The Resurrection of Our Lord
Sermon by The Rev Timothy A Leitzke
They say a
watched pot never boils. I agree. I measure out the water. I put in some salt.
I turn the dial on the stove to LITE and hear the gas hiss and the lighter flick
and flick and finally catch with a demure rumble like wind in a sail. I set it
on HIGH and wait. If there are other dishes I am going to need I get those and
then check. There might be a couple of little bubbles but still it’s just hot
water. It is only when I leave the kitchen that the water boils. It’s such a
little difference between boiling and simply hot, but it’s all the difference
in the world between liquid water and steam. It’s a minute change, the smallest
alteration in temperature, passing in the blink of an eye. That’s kind of like
what happens here. Mark doesn’t even bother to describe the rolling of the
stone or to name its roller. The act was so minor that no one even noticed it
until the morning when Mary, Mary, and Salome showed up. Such a little, tiny
detail—such a little, unnoticed act and now HE’S OUT!
I remember one dark, winter morning
at my parents’ house in
With pots
and doors I’m very close to that unforgivable sin of mixing my metaphors, and all
metaphors eventually collapse. With the boiling pot the water warmed and
warmed, building to the point when it would become steam. It’s difficult today
honestly to say that all history was building to Christ’s resurrection, that
all life before it was futile and that all life now is perfect. It’s convenient
for us to say that, what with us living after the fact, but we’re foolish to
assume it. In many ways, the world remains the same. The three women come to
anoint Jesus for burial, even though he was already anointed in the Passion
reading last week. The young man tells them emphatically not to be overly
impressed with the resurrection but to go meet Jesus out in the world, but the
women flee in shivering terror and don’t tell a soul what they have seen.
Creation is still broken. People are still sinful. The world is still the same,
and yet the world will never be the same.
Friends of
Christ, our experience of the resurrection changes everything. Christ is on the
loose! God is at large in the world. God is on the run, free and unfettered.
The resurrection stands the whole universe on its head. All the evil—the evil
we have done intentionally and the evil we have done while trying to do good—is
overlooked. Death: a simple fact of life, couldn’t hold God.
This is the
end of the Gospel According to St Mark, and this is no ending at all. There are
too many loose ends. Who’s the guy in the white stole? How did Mark, or anyone
else, know anything about the resurrection if the three women never told anyone
about it? Where’s Jesus the Christ now? Friends, Christ lives and the Gospel
lives. There is no satisfying ending to this story because it is a work in
progress, and we are the latest batch of characters. The resurrection enables
us to live our part of the story with hope. The crucifixion was not the end.
God triumphs in death and God triumphs over
death. Jesus Christ is risen today, and through him God makes all things new.
Now, Friends
of Christ, in faith we live with the water boiling over. We are physically
changed because we know that God is making us new and forgiving our sins, and
that we will one day join Christ as resurrected people. The change in us is far
more profound than a shift from liquid to gas. God has claimed us and planted
the Spirit in us. In faith we live as God’s people. We can follow God’s
commandments. We can love God and our neighbors. We can gather here in
community. In faith I can say that God is alive and at work inside of each of
you. There won’t be a nice resolution to everything; our story is still being
written. The water is boiled and steam is flowing every which way. The future
is unknown but we live now in faith.
Now, Friends
of Christ, in faith we live with an open door. Doors control access to us, and
our door is always open. We are no longer caged; God has freed us. We can follow
God any time or any where. On the other hand, God is no longer caged. The bars
that keep God at bay are useless and God can meet us any time or any where. We
can shut the door and throw the deadbolt; God will open it again with such
subtlety that we don’t even see it happen. We’ll never keep the door closed.
There won’t be a nice resolution to everything. The door is open and God gets
into us all the time. What God will bring through the door to us is unknown,
but we live now in faith.
Friends of
Christ, none of this is our doing. We can’t do it. We all have limits. We all
sin and fall short of the glory of God, but, Friends of Christ, God is on a
mission to love and redeem and forgive each of us, and nothing can stop God.
Humans killed Jesus, but God seized him into God’s own hands for God’s
purposes. The women came to anoint Jesus but God had already anointed him.
People rolled the stone over the tomb, but God has rolled away the stone.
People still don’t comprehend but God speaks through the mouths of people,
telling the good news that Jesus the Christ is out! He could be anywhere,
running riot in the streets or praying by someone sick, shouting from the
rooftops or whispering in the night, presiding at this meal or sitting at your
kitchen table. Christ is on the loose!
Amen