Rev Hugh Perry

Readings

Isaiah 25: 6-9

This passage is part of what is referred to as ‘the Isaiah Apocalypse because the verses are seen as resembling the apocalyptic works from about the third century BCE onwards.

The passage we read contains the remarkable statement that God will swallow up death forever and wipe away the tears from all faces.  Maurice Andrew suggests it is likely that the reference is not to life after death.  Instead he writes that the writer has constructed a poetic picture of the total transformation of the human condition.^[1]

Mark 16: 1-8

Elisabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza says that Mark’s naming of Peter, Andrew, James and John at the beginning of the Gospel and naming four women at the foot of the cross at the conclusion of Jesus’ mission indicates that the disciples included both men and women.  Schüssler Fiorenza names the four women as Mary of Magdala, Mary the daughter or wife of James the younger, the mother of Joses, and Salome.

To get four women she has placed a comma in a different place to the NRSV but the original Greek text would not have had the punctuation so this is just as valid an interpretation as other translators. .^[2]

Sermon

The resurrection is not just an historical event that happened long ago, the resurrection is ongoing, and we are the resurrection in our world.

In 1971 Hodder and Stoughton published a book by Lloyd Geering called Resurrection-A Symbol of Hope.  Sir Lloyd had already caused division in the PCANZ before that.  In 1967 he was charged with “doctrinal error” and “disturbing the peace and unity of the (Presbyterian) church”.  The charge was dismissed and I doubt that any of those who brought the charge were knighted for services to Religious Education or live to be 106.

More to the point Resurrection-A Symbol of Hope pretty much sums up what Easter morning means for us.  Indeed, it is what the resurrection means for all Christians past present and future.

In our reading from Mark’s Gospel the heavenly messenger tells the women at the empty tomb that Jesus is not there, he has been raised.  Then he gives them a mission:

‘But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him just as he told you.’ (Mark 16:7)

We can’t make a pilgrimage to Christ’s tomb because he is not there.  There are plenty of tombs of great figures in the past that are major tourist attractions but not the tomb of Jesus.

The Risen Christ is going on ahead of us and has gone on ahead of us for more than two thousand years. Furthermore, the women were instructed to tell the disciples that the Risen Christ will meet them in Galilee. That was their home town and Christ meets us in our home, the place where we live, earn our living, raise our families and so on.  As Bill Wallace wrote ‘Christ is risen in our lives’.

The Risen Christ is a symbol of hope, and we are all called to follow that Christ and be that Christ in our world.

Maurice Andrew suggests the writer of our reading from Isaiah has constructed a poetic picture of the total transformation of the human condition.

That makes the passage an ideal reading for Easter Sunday because that is the message of the resurrection. It was the call from the empty tomb to the disciples who disserted Jesus after he was arrested.

As we noted in the introduction Elisabeth Schüssler-Fiorenza says that the way Mark names Peter, Andrew, James and John as disciples at the beginning of the Gospel then names four women at the foot of the cross indicates that the disciples included both men and women.

Our reading tells us that it is women disciples who discover the empty tomb and receive the message from the angel.  The young man was dressed in a white robe which in Hebrew Scripture is the official uniform of angels or heavenly messengers.

As we have already noted he told the women that Jesus was not there because he had been raised and went on to say:

‘But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him just as he told you.’ (Mark 16:7)

The Gospel then ends with the women fleeing from the tomb because terror and amazement had seized them. They say nothing to anyone because they are afraid.

That abrupt ending asks questions about how the church began if the women did not say anything to anyone.  It also asks questions about how we respond to the news of the resurrection.  Do we listen to the heavenly message to follow Jesus, or do we also flee in terror and amazement.

Do we just go back to being part of an unjust world or follow Jesus in creating a total transformation of the human condition?

The first thought is likely to be that we would not be believed.  We would be made to look foolish.  If we look closely at the events Mark describes we can not only understand the women’s fear but also identify with it.

Mark begins the discipleship journey with a representative group of men and finishes at Jesus execution with a reprehensive group of women.  The implication is that the men have fled and in today’s reading it is the women who discover the empty tomb.  Those women are then charged by the angel to follow the Risen Christ back to the start of the journey in Galilee and that is where they will all see Jesus.

Peter is especially included in these instructions because it is Peter who is recorded as denying Jesus. But we could perhaps also see Peter as a representative denier, a representative of all those who turn from Jesus in difficult times.

The story of Peter tells us that those who deny Jesus are forgiven and are sent out in mission and may well excel in that mission.

