Easter 2015 - Mark 16:1-8
“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.”
Or from another translation: “They got out as fast as they could, beside themselves, their heads swimming. Stunned, they said nothing to anyone.”
That is IT, my friends. That is the true last line of the Gospel of Mark. No post-resurrection walks or breakfasts with Jesus, no sudden appearances in locked rooms, no heartfelt talks. Mark leaves us dangling - with the women frozen in shock and fear and silence. Mark is not about to let us mindlessly read our cheery Easter Gospel and move on to our Easter egg hunts and ham dinners.
Unsurprisingly, later readers couldn’t stand Mark’s ending, and so hundreds of years later they added another ending that throws in an assurance that the women actually did spread the news about what they saw, plus a few meetings with the raised Jesus, and a quick ascension story. You can see why. Who wants the story to end in fear and silence? Who wouldn’t rather add a quick fix to tidy it all up?
And yet, that quick fix is like those labels that are put on fruit in the grocery store. The ones that make you gouge the fruit to get them off and if you dare to wash your fruit before taking the stickers off they start to dissolve so all you have left is the sticky glue that is even harder to scratch off. Each time we remove one sticker, we become just a little less consciously aware of it, until finally we assume they are necessary and just the way life has to be.
Tony Fadell, who created the iPod and a smart thermostat, used those fruit labels as an example of habituation — a problem he as a designer/inventor is always fighting against. The rules of habituation state that the more we’re exposed to something, the more we get used to it and don’t question it.
I think the fake-added ending of Mark that makes it feel better is like one of those little grocery store labels that we’ve accepted because we assume it’s necessary. We’ve become so habituated to the Easter story that we aren’t shocked by it anymore. But I wonder if each time we rush past the shock and fear of that empty tomb straight to the joy of the disciples being reunited with Jesus, we turn the resurrection story just a little more into a fairytale that gradually becomes less relevant to our lives.
Maybe it’s time to rip off the ending like Mark did and think anew.
Tony Fadell offers three principles that inform his design practice, and they work pretty well for approaching Mark’s resurrection story.
(1) Stay beginners: Ask questions without accepting as an answer “because we’ve always done it this way.”
What happens when we ask beginner’s questions of Mark’s story, rather than hearing what we expect to hear?
Like why did Mark end his Gospel in this agonizing way? It seems so incomplete and jagged. We want a resolution, not this disappointing ending that leaves us with more questions than answers! Why are the women so afraid, so mute? We want them joyfully running out of the cemetery to spread the good news!
Maybe the story feels unfinished because the writer recognizes that most of life feels that way. Uncertain, untidy, ambiguous, full of questions and jagged edges.
The two Marys and Salome have come to the tomb deeply grieved, but with a plan. A plan to take care of Jesus’ body and to mourn together. And then suddenly everything is turned upside down. Instead of the ending that was hard and tragic but at least made sense, suddenly they are confronted with a wide open unknown with who-knows-what implications for their lives. That is a scary place to find yourself.
And most of us have been in that place in some way or another. With our best laid plans dashed to pieces and an unknown reality ahead of us. Most of us have questions and doubts and fears and unbelief. Maybe Mark’s Gospel allows us to admit those to ourselves and to each other. Even to God.
And maybe the incompleteness of the story allows us to stand in the women’s places and face the stark and confusing news ourselves.
One of our bishops, Susan Goff, tells a story of going into a prison to have a worship service with the inmates and her large bishop’s cross set off the security alarms. It hit her that that is just how it should be. The empty cross is a shocking thing. It should set of alarms. If it doesn’t confuse us and change our lives, maybe we aren’t paying enough attention.
Design Principle (2) - Look closer: Pay attention to the smallest details, knowing they can be as important to the overall design as the more obvious aspects.
What happens when we delve into the details of Mark’s story?
When the women meet the young man dressed in white at the empty tomb, he gives them a very specific message: ”Go tell his disciples. He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.”
In Mark’s version, Jesus didn’t stay at the empty tomb to wait for his friends to arrive. He is already off and running. The resurrected Jesus can’t be contained in one place but is moving and acting. And the women are instructed to do the same - Go! Tell! If they want to see Jesus, movement and action are required.
And the place where they should go is specifically named - Galilee. Galilee has been the setting for most of Jesus’ ministry. That is where he told stories, shared the good news, healed the sick. And it is also the world of most of his disciples, the place they know best. That’s where they have their jobs, their families, their everyday lives; their hopes and dreams, and their disappointments. They don’t have to travel to distant lands or fulfill any new quest. Jesus promises to meet them in the place where they will naturally be.
Jesus promises to go ahead of them, preceding them into their future, whatever it may hold. Whether they are eagerly rushing or edging fearfully or stumbling confusedly, Jesus goes ahead of them.
This is the resurrection promise not only to these three women, but also to the other disciples, whom the man in white asks the women to pass the message to. Jesus promises he will see the disciples who had abandoned him in his darkest hour, including Peter who denied him three times.
And this promise is for his disciples who come later — for us. “He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” Jesus is going ahead of us wherever we are. Galilee is all around us.
Wherever you are in your life — whether you’re struggling in your job or looking for a new one, whether you are overwhelmed by parenting duties or feeling alone, whether you are working on a relationship or hurt by the loss of one, whether you are looking forward to what lies ahead or worried about your next step — no matter where you are, Jesus has gone ahead and is preparing the way for you. Now, that doesn’t mean the going will be easy or that we’ll get exactly what we hope for. But it means that whatever lies ahead, we are not alone in it.
Design Principle (3) - Look broader: Step back to consider the entire process from start to finish to make sure you aren’t missing the big picture.
What happens when we look at the big picture of Mark’s story?
We can go back to the very beginning for a clue. Mark’s Gospel opens with this line: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.” What if this ending of Mark that seems so frustratingly incomplete isn’t intended to be an ending at all? What if this entire Gospel is meant to be just a beginning that we are all called to continue?
Mark wants to be clear that what God is up to in Jesus isn’t over at the empty tomb. God’s work is only just getting started. The resurrection is just a beginning, an invitation for all of us to be part of the story. As long as there is pain and suffering and injustice in the world, God isn’t done yet.
The resurrection isn’t merely a promise about life after death. The resurrection is a promise of new life before death. We are invited to live resurrection lives. To live with love and compassion and hope and expectation. To continue living out the story, adding our own chapter to Mark’s Gospel.
So don’t be afraid to tear off the sticker that you’ve grown so used to. Whether it’s an old understanding of Easter that no longer shocks you, or an old understanding of what it means to fully live your life. It isn’t that Mark’s Gospel has no ending, it’s just that it’s an ending to the world as we know it and the beginning of something new. Let’s go and start living Part 2. Jesus is going ahead of us and will meet us there.
Amen.
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