Easter Celebration - "You Go Ahead"

A sermon preached at Journey United Church of Christ on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012.

READING FOR THE DAY:  Mark 16:1-8 (CEV)

¹ After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some spices to put on Jesus' body.
² Very early on Sunday morning, just as the sun was coming up, they went to the tomb.
³ On their way, they were asking one another, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?"
⁴ But when they looked, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. And it was a huge stone!
⁵ The women went into the tomb, and on the right side they saw a young man in a white robe sitting there. They were alarmed.
⁶ The man said, "Don't be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn't here. You can see the place where they put his body.
⁷ Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you."
⁸ When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened.

As kids, growing up in the Boone family, we discovered there were types of situations that made up life:  There were the "me-first!" situations. “Me first” was sometimes based on birth order or reverse birth order; being the middle child, I lost in both categories.  But most of the time, “me first” boiled down to brute strength and the ability to push, claw or power your way to the front. "Me first" was what we screamed, hollered or yelled when ice cream was served, or when someone was being chosen to sit in the front seat of the car or when it was time to get a ride on my dad’s motorcycle and for all those occasions that rank high on the “kids scale of joy.”  We screamed "me first" because we wanted the best and the biggest, we wanted to be the focus of attention, center state, the envy of our siblings.  Winning the "me-first" competition made us feel special, made us feel, just for a moment, like the most important person in the world.

But as kids we also quickly learn that there are some situations where you definitely don't want to be first. These are known as "you-go-ahead" situations. 
"You go ahead" was the address you used when you wanted to avoid taste-testing my mother’s latest recipe or when you wanted to let someone else determine the temperature of the lake before you went swimming early in the season or when we were all hauled off the dentist for our annual check ups.  We said, "you go ahead" because we didn't want to take a risk, look foolish, suffer pain, show our fear, or experience the unknown. When we succeeded in getting someone else to "go ahead," we could buy ourselves a little more time.  

On Easter morning, we are supposed to feel the “me first” type of joy, wonder, triumph, excitement and hope; and it’s there in three out of the four gospels – Matthew, Luke and John.  But Mark’s account of the resurrection makes it feel more like a “you-go-first” kind of moment.  There’s concern about who will roll away the stone.  There’s alarm at finding angels in the tomb instead of Jesus and then there’s fear - fear that means they don’t run from the tomb eager to tell the good news, but fear that keeps them from mentioning anything to anyone. 

Now on one hand… Who can blame them for running away? If any qualifies for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, it’s the women.  Their world had dramatically and suddenly been turned upside down in the last few days. They Watched as their rabbi, their leader and their friend has been taken from them, arrested, tortured and crucified.  On Friday they had watched as his body was placed in the tomb.  The process of coping with their grief began. The grief must have been horrible, but at least it fit into their understanding of how things work – certainly they had experienced the death of a loved one before, and as dreadful as it was, it was grief – grief they could understand.  

But what happened next was beyond their understanding … outside of the realm of what they expected…Even after they heard the young man in white tell them that Jesus had been raised, they didn’t shout “Christ is risen!”  That’s what we want them to say, but they didn’t behave as we would like. Instead we read: “the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over…They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened” 

So what’s with the fear in Mark? 

Well, we all know a bit about fear don’t we?  Fear CAN be a good thing. Constructive fear keeps us alert and helps us deal with the realities of life.  It’s the kind of fear that makes us run from danger and harm. It’s the kind of fear that keeps us alert and on our toes.  I've been ordained for over 20 years and was preaching a bit before that … over the course of the years, I've preached over 1000 sermons … yet, before every worship, I feel a twinge of fear … it's good it keeps me on my toes … reminded of the "awesome task" … when I get to point of "whatever", I'm in trouble.  That’s CONSTRUCTIVE FEAR and it’s a good thing … but, not all fear is like that.

There’s this other kind of fear - the kind I think the women experienced that first Easter morning.  It’s DESTRUCTIVE FEAR.  It’s the kind that gets in the way. It’s the kind that adversely affects our lives.  It’s the kind that can cause problems in relationships.  It’s the kind that caused us to freeze up and shut down. Some of us have been there.  Something has happened along the way, the path of our lives,  when we were just overwhelmed by fear, when we were immobilized, paralyzed. 

Fortunately, the story of that first Easter doesn’t end there.  We know that eventually woke out of their frozen terror and told someone.  If they hadn’t we would not be celebrating today.  We would be celebrating any Sunday. 

What made the difference?  What was the formula the women used for facing for their fear?

The formula is found in the message of the angel …

⁶ The man said, "Don't be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn't here. You can see the place where they put his body.
⁷ Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you."

Don’t be alarmed.

… He will go ahead of you to Galilee …

… You can see him there …

The messenger at the tomb tells the women that Jesus is going ahead of them. In reality, it’s been what Jesus has been about all long.  He has gone before them to show them a new way of living.  He has gone before them to show them the way of peace and justice, the way of peace and shalom.  He has gone before them to show them out to treat the poor, the widow, the orphans, the outcasts.  He has gone before them to share the way of sharing, caring, healing and sharing hope.  He went ahead to show them how to speak truth to power, how to live out radical hospitality, how to confront injustice, how to give voice to those who don’t have a voice.  And yes, he went ahead of them to show them the way to deal with the results of living out these beliefs.  He went ahead of them down the path of arrest and torture and he even went ahead of them to death.  And then on Sunday, he went ahead of them in living once again. 

This is our hope as well – that Jesus has gone before us and lived in the midst of all the circumstances and situations we face each and every day – both good and bad, joyful or painful, inspiring or stressful.  Jesus is present in whatever future we face.  Jesus meets us in the midst of our living.   

So, what are you afraid of? What's kind of fear is keeping you on the sidelines of life?  What kind of terror is robbing your joy?  Can we remember in those situations that Jesus has gone before us, showing us the way?  Can we remember to open our eyes, our hearts and our minds in such a way that we can see the living Jesus in our midst.  In the midst of the people around us?  In the midst of this faith community?  In the midst of our living? 

Perhaps, it's time to go places we always wanted to go, but never did because we were afraid. Perhaps it's time to start doing what we've longed to do, but never had the courage to do.  Perhaps it's time to face what we’ve always wanted to face but we lacked courage.  It's time, it’s time, it’s time …to remember that Jesus goes ahead and Jesus is in our midst.  Will you pray with me?

PRAYER:  He's Still Moving Stones 

They came to the tomb on Easter morn
Who will roll the stone away they cried
But when they got there
They were surprised to see an angel inside
Where is He gone
Where have they taken Him
Has a thief come and stolen Him away
The angel said the stone was moved
So that you could see He's not dead
He is alive

The stones in my life cause me to fear
Blinding me with life's uncertainty
And I can't see then that You're alive
And standing so close to me
Lord move the stone so I can clearly see
That You've already won the victory
Lord move the stone so I can stand
On the fact You are not dead
You are alive

So Lord please roll the stone away for me
And Lord please help my eyes to clearly see
At Your word stones of fear and doubt
Will be gone
For You are not dead You are alive
And You're still moving stones

CCLI Song #1955929  © 1996 Tennessee Music & Printing Company; Dolores Prescott
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