Go and Tell for I am already ahead of you

Sermon given Easter Sunday, April 1st at Sydenstricker UMC

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^NRS Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³ They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" ⁴ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶ But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you." ⁸ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. ⁹ Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. ¹⁰ She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. ¹² After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. ¹³ And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. ¹⁴ Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. ¹⁵ And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

Don and Rick were best of friends and loved to play golf. They would have played every day if their jobs had not gotten in the way. In fact, they would play every day except Sunday. You see, these two men were also devout Christians who attended church regularly and were active in their church in ministry. Often they would play together and when playing with others they would discuss their faith lives in non-threatening ways to whomever they were playing with. Well as you can imagine, they had one of those heaven questions. We all have them. Is such and such going to be in heaven when I get there? Are there animals in heaven and will I see my favorite dog, cat or whatever when I get to heaven? I have even been asked if there will be NASCAR in heaven. Honestly, I cannot quite see that one but hey, God is bigger than anything I can think of. So anyway, as the story goes, Rick passes away. Well weeks and months go by and Don was missing his friend as many of you can probably relate. One night there at the foot of his bed stood his friend Rick. Well Don was shook up at seeing him so he asked him if he was real. Of Course, said Rick. However, I have to tell you I have some good news and some great news. Well give me the great news first, Don said. Well I know you are curious, as we have wondered aloud if there is golf in heaven and I can tell you that there is. In fact, some of the most beautiful courses you can imagine are here. Well, Don said, what is the good news? You and I have a tee time next Tuesday.

The truth of the story is that there is no bad news. Like the criminal in the cross, the knowledge that we leave this physical world to be in a world of joy and celebration in the presence of Jesus is only good news. We as human beings live in a world where we become accustomed to bad news, to sad tidings and to adversity in the world around us. However, the good news of this morning is that the tomb is empty and Jesus has already gone on before us to prepare a place at His table.

To truly understand what today is, we need to understand who Jesus is. His story begins in the Old Testament where God creates the perfect humans and places them in the perfect setting. If not for their desire to be greater than they think they are, we would still be there in a place called paradise or the Garden. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, which means that they were created to be in relationship and to love one another. An image of love is always and will always be the perfect creation story. But truth is that image got flawed not by God’s hand but by forces that would have us believe that perfect is something other than being in a relationship that is centered on love and obedience. So God set in plan a new creation that is yet to come to fulfillment! God promised a new perfect human whom we would learn from and who would lift us up. That is the story of Jesus we have come to love and to focus on. God’s promise begins in the very first book of the Bible where he proclaims at the first punishment that there will be one who will come who will win the victory in the end. That theme threads its way throughout the story of humanity. Abraham is promised a great nation and David is promised that one will come and sit on his throne forever. The Prophets are promised that the coming Messiah will bring peace and salvation will conquer the forces of evil in the world and the lion and the lamb will live in peace together again. This is the eternal promise of God and everything that God has been doing in the world has been toward achieving that promise, both in the world and in the lives of people like us who live in the world. Yet we mess it up by wanting something different, something unattainable, and something we truly do not need. We do not need to be the creator in order to enjoy the world that we live in. But that sin runs deep in us, so deep in fact that it is an infectious wound that grows and churns its way straight into our hearts where it destroys the love that we were designed to feel and share. God’s promise in the Old Testament story was to send a new Adam who would find a way to fix that.

At Christmas, we celebrated the birth of Jesus. The Son of God who was sent into the world to bring an end to the pain and suffering that our sin has caused. God in human form came into the world to share with us what perfection looks like lived out. That is part of the story of this loving relationship of God. God walked among us as God had in the very beginning. However, this time, God’s loving nature-spent time healing and teaching, showing us what living in this creation could look like if we desired it. We each have the opportunity to be in this type of relationship with each other, loving rather than hating, caring rather than discarding and healing one another rather than harming one another. That is the essence of what Jesus showed us when He came and spent time among us two thousand years ago. He did not differentiate in color of skin, nation of origin or even the path that we had taken as he walked, healed, taught, and fed those around him. Jesus was already ahead of us all the time in understanding, healing and loving. Jesus taught us how to have relationship.

But the best part is yet to come. Jesus went to the cross that we might have freedom from our very natures. That we could escape death itself, not the physical death that will come to us all, but eternal death where we exist knowing that love was available and we gave it up for a new car or new home or mid-life crisis. Even now, Jesus is already preparing the table for us as we share these moments of life. Already Jesus is preparing a place for us just as He promised. Jesus wants us in relationship and wants us to be loved and to love one another. He said that is how the world would know us, that we had love for one another regardless and unconditionally. Jesus even wants us to know to what extreme He will go to share that with us. He went to His death for us. When He came back risen and alive, Peter was high on His list. Peter denied Him three times and Jesus forgave him three times. I believe the emphasis in the scripture is because of that denial that Jesus told Mary, go and tell the disciples and Peter. So that we would know that even when we have denied Jesus, Jesus offers us His love.

Jesus told Mary to go and tell. Jesus is telling us to go and tell. We are to be witnesses throughout the world to the power of God’s love. Jesus wants us to share unconditional love with all the world just as He shared it with us on the cross. Jesus wants us to share through witness by example and teaching that God so loved the world, that God gave us God in the form of Jesus who gave His life so that you and I might live eternal lives with God. What a great message. Jesus is already ahead of us in showing us that love. Jesus is already ahead of us in preparing our eternal homes. Jesus is asking us not to look at the future but to live in the Kingdom right here and now. Peter denied Him three times and Jesus forgave Peter three times. Peter was lost after the death and resurrection but Jesus, already ahead of Peter, met him right where he lived and gave him love. How many times are we Peter? Every time we fall, Jesus is already ahead of us picking us up and loving us. Jesus is preparing a table for us. Would you come to the banquet of God?