yeah, but you gotta give in / when you gotta let go

then you can begin / to come up slow like a desert rose

A sermon on the real ending of Easter:

Alleluia! Christ is risen! *Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Yes, indeed, Christ is risen. Alleluia!

Do you remember the first time you ever said this greeting? Or at least the first time you were conscious of doing so? For me, I don’t think it was until I was in college. So, for all I know, today is your first memory of making this venerable Easter salutation.

No matter what, though, we all have some Easter memory. Don’t we? So, let’s take a moment to recall one. And start thinking, too, because I’m going to ask us to share.

This is something we do from time to time. I like it because it gets you all engaged. So, like I said, start thinking about your answer. What’s an Easter memory you have? And keep it simple; just go with whatever comes to mind. 

To give you some time to think, I’ll go first. And while I talk, think about your answer. I know you think about other things during the sermon anyway! So go ahead and use this time to get ready!

An Easter memory I have today is that year I got a wooden baseball bat. Remember that one, Mom and Dad? I had been wanting a bat in a bad way for a while. I was mad for baseball, so getting a bat was a big deal.

The thing, though, was that Easter, like the one this year, was early. The ground was still frozen! And there was even ice and snow on the ground too. But I was undeterred. I wanted to try out that new bat! So I dragged my little brother the four blocks to the baseball diamond. And then, when that field was covered in ice, I dragged him another block to the high school field. 

Finally, I got to test out that bat. And some of you might be anticipating what happened next. Have you ever hit a ball in the cold? Well, let me tell you, it’s not pleasant! The chill takes all the give out of the bat and ball. When you make contact in the cold, you really feel it in your hands. And that’s especially true if you’re using a wooden bat that’s a little too big. And that’s especially-especially true if you’re just a kid who’s not expecting it! 

Needless to say, the excursion didn’t last long. I probably only had to wait another week or so, but in my little mind, I had to wait months before I finally got to use that bat.

…But what about you? What’s an Easter memory you have? Go ahead and turn to the folks sitting around you and share your answer. Try to give everyone a chance to share, too. And since many of us are traveling, look around. If you see someone sitting alone, invite them to play along. 

Ok? Alright. Go and share your answer. What’s an Easter memory you have?

Ok. Let’s bring it in. Thank you for playing along. I hope it was a pleasurable little exercise for you. Easter is a special time, and those memories we have of this day are particularly precious. Aren’t they?

But those Easter recollections aren’t just idle memories. Are they? No, honestly, our memories of Easter’s past are probably creating some expectations for us this Easter today, too. Aren’t they? 

Maybe you’re here on the hunt for a little Easter nostalgia. Or maybe you’re trying to create it for someone else. No matter what, though, none of us are here expectation-less. Are we? 

That’s fine and all, too. The trouble, though, is that these expectations might hinder you from experiencing what’s really happening today. More than likely, you’re hoping for a little of that simplicity and clarity that the past always seems to have in spades today. Aren’t you? 

And I understand this impulse. Frankly, I share it. It’s what we all want. Who wouldn’t want a fresh start and a clearer understanding, too? And if history is any guide, Easter is a good day for it!

And Easter is a good day for it, too! Only it’s not in the way you expect! What’s exhilarating about Easter isn’t the way it confirms expectations. Quite the opposite! What’s invigorating about Easter is the way it perennially upends expectations! Just as surely as the daffodils will bloom, so, too, will Easter surprise! 

Consider your own memories! I bet what made them stick wasn’t how typical they were. Was it? No, those moments that tend to make an impact on us are the ones that startle us out of our ruts and back into the thrill of the life that’s happening right underneath our noses! Aren’t they?

…Blessedly, today’s Scripture sets us up nicely! You don’t have to look far to find an Easter surprise! The truth is, our passage actively resists expectation!However, all your presumptions about today may have kept you from noticing it! 

After the Gospel was read, right on cue, we all said, “Praise to you, O Christ.” But did you notice the unsettling note this passage concludes upon? When the young man dressed all in white tells the women that Jesus is not in the tomb, that he’s been raised and is going ahead of them to Galilee, the women don’t return the Easter greeting! Do they? 

