When we’re young we can’t ask enough of them…
Where are we going?
How does this work?
And all the whys?
Why do I have to eat that?
Why do I have to do this?
Why can’t I do that?
As we get older, the questions get harder to answer, and sometimes harder to ask too…
Why doesn’t Aunt Janie remember my name?
Why can’t the vet make Spot better?
Why are you leaving?
What am I going to do with my life?
As I read this brief passage from Mark, what stood out to me this time was this:
“But they did not understand what he saying and were afraid to ask him.”
Jesus was teaching his disciples, preparing them for what lay ahead: “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” And it didn’t make a lick of sense to them. We’re taught that when we don’t understand something, we should ask questions to help us understand. People have often heard me say, “The only foolish question is the one that isn’t asked.”
But sometimes we don’t know where to begin…we don’t even know what question to ask first.
When someone you love tells you they are leaving you – do you start with the Why? or
Can’t we fix this?
When you hear the diagnosis – do you ask
How did this happen? or
Why is this happening to me? or
How much time do I have?
And sometimes, we don’t ask…because we are afraid of the answers. I think that may have been why Jesus’ disciples went silent.
Do you have fears like that? Questions which must not be asked not even of God, or perhaps, especially of God, because you are afraid to hear the answers? I used to think that if I spoke my fears aloud, I could trust that God would lead me right to them…it sure seemed that way sometimes. We think that we can avoid the things we fear most by putting them out of our minds.
Autumn is a beautiful, yet undeniable reminder of the finite nature of all creation. Long sunny days are giving way to shorter, cooler ones. Deep green leaves turn red and orange and yellow and then fall to decay. God gave the gift of life to all creation, but everything that lives will, at some point, die.
Every plant and each creature is finite – each of them and each of us has a beginning and an end on this earth.
Now there’s a question – how do life and death fit into God’s intent for creation? The story God’s people tell about creation doesn’t speak of death in the beginning… at least not until the lens widens to explore human rejection of God’s way. Rebellion against God results in separation from God, and separation from God is death.
What was the question that Jesus’ disciples were afraid to ask? It had to do with Jesus’ description of his suffering and death. How is it that you can heal the sick, cast out demons, feeds multitudes with five loaves and two fish, and raise people from death, yet you go on talking of your own imminent death?
And perhaps they are also afraid to ask, What do you mean when you say that three days after you are killed, you will rise again? And
If you are gone, what will happen to us?
Looking at Jesus’s death and resurrection through the rear-view mirror, Christians profess that the rebellion and brokenness and death that break relationship with God were transformed into love and wholeness and life through those events. God drew near in Jesus Christ to heal a broken world – to offer us peace and the promise that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:39)
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth that “All God’s promises find their yes in Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20) – in his life and ministry, yes, but most of all in his death and resurrection.
We have been joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection through baptism. The fabric of our lives – no matter how long or short – has been joined to Jesus’ endless life. This does not mean we will not die. We must die. But that place where the fabric of our life ends has been joined to Jesus’ endless life. So our death is not the end of us, but Christ coming to fullness in us – the hope of glory.
Whatever your questions about life right now may be –
When is this pandemic going to end?
What will it take to unite this nation once more? Is that even possible?
What have I got to look forward to?
these things you can claim with certainty:
God is for you – for all of us.
God is with us – with the intent of making broken lives and relationships whole.
Death is real, but it is not the end – because God and love are stronger than death.
In the name of Jesus
Amen