APRIL 16, 2006 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
Romans 6:3-11 Mark 16:1-8
Even the Stones Would Cry Out…
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Early morning isn’t usually a good time for problems or questions of any kind. If you’re like me: a cup of coffee or tea, something to eat, time to wake up, then I’m able to face the demands of the day.
So imagine the women who went to the tomb certain of what they would find. Even the task of preparing a body for burial, though painful, should have been straightforward. Instead, their world is turned upside down. And unnerved by the unearthly unearthing of Jesus’ body, we’re told that 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 (Mark 16:8).
Now, scholars admit that there are two other endings to Mark’s Gospel that do their best to tell us, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. But the language and voice of these extra verses are so different that they are universally recognized as add-ons. If that’s so, you can understand why. I mean, how can we leave the story of Jesus’ resurrection hanging in the silence of the women and their fear?
…they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Well, in fact, it’s an ending that I can understand and I’ll tell you why. Something happened to me a number of years ago that I’ve never shared with anyone because I’m not proud of it – but it fits here, so maybe it’s time to talk.
One day, I went to visit to a person who had been absent from the congregation for a long time. It was Holy Week, I was stressed, there were a million other things to do – you know the drill. When I called that morning to confirm our visit, I couldn’t get an answer, but I just figured they were out running errands, so off I went. At the door, I knocked.
No one answered. I waited a minute, then knocked again. Still no answer…
I don’t know why I did it – but instead of leaving, I reached out my hand, turned the knob and pushed the door open. I called out the person’s name…silence. I took a step inside and called once more…silence again.
Three more steps more into the place and I saw a sight I hope to never see again. A body on the bed half-covered by a sheet…liberally stained with blood. I didn’t know to do. I didn’t know CPR. I was afraid of AIDS. You name it, I probably thought about it as proof of why I shouldn’t hang around. I looked closely enough to see that the person was breathing regularly, and I left. Pulled the door shut behind me, got to my car and drove away...I fled from there, for terror and amazement had seized me; and I said nothing to anyone, for I was afraid…
I think I have an insight into what those women were feeling – I can understand why they may have fled…and kept their mouths shut…or did they? If they had refused to share with the others what they had seen and heard, how, then did the story break? Who talked? Who spoke to the press?
Or…maybe one of Jesus’ earlier predictions came true. When he entered Jerusalem the week before to the praises of the people and their happy hosannas, some Pharisees complained that Jesus was a glory hound. Do you remember what he said to those frowning Pharisees? I tell you, if these (people) were silent, the very stones would cry out…(Luke 19:40).
So maybe that’s what happened the first Easter morning…maybe it was the stones that cried out…told the story…spilled the beans…broke the silence about Jesus’ amazing triumph over death??? Do you think?
No, I don’t believe that’s what happened either. I believe that those very same women, who had been scared silent, were soon calmed by the Spirit, and given their voices to tell the others what they had seen and heard. It had to happen that way…they had to have spoken…or you and I would be doing something else somewhere else at this early hour of the morning.
Why am I so sure? Well, mostly because I’m here…but also because I remember what happened to me. After being scared silent about the person I found bloodied in their bed, I knew what I had to do. At the very first pay phone, I stopped to call 911…guided the medics to the person who needed their help. I spoke…the ambulance came…the person turned out fine.
The women also spoke…God’s Spirit continues to come…and the Church has turned out more than fine…it is, we are, alive, beloved, and filled with hope. In fact, we are even filled with courage to face the challenges to our faith, and speak through our fear with certainty that grace-filled greeting: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Amen.