Ready Or Not
Mark 16: 1-8
A Meditation for Easter Sunrise Service
By the Reverend Odette Lockwood-Stewart

Whether the world is ready or not,
Whether the church is ready or not,
Whether you and I are ready or not,
Christ is risen.

Resurrection means that truth will not stay buried,
That justice cannot be kept down,
That love shall not be destroyed by death.
Christ is risen.

Resurrection is a frightening thing.

But the amazing good news of Easter is that even fear and terror can lead to new life.  

We are all afraid... of something.
Every rejected crucified child of God that has been thrown away, tossed aside, turned against, is afraid.
Every human being that buys bad news sold by family, friends, enemies, factories and policies is afraid.
Every body that is driven by high expectations, low expectations or no expectations, is afraid... to look inside...

Downturns, downsized, down and out, low grades, low down, on the down low, ..... resurrection happens... ready or not.

I love the way Mark‚s Gospel tells the story of Easter morning.  It is filled with fear, not trumpets.  
This makes sense to me.
Seriously, if I were a character in some suspense, mystery, horror, sci-fi, or Biblical epic movie, it would be a very short film. Because I would never open the door, open my eyes, get out of the car, head into the wilderness, confront Pharoah, turn around, or go into a dark room, let alone walk into a tomb. The unknown and the unknowable are scary.  And I‚ve experienced enough pain in my body and in my life that I‚d rather choose the known... than risk the possibility of something... worse.  Or, risk something so radically better, that it rocks my world.

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome came to the tomb in the night filled with fear and sorrow from the violence and death they had witnessed.  They expected death, the remains of death, a tortured body, the loss of their Lord of love and hope. These were traumatized, brave, and devoted women.
They just weren‚t ready for Easter.
Mary, Mary and Salome came to the tomb just as the sun was rising. They brought spices, risking arrest, to care for Jesus‚ body.

When these women looked up and saw that somehow the stone had been rolled away, when they went inside the tomb and heard that Jesus had been raised, and was waiting for them in Galilee,.....listen to the words that describe their feelings and actions: they were alarmed...they fled, ... terror and amazement seized them, and finally, they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

These women refused to deny Jesus, refused to run away from the crucified Jesus, but they ran in fear from the empty tomb.

Perhaps they didn‚t say anything because they realized how much more was being expected of them.  It was not over. Jesus and his message would not remain dead, so they had to live his message, and they would, they would continue to follow, they would continue to pay the known and unknown costs and consequences.

So if we run away from resurrection in fear, if we keep quiet about love rising from hate, about unimaginable life arising from death, we will find ourselves at the empty tomb in good company with Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James, and Salome.  Ready or not.

Think about what it means to be Easter people in anguished communities where there are those whose despair, dis-ease, disappointment and dismissal cause them to kill others and themselves, even their own children.  

Think about proclaiming resurrection to countless and uncounted lives lost in wars of hatred and hubris and prejudice and profiteering year after year, fear after fear.

Think about families of murdered children, think of families of children who have murdered.

Good Friday is all around us ... we want to deny it and avoid it just like Jesus‚ first followers.  Easter is all around us ... we are afraid of it just like Jesus‚ first followers.  But God loves honesty and can use our fear.

For fear breaks open the shells of our lives, shells that may be beautifully decorated, but shells that must be broken in order to let loose new life.

Think about your life.  Your fears.  They can entomb or they can move you from your shaken core to trust ever more deeply. Fear can silence you, but it can also shatter idols and illusions.  Before too long you will speak the truth, because it is rising inside of you.
A seven year old boy, Jamie, played Jesus in the church school Easter play.  His folks were so proud they sat in the front row.  But when it came time for Jesus to come out of the cardboard tomb, ... he didn‚t.  Long dramatic pause.  The other children, Jamie‚s parents, the audience waited nervously.  It seemed forever. Suddenly, a voice was heard from inside the tomb, „Ready or not, here I come!‰  Jamie‚s irresistible need to play told a powerful truth. Ready or not, Resurrection happens.

Remember, Mark‚s gospel ends with the women telling no one for they were afraid, yet, ... somehow, ... the Word got out.

Ready or not, God has a word for you to give and a way for you live in a world, a neighborhood, a family, a soul, even your own, that is desperately in need of good news. Ready or not.  

Resurrection doesn‚t wait until we are prepared, until we have more time, until Monday, until the financial crisis is over, until we understand all things, or forgive.  Resurrection doesn‚t wait until everything is set, or until everything has fallen apart.  Today. Now.  Ready or not.  Christ is risen and we are called to rise and follow.
Thanks be to God.