Mark 16 1
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James,
and Salo'me, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very
early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had
risen. 3 And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the
stone for us from the door of the tomb?" 4 And looking up, they saw that
the stone was rolled back; --it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they
saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they
were amazed. 6 And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of
Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where
they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before
you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you." 8 And they went
out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them;
and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.
Christ
is Risen! Today we celebrate the most
important holiday in our church calendar year.
Although the secular world makes it seem like Christmas and Jesus’ birth
is the most important the truth is that without the resurrection – without
Easter morning – there wouldn’t be a Christian faith. In fact it was in the fulfillment of the
resurrection that our faith was born not in the birth of a baby but in his
death and resurrection.
So
why do we spend so much more time, energy and money celebrating his birth? It is simple, Jesus’ birth is much more
believable then Jesus’ resurrection. It is easy to celebrate Christmas in a
time when secularism has made Christmas just another holiday but Easter? Easter bunnies are OK but once you start
getting into the resurrection, you lose people. I believe that it was the
intellectual revolution that birth the idea that “faith is private” and it was
embraced by all because at the end of the day, resurrection is not only
difficult to explain it is difficult to believe.
So
Easter has become a day when we dress up and head to church before having a
family dinner. Easter has become a time
for Easter eggs and bunnies. Easter has
become second class to Christmas and it yet another time of year for people to
show up at church to prove their faith.
But
what faith are we proving on Easter? In
today’s passage we hear how some of the women went out early in the morning to
anoint Jesus’ body but instead of finding Jesus, they were met with an angel
who declared Jesus’ resurrection. But
instead of turning around and sharing this wondrous news they in fear kept it
to themselves. And isn’t this like
ourselves today? Because we can’t
explain this mystery or miracle and in fear of the judgment from our friends,
family, co-workers, the world, we choose not to. We hide our faith in fear and don’t share the
Good News.
That
is the reality of our faith…not the risen Christ…but the fear of judgment
shapes our faith. And not the judgment
that will come with the Kingdom of God but the judgment that comes from those
in the here and now. And that is where
our faith has found its flaw. We spend
far too much time wondering how people in the here and are going to perceive
our actions instead of asking ourselves What Would Jesus Do. But this fear of judgment also leads us to
becoming some of the worse judges doesn’t it?
Qualifying everyone and forgetting how to love.
But
there is good news! Christ is
risen! Today, we once again celebrate
this amazing mystery that defined our beliefs.
Once again we celebrate this amazing miracle that invites us to
experience God in a new way and open ourselves to a relationship with the Holy
unlike what was offered before. For
through the resurrection of Christ not only was the divinity of Christ revealed
but the Holy Spirit was gifted to us. And
today, because of Christ’s resurrection you too are offered this unique
relationship with the Divine. You, me,
all of us are made worthy through Christ’ death on the cross to experience God
through the Holy Spirit in amazing ways.
Through
a relationship with God, we are made worthy.
The judgment of others, the need for approval by those who are just as
fake as you are doesn’t matter. Because
when you are truly in a relationship with God you will experience not only the amazing
relief that comes with forgiveness but the unconditional love that Christ wants
us to spread. You see, unconditional
love, the love that comes from God, the love that Christians are asked to
spread, is the love that doesn’t judge.
But
it isn’t easy to live out our faith; it took the disciples several encounters
with risen Christ before they believed; and today we aren’t so lucky, or are
we? I think it is a myth for us to say
that today we don’t encounter the risen Christ.
For in living out our Christian faith, we meet Christ and see Christ
everywhere. Christ is in the eyes of the
grateful poor, Christ is in the hands of the doctors and nurses that perform
miracles every day, Christ is in the hearts of those who love unconditionally
and Christ is in all those who believe and strive to live better because of
this relationship. Christ is risen and
doing work all over the world for along with Christ resurrection came the gift
of the Spirit and the light of Christ that shines through each and every one of
us. As long as we believe. As long as we let our beliefs lead our life
and not the judgment of others.
Christianity isn’t about judgment (unless God is doing the judging) but
is instead about the freedom that comes with a true relationship. The freedom
from sin, the freedom from the bondages of the secular world and the freedom to
love unconditionally. Our Christian
faith isn’t about a baby who was born but about the man who was resurrected,
about the love that God has for humanity and the new way in which we enter into
relationship with the Divine. One not
held back through fear, not held back because of societal clashes but one that
transcends this life. One that opens us
up to the Kingdom of God and the experience of the risen Christ.
So
this Easter, I challenge you, to not make this an Easter that goes by without a
conversation of what the risen Lord has done for you. I challenge you to make this Easter not just
about another family dinner or one more Church service but about the true relationship
that the Holy is offering. I challenge
you to not just repeat “Christ has Risen INDEED” unless you are truly willing
to share that with those you meet – teaching and sharing about the risen Christ
you have encountered.
