Where in the World is God? Not in the Tomb
Mark 16:1-8 / April 1, 2018
There is nothing worse in all the world than having your god die on you and having to bury Him. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were on their way to bury their god, or at least finish burying Him. He was dead. They had seen the sword pierce His lungs and heart. They had watched Joseph of Arimathea bury Him in a garden tomb. Since He died late in the day burial preparations were begun, but not finished. That Friday was the worst day in the world for them. They believed Jesus was God. They were His disciples. They had followed Him, served Him. He had cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene. Salome’s two boys, James and John, had attended seminary at the feet of Jesus and were destined to be pastors. He was their life and hope and future. but He was dead. They were heading to His tomb to anoint His body as early as possible on Sunday morning. He had been in the grave over 30 hours and it wouldn’t be long before He would be so dead you wouldn’t want to touch Him.
Do you have anything in common with those women? I think you do. Because you’ve all buried gods (small g gods) at one time or another.
Martin Luther wrote in his Large Catechism that the human heart is a god maker, an idol factory. Whatever we set our hearts on, put our trust in, love above all else, fear losing because it would be the end of life – whatever that is – that is your god.
It is not uncommon to find those gods dead. You found the perfect job, great benefits, you’ll retire early with the wages you’re making, but then Corporate closes your office and your god is dead and needs to be buried. You get married, buy a home, have children, then the grandchildren start to come. You love your family. You trust in them to be there. You fear losing then. Then your husband has an affair or your daughter gets breast cancer or your grandson is autistic, and your god stumbles, falls, and maybe even dies. You are the picture of health. You watch what you eat. You’re at the gym four to five times a week. Your doctor is impressed with your bmi, hdl, ldl, and the rest of the alphabet soup from your lab report. Health will guarantee your independence and your joy in retirement and then you have a stroke and you’re paralyzed. Your god has fallen and he can’t get up and now you must bury it.
Here is the truth about any god which your heart makes. It will die or it’s already dead. Anything in this created world, including our nearest and dearest treasures, the best gifts of God– husband, wife, child, travel, money, retirement, pleasure is on its way to the grave. They are dying because we are dying.
That’s why we need to follow Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome to the cemetery this morning. Because they were certain they would find their God, Jesus of Nazareth, dead in the grave, but He wasn’t there. He wasn’t there because He wasn’t dead anymore. The stone was blown away from the door. The angel told them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here.” Then the angel told them to look for themselves, “See the place where they laid him.” And sure enough – no dead body, no Jesus, just the grave clothes left behind like the body had come right out of them.
Saint Paul in today’s Epistle makes it crystal clear why we and all our man-made gods die, when He tells us why Christ Himself died. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, …” (1 Cor 15:3–5a, ESV) Our sin is the cause of our death and every death on earth. The good news that comes from the empty tomb is that death has been destroyed because your sin is forgiven. Christ Jesus died for our sins. His death, the death of God’s only begotten Son, the very blood of the very God of very God paid the price for our sins. If there was no sin there would be no death and now that sin has been taken away death has also lost its grip on us. It had no hold on Jesus and it will not hold those who believe in Him.
Where in the world do you find God? Well, every other god that man has ever made in his heart will eventually be found in the grave, but to this day, no one has found the dead body of Jesus. Quite the opposite, Mary Magdalene was the first to find him alive, then He appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, then to 10 of the disciples in the upper room. Eventually, when He got to Galilee, He appeared to over 500 disciples at once.
Some have suggested the disciples were seeing things. Others that they made the story up. Well, Mary Magdalene hugged Jesus. Thomas touched him. The Emmaus disciples ate with him. So that sort of rules out hallucinations. As far as making the story up – well, getting a couple people to lie is pretty easy. Getting 12 to lie is quite hard. Getting 500 witnesses to lie is impossible. And why would the Apostles give up their lives if it was a lie that Christ has risen? If you don’t believe Jesus rose – it’s real easy to prove – show me the body and then I’ll quit preaching and find a real job. Until then I proclaim the facts – Christ Jesus died for our sins and was buried. Three days later He rose from the dead. I’ll keep baptizing infants like Kaileen into the death of Christ so that she can join in the life of Christ. I’ll keep insisting that the bread and wine is the true body and blood of Christ and the one food that will feed you eternal life.
Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be God’s own Son, performed miracles witnessed by many, forecast three times that He would die and later rise. He said that His death would be the ransom of sinners – that His death would set you free from sin and burst your grave open even as His own tomb was torn open by the angels. The true God is not in His grave. He is risen just as He said. This is what the real God, the living God says by His resurrection, “Your sins are forgiven (even your sins of idol making). You are alive forever. Your body will rise on the last day.” You won’t find the real God in a grave. You’ll find Him in His Word, in the water of baptism, in the bread and wine of Lord’s Supper. You’ll find Him living in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
March 31, 2018