"Afraid -- To Let Go" Easter, 2006

(First, read the text for this sermon: Mark 16:1-8)


Easter is by far the toughest Sunday morning for a preacher. That’s because most worshipers assemble on this day, assuming they know what’s happening. There is so much hoopla on this day, there are so many distractions, that many people miss what’s actually in the gospel story.

Were you listening? Did the ending of this morning’s gospel story give you pause?

I mean, we’re making all kinds of noise this morning! “Jesus Christ is Risen Today!” “The Strife is Oe’er! The Battle Won!” But listen again to the last verse of that story from Mark: 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.

What is going on here?

What are they afraid of?

For one thing, it certainly is a fearful thing to be visiting the grave of someone executed by the Romans for insurrection! What if they’re seen? What if they’re arrested, too, by the Romans, for participating in the treasonous conspiracy? (That’s a reasonable fear, isn’t it?) And it is a shocking and terrifying thing to arrive at the site, and to find that the grave is opened! (That, too, is understandable reason for fear.) But, in addition to that, it looks like Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome are made very fearful by the words spoken by the young man that they encounter at the open grave.

Why is that? Jesus himself had told them that would happen, three times before, according to Mark’s account. Is it fearful for them to hear it now, because they obviously had not heard it before when Jesus told them, three times, that he would suffer and be killed and then rise from the dead? Now, at the opened grave, the young man tells Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome that this has happened. [H]e 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.” … 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.

Why do you and I become fearful? Often, it’s when we’re afraid of what we might lose. For instance, a soldier is fearful of losing his life, and so it is a terrifying thing to be in combat. We are fearful of losing our health or mobility, and so we receive with fright an ominous diagnosis from a doctor. We are fearful of losing our money, and our identity, and so many panic when the boss tells them that they’re being laid off.

In short, it’s a scary thing to let go of whatever it is that we clutch so tightly in our hands.

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. What are Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome afraid to let go of?

They are afraid to let go of their assumption that death wins! It is frightening to let go of “certainties” that we count on as being true – even when there’s greater possibility, in the letting go, of life in God’s fullness!

But, you see, that’s what the Good News of the risen Christ calls us to do. Even as we are tempted to join these three women in their flight from the empty tomb, so the Risen Christ calls you and me – to let go of whatever it is we’re holding onto, in fear, so we can live Easter!

That means to let go of our assumption that we live in a closed universe. That we know what is real and what is not. That death wins and life does not.
But primarily, to live Easter we must let go of ourselves; or, at least, of the people we think we are; the false images of ourselves we’ve built up for ourselves. When you’re spending so much energy propping up your false image, of your “in control” self, then you cannot receive the Good News of grace: that life fulfilled is pure gift, from God. God is able to enclose us in arms of love when we let go of our false selves, and when we embrace who we are, the person God created you to be, the genuine person, the one who God loves, unilaterally and unconditionally. That is what Jesus is talking about when he says, in chapter eight of Mark, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”
Are you terrified by all of that? How often are you and I just like Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome – afraid to let go of what we’re holding so tightly, to simply believe, and to live Easter?

One of my favorite writers is Flannery O’Connor. She was the Mozart of the short story. Now you need to know that she died in the 1960s, at age 39, of lupus. So she was accustomed to great suffering over health. She had a deep and realistic faith, in the midst of the suffering. There was not an idealistic cell in her body. Keeping that biography in mind, listen to what she wrote, in one of her letters:

“I think there is no suffering greater than what is caused by the doubts of those who want to believe. I know what torment this is, but I can only see it, in myself anyway, as the process by which faith is deepened. A faith that just accepts is a child’s faith and all right for children, but eventually you have to grow religiously as every other way, though some never do.

“What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe. If you feel you can’t believe, you must at least do this: keep an open mind. Keep it open toward faith, keep wanting it, keep asking for it, and leave the rest to God.

“When we get our spiritual house in order, we’ll be dead. This goes on. You arrive at enough certainty to be able to make your way, but it is making it in darkness. Don’t expect faith to clear things up for you. It is trust, not certainty.”

It seems to me that that’s where Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome are – right there!

Obviously the last words in Mark’s gospel – and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid – is not the end of the story. Obviously, eventually, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome did trust enough, despite all of their uncertainty, to let go! They obviously did tell something to someone – because we are telling the story to each other this morning, of the stunning possibility of life in God’s fullness; life that is possible because of Jesus the Christ’s resurrection from the dead!

Living Easter means living in the trust and hope that that story is true! If it is true, then the Good News overcomes our fear. If the story is true, then eternal life has begun! And so, we simply let go. We live the resurrected life.

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.


Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia