Missed Step

Mark 16:3

      The best thought out plans sometimes miss some things. It can be almost impossible to think of every possible contingency. This is where having many minds focused on the task is important. But not just minds like yours. We need a variety of minds, temperaments, training, professions, backgrounds, and learning styles, among other things. You need fresh eyes, as well. Sometimes things are too familiar, too routine. And because of that, you can miss some obvious things, things an outsider would see right away, but you miss.

      Well, our ladies missed something in their plans to finish the burial process of Jesus. They forgot about the stone rolled in front of the entrance. They were not strong enough to move it. You see, normally all the burial preparations would have been made prior to the stone being rolled in front of the entrance. The body would have been washed, wrapped and placed in the tomb, along with the normal burial spices. Then the stone would have been placed.

      But because Jesus burial was done hastily, all these steps did not take place. Pilate had released the body to Joseph, and Joseph had to rush to get it in the tomb before the beginning of the Passover festival. On these holiday celebrations, everyone was required to attend. The death of a non-relative was not a valid excuse for missing it. So things were done quickly.

      The women, in their grief and sorrow, missed the stone step. Their minds kicked into ‘burial routine’ mode and as is usual when there is an unexpected death, they were probably running on autopilot. Their emotions were numb, with occasional moments of overwhelming sorrow.  That is the way grief is. Things seem to be going just fine, all of a sudden out pops the grief. Over time there are fewer pops, but they can still happen, even years later.

      But for these women, the grief is fresh. They aren’t thinking straight. This is why it is important to have other people be around when important decisions need to be made right after a death. Talking with the funeral director about the arrangements is one of those times when a clearer thinking mind is needed.

      Someone must roll the stone away. It seems so obvious to us. How could they forget to think about it? But they did. And now they are walking to the tomb on that Sunday morning, and it hits one of them. I can almost see the light bulb go on. I can see it on her face. Her eyes widen, realization, shock, dismay, and then she speaks the words. It had probably been a fairly quiet journey up until that point. I don’t imagine them joking and kidding around. And then she speaks and the others react as she did. Can you see it? Can you imagine what it would have felt like to realize you had forgotten about the stone?

      You see, these women were people just like us, real emotions, real life situations. Their reactions would have been very much like our reactions. They were on their way, doing their job, and the missing piece hits them.

      Who will roll away our stones and let us into the life that Jesus’ resurrection brings?

An Errant Wish

Mark 5:13-14

      Have you ever wished or prayed for something, and then when it happened it wasn’t at all what you expected? It was what you had expressed in your wish or prayer, but when you expressed the desire of your heart you hadn’t realized all that having this particular end result would entail. You hadn’t thought about all the other things that would be affected when it came true. You hadn’t looked at the affect on your relationships, your bank account, your work environment, your family. All you could see was the pain and you wanted it to go away.

      Our text has just such an outcome. The demons inside this man have had a place to hang out for years. They have had the run of the place. They were in charge. But that rule is challenged in an instant when Jesus’ boat pulls up on shore. They know judgment has arrived on their sand and they want some way of wiggling out of the inevitable turn of events.

      Jesus takes charge and they try to get Jesus to stop the proceedings, to go into a recess, to give them time to think. But Jesus has one thing in mind: bringing freedom to this man who has been in agony. The demons have wrecked his whole being, body, mind and soul. Jesus wants to bring freedom to his whole being. They don’t want to give up control. They are in such a hurry to keep some semblance of control that they look around and see the pigs, a whole heard of pigs. There is lots of empty space over there. We could each have a room to ourselves! No more standing in line for the bathroom. No more bossy relatives. No more having to do what someone else wants. I can be on my own. I can remain in charge.

      But what they hadn’t counted on was Jesus’ full knowledge of what would happen if they entered the pigs. I am sure they didn’t count on the pigs staging a full walkout, closing down the pork chop assembly line. But of course Jesus knows the future. And Jesus has a plan.

      Jesus plan includes not only deliverance for this one man filled with the demons, but a radical opportunity for that whole part of the land. He knows that when the pigs run off the cliff those tending the pigs will become a new PR firm. The public relations campaign that begins that day affects tens of thousands of people in that whole region. In places that had not heard the name of Jesus and the power of God that was demonstrated, suddenly hear of this man who has authority that only God possesses.

      The shift workers run in to management and report the workplace accident. They were following all the appropriate workplace policies and procedures, but then the unprecedented happened. The whole line malfunctioned at once. They lost the whole run. And all the equipment was destroyed in the process. All the pigs ran off the cliff. This year’s crop and all the breeding stock run off the cliff together.

      When those being told hear the news, they have to see it for themselves. They want to make sure the shift hasn’t perpetrated some kind of heist in the middle of the night and made off with their profit. They want to see the dead pigs for themselves. When they arrive I am sure they can see the paths through the vegetation next to the cliffs where the 2000 pigs ran. And then they look over the cliff and there are the pigs, smashed to death at the bottom.

      Now I know I have used my imagination to fill in details, but doesn’t that sound like what could have happened? I know I would want to see how my 401k went belly up and hold the appropriate people accountable.

      Not at all what the pigs had expected. They are suddenly without a home, just what they feared would happen when Jesus showed up. And Jesus has created a situation that guarantees news of His authority gets broadcast to thousands who haven’t heard.