Rev. Chism's Weekly Message

"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." Mark 16:8

None of us ever thought that we would live through a pandemic. School online? That was something done by colleges around the world. Wearing masks? Only a few countries (not here!) would do that from time to time. Dining outside of your favorite restaurants? That was only done in a few places or maybe down south of us in the warmer climes.

Over these months I have officiated many graveside services for those that have passed. People feel kind of robbed because we haven't been able to celebrate the person's life like we use too. It has been hard. We have adapted. Let us remember it is not how we do it...it is why we do it.

The sheer disappointment of those that witnessed Christ die on the cross was absolutely horrible. Things seemed like they didn't work out. They were going to adapt in their fears and anxiety and find a way to move on. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome went to the tomb thinking they would find death. They loved Jesus. Let's get him buried and then we will get on with it.

Three women went to the tomb expecting one thing and gave another. They were given the gift of Resurrection. God fulfilled promises that they thought would not come to be. Something new had happened.

Are you excited during this challenging time of what could happen? Scared too? You probably feel that a lot of things have been taken from you during the pandemic. Plans had to be canceled, loved ones lost too early, and disruption of how we were seeing the future have happened.

Mark is unlike Matthew, Luke, and John in telling the Resurrection Story of Jesus. It's short, to the point, and open-ended. Verses were added to Mark's ending years later but most scholars feel they should not be part of the original. The passage ends with the ladies given a task by a messenger to go tell Peter. Jesus would be in Galilee. The end.

Here we are at the beginning of something new. Our way of life that we were all accustomed to ended early this year. Will some things return to what it was like then in the near future? I believe so. And many things will change. It's going to be tough but we will get through it.

Those closest to Jesus would be given some time to understand the new reality on their own. If we harmonize the other gospels and the Book of Acts we know they would encounter Jesus for another forty days. But let us not harmonize. Let us stay in the excitement of Mark and the abrupt ending with so many possibilities.

They fled the tomb in terror and amazement afraid to tell anyone. I wonder if they were thinking in their heads "what is going to happen now?"

What's going to happen as we continue to move forward in the midst of so much change. Are you scared? Amazed? Don't know what to say?

That's what resurrection does. People respond and something new happens. A new way of doing things happens. Understandings change. What happens with this uncharted future, with God's help, creates new possibilities.

The resurrection has already started. I end now abruptly.

Blessings,

Rev. Baxter