What are you going to do about it?

The following is a sermon I preach on Easter Sunday (March 23, 2008) on the scripture passage John 20:1-18:


Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen indeed!
What are you going to do about it?

I think that must have been the question of the day. What are we going to do about it? Imagine the disciples, after the death of Jesus. They’re all mourning the loss of their teacher, their friend. But more than that, they’re mourning the loss of all their hopes and expectations, all their dreams of what the future would look like with Jesus in their midst. And now, with the painful reality of Good Friday still fresh on their minds, they’re faced with the tomb, and the penetrating question, what are we going to do?
While the others are wondering what to do, Mary visits Jesus’ tomb. So early on Sunday morning Mary goes to the tomb. But instead of finding things as expected, Mary is confronted with an empty tomb. She runs to the other disciples and says “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him.” Her words and her urgency seem to be calling the other disciples to action and it seems she’s really asking, “What are we going to do about it?”

In response, Peter and the other disciple run to the tomb, and inspect it. They find the tomb empty, with only the grave cloths left behind. After inspecting the tomb and finding Jesus’ body missing, the disciples return home to ponder, what are we going to do? Scripture tells us the disciples still did not understand that Jesus would rise from the dead. In the midst of the chaos and the pain of their grief, the disciples still didn’t understand what was happening. It would seem there was nothing they could do at the tomb so they return home.

Yet, Mary remains at the tomb, consumed by her grief, still plagued by the question. Mary in her grief and her pain yearns to do something, anything. She wants to do something so badly that she wants to find the body of Jesus and bring it back, even if she has to do it by herself. Mary can’t bear for things to end this way.
When faced with the empty tomb, Mary and the disciples, think it’s the end of the story. The two disciples return home, and Mary remains at the tomb consumed with her grief. How could it have ended this way? Wasn’t it bad enough that they killed him? Did they have to steal his body too? The disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus and now the end of the road has come. The end has come and they’re left with nothing, not even the body of Jesus. And the question remains: what are we going to do?

Most of us get to this part of the story and think to ourselves, how could the disciples not know? How could they have spent all that time with Jesus, seen all the miracles, heard all the parables, shared all those meals with him, and still not know? how could they have gone through so much with Jesus, and still not know that an empty tomb wasn’t really the end? Jesus had repeatedly predicted his death and resurrection. How is it they could possibly think the empty tomb was the end?

We chastise the disciples for thinking the crucifixion was the end, and yet many of us act as if the resurrection is the end. We have the benefit of hindsight. We know that when Jesus talked about his death and resurrection that he meant he would be raised from the dead. And when we hear of the empty tomb, we automatically think of the resurrection. We know that God has triumphed over death and evil and as the story is read we wait with anticipation for Mary to realize the person she speaks with in the garden is not the gardener but the resurrected Jesus. We celebrate with the disciples as they learn that Jesus is risen! With triumphant joy we shout, Christ is risen! That’s the story most of us come to hear and most of us end the story there.

The disciples made the mistake of thinking of the crucifixion was the end, and most of us make the mistake of thinking the resurrection is the end. It’s such a common mistake that many people in our society believe that to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior is an ending. We act as if it's one more thing we can check off our list and then get on with the rest of life. But what we see in the gospel story is just the opposite. Belief in the risen Lord is not an ending but a beginning.

As soon as Mary recognizes Jesus, he sends her to the other disciples. Mary becomes the first person to proclaim the good news of the resurrection. Mary’s realization that Jesus has risen, is not the end of the story. Instead Jesus commissions her to go forth and share the good news. This story begins to answer the question, what are you going to do about it? This story marks the beginning of the disciples’ witness to the world. Likewise, Jesus’ appearances to the other disciples are also marked by him calling them to service. When Jesus appears to the disciples in the locked room, he sends them forth. When Jesus appears to Peter, he commands Peter three times to care for his sheep. Each appearance of the Risen Christ implicitly asks the question, what are you going to do about it? Each appearance of the Risen Christ involves the disciples being called to witness to the resurrection.
It is a witness that happens not just in word but in deed. The disciples are called to live their lives in such a way that everything they do points to the resurrection of Christ. They are called to love one another, to offer forgiveness, to share with one another, and to be a community in which the presence of God is made known. Once the disciples encounter the resurrected Jesus their whole purpose in life changes. They realize that Jesus really is the Son of God. They realized that the crucifixion wasn’t the end, and neither was the resurrection. Instead the resurrection was just the beginning of God’s work in the world and their new life in God.

The same is true for us. When we encounter the risen Lord we too are commissioned to proclaim the good news of the resurrection with our words, but more importantly with our lives. When we believe in Jesus, we find ourselves with a new purpose in life. We have received forgiveness for our sins and the times we have hurt one another. But we have also been called to extend that forgiveness to others. As a believer, we are called into community with other believers and we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. We are called to be a part of God’s work in the world. God is actively at work to bring healing and wholeness to the world and we are called to be a part of that process.

We, like the disciples, are asked the same question this morning, what are we going to do about it? This morning the Risen Christ calls us. This morning the Risen Christ calls us each by name. This Risen Christ calls us to proclaim the power of the resurrection and the work of God in the world. The story of Easter, and our own personal experiences of the risen Lord, are all beginnings that draw us deeper into relationship with God, and deeper into God's mission in the world.

This Easter morning is not too different from that first Easter morning. The question of the day is still, what are we going to do about it? Yes Jesus is risen. Yes, death has been conquered and our sins have been forgiven. But what are we going to do about it? Are we going to choose to live in the reality of the new life God has given us? Are we going to act as if nothing has changed?

Christ has risen!
Christ has risen indeed!
What are we going to do about it?