April 12 - Easter Sunday

The Never-Ending Story

Mark 16:1-8

Easter Sunday – April 12, 2009

Several years ago, there was a movie called The Never-Ending Story. In it, a young boy named Bastian runs into a bookstore one day to escape 3 bullies who have been chasing him & harassing him. And while he's there, Bastian comes across a mysterious book, called “The Never-Ending Story”. He asks the store's owner if he can borrow book, only to be told that the book is “not safe”. But Bastian is so curious about the book that when the shopkeeper is distracted, he takes the book & runs, promising to return the book when he's done with it.

And so Bastian begins to read the book, and as he reads, he finds himself completely drawn in to the tale about the heroic Atreyu & the beautiful Childlike Empress who Atreyu is entrusted with saving. As the story continues, Bastian starts to experience what the characters are experiencing. He goes through what Atreyu goes through, he feels what Atreyu feels. Now maybe that's not so uncommon with a great book; we've all been emotionally caught up in a good story before – but imagine Bastian's surprise when he realizes that the people in the story can hear him & feel his reactions too! Not only is Bastian reading the story, he is becoming part of the story as it unfolds!

It's something very like what the women in the gospel this morning were going through. Throughout Mark's gospel, they have been witnesses to Christ's story. They have walked and talked with him, they have listened & learned from him, they have been drawn into his story. In these last few days, they have watched from a distance as Jesus was crucified and died and was buried. They have waited through the long Holy Saturday that was the sabbath, waiting until they could come to his grave & care for his lifeless body.

All through this saga, they have found themselves drawn, just like Bastian was, ever more deeply into the story. As they followed Jesus, they discovered that they were becoming part of the story. His story was their story. But now the story is over; it ended on Friday when Jesus died. So this morning, they have come to add an epilogue to this sad tale; they have come to the tomb, prepared to find it blocked by a stone; they have come weighed down with spices to anoint the body if somehow they can get someone to roll the stone away.

But as they arrive at the tomb, they suddenly realize that this story is unpredictable. They come face to face with an unexpected twist. Already the stone has been rolled back! And not only that – once they enter the tomb, brave women that they were, they see a young man, dressed in a white robe, just sitting there, as if he has been waiting for them to arrive. Suddenly, the story knows they're there! The young man has a message for them: “Do not be alarmed” (as if that's possible!) “You're looking for Jesus, but he's not here – look, that's where he was -but no body! He's been raised & is off to Galilee. That's where you'll find him, just like he told you! Now go & tell his disciples & Peter.”

And go they do – but not to carry the message they've been given. The fact that the story has gone in such an unexpected direction overwhelms them. Terror & amazement seizes them, & they flee the tomb, and they say nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

For us, living so many years after that first Easter morning, these words from Mark may seem like just so many words on a page. We may feel a little bit like Bastian, reading a good story from a good book. We may come, as he did, seeking solace & comfort, looking for an escape from the reality of our lives, a momentary distraction from our anxieties and fears, our regrets and our sorrows, hoping for the happy ending. We may come to this story filled with terror or amazement. Or we may come with disbelief or skepticism. The story may seem too familiar or boring or irrelevant, with nothing new to say to us in a world that has changed so much from the one we read about in the Bible.
But as we read this story of the man called Jesus, we find ourselves drawn in. As we hear the stories of the people in this book, the Bible, we realize that these stories, stories of imperfect people and dysfunctional families, stories filled with joy and pain, with questions and confidence, these stories are our stories.

And because it is our story, sooner or later, we realize that we can't just sit on the sidelines reading this book anymore. We have to go and be an active part of it. That's just what Bastian discovered as he kept reading The Never-Ending Story. Eventually, he got to a point in the book when he realized that the story needed him, too. If the Empress was to survive, if her kingdom was to continue, if The Never-Ending Story was not to come to an end, Bastian had to enter into it. He had to take an active part in the story if the story was to go on.

It's where the women of the gospel found themselves on that first Easter morning too. Just when they thought the story was over, they learned that it was really just beginning. Much to their surprise, Jesus was not where they expected him to be. Jesus has been raised from the dead, and he has gone to Galilee. Just as he said he would, Jesus has gone ahead of them & the disciples, back to their hometown, into the future that waits for them. There at the tomb, in the words of the messenger he left there to meet them, Jesus calls them once again to leave behind all of the world's old stories, and to follow him and enter into his story, the true never-ending story. As scared and confused as they are that day, they leave knowing that they are a part of a new story, & they have a part to play. Jesus' story will never end, but if the story is to live beyond them, these women have to share what they have seen and heard, so that others can know that Jesus' story was not over on Good Friday, that his story is the only one that offers everlasting hope and healing and joy.

Mark's gospel leaves us hanging about whether or not they would tell the story, forcing us to put ourselves into this story. For we too are called by Jesus into his never-ending story, and sent out from this place with a part to play & a story to tell. And we can tell that story with confidence and joy, because our story is intertwined with his story & we know that because Jesus died and lives again, this is a story that will never end. But we have to keep it going! We have to spread the word! If others are going to know this amazing story, we have to enter into it & tell it with our words and in our lives. It's a story that might seem unbelievable, but it's the only story worth telling – and it's too good to keep it to ourselves. Thanks be to God!
Amen.