“Going Places with Jesus for Life”
Mark 16:1-8 and Psalm 145
“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures…” (I Corinthians 15:3-4)
(Sermon preached by Rev. Larry A. Langer, First Presbyterian Church, Jasper, IN, April 8, 2012)
In this day and time, we usually don’t like to leave things “up in the air.” We are now people that want an explanation for everything.
We have had “The Undersea World of Jacque Cousteau” to help us discover and understand the things of the deep blue sea. We have the likes of “Star Trek” to discover “Space, the Final Frontier.” We have modern medicine, nuclear research laboratories and the American Psychiatric Association, all trying to discover what makes us tick “up here.” And, we have all sorts of faith organizations trying to discover what makes us tick “in here.”
The atheists think they have it figured out: We are a human machine and when we run out of power, this is all there is. The agnostics think they have it figured out: They just don’t know, and know they don’t know.
Then there is us. We have it figured out: We are more than just a human machine. We have it figured out: But we still believe there are mysteries in life. We have it figured out: But our answers are based mostly on faith. We would rather have the assurance of the “sure thing,” but in matters of faith, it is a matter of faith.
Along these lines of wanting answers and explanations, those who have put together our Bibles have wanted nice, neat packages. But it seems that the more Biblical scholarship we have, the more we leave to mystery. The case in point today is our reading from the Gospel of Mark.
It is suggested in these latter days of scholarship that Mark’s Gospel may have ended in several ways after with Mark 16:8, when the women who had gone to the tomb encountered “a young man” where Jesus was supposed to be, and “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.”
The two possibilities are the short version where the women told Peter everything and then “Jesus himself sent out, through them, from east and west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”
The longer ending tells about Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, the two disciples, the eleven disciples and commissioning them, and then Jesus ascending.
These appearances are recounted in the other Gospels in more detail. In Mark, they do seem to be “add-ons” because we don’t like to be left with a mystery. Even with faith, which is really based on accepting or not accepting “mystery,” we don’t like to be left “amazed.”
Yet, this is the “Day of Amazement” for us. This Day of Resurrection is the lynch-pin of our faith. We sing it:
Up from the grace He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.
He arose the Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
This truly is the lynch-pin of our faith. This is our new beginning with Jesus for life. This is where it all starts for believers. The question is what will we do with it? Will we do as our bulletin cover suggests: “To God be the Glory” because of the great things he has done, and will we be part of it?
We sing this in the song, “I Know Whom I have believed”:
I know not why God’s wondrous love
To me He hath bestowed;
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
But I know whom I have believed
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I’ve committed
Unto Him against that day.
Here are five things that we can commit ourselves to do, and they come from Psalm 145.
First, we will bless God forever. Let’s make this our own and say together, “I will bless God forever.” Let’s say it: “I will bless God forever.”
Blessing God forever begins with blessing God every day. We do this by telling God of God’s great things. We can see how many minute things we can think of that go into making God’s great things, like rather than just telling God “thanks” for the beautiful flowers, we can list for God all of the parts of the flowers, all of the different kinds of flowers and all of the different, wonderful things we can do with flowers.
We can also tell God that God is so great – “unsearchable” in the psalm – that we are humbled and will never be able to know all there is to know about God. Even so, we will still bless God forever.
Second, we will tell others about God. Let’s make this our own promise and say together, “I will tell others about God.” Let’s say it, “I will tell others about God.”
The Psalmist has made this promise on our behalf already: “One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts”; particularly, “They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.”
This is what we do in corporate worship, my friends. We celebrate God’s goodness, God’s righteousness, by telling others about it, by singing of it, and by celebrating with each other in the midst of it.
You know, as the worship leader of this congregation, I have made some observations that cheer my heart. The first is, since we have been putting the words to the songs on the screen, I believe we are singing better. Now, I may be just hearing you better because your faces are up-turned, but it sure seems we are signing better!
The second thing is that when I see us on the video passing the peace, there is a lot of hugging, a lot of smiles, and a lot of joy with each other. We may think that we are just doing these things as acts of friendship, but I believe that we are truly enacting the peace that Christ brings to people.
The third thing is that when we “circle up” at the end, I see the smiles again, but they are different kinds of smiles. They are serious smiles, if you will. We have serious smiles because it is a very serious matter to offer to others “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen.” This is very serious, powerful stuff, and we do want it for each other. This is one way, in fact these are three ways, that we tell others about God.
Third main point, we can tell others about God’s compassion. Let’s say this one, beginning with “I will”: “I will tell others about God’s compassion.”
The Psalmist says, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.”
We are going to go ahead with the Fourth point, then take three and four together. The fourth thing we can commit ourselves to doing is, “tell others about God’s blessings. Let’s say this one, beginning with “I will”: “I will tell others about God’s blessings.”
So, we are telling about God’s compassion and blessings.
The story is told of a little boy who wanted to meet God. So, he packed his backpack with a bag of potato chips and a pack of root beer, and left home.
After going about three whole blocks, he came to the park and decided to rest. He sat on a park bench, next to an old man just staring at the pigeons that were around them scrounging.
The boy was hungry, so he opened his backpack and took out the chips and a root beer. (He’d been on a long trip, you know!) He was about to take a drink from the can, when he remembered his manners and offered the man some chips, which the man accepted because he was hungry, also. The man gave the boy a big smile.
The boy thought the smile was so nice that he offered the man a root beer, for which the man gave another, grateful smile.
As evening was setting in, the boy got up to go, but before he left he gave the old man a big hug, for which the man gave the biggest smile ever.
Since it was late, the boy decided to go on home this time. When he got home, his mother saw the look of joy on his face and asked, “What made you so happy?” He replied, “I found God today and had lunch with him, and God has the greatest smile I’ve ever seen!”
Meanwhile, the old man had gotten back to his son’s house, and the man also had the look of joy on his face. His son asked, “What made you so happy?” He replied, “I ate potato ships and drank root beer in the park with God today. But, he’s much younger than I expected.”
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, a small act of caring. All of these have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. It is God’s reason because of God’s compassion and God’s blessing.
Fifth, we can commit our ways to God. Will say with me, and mean, “I commit my way to God”? “I commit my way to God.”
Taking the first and last parts of the last part of the Psalm, we can hear, “The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his deeds…My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.”
“The Lord is faithful…my mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.” This is all that is left for us to do. God has done the hard work: “God so loved us that he gave us his one and only Son, that whosoever of us believes in him, our soul shall not perish but our soul shall have eternal life.” Additionally, scripture promises that if we are in Christ, we shall also be raised with Christ.
This is why we celebrate Resurrection day, my friends. It is to bring the story of God’s gift of salvation home to us once again to remind us of who we are and whose we are…and what we should do with it.
We ought to promise five things; repeat after me:
I will bless God forever.
I will tell others about God.
I will show God’s compassion.
I will show God’s blessings.
I will praise the Lord.
Thanks be to God for his unsearchable greatness and everlasting love. Amen!
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