Scripture: Mark 16:1-8 CEB
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James,
and Salome bought spices so that they could go and anoint Jesus’ dead
body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they came
to the tomb. 3 They were saying to each other, “Who’s going to roll the
stone away from the entrance for us?” 4 When they looked up, they saw
that the stone had been rolled away. (And it was a very large stone!) 5
Going into the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the
right side; and they were startled. 6 But he said to them, “Don’t be alarmed!
You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been
raised. He isn’t here. Look, here’s the place where they laid him. 7 Go, tell
his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee.
You will see him there, just as he told you.” 8 Overcome with terror and
dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they
were afraid.

Message: “Impossible Things” Rev Heather Riggs

Sometimes I don’t always know why I’ve said something until after I’ve said it. It’s that, “what just came out of my mouth?” feeling. Do you know what I mean?
Sometimes, I’m just really tired, and mis-speaking.
Or not thinking before I speak and that’s usually not a good thing…
But other times, I think Spirit has something to say and my mouth was
conveniently located.

This isn’t a Pastor thing.
I’ve only been a Pastor for about 8 years, I went to seminary for my mid-life
crisis! A sports car would have been cheaper!
It’s more of a, being open to God, kind of thing.
I don’t feel like God forces me to say things, or gives me some kind of
special wisdom.
I feel like sometimes Spirit gives me a prompt – like – say this and see what
happens!
And, as a Gen Xer, I am from the “*mess* around and find out,” generation,
so I usually go for it.
Often these things that Spirit has to say, seem impossible.
Like Spirit telling me to pop my head out and say hi to a bunch of
highschoolers smoking in the church parking lot, that led to the students
asking the church to throw them an end of the school year bonfire… I
guess they had me at hello!
Or doing something impossible like going to seminary and God providing a
way to do it without any student loan debt.
Or finding common cause with angry neighbors.
But, as Spirit prompted me to say to my new friends.
I’m a follower of Jesus.
I believe that God can do impossible things.

Impossible things are an uncomfortable topic for those of us who have
grown up in Western Culture and were taught that science gives us facts.
It gives us a tendency for black and white thinking:
Some things are true and others are false.

Some things are possible and other things are impossible.
But this Western dualism does both science and faith an injustice.
As the daughter of a science teacher, I can tell you that science does not
deal in facts. Science is a method of discovery. Science is not about
establishing unchangeable facts. Science is about testing assumptions.
And scientists are delighted when their assumptions are disproven!
Likewise, faith is not about certainty. Faith is an exercise in hope. Faith is
not about establishing unchangeable doctrines. Faith is about being open
to what Spirit might do next. And people of faith are delighted when God
surprises us!
The Easter story is all about being surprised by God, because Jesus rose
from the dead and that’s impossible, right?
I chose to use the Easter story from the gospel of Mark this year, because
Mark's gospel is the oldest gospel in our Bible, so it preserves the sense of
surprise experienced by those who were there.
The later gospels, Luke, Matthew and John, all try to explain what exactly
happened and who exactly everyone was in the story.
But Mark preserves the surprise… the impossibility of what happened.
They are expecting Jesus to be dead. Mary, Mary and Salome, go to do the
very ordinary work of preparing Jesus’ body for burial in the cool of the
early morning. They’re wondering how they will get in because the tomb
had been closed to prevent animals and grave robbers from getting in.
Then they encounter “a young man in a white robe,” who tells them that
Jesus is not here because he’s been raised and they should go tell
everybody that Jesus is coming to see you.
In the gospel of John there are two angels dressed in white and Jesus, also
in white, is sitting there.

