Teach Us, Oh Lord, To Believe
Posted on Apr 05, 2015 by David Whetter
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
Happy Easter! I hope this day is truly a day of joy and celebration for all of you. But, I also hope, that those who come every week, those who come periodically and those who come today as a one-time thing that today causes you to think about what it is you believe. At the beginning of service I offered that ancient Easter proclamation, Christ is Risen! To which you all responded, He is risen indeed, Alleluia!, and for those of you who come back during the season of Easter, we will begin our worship with this greeting every week, until Pentecost. But the question I pray all of you ask yourself today, and every day, is, “do I believe this?”
In our Gospel story today, we are told that “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to the tomb, so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" (Mark 16:1-3).
Right off the bat, Mark tells us that three of Jesus’ disciples, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, didn’t believe what Jesus had told them would happen. Three times before his crucifixion, Jesus had told his disciples that following his death he would rise after three days. But, obviously these three disciples didn’t believe that to be true, because here it is, the third day and they are going to Jesus’ tomb, a place of the dead, and they are going to anoint his body for permanent burial. They weren’t concerned wondering if he had risen, yet, or not, no, their only concern was how they might roll the stone away.
Have you ever wondered how they expected to move that stone? Well, last November, while in were in Israel, Jill and I got to see ancient tombs and after seeing them, I came to realize that moving the stones that enclosed the tombs was not as difficult as we might think. Here is a picture of a small ancient tomb. Now the tomb we believe Jesus was buried in is much bigger than this tomb, because it was a tomb designed for a wealthy family, but regardless of their size, they all were set up the same way. In front of the tomb, they actually create a track, similar to what we would see for a sliding glass door and then a round, “wheel-type” stone was placed in that track so it could be rolled. Now, the stone covering the entrance to a large tomb such as Jesus’ might have been too much for a couple of woman, but it was not going to take a miracle to get the stone moved. It was designed to move.
But enough of the side note, now let’s get back to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome. They arrive at the tomb expecting to find a dead body. Their only concern was moving the stone, but when they arrived, “the stone had already been rolled away and as they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed” (1:4-5). When they see this “young man” he immediately tells them that the one they are looking for, the dead Jesus of Nazareth has been raised and so he is not there any longer (1:6). They came expecting to find Jesus’ dead body, but instead, they are told Jesus’ is alive and that he is on the road traveling to Galilee. This is exactly what Jesus told them before he died. That is after his death, he would meet them again in Galilee. You would think at this point they would be jumping up and down with sheer joy and excitement. And you would think at least one of them would be saying, this is what he said would happen, He is Risen!
But that is not what happened. Then, we are told that the young man tells them to go tell this to the other disciples and Peter, that is the one who specifically had denied Jesus three times, so that they all might begin their travels back to Galilee to meet the risen, very alive, Jesus. Again, you would think that the woman would have ran back to the upper room to share the great news, but Mark ends his Gospel by saying, “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” (1:8).
Did they believe? Well, we don’t know what they believed at that moment, but we do know that they were terrified and they were amazed. And, Mark tells us that they did not do what the young man had told them to do, because Mark says they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.
I don’t think much has changed in the 2000 plus Easter mornings since that first Easter. So many of us still go forth terrified and amazed. This morning, people are coming to places like this all over the world and although we want to believe, we want proclaim the risen Lord, we often go away and say nothing to anyone.
Why do we do that? Do we say nothing because we are not sure what we believe? Do we say nothing because we are afraid of what others might think of us? We all have our reasons, just like those three women did on that first Easter morning, but whatever the reason, my prayer is that like those three woman, Mary, Mary and Salome, that we will find the courage to believe and share the Good News ourselves with the world.
You see, they may have gone away terrified and amazed and they may have initially said nothing to any one, but we know they finally told the story, because we are here and we are here because those women, after dealing with their fear and amazement went and told the others, He is Risen!
Believing in the Resurrection can cause terror and amazement in us, but we cannot let terror and amazement cease our lives. Jesus came into this world to show us and teach us how to live and how to love, and he promised he would never leave us and in his Resurrection he fulfilled that promise.
Today, Christians are gathering all over the world, to proclaim the Resurrected Lord, but so many of us struggle to truly believe. So today, my prayer is that each of us learn to say one simple prayer every day, Teach me, O Lord to believe!
Christ has risen and I believe that with every fiber of my being. Oh, I know there are those who say I am crazy. I know there are those who want proof. But my proof, my conviction and my belief, comes knowing God through so many of you. I cannot imagine this world without the promise of the Resurrection
When you leave here today, I pray that each of you not only asks God to teach you to believe but that like Mary, Mary and Salome that you, too, might come to tell the others around you that Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! Amen