Sermon Text: Mark 16:1-8
You know, when you think about it, stories seldom have endings. I mean, you can read the story of Cinderella and just because the story ends with a lovely wedding to Prince Charming, well, the story isn’t over. If it were a true story of a normal everyday couple, there would be the story of the honeymoon period, the time when the honeymoon period comes to a screeching halt, arguments about who will clean bathrooms and take out the garbage and where they will spend Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Then there might be the story of the problems with children, in-laws, and making up after fights. But the story wouldn’t be over just because the book was done. In fact, the marriage would be a whole other story, with many acts to follow.
The same is true in every story of our lives and that of Jesus’ life. Just because you have turned the last page or the last chapter, it doesn’t mean the story is over. And certainly not in the case of Jesus and the disciples. The Gospels share with us different endings.
The original Gospel of Mark ends with “because they were too frightened to talk.”
Matthew’s gospel ends with Jesus giving what we know as “The Great Commission” to the disciples. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have give you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Luke, who also wrote “The Acts of the Apostles,” takes us from the resurrection, to walking with two men who do not recognize him on the road to Emmaus, then to the time when Jesus ascends into heaven, having blessed the disciples. The Acts of the Apostles continues to the story and leads to the Pentecost that occurred 50 days after Passover.
In John’s gospel more is written as to how Jesus spent time with the disciples in the days after the resurrection. That is when Jesus asks Peter “do you love me” three times and three times Peter answers, “you know I love you.” Then Jesus instructs him to love and teach those he will be leaving behind. And then the author tells us “if all the things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books.”
One could argue that the author’s understanding of “the whole world” would have been small in comparison to how we understand the “whole world” today, but still…..our author is saying that Jesus did far more in those three years than we have learned about in these four gospels. So we have not heard the complete story from them.
Plus, the story of Jesus continued in the lives of the disciples because, let’s face it: while we celebrate the Resurrection, had all the disciples denied Jesus like Peter did and gone into hiding, we wouldn’t be here today. No one would have been around to tell the story and share this really good news. Without people to keep the story alive, the story does indeed have an ending.
I
spoke last week of explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Shackleton
participated in the National Antarctic Expedition, which was organized by the Royal Geographical Society in 1901, and led by Robert Falcon Scott. This expedition is also
called the "Discovery Expedition", as its ship was called Discovery.
It is believed that he placed what has become one of the world's most famous advertisements in the Times of London in December 1901: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success."
The ad itself is not the amazing part of the story. The amazing part is that thousands of men actually answered the ad to sign on for this journey. Thousands.
But that
isn’t the end of the story of this journey or of Shackleton’s life. The journey didn’t turn out like Shackleton
thought. Because of poor planning on
Scott’s part, the men nearly starved and some contracted scurvy, of which
Shackleton was one. He was sent home
which further aggravated the already tense relationship between the two men. Still he went on to lead four expeditions,
the last, the Shackleton-Rowett
Expedition. Shackleton died on the last
day of that journey and was buried on the South Georgia Island.
His life was filled with stories of
great achievement, but that isn’t why I share this with you. I share it as a reminder that the story
continued on past the famous newspaper ad.
If we had stopped reading at the newspaper ad, we wouldn’t have learned
the end of the story.
People have been researching and
writing about Ernest Shackleton and his dangerous expeditions for many
years. You can read their work by
checking out the internet or library.
But the stories continue only if there is someone to tell the stories. Had Shackleton quit after the difficult
Discovery expedition, we might not have ever heard about the famous ad. Had the disciples gone their own ways back to
their homes, jobs and families….had the disciples not been together in the
upper room when Jesus appeared to them, had the disciples refused to believe
Mary Magdalene and the other women….there would have been no story to tell.
You see, the story of Christianity, the future of the church as we know it
was not on Jesus’ shoulders, but on the shoulders of those who saw and heard
the story unfold.
The story that Jesus was alive, not dead, continued on through the words and
lives of the disciples.
That they did not give up is in fact a huge part of the story. That they did believe is part of the
story. That they were willing to risk
their own lives to tell the story is critical to us being here today. Because they told the story, we are here to
celebrate it.
So when is an ending not THE END?
In the story of Mark, the ending we read this morning was not enough. As a storywriter, Mark really has a flair for the dramatic. Mark is packed with action – for Jesus and also for the disciples. But if you turn to page 74 of the New Testament, you will notice that there are more verses after that verse 8 that says “because they were afraid.” However it is believed that the original Gospel of Mark does indeed end with verse 8. But other writers later added two more endings. One speaks of appearing to Mary Magdalene, perhaps the two on the road to Emmaus and then to the eleven disciples. Then it speaks of Jesus’ ascension. The other speaks briefly of the women telling Peter and the others of what they had seen and that Jesus sent them out to offer the message of salvation.
Why? I’m assuming because Mark’s ending was not sufficient. Ending with the words “because they were too frightened to talk” doesn’t cut it here. This is too important and powerful a story to end with words like “because they were too frightened to talk.”
This is a story that must speak of resurrection and eternal salvation and while there was fear in the disciples, they did not allow it to control them. They did not allow the fear that initially drove them into hiding control how they lived the rest of their lives. Jesus’s presence gave them the courage to go outside the locked doors of the upper room and face the world. Jesus’ presence gave them the courage to not give up.
You see, Easter is not only about Jesus’ resurrection, but the opportunity for our own resurrections as well. And Easter asks us to think about the stories – the beginnings and endings of our own lives.
In each of the lives of the disciples and followers, there were stories to be told. In our lives there are stories to be told and they come to back to the story of Jesus.
The story never ends because we are here to continue the message. The story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ will never end as long as there is someone left to keep the story alive. Certainly the words in the Bible alone can do it, but this is a story that really needs a human touch. Just like the person who told you about Jesus and the resurrection.
When is an ending THE END? When there is nothing left to tell or learn from it….and that is not the case on Easter Sunday. It isn’t that we have to tell this story of a resurrected Christ. It is that we get to tell it. We get to tell of God who loves us unconditionally through Jesus Christ.
We get to talk about the hope that comes only through Christ to those who feel no hope.
We get to talk about the joy we receive only from Jesus Christ to those who have no real reason to feel it.
We get to talk with others about overcoming adversity and dealing with pain because we know that Jesus Christ we can cope with anything.
Today’s Thought was from the famous
Scottish preacher Peter Marshall:
The
stone was rolled away from the door,
Not to permit Christ to come out,
But to enable the disciples to go in.
We
too are invited into the tomb. Not to
die, but to live. To live in Christ and
share the story of his life, his death, his resurrection and how those stories
change our lives today.
Jesus died and rose again so that we
might live. And this story lives in us
and through us, now and forever.
He is risen!
He is risen
indeed!