Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Easter Sunday morning. The text was Mark 16:1-8 . Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Today, we conclude our series, Altered by the Spirit. Today’s theme is “Life Altered” and indeed it was for Jesus and the disciples. We love Easter, don’t we? Perhaps we got some new clothes. I’m wearing a new clergy blouse. When I saw the color, I couldn’t resist. It’s called rose. I was thrilled when it arrived in time for Easter. But is that all there is to Easter? As children, we went to Easter egg hunts. Or our parents hid eggs in the yard for us to find. I remember, my father always taped a penny to every egg. Is this what Easter is about? We enjoy our own children, nieces and nephews and grandchildren enjoying this annual ritual. But is that all there is to Easter? We love getting together with family for a wonderful meal. Is it ham or turkey in your family? Growing up, it was ham. With Ray, it is turkey. Next weekend will be ou...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches. The gospel text is Mark 16:1-8. The account of Jesus ’ resurrection in Mark is unlike any of the other gospels. In other resurrection accounts, we have appearances of Jesus all over the place — eating with his disciples or revealing himself on the road to Emmaus. Isn ’ t that how Easter is supposed to be with the risen Jesus and his disciples having joyful seaside meals, scenes of reconciliation and forgiveness, garden embraces of the risen Lord and the disciples shouting, “ He is risen! ” ? Mark does not offer us any such thing. It is the only resurrection story in the Bible where Jesus never actually makes an appearance. Mark ’ s story ends with frightened women fleeing from Jesus ’ empty tomb in silence. It would appear that the three women were complete failures, but they are not alone in that. In Mark ’ s strange conclusion, insiders become outsiders and outsiders do the work of insiders...