Mark 16:1-8 What do we do with Jesus

Theological Proposition/Focus: That something significant occurred on Easter is not up for debate, the real question is what will you do about it?

Homiletical Proposition/Application: Determine to share the good news of Easter.

Body

The common, maybe even natural, response to Jesus is to seek to show him honor (1-3).

Image: Insufficient honor can actually be disrespectful.

Let me start my example here by stating that I am, in general, title adverse. I don't like titles and in general I am uncomfortable with titles because they only create distance. So, please don't change your behavior toward me or Emily based on this example! We want you to call us by our first name!

I love getting the mail, something about opening up the mailbox and wondering what will be next is just a lot of fun. However, there is something that always makes me laugh. You see, Emily is very smart, and worked very hard in college and graduate school to graduate early and at the top. I never really worked as hard as Emily and I did not finish my degree in record time. But what will always make me laugh is when we get a piece of mail addressed to Dr. and Mrs. Wakefield. You see, Emily has a doctorate, in fact Emily finished her doctorate three years before me. I am sure that when someone sends mail to Dr. and Mrs Wakefield they are trying to show honor to Emily but in reality they are failing to do so because they are missing the mark of the honor she deserves.

When we show insufficient honor to Jesus we miss the mark! Jesus is a good teacher, but calling him that misses the point.

Now, please don't go and start addressing your mail to Dr. Emily Wakefield, you will