“How Does It End?” by the Rev. Don Wahlig, March 31, 2024, Year B / Easter –  Isaiah 25:6-9  • Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 • Acts 10:34-43 • Mark 16:1-8

THEME:  Take up our Easter mission by continuing Christ’s work of serving the needs of others.

We all know that the last line of a book or movie is a critical part of the story, maybe the most important part. Those last few words sum up the hours we have spent following the hero on their journey through the plot. Good closing lines are ones that stay with you long after you’ve closed the book or left the theater. For the very best, those last few words are memorable enough for us to name the title. So, let’s try a few. I’ll give you the last line and you tell me the book or movie.

“And so, as tiny Tim observed, God bless us, everyone.” [A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens]

“After all, tomorrow is another day.” [Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell]

“The scar had not pained Harry for 19 years. All was well.” [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling]

Let’s try one more:  “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.” That, of course, is the original ending of the gospel of Mark. Up to this point, Mark’s gospel looks a lot like the others. It’s Sunday morning, the day after the Jewish Sabbath. The women go to the tomb to do what any good Jew would do for a deceased loved one. They’ve gone to wash Jesus’ body and anoint it in preparation for burial. But when they get there, nothing is as they expect. For starters, the stone has already been rolled away. When they peak into the tomb, not only is Jesus’ body gone, but there is a man there who must surely be an angel. Not only does this angel know who they’re looking for, he also knows why Jesus is not there. He has been raised from the dead!

Can you just picture yourself as one of these three women? How would you feel? Can you feel them trembling, unable to speak, and not comprehending what their eyes and ears are telling them? The final straw is what the angel tells them to do next. Go back to Peter and the disciples. Tell them what you’ve seen. And remind them that Jesus will meet them in Galilee. Fear and amazement turn into terror. Off they go, running furiously, just like the men did a few nights before when Jesus was arrested. And the women don’t tell a soul.

Wait a minute. If they did not tell anyone, then how is it that you and I have come to know about Jesus’ resurrection?  At some point, they must have told the others. That is how the gospel spread, throughout Galilee, Jerusalem and then the whole world.

In fact, most of the Christians in Mark’s own time already knew about the resurrection. So, why does he end his story with the women running away and telling no one? We are not the first to wonder that. Lots of other Christians have wondered the same thing. Mark’s abrupt, incomplete ending bothered them. So much so that, over the years, some added their own endings. 

And that is exactly what Mark intends. The absolute genius of Mark’s gospel is that it makes believers like you and me realize that the Easter story does not end with the resurrection. The resurrection is only the start of the Easter story. It is up to disciples like you and me to continue it, and not only with words, but with actions. It is not enough to believe it. We have to live it.  And living it strengthens our belief. The question Mark wants us to ask ourselves is this: Now that Jesus is risen, what should I do?  How should I act?

Friends, in the resurrection, God has given us more than Easter joy for the gift of eternal life. He has given us an Easter mission, a new way to live this life. There is an old joke about preaching.  The young seminarian asks his homiletics professor how many points a sermon should have. The professor stops and thinks for a bit. Then he says, “at least one.” Well, this sermon has three. You can think of them as Mark’s three guidelines for Easter living.

These are the three: First, Easter begins at home – but it does not end there. Second, Jesus will meet us wherever our Easter mission is. Third, our Easter mission is urgent, no matter where it is. Let’s start with the first one. Our Easter mission starts at home. For the disciples, that means Galilee. Galilee is where everything started.  It was home base. And that’s where Jesus tells his disciples to meet him. Our Easter mission also starts at home, with those closest to us, the folks we see every day. They say you hurt the ones you love. We all know just how true that can be.

If 20 years of ministry has taught me one thing, it is this: Even in the most seemingly functional family, there is a real and pressing need for more love, reconciliation and healing.  Never has that been more apparent than now, in the midst of our war-torn, tribally divided, anxiety-riddled world. And our Easter mission does not stop when we are at home. It is a safe bet that there are people with whom you and I work or volunteer who also need love, wholeness and healing. More often than we might like to admit, we may have caused some of those wounds. In these day-to-day relationships we have a spectacular opportunity to heal wounds and reconcile old hurts in powerful, life-changing ways.

And there are other relationships that need mending, too.  Thanks to technology, our world is more interconnected than ever, and our communities are more diverse than ever. That means that we have the opportunity to do what Jesus did: to reach out to those who do not necessarily look like us, live like us, or love like us. All too often these folks experience rejection and marginalization simply because of those differences. But Jesus’ example makes it clear that they, too, are children of God the way we are. Jesus is calling you and me to share his love with them, too. So, as Mark tells us, our Easter mission starts at home, but it does not end there.  That is his first guideline.

The second is this: Jesus will meet us wherever our Easter mission takes us. In fact, he is already there ahead of us.  He has the most remarkable way of showing up wherever we go to do his work. We see his presence in the people he calls us to serve. In serving them, we are serving Christ himself. We also see his presence in others who are already at work there. Like us, they, too, are fulfilling their Easter mission serving others in Christ’s name.

Lastly, when we stop to reflect on our service to others, we can actually see and feel Jesus’ presence in ourselves. That was one of the key findings of the doctoral research I did last fall on faith and work. These are all ways that we know Jesus is already at work wherever he calls us to take up our Easter mission. That is the second of Mark’s guidelines for Christian living.

The third is this: our Easter ministry is urgent. The three women go to the tomb concerned that they won’t be able to get in to reach Jesus’ body. Instead, they cannot reach him because he has already gotten out. And he’s not just hanging around. He has gone on ahead to where he wants them to go, too - to Galilee.  It’s as if Mark is saying Jesus is in a big fat hurry. He doesn’t have time to wait around at an empty tomb.  He’s got things to do, places to go, and people to save!

And the urgency of his mission is the urgency of our mission. We, too, have things to do, places to go, and people to save. These are Mark’s three guidelines for Easter living. Easter begins at home – but it does not end there. Jesus will meet us wherever our Easter mission is. And, wherever he calls us, our Easter mission is urgent. Yes, indeed – Jesus is risen. That is reason to celebrate, for sure. But you and I are here this morning to do more than just shout “He is risen, Hallelujah!”  Jesus wants us to get busy continuing the work he started. 

The question is not how the story ends – we already know that: it ends when he returns with the Kingdom. The real question is “How will we continue his story?” Our Easter story has only just begun. And so has our Easter mission. 

The question is, “Will we do it?”

May it be so.