This blog series for Easter 2022 is taken directly from the sermon I preached at St Pauls Waiheke (New Zealand) on Easter Day this year. It is focused on the gospel of Mark, and the unconventional way Mark presents the good news of resurrection to his people in mid-century Rome.
Like any sermon, it draws together thoughts and concepts from the miscellany of writers and preachers that I encountered during my preparation. The positive response of those who were there gives me the courage to think my integration of these ideas may be useful to others. I therefore need to acknowledge that here you will find the echoes of, and possibly even whole sentences from, works by N T Wright (Mark for Everyone), Frederick Buechner (Peculiar Treasures) and David Rhoads et al (Mark as Story). I apologise for the lack of detailed acknowledgement; this was after all a sermon used for Christian worship and not in pursuit of academic rigour.
Hope for the Future
One tune I picked out of the fugue I noticed this Easter is reassurance about life after death. The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus being raised is the main reason for Christians to experience real hope. We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus (2 Cor 4: 14). The Hebrew Bible gives us clues; For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29: 11).But the story in Mark that comes to mind here is the raising to life of the daughter of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue in Capernaum. Jairus can’t have been thrilled to have this young prophet doing extraordinary things in his congregation, but in desperation he pockets his pride —why worry about religious or political controversy when your daughter is dying?
He rushes to see if Jesus will heal her. Jesus is willing but he is delayed by a woman needing his help, and by the time he gets to the house, the little girl has died. We know this because Mark says the professional mourners had already arrived, weeping and wailing, with musical accompaniment (Matthew actually mentions flutes). But Jesus isn’t fazed; he goes into the house where there is now said to be a dead body – a matter of great concern to observant Jews. ‘She’s not dead,’ he declares; ‘she’s just asleep!’ In the ancient world, Sleep was used as a metaphor for death; Mark is perhaps hoping that his readers will recall Jesus' story of the seed and the plant in Chapter 4. It goes to sleep and rises up, a sign that the kingdom of God is breaking in. The voices of sorrow and hope are being woven together.
For Christians, Easter means death is not the end. Our society talks about 'dying with dignity', but Jesus enables us to die with hope. This melody in the Easter symphony offers reassurance to people who are frightened, it’s the good news that those who take the Jesus way get to share in his eternal life. There’s a deep-seated fear of death that haunts many people. I recall my doctor husband telling me about a patient in his seventies, a regular church attender. He seemed really bothered by his declining health and the inevitability of death, and Ric wondered what had happened to the familiar Christian hope. I was not the
man's pastor at the time, but of course I wondered how I would handle this issue if I was. Long after he died, I heard a senior colleague speak of a hospital visit to one of his elders, who seemed similarly terrified of his approaching death. G said to him, “Bob, let me remind of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” and he retold him the simple story of a man who came from God, to live and teach and heal, embodying God’s great love and grace. The young teacher was killed, but God raised him to life, forever defeating the forces of evil and the power of death. “The promise of God”, G said to Bob, “is eternal life, for you who have worshipped, loved and served him all these years. Have no fear – God’s abundant life is for you.” I learned a lesson in pastoral care that day and have since been privileged to share along those lines with others, about the founded hope of our faith. An important tune in the Good News Chorale is that Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplished abundant life now, and a deep-seated hope for the future. His empty tomb is witness to the fact that he lives, and so will we.
To Consider: How do you think you will feel when it is clear your earthly life is coming to its end? Do you need someone to remind you of the Gospel of God's grace?
To be continued…………….
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