“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Mark 16:6-8
Mark has been the Gospel this church year. Early in 2021, I invited you to read at your own pace the book of Mark. Mark writes in a hurry. Jesus does many miracles and is less of a parable teller. And the biography of Jesus ends abruptly. I preached many times from this Gospel this year.
In the earliest copies of the Gospel, the ending is at verse 8. The longer ending is at verse 20. We do not have an original copy of the book, so we must trust scholars and translators, that verse 8 is probably the Gospel writer’s intent. He wanted to stop there.
So, we are left with almost no resurrection story. So, we are the resurrection stories. Since the beginning of the church, we tell about how we have experienced God. We tell about the miracles in our own lives. We tell about our own struggles to find God’s love in a broken world. In 2021, where have you found resurrection ? At least nine people from Poole have died this past year. That is a lot of grief for our community. What stories of the ” smashing of the rock in front of the tomb” can we tell in spite of our grief ? Can we still proclaim a hope that God has shown to us ? Grace and peace ,
Fred
Soaring like Vultures lifted up by unseen Hands Trust, silent enters my fears Monica Pieper Landoni 2021
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