March 31, 2024
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
" Acts of Witness"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
March 31, 2024 Based on Mark 16:1-8
I’m about to give away the ending of a well-known tv series.
Now… I know you can get yourself into trouble by discussing the ending of a show before everyone has had a chance to watch it, but the show I want to talk about ended about 17 years ago, so I think we’ve passed the statute of limitations.
Its HBO’s show The Sopranos.
Now, I know you weren’t expecting your Easter Sunday morning to include a reference to a mobster show, especially from the pulpit of your church, but I’m bringing it up because the ending of the sopranos is famously one of the most cliffhanger, ambiguous endings in tv history.
In the final scene of the final episode the Soprano family, including Tony Soprano, his wife Carmela, and their children Meadow and A.J., all gather at a diner. The tension is building throughout the whole episode, with the FBI closing in on Tony, rival mobsters jockeying for leadership in the mob family, and even tension with his wife and children… It’s all building… It’s all boiling to a head from every direction.
And the very last thing you see in the show is Tony glancing around the diner suspiciously, looking cautiously at the entrance and exit, and then the scene cuts to black abruptly.
It’s the most unsatisfactory ending. So many unanswered questions. And It sparked debate for years…
Does Tony Die? Does Tony Live? Does he sell out to the FBI? Does he get arrested? Do other mobsters take over? There are no obvious clues, and so frustratingly, much like the final moment of the show… as the screen cuts to black, every viewer is left in the dark.
This is kind of how Mark’s Gospel ends…
When we last left him, Jesus is suddenly and tragically killed. Most of his disciples have abandoned him, and the friends who have remained are lost in grief and uncertainty. It seems their movement has ended with their world shattered. Jesus, their teacher, their mentor, their friend, was gone.
Now, early in the morning as three women head to the tomb to embalm Jesus body, Mary, Jesus’ mother, Salome and Mary Magdalene, their whole world turns upside down. One moment these women’s whole reality was death, and in an instant, everything flips, and nothing is as they expected.
They are given impossible news by this glowing messenger – an empty tomb, He’s not here, he’s risen, -go and tell the other disciples–
It’s all too much, they’re quickly overwhelmed. They start to wonder… what can this mean? Where is he? Did they take his body? Are we next?
Fear takes hold, they are speechless... And instead of going to tell the other disciples they quickly flee the tomb and say nothing to anyone. This is the last line of the book. The original Greek is even more of a cliffhanger…
“They were afraid, they said nothing to anyone for”
The sentence ends on a preposition, making it completely unclear as to what comes next.
And it’s as if the camera cuts to black and we’re all left in the mystery. Left asking ourselves the same unanswerable questions as these women. Wait, what just happened? What did this man just say?
Can this be true? How can this be? What does this mean?
Of course these disciples flee the tomb in uncertainty and fear, it’s just such a rapid and drastic change, how could anyone believe this so quickly, how would anyone believe them?
Sometimes our grief in the face of death can be so pervasive, so absolute and dominant… that the idea of resurrection, the possibility of new beginnings, the hope that things can be different – it’s unfathomable, improbable, unlikely, foolish even.
We can even be inside the empty tomb. Seeing signs of resurrection, being told the good news “he’s not here, he is risen, he is alive” and being invited to participate in this new reality
...but our grief, our doubt, our fear still persist. We just can’t pivot our perspectives that fast. Though it takes Jesus only three days to make that transition, It takes us much longer for us to shift our belief from death to resurrection.
Especially when we reckon the idea of resurrection against the very real and hard deaths our world is facing today, deaths on a societal or global scale. Like inequality and social injustice, like broken systems that favor a few, or perhaps the greatest death we face today: a quickly changing climate.
These things feel so pervasive, so all encompassing, that resurrection feels impossible. They feel so big, we wonder what good we could do, and if it will even make a difference.
Just like the women at the tomb, our grief can grip us so tightly, that even though we are told to go and share this good news we choose to run away in fear and do nothing. We see the problems the world is facing –– and it feels like changing them is an insurmountable task.
But here's the thing: though Mark’s story may end here in uncertainty and fear, God’s story doesn’t end here. God’s story doesn't ever end with fear and inaction. We are here today because those first witnesses to resurrection overcame their fear. We are here today because eventually they did go and tell the incredible story of what happened. They may have begun silenced by fear but in time they began to bear witness to what they saw, they went to share the good news, but not only that, they went to be the good news, and help others latch on to the profound truth of resurrection with their words and with their lives.
And that's our call too, friends.
Our call isn't to be paralyzed by fear in the face of death, even death on a global scale, but to bear witness to the hope of resurrection, even when it first feels hard, even when it first feels scary. Even when change feels impossible. Even when our witness feels like a small drop in a big bucket… Our easter call is to not let our fear keep us from bearing witness to resurrection with our words and with our lives.
