Pastor Tom Johnson, April 4, 2021
Light travels faster than sound—a lot faster. It takes five seconds for sound to travel one mile. In five seconds, light will travel 931,410 miles. Light is almost a million times faster than sound. As I child, I learned to count the number of seconds between lightning and thunder to get an idea of close lightning struck—a fifth of a mile per second. I could also listen to find out if the storm was approaching, if the light and sound grew closer; or had passed by, if the light and sound grew further apart.
The angel appears in blinding light to tell the good news that Jesus has been raised. The angel tells the women to go and tell the other disciples the good news. But “they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” I believe this is exactly how Mark wants to end his account. The thunderous proclamation of the Gospel is already trailing far behind the Light of the resurrected King. It’s sound is so far behind, in fact, it does not make it into Mark’s account. This is no surprise to the angel or to God. In fact, the angel says, “Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.” The Light of Christ is already ahead in the next step before the women begin their first step.
There is a clear thread throughout this passage that keeps these women from catching up or keeping up: fear. Fear of religious authority makes the women wait until the end of the Sabbath to go and anoint the body of Jesus. To touch a dead body would make them ritually unclean. Fear of the heavy stone covering Jesus’ tomb and their lack of human strength make them question how they will overcome that obstacle. Fear comes when they see the stone already rolled away. Even more fear comes when they do not see the body of Jesus but, instead, a young man dressed in a bright robe. Fear almost keeps them from realizing the wonderful truth of what has happened. Fear almost prevents them from discovering the empty tomb. And, at the very end, fear seizes them—paralyzes them—from telling their story.
If we are painfully honest, these women are not very different from us. Fear is impeding progress our lives. Fear takes hold of us. Fear debilitates and paralyzes us from living the lives God wants us to enjoy. Fear may come from religious authority and tradition—like the women who feared breaking the rules of religion of the day. Religion should not set us back in our journey toward the light but move us forward. Our faith community should be a place that sets us free from fear and propels us ahead toward the Light. Christ does not call us to judge one another and put legalistic burdens on one another. He calls us forgive one another, pray for, encourage, and serve one another just as he “came, not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45).
Fear comes from feeling powerless to overcome obstacles. Like the women who fear the prospects of a heavy stone they cannot roll away, there are things that make us confront our powerlessness—things that we cannot fix by our own strength—such as broken relationships, addiction, illness, an ongoing pandemic and isolation, resentment, anger, anxiety and many other things. But Jesus says, “What is impossible for mortals is possible with God.” (Lk 18:47). Fear even holds us back when we witness the impossible like the women who see the stone rolled away and the angel sitting there. It seems to be too good to be true. Maybe fear overcomes us because we have grown so cynical. A lot of advertisements and sales pitches are too good to be true. “Nothing is free. There is always a catch,” we’ve learned. Fear of being disillusioned may keep us from believing the story of Jesus that IS good news, free, and where we are God’s catch.
Fear, not doubt, will hold back. Doubt is part of true and living faith. But fear—fear will keep us from even embarking on a faith journey. Fear will prevent us from considering the claims of Christ. Fear will end our pilgrimage before it even has a chance to begin—like it does these women. Fear also comes when something great is expected from us. The angel tells the women, “Go and tell the disciples and Peter the good news.” Responsibility can be scary—especially for these women in a patriarchal culture. It can be frightening when people entrust us with important things. We don’t feel worthy. We can’t control how people will respond. We fear failure.
But light travels faster than sound. Jesus is way ahead of us. The Apostle Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God causes the growth.” He goes before us and makes a way. And by the light of his grace, he overcomes all our fears. The Christian journey is a lifelong process of catching up with what the Lord has already done. We will always lag behind in our understanding of just how good and glorious the truth of the Resurrected Light is. But this should not cause us to beat ourselves up. It should rather expand our wonder and marveling at the grace of God.
Scripture says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 Jn 4:18). Scripture also says, “We love”—don’t miss this—“because he first loved us.” Light travels faster than sound. He already loves you. He already likes you. “Do not be alarmed,” the angel says, “You look for Jesus of Nazareth. He is raised from the dead!” Jesus lives! His light has already found you. And by his grace, and in his time, the sound of the resurrection will reverberate in and through our lives. Mark wants us to go and share the good news realizing that it is a message about the grace and power of the resurrected Christ and that we also need the grace and power of the resurrected Christ in order to proclaim it to the world.
Light is faster than sound. Whom shall we fear? Christ has overcome death. What is that great stone but a grain of sand for God? The empty tomb says it all! Death could not hold Jesus there. Fear cannot hold us back. Death and fear no longer have the power to seize and paralyze us. Jesus has given us the victory when he rose in blinding light. We have the assurance of his forgiveness. We have the certainty of eternal life. Do not fear. He goes before you. Light is a million times faster than sound. Alleluia! Christ is risen!
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