by Pastor Josephson
Trinity Lutheran Church, Fowler
Sunday, April 12, is Easter – “The Resurrection of Our Lord”. One of the gospel readings for Easter is Mark 16:1-8. Verse 8 is: "The women went out from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; they said nothing to anyone, they were afraid for..." That’s how it reads in Greek, ending the sentence and the Gospel with a preposition. The most important story of the Christian faith just stops and the end just hangs out there. And we are left waiting, unresolved.
Mark’s story of Jesus has a beginning, but it doesn’t have an end. It just keeps going and going, from one life to another, touching and transforming us one by one. The risen Christ was not at the tomb but going ahead of his friends. And that’s where we see him today: out ahead of us. Where charity and love prevail over injustice and violence; where compassion and hope replace cynicism and despair; where peace and love take root in lives that are empty and lost; where human beings know joy and justice, dignity and delight: there is the risen Christ, beckoning to us.
Children by the grace of God, one in Christ, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, rejoice in the resurrection and live in hope, peace, and joy.
Amen.