Much is made of the ending of Matthew’s Gospel where the newly commissioned apostles are sent out to make disciples of all nations.  But Mark’s abrupt ending in terror and amazement is an even more dramatic challenge.

Sending the women to follow Jesus back to where it all began challenges us to also follow Jesus in our world.

We can conclude that Mark is telling us that when we follow Jesus, we will see Jesus.

Much has been made of the academic search for the historical Jesus, but Albert Schweitzer is right when he writes that the Jesus we choose to follow:

Comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, he came to those men who did not know who he was.  He says the same words, ‘Follow me!’, and sets us to those tasks which he must fulfil in our time.  He commands.  And to those who hearken to him, whether wise or unwise, he will reveal himself in the peace, the labours, the conflicts and the suffering that they may experience in his fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery they will learn who he is.[3]

It is in following Jesus that we not only see Jesus but know Jesus.  That is the protection we have from building a Jesus in our imagination that suits our comfortable lifestyle, prejudices, and ambition.

To follow Jesus means living as Jesus or living as Christ to others.  Following Jesus embraces the challenges and risks Jesus faced which may be terrifying but is the only way to truly know Jesus.

We can’t even visit the tomb of Jesus like people can for so many past heroes.  The women tell us that not only is the tomb empty but discovering that fact is terrifying and amazing.  But above all the heavenly messenger tells us that Jesus is not there, he has gone on ahead of us.

In Robin Meyers’ book The Underground Church he suggests that Christians should focus on following Jesus rather than worshiping Jesus.

I was fortunate to attend a presentation Meyers gave in Napier and a colleague of mine said she preferred to follow Jesus and worship Christ.

I believe that concept has some merit because worship renews and strengthens our faith.  However, one of Meyers other books is titled Saving Jesus From the Church.  That title speaks volumes about the way we try and keep Christ to ourselves rather than following the Jesus who goes ahead of us.

We put a lot of focus on bringing people ‘into’ the church and cloistering them in a safe and caring ‘in’ group.  But following the Christ, who goes on ahead of us, involves going ‘out.’

Over the years I have had the privilege of meeting some real makers and shakers whose lives were originally grounded in the church, people who went out to live their passion for the transformation of the human condition into reality.

Also speaking at the seminar that Robin Meyers was the keynote speaker was historian Dr Jim McAloon. Jim gave a talk on the Christians who have made a significant contribution in the development of the New Zealand society.  There is a big and impressive list.

Jim is now Professor McAloon and I keep in touch with him and his wife on Facebook.  Sometimes it seems that he and his wife also keep in touch on Facebook, but they do share the same address.  One of my favourite comments he made on Facebook was his definition of ecumenism.

In the morning, he gave a lecture at a secular university.  He then went to a committee meeting at the Catholic Cathedral.  After that he went to the airport and collected a group of Anglican and took one home with him because he is married to her.  Jim’s wife Jenny is an Anglican priest who rightly claims some influence in my call to ordained ministry.  Both of them take their faith into the world in their own way.

As Jim pointed out with New Zealand history the view back in time reveals countless people driven by their faith who have literally changed their world.

Throughout the world there have been scientists, doctors, rulers and politicians, poets and painters along with the obvious clergy, reformers, trade unionists and humanitarians who have heard and responded to the call from the empty tomb and followed the risen Christ into their world.

The temptation, especially at times when the church appears to be shrinking, is to turn inward and care for our own.  To entomb ourselves in a safe and sacred society while waiting for an all-powerful Christ to return and rebuild our world.

But Christ is not in a tomb, and neither should we entomb ourselves in the comfort of fellow Christians.

Christ is not there, he has gone on ahead of us, and we are called to follow.  That was the message to the women who went to the tomb to worship a dead Jesus.

‘He has been raised; he is not here’. (Mark 16: 6)

The women were instructed to go and tell the disciples, including Peter, that Christ was going ahead of them to Galilee which is where they will see him.  That is also the message to us.  Christ is going on ahead of us to the place of most need, the place where we are known and our skills and talents most needed.

The Spirit calls each of us to be Christ in our world and today’s readings remind us of a fundamental fact about being a follower of Jesus.

The resurrection is not just an historical event that happened long ago.  Resurrection is a symbol of hope. Furthermore, Christ is risen in our lives.

We are the resurrection in our time and in our world.

[1] Maurice Andrew The Old Testament in Aotearoa New Zealand  (Wellington: DEFT 1999) p. 414.

[2] Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her (London: SCM Press 1983), pp.322, 323.

[3] Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, Bowden, John (ed.) (London: SCM Press 2000), p.487.