Caught in the “in-between-ness” of finite reality with the promise of eternity, how do we live the Easter story in a way that is relevant and life-giving? Having never preached Easter from the gospel of Mark in 21 years of ministry, it seems I found new life in his open-ended pause after verse 8 – it seems that if life around us is to be affected by the life of Jesus, we are the ones who make the mystery of the resurrection real by living like Jesus now. Not unlike the women in Mark’s gospel experiencing the empty tomb, much of what is here for us to do in Jesus’ name is, in fact, amazing and terrifying – and yet, what is there in life worth doing that doesn’t have some of those qualities involved? So we move forward, the excitment at a different level of daily living into the work of bringing about the realm of God in the here and now. And what of Jesus and the empty tomb? Perhaps as Mark is want leave us – space – space to become, to witness to, and to receive and give a little joy and some peace to those around us on a daily basis A bit ordinary, but maybe that which is most miraculous is sometimes simply living like Jesus in the most ordinary of days.