No, instead of replying, “He is risen indeed. Alleluia!” The women don’t say anything at all! In fact, they run away in terrified silence! “Stunned, they said nothing to anyone.”

Stunned, they said nothing to anyone?!? Thus ends the Easter reading! Praise to you, O Christ?!? I’m not so sure! This passage is short on praise! Wouldn’t you say?

And you know what? We’re not up to any funny business here, either! We haven’t cut this passage short! This is how Mark ends the Easter scene. Why, it’s how he ends the entire Gospel itself! 

With this disappointing reaction, the screen goes blank. The credits don’t even roll. There are no concluding vignettes telling what everyone went on to do after Christ’s Easter triumph. Instead, the story just sputters to a halt with this underwhelming hush of fear and failure.

…We cannot tolerate this sorry conclusion. Can we? No, we want trumpets and fanfare! We want an Easter that meets our expectations! We want an Easter that’s as sweet and pastel-painted as our memories.

And listen, if that’s the kind of Easter you’re having this year, more power to you! Live it up! But I suspect even those of us who are having a better-than-average Easter aren’t having a perfect one. Are we? And the reason for that is perfectly simple: the perfect Easter doesn’t exist! 

Every Easter, just like this one and just like the one in our passage, has a little darkness creeping around the edges. Doesn’t it? Easter takes place in real life. And real life is really very good. But it’s not perfect. Is it? Like that first Easter, every Easter thereafter has its own share of real-life disappointments.

That’s even true of the Easter of your memories, too. It wasn’t perfect! Your sentimentalism is coloring your reflections! And even if the Easter of your memory was candy-coated, there were loved ones behind you who stifled their sorrow so you could have a happy Easter.

But know this: if there’s a loved one you’re missing today, they’re gathered around Christ’s throne celebrating Easter for real! Easter isn’t a promise for them anymore. No, for those who have walked through the valley of the shadow of Death, the resurrection isn’t a promise. No, now it’s a fact for them! Their alleluias are no longer tinged with sadness. In Christ, in eternity, every tear is wiped away from their eye, and they shout alleluia with a full-throated conviction we can only hope for, for now!

And for us who as yet walk by faith, our alleluias are, as Leonard Cohen sang, broken. Aren’t they? None of us get to Easter without a letdown or two—or two-hundred-thousand, for that matter! And if that’s especially true for you today, don’t be ashamed! 

If a perfect Easter isn’t even close to a possibility for you this year, know that you’re really close to what makes for a real Easter! As we discussed in our Lenten devotions, these rough edges of life are not an anomaly. No, they’re a feature of life on this side of heaven. Disappointments don’t mean you’ve messed up Easter. They mean you’re actually walking the path that leads to Christ’s empty tomb!

When that first Easter really ended on a blue note, it incorporated all our cries into the Gospel shout! Grief doesn’t diminish Easter. On the contrary, it’s part and parcel of Christ’s Easter triumph! Easter isn’t a fairytale. No, it’s the hard-won redemption of this mixed-up world.

…But that’s not all! Yes, that first Easter may be realistic. But it’s not realistic for the sake of realism. No, Easter ends on an authentic note because reality is the staging ground for redemption!

Mark, you understand, was a theologian of the cross. And what that means is he understood that unless Easter can really happen in the world we actually live in, it makes no real difference at all. But Mark didn’t come to this conviction theoretically. No, what happened was Mark witnessed how Easter really took place in this hardscrabble world!

Yes, reality may be where Easter really happens, but it’s not where it stays! Is it? Easter doesn’t just end on a note of disappointment. Does it? No, it does not! A word of promise has been slipped INTO the sorrow! Hasn’t it? “He goes on ahead of you to Galilee,” the young man says. “You’ll see him there, exactly as he said!” Exactly as he said! 

Christ is not in the tomb! He’s out! He’s on the loose! He goes on ahead of YOU! Exactly as he said! Christ has made a promise and nothing is going to stop him from making good on it!