But this is not new to us church. Just look around at all you are already doing… We're not letting fear, doom, our dread, silence our witness. Just Look around you.. in a concrete jungle of isolation and loneliness, what is this church doing to their small front lawn? We’re building a pocket park… a small green space with a big impact for our neighbors… providing a home for this community to recreate be recreated. To take in the beauty of God’s creation and experience a resurrection of sorts.
In world that says climate change is beyond our control, that throws its hands up and says there isn’t anything we can do… our church’s roof this spring is beginning to shimmer with solar panels, a testament to what can be possible.
These aren't just small projects, friends. These are acts of witness. In the face of so much despair and grief that is pervasive in our world, you are bearing witness to resurrection. In the face of huge pervasive issues like climate change and environmental devastation, we are saying "No!" to despair and "Yes!" to the possibility of a renewed world. We are saying, with our actions, that resurrection is possible, not just for individuals, but for our entire planet.
Maybe you’ve thought… "But this is just a small church What difference can we really make?"
Friends, change starts small. It starts with a seed planted in the ground, with a single act of kindness, with a community deciding to walk a different path. And remember, the women at the tomb were just a handful of people too. Yet, their witness changed the world.
When we bear witness to resurrection wherever God has planted us, in whatever small or big way, the good news of easter grows. By caring for creation as a church, by taking on bold projects to benefit our community you are already participating in the renewal of all things, You are already bearing witness to Resurrection and new life. By living sustainably as individuals, by planting seeds, or trees, or gardens, by composting, by just picking up a piece of trash instead of passing it by, it’s as though we are saying, with our words and with our actions, that hope still exists, that positive change is possible, that death will not win but Hope and resurrection will that Christ is not dead, he is risen, Risen indeed.
So friends… Don’t let your story cut to black in uncertainty and fear… be a witness to new life and resurrection.
Let's show the world that hope is alive, that resurrection is possible, not just for the world to come, but for the world we live in right now.
Let's go forth, unafraid,
And in small ways and big, let our lives be a witness to the impossible reality that God is working for our world.
Alleluia, Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE “Jesu, Jesu Fill Us with Your Love” arr. Kevin McChesney
“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing” arr. Phillip M. Young
“Crown Him with Many Crowns” George J. Elvey, arr. Jenifer Cook
INTROIT “This Is the Day” Jacobus Gallus (1550-1591)
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
One: Christ is risen!
All: He is risen indeed!
*CHILDRENS ANTHEM – Processional “Alleluia”
*CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Look! A sliver of light across the horizon— the miracle of a new day.
All: See! The stone is rolled away, and the angel calls from within.
One: Feel! The freedom of our souls and the wonder of the Messiah’s gift of new life.
All: Hear! The hallelujahs as we declare to the world, “He has risen!”
One: Let us worship the Risen Lord.
*HYMN 232 “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today” EASTER HYMN
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION by Thom Shuman
Oh Emptier of Tombs, On this morning of exalted hallelujahs, we must confess how earthbound and human we are. We haven't done any great evil, but out of fear, we have failed to do good when we had the chance. We can accept the witness of the empty tomb, but then find it difficult to share this good news with our friends and neighbors.
Bring us new life, Dazzling God. Where we are tired and stressed, give us the energy to serve your creation; transform our hardened hearts into fountains of grace; forgive us of all the damage we have done, and fill us with joy as we witness your Spirit at work. In the name of Jesus the Christ, who gives us new life, we pray… Silence is kept
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
One: God, our Creator, gives new life, again and again: This is the good news: the
tomb is empty, sin is powerless, death is defeated forever.
All: On this very first day, and every day, we walk as God's people, forgiven and
made whole. Thanks be to God. Amen.
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 250 “In the Bulb There Is a Flower” PROMISE
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Marie Boozer
ANTHEM “Alleluia” Amy Gordon
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought embalming spices so that they could go and anoint Jesus’ dead body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they came to the tomb. They were saying to each other, “Who’s going to roll the stone away from the entrance for us?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. (And it was a very large stone!) Going into the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right side; and they were startled. But he said to them, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He isn’t here. Look, here’s the place where they laid him. Go, tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” Overcome with terror and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
*HYMN 241 “Woman, Weeping in the Garden” KINGDOM
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE followed by The Lord’s Prayer on screen
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
OFFERTORY “Adoramus Te, Christe” from Les Sept Paroles du Christ
Theodore Dubois (1837-1924), arr. Michel Rondeau
*OFFERTORY RESPONSE 609 “Praise God, from Whom All Blessing Flow” LASST UNS ERFRUEN
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Gracious God, as we celebrate the miracle of resurrection, we offer our gifts in gratitude for the world you created. Guide us as we bear witness to your work and strive to be faithful stewards, caring for your creation and participating in its renewal. May these offerings empower our church to be a beacon of hope, a living testament to the transformative power of your love. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
*HYMN 238 “Thine Is the Glory” JUDAS MACCABEUS
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “Postludium in G-Major” Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
arr. Michel Rondeau
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452