Speaking to the Silence
“So they went out and fled from the tomb, bewildered, trembling and amazed;....” — Mark 16:8.
It was still early in the morning. The sun had barely come up over the Judean hills. And yet, the three women had been running for quite a while. They were exhausted.
Magdala, always the most astute of the three, noticed a cave off to the left of the dusty road, pointed and said, “There. Let’s get in there.”
She fell in behind Mary and Salome. It seemed as if it was by a shear act of her will, by her physical presence, rather than by any use of brut force, that she prodded to the other two women toward the craggy opening.
Once they had moved into the shadows, beyond the mouth of the crevice, she said: “Go. And keep going. Don’t stop.”
And go they did. Deeper and deeper into the cavern they went until they were enveloped by a darkness comparable to a moonless night.
Once the light had become that dim, Magdala gave another command. “Good. Stop. Sit.” And sit they did. (Slight pause.)
As deep as they were inside the cave, they could no longer hear any sounds from the world beyond the opening. Since they had been running, it was not totally silent. Indeed, at first, all that could be heard was the sound of heavy breathing, as each of them recuperated from running. Still, a sense of real silence— that being disconnected from the reality of noise— enveloped them as they sat with their thoughts.
Once they had recovered, once their breathing had become less labored, it was not long before Salome started to weep loudly. Tears had actually been streaming from her eyes for quite some time, but now she was sobbing.
Mags— all Magdala’s friends called her by that nickname— Mags slid over to where Salome was and hugged her friend. “It’s all right, Sal. It’s all right.”
Salome seemed to calm down a little. Between sobs she finally said, “I’m frightened.”
Mags said nothing. She just squeezed her a little tighter.
“I’m frightened too,” offered Mary, trying to reassure Salome.
In the midst of her crying, Salome tried to ask a question. “Was... was... was that an angel in the tomb?”
Magdala was compassionate but rarely tactful. “I don’t know if it was an angel,” she said. “I don’t know what an angel looks like. I’ve never seen one.”
“I do know an angel is a messenger from God. And I do know what we heard certainly sounded like a message from God.”
Mags paused and then said, “You know, there did seem to be— I, I don’t know what to call it— a haze of light all around us as we heard those words.” She hesitated slightly. “And, well, now that you’ve said it out loud— yes, perhaps it was an angel. Perhaps it was a message from God.”
With that Mary began to sob too. “Mary— what’s wrong?” asked Mags.
“Now I’m really frightened. I’m not sure I want to hear a message from God.” Mags slid over to Mary and hugged her even harder than she had hugged Salome.
Ever practical, Mags was blunt: “Being frightened is not going to help. We need to try to figure out what is happening, what has happened.”
Whether it was the directness of the statement or the logic of the statement or simply the fact that Mags had reached out to her friends and given them both a bear hug did not matter. The result was Mary and Salome suddenly became calm.
“O.K.” said Mags. “What did happen?”
“Well, when we got to the tomb,” offered Salome, “it was open. The stone was rolled away.”
“Who was there?” asked Mags.
Mary jumped in. “I think it was an angel.”
“Why?”
“We heard a message. We are all in agreement about that, right?”
“Yes,” said Mags, but persisted in her questioning. “And what was that message?”
Salome repeated what they had all heard. “Do not be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the One who was crucified. He has been raised and is not here.”
“That’s what we heard.”said Mags. “That’s what was said. What was the message? There is always more in a message than what is said. What were we supposed to understand?”
“Even though we are afraid, I think we are not supposed to be,” said Salome.
“Yes. What else.”
“We need to go tell Peter and the others?”
“Yes. But all that is still only what we heard. What is it we need to know? What is it we need to understand?”
“Somehow Jesus is alive?” offered Mary. “Somehow Jesus has been raised?”
“I think there must be more to it,” Mags said. “But I can’t figure it out. Maybe... maybe we do need to go tell the others. That might help. Let’s head back.”
Mags stood. The others followed her lead. Together, they moved toward the light at the opening of the cave.
They had nearly come to the entrance when Mary said, “Wait! Wait! I know! I have it. If Jesus was not there, then somehow God acted. God raised Jesus. Is that not what Jesus said would happen?”
“Yes!” said Salome. “Yes! But that means more than Jesus is alive. That also means, somehow, Jesus predicted what came to pass.”
“Yes!” said Mary. “It means we can trust in the promises God makes.”
“Yes!” said Mags. “But it means even more than that. It means we can place our whole lives in God’s care. It means we can trust God.” (Slight pause.)
They moved out into a bright morning light at the entrance to the cave. Having been in the dark for so long, at first they needed to shield their eyes and feel their way along the path.
Once they had become accustomed to the light Mags took charge again and pointed down the road toward town. The three of them set off in silence. A couple of minutes later, separately, each of them realized they were all weeping. Silently, without a word being spoken, they reached out and held hands.
“Who should we tell first?” asked Mary.
“Peter,” said Mags.
“And who after that?” asked Salome.
“Everyone,” said Mags.
Hand in hand in hand, the three of them walked down the road together. And they knew what they would say. Hold on to each other. Trust God. Jesus has been raised. Amen.
04/08/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I am sure the well known American composer Irving Berlin was a nice fellow. I hold nothing against him. Among other works, he wrote the songs Easter Parade and It’s a Lovely Day, Happy Easter. But these are not Christian sentiments. These are secular sentiments. If someone walks up to you today and says, ‘Happy Easter’ shake their hand and say, ‘Christ is risen.’”
BENEDICTION AND UNISON PRAYER — PASTOR: Hear now this blessing and then please join with me in the responsive Easter acclamation found in the bulletin;
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the love of Christ, Jesus, and in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit this day and forever.
ONE: Rejoice, people of God! Christ is risen from the dead! Go in peace to love and serve God. Christ is with you always. Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
ALL: Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
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