In this world of death and taxes, Death has been put on notice! Death is now no longer the ending it used to be! Now, in Christ, Death is just the interlude to Eternity itself! And the one whose numbered Death’s days is out! He’s on the loose! He can’t be stopped! He can’t be contained!

Christ has smuggled a promise INTO this rough and tumble world. And this promise is bigger than the story! The Gospel can’t contain it! But then again, neither can this weary ol’ world!

The Gospel doesn’t end satisfactorily because the real end is really in Christ’s wounded hands! And he’s not done! The story’s not over until he says so! And he’s not done with history! And you know what else? He’s not done with you, either!

Christ lives! He’s out! He’s on the loose! He goes ahead of you! Always he goes before you! He goes on ahead of you to Galilee. Galilee.

…Now Galilee meant something for the women it doesn’t mean for us. For us, Galilee is an exotic location. And it’s a holy one, too. But it wasn’t for the women. 

No, Galilee was just home for them. There was nothing special about Galilee for them. And that’s precisely the sort of territory Christ goes ahead of you to meet YOU in today, too! Christ goes ahead of you to meet you in your normal, routine, day-to-day home life!

I’m so glad you’re HERE today. And you should know, it’s no mistake you’re here, too! The women didn’t think they were going to get news that changed their lives that morning they went to anoint Jesus’ body. And maybe you don’t this one, either. But too bad!

That’s right! Too bad! Maybe you think you’re here just to make the family happy. Or maybe you think you’re here because that’s just what you do on Easter. Fine. You’re dead wrong. But fine. I don’t need to convince you on this! It’s true! 

Just like the women that first Easter, Christ doesn’t need your piety or diligence today! No, he’s already raised and on the loose! It’s not Christ who’s being served today—you are! So, just consider me your process server! 

And here’s the notice: Christ is alive! Death has been defeated once and for all! The only thing that’s ended today is Death! The rest is as wide open as Christ’s EMPTY tomb!

Christ goes on ahead of you! He goes through Death for you! And now, when you come to the end of this earthly life, you will just be at the very beginning of Christ’s everlasting love! And still, there is more! Christ isn’t waiting around, either! 

Christ isn’t waiting for your last day! No, he goes ahead of you today to meet you TODAY! Christ is going ahead of you directly into your daily life! There you will meet him, EXACTLY as he told you! 

Easter, you understand, isn’t just true in here! No, it’s especially true out there! I’m so glad you’re HERE today, but Easter is happening for you OUT there! Easter is happening for you out there in your real workaday life! Easter is happening for you in your real life with all its tough breaks! And it’s happening for you in your real life with all its humdrum routines and obligations, too!

…Your world has just turned! Nothing is the same for you anymore! Everything is different for you now! Christ has invaded it all on the sly! Christ has permeated every nook and cranny of your life! And not just the good parts, either. 

No, Christ is in all of it! Now your life, and even your death is all in Christ’s wounded hands! In Christ, you have a future! And it’s one that’s not tied to the past or the ending, either. No, Christ comes to give you a tomorrow as indestructible as his resurrection itself and as promising as Eternity, too! Christ comes to give you nothing less than an empty tomb and an incredibly full destiny, too!

Today’s Gospel isn’t a disappointing end. Is it? Why, it’s not even really any sort of end at all! No, it’s a shocking declaration that Christ isn’t bound to the ending. 

No, Christ is risen! He lives! He’s out! He’s on the loose! He’s on the same side of the story as you! And he goes to meet you in the thick of life on this side of the story!

So what are you waiting for? Go! Christ is going on ahead of you into the rest of your life and death! You’ll see him there, EXACTLY as he said!

Maybe that’s frightening. Maybe you want to run away. Maybe you don’t want to talk about it. Ok. You wouldn’t be the first. 

But you should know, it won’t be the end of it, either. Christ is alive! He can’t be contained! It’s not over! Not even close! No, in Christ, it’s all just beginning!

There’s nothing left to say, but Christ Is Alive! Let Christians Sing! 

Our hymn of the day is hymn number 389. Christ Is Alive! Let Christians Sing! Hymn number 389. Let’s sing!