In the gospel of Luke, there’s 2 men in dazzlingly white robes, these
descriptions always remind me of laundry detergent ads!
In the gospel of Matthew a man in “brilliant white” appears out of
nowhere,(see what I mean about laundry detergent ads!) and is called an
angel.
But in Mark there’s just a man dressed in white, sitting on a rock.
Because we live in an age where laundry products do promise brilliant
whites, we tend not to notice the impossibility of a man wearing all white in
first century Jerusalem.
Wool and linen, the 2 most common fabrics in use in the first century, aren’t
naturally bright white, they’re a soft cream color. It takes some chemical
processing to create bright white fabric. And in a time and place where the
roads were dusty, at least the bottom of your garments would be a little
dirty at all times. That’s why all the gospels comment on the bright white
color of the man’s clothes.
Being dressed in all white, and brilliant whites to boot, would seem
impossible in the first century.
Almost as impossible as someone rising from the dead.
As the daughter of a science teacher and a Pastor, I use the scientific
method, and I choose to have faith, and I don’t see them as incompatible.
Both science and faith hold the idea that things are only impossible until
they are proven possible.
People who get frustrated with the way scientists change their minds based
on new evidence, are often the same people who get frustrated when
theologians, those of us who study God, change our minds based on new
understandings of God.

And I get it! Life is complicated, and we all long for simplicity and clarity
sometimes. So we want truth to be unchanging and rules to be rules, so we
can keep up with it all!
But life is not simple.
And God seems to delight in doing impossible things.
I don’t know how exactly the resurrection worked. I mean, I don’t
understand the mechanics of it. What exactly happened and how did it
happen. And I don’t care. Sorry, I don’t.
I accept the resurrection as something that can neither be proved nor
disproved.
And moreover, I accept the resurrection as a symbol of hope.
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the pattern of our faith.
The rhythm of life.
? Things end. Every ending is like a death.
? There is a season of letting go of the past, like a burial and a
mourning period.
? Then there is a new way of being. A resurrection into new life.

We like the new life part.
But we can’t get there without death. We can’t live into resurrection,
without allowing things to end and composting what was to give resources
to the new life.
Letting go of what is no longer working often seems impossible.
We know how to do what we’re already doing even when it isn’t working
very well, right?

We know how to keep on keeping on.
Even when keeping on is making us miserable.

We’ve been well trained by our culture to accept the unacceptable because
that’s just the way things are, right?
We’ve been taught that it’s impossible to change things.
But I believe that God wants a better life for all of us.
I believe that Jesus was willing to be crucified by the systems of Empire –
crucified by the systems of power and wealth – to prove them wrong.
The point of Jesus’ death and resurrection is that death dealing systems
are NOT impossible to overcome.
Rome tried to get rid of Jesus and instead the compassion of Jesus’
followers conquered Rome.
The death dealing systems of today like to tell us that it’s impossible to
house the houseless, or provide healthcare for all, or living wages for all
workers, or mental health care for all who need it.
They would say that this kind of compassion for all is impossible.
They would like us to believe that there is not enough in God’s creation for
everyone to have enough.
But Spirit keeps whispering to those who will listen…
…that if we die to our greed, there is enough for everyone’s need.
The death dealing systems of today like to tell us that some people are
sub-human. That it’s impossible to guard every person’s dignity, and treat
all people with respect.
But Spirit keeps whispering to those who will listen…

…that Black lives matter, and Queer lives matter, and disabled lives matter,
and neurodivergent lives matter, and women’s lives matter enough to be
the first to proclaim the resurrection. And I’m not going to say “all lives
matter” because clearly they don’t, not yet.

The death dealing systems of today like to tell us that it’s impossible to
change anything. So just keep your head down and work harder!
But Spirit keeps whispering to those who will listen…
That to God’s beloved, (that’s all of us by the way!) to God’s beloved, God
gives rest…and music, and dancing, and food, and love, and voices to
speak up and speak out. To do the work of “resisting evil, injustice and
oppression in whatever forms they present themselves!” as we vow to one
another with every baptism, as a part of our liturgy at the top of page 35 in
your hymnal.
Which does not mean that we need to do all the things!
It isn’t my job, or your job or any one person or one group’s job to do all the
impossible things.
We’re not Jesus, we just work for him!
Jesus took naps and so should we!
I think that all God is asking of us is to be willing to listen to Spirit.
Be willing to say, *OK God,* I’m willing to ““mess” around and find out” what
impossible thing you’re going to do next.