Note: This page is optimized for a display size (screen resolution) of 1024 x768 or higher. How to change display size.

St. George's Episcopal Church Roseburg, Oregon The Great Vigil of Easter 15 April 2006 Go To St. George's Home Page

Romans 6:3-11
Psalm 114:1-8
Mark 16:1-8
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA

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. 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?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 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. 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.” 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. (Mark 16:1-8)

Happy News
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector

     If you walk upon a crime scene, you don’t expect to find good news. After all, something bad has happened and the perpetrator is probably gone. But if you had the RedWeb security system, there might be some good news in the offing.[1] When this system is activated, a biosynthetic substance called “i-powder” is sprayed on the criminal. The spray contains a durable red dye and a powder containing distinctive strands of DNA – the genetic material containing the code of life. The powder cannot be removed for several days, and when the criminal is caught, there is an unbreakable link to the crime scene.

     But maybe you are not concerned about burglary or a late-night attacker. Maybe you worry about cutting off a toe while cutting your grass. There’s good news for you too! Russell Stark invented a special shoe that not only gives traction while operating the mower, it also has steel toes.

     Both the RedWeb Security system and LawnGrip shoes are available at HappyNews.com, a web site devoted to the dissemination of good news. You won’t find stories of disasters, murders, death, or mayhem at HappyNews.com. If you want horrifying news, you can get that at CNN, MSNBC, ABC, or my favorite, FOX News. HappyNews.com does not pretend to be fair and balanced like FOX News claims it is, but rather HappyNews is unabashedly upbeat; no death, no destruction. Last Thursday, it had a story about female Nobel laureates launching a bid for peace, how a European spacecraft was orbiting Venus, and how the Queen of Creole prepares and serves gumbo.

     The writer of Mark’s Gospel says that when Mary Magdalene and the other women went to the tomb they expected bad news. They brought spices to anoint the stone cold body of Jesus, a terribly sad, depressing, and dismal task. As they walked in the early morning light, they worried about how they would roll that heavy stone away. They were expecting that feeling we might get from a FOX news report.

     But when they got there, they were bewildered. Expecting FOX, they got something else. A young man was in the tomb, dressed in white. They were startled, alarmed, and they didn’t have their RebWeb kit with them to spray on this grave robber. But the intruder said “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.”

     We can imagine them looking at the stranger and at each other. Puzzled. Confused. Scared. Expecting bad news, the angel gave them good news.

     Good news, maybe, but quite incomprehensible news. What does it mean? What happened? Where exactly is Jesus?

     The other news media of the time that Easter morning just ignored this story all together. They just told the same old recycled bad news of yesterday, typical of an oppressed people living in a dusty land: Criminals were being crucified, uprisings were being squelched, businessmen were bribing politicians, wars were being fought in distant lands, the poor were being ignored, the elderly were paying too many taxes, and the iron fist of the Empire was keeping everything under heavy handed control. For the average resident of Jerusalem, that first Easter morning was like every other. Breakfast was quickly swallowed – if you had food – household chores were checked off, grueling labor was performed, injury and illness took their toll, and conflicts flared up.

     Those women came expecting a day worse than the typical bad day. That was their mind set. That is all they could imagine. And when the angel from HappyNews.com told them that Jesus was raised, “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.”

     Terror and amazement. What they expected didn’t happen. And they reacted by saying nothing to anyone.

     Does that seem strange? If the women kept silent, who told the disciples and the rest of the world about this event? How did you and I find out about Jesus’ resurrection?

     I think Mark’s intention in writing the story this way was to stimulate us to respond to the Gospel story. Instead of the disciples going out and telling the story, Mark wanted his hearers to say, “Wait a minute! This is a story that has to be told! If the women won’t tell, then I will! I know this story! It’s my story!”

     But what do we say? Mark has left it up to you and me to tell the story. What are you going to say? How will you report Easter morning?

     The resurrection itself is a mystery. It is something that is amazing. Weird. Hard to understand or explain. But the power of the resurrection is something that can be felt by everyone who has been touched by the gospel story.

     The experience of gathering as a community to hear and tell the story, and to welcome newly baptized members and then to share in the Eucharistic celebration with them is part of the tradition of the Great Vigil and Easter morning. It is the time when we as a community feel the presence of the incarnate God still with us even though we killed him and buried him once. We gather together and use ordinary water, oil, bread, and wine to create something extra-ordinary: a community united spiritually through him, and with him, and in him; a community that sees the love of God to be so powerful that even death cannot contain it. We are empowered by that love, a love that knows no boundaries of time or space. A love that will reach toward us, and sustain us especially when we least expect it, when we experience those moments of the cross; times when we endure the betrayal of friends, the loss of loved ones, physical agony, fear, loneliness, and hopelessness.

     God is with us in those dark moments, when we least expect it. That is the message of Easter: God comes to us when we least expect it. And when God comes, astonishing things can happen. When Jesus was raised, he showed us that God can put death itself to death. And when Jesus left the empty tomb, all of the usual and customary expectations ware shattered. He smashes the status quo, and turns the tables on those who see violence, war, corruption, oppression, and destruction as unchanging constants in this world.

     Jesus is alive and leads us into a better future. The Christ who was crucified knows our deepest personal anguish. The Christ who was lifeless knows the complete destruction of death itself. The Christ who was raised knows the life-giving power of God. The Christ who goes ahead of us knows that the future is full of promise. And that is Good News indeed! Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Note: The Back to Top button above requires Macromedia Plug In.
Click here to download Macromedia Player Version 7.

COMMENTS? E-Mail Me

Romans 6:3-11

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 114:1-8

1 When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.

3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.

4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.

5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?

6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,

8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.

Mark 16:1-8

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. 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?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 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. 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.” 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.

Collect of the Day

O God, who made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in sincerity and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[1] Timothy F. Merrill (Exec Ed). “Happy News.” Homiletics 18(2): 57-61, 2006.

To Bill Stroop's Sermon Index Page

To Bill Stroop's Current Year B Sermon Index Page

To St. George's Home Page

To Bill Stroop's Home Page

Copyright Notice
Copyright © 2006, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
13 April 2006

This publication, ie. this page and the preceding document that has a link to this page, are copyrighted. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act, no part of it may in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior permission of the publisher.