in the beginning of his gospel. 

Easter can be difficult for many Christians, especially in a scientific age. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not rational. The stories differ.   We have no videotapes or photos, no recordings to confirm what people experienced. 

While the number of women and angels differ, the Gospels all agree, the tomb is empty and Jesus was experienced as being alive after the crucifixion.  Why? Because God is in the transformation business! And that is what is true.  Jesus was not bound by the cross or the tomb, but went back to his Kingdom building work.

Something special happened to take a group of women, brokenhearted and fearful, and turn them into a strong community able to speak publicly of their faith.

Something special happened that transformed a defeated and depressed group of men into a missionary force willing to face the Roman Empire with the good news that Christ is alive, not dead, that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, not Caesar. This little group, was transformed by Jesus’ encounters giving them the strength to stand accused of being unpatriotic, to endure persecution and harassment by the Roman government, to face jail time and even confront the lions in the coliseum.    Jesus is Lord,  not the powers of this world!

Something special happened in the Upper Room when Thomas had his doubts,   on the Road to Emmaus,  where the disciples didn’t even recognize Jesus until they broke bread again.

Something special happened and it didn’t stop with those who had known Jesus and heard his Kingdom teachings while alive. Paul years later had an encounter with the living Christ  on the road to Damascus that led to his transformation from one who persecuted those irritating little bands of Christians into one of our greatest missionary preachers.

Something special happened because even today we celebrate Jesus is alive and God is still in the transformation business.

That’s what’s true about Easter. What is important about all these flowers and music,  is whether Jesus dead or alive to you? Is he an interesting old, old story hidden inside a dusty Bible on your shelf or have you taken the time to get to know his teachings, his example, to make Jesus a living friend, to see him at work in our world.  

Are you willing to let God transform the dead places of your life  into spaces of hope and new possibility?

What’s dead in your life? Your marriage,  your job,  your compassion for others,  your values and youthful idealism?

What in your life is stuck in a tomb,  buried,  smelly and rotting?

Johnny Cash was a success by thirty.  He was also an addict.  He started with pep pills,  then anti-depressants and some days he took 100 pills just to make on the stage and back to bed.  One morning he woke up in a Georgia jail.    It wasn’t the first time. 

The jailer said,  “Johnny,  one of the night men found you stumbling around the streets.  We only brought you in so you wouldn’t hurt yourself. I'm a big fan of yours. I've always admired you. It's a shame to see you ruining yourself like this. I didn't know you were this bad off."

The jailer shook his head sadly and said, "I don't know where you think you got your talent from Johnny, but if you think it came from God like I do, then you sure are wrecking the body God put it in."

With that the jailer opened the cell door and let Johnny Cash go free.

Cash later said,  “It was that reference to God that suddenly cleared my mind.  It hadn’t occurred to me to turn to God for help.  I realized I would need all the power I could get in kicking my habit and I knew this power could only come from God.  I asked God to go to work on me then and there and God did.  …He set me free.

Do you want to be set free?   

God is still in the transformation business making dead places live.  And this place is a transformation station, a place where we can read four gospels  learn about the stories Jesus told and hear truth in them.   

This place is where folks found forgiveness and started over again in broken marriages.    

This is a place where people gather,  with open minds and open hearts,  willing to bring their hurts and hopes, 

their wounds and dreams.  And the Easter truth is, when we gather Jesus shows up,  alive not stuck 2000 years back in a tomb,  but alive and at work in the hands of mercy,  in the acts of justice,  in the tears of share compassion,  Alive,  at work among us transforming the dead and the fearful and the doubters and the despairing

into God’s hands,  reaching out to roll stones away and bind up the brokenhearted. 

A friend told the story of an elderly man in the hospital following a serious heart attack.  Although heavily sedated he kept calling for his son in the military. When a young Marine came on the floor in uniform,  the nurse said, “Thank God you’re here,” and took him into the room as the old man called out his son’s name. 

The father reached out his hand and the young man took it and sat down beside the bed.  He stayed all night, 

offering words of love and comfort.  The nurse suggested the Marine take a break but he refused to let go of the old man’s hand. About dawn,  the old man breathed his last.  The Marine released his hand and went to tell the nurse. 

As she began to offer words of sympathy the young man asked, 

“Who was that man?” 

“Aren’t you his son?” 

“No,  my father is down the hall.  I was leaving when you brought me in here.  I saw how much he needed a son to be with him,  so I stayed.”

The cross is empty. 

The tomb is empty. 

Jesus is still alive and at work.

I never met him on the Sea of Galilee or in the Temple at Jerusalem,  but I saw him a few weeks ago in the midst of 150 youth fasting for 30 hours raising over $10,000 for hungry children around the world.

I saw him in the eyes of the homeless and the volunteers at Streetreach.

I knew he was busy when teams headed out from this place to Holly, Colorado to repair tornado damage,

to Texas to fix up hurricane-blasted homes.   I know he’s alive and present each Sunday when children hear from caring Sunday School teachers,  “God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Easter is about God at work in the Risen Christ,  transforming the dead places of our lives and our world 

into places of hope and possibility. When have you seen Christ alive and at work in the transformation business?

The risen one is among us, offering the energy and enthusiasm.  The cross is empty.  Jesus is not hanging there suffering but alive and at word in our world. 

Jesus is alive and at work in the world?

Is he working in and through you?

From Harvey Martz,  St. Andrews UMC.  Easter 2007. 

 Rev. Kent Millard, from Easter sermon 2005.

3  Many iIdeas from The Last Week by Marcus Borg and Jon Dominic Crossan – our Lenten Study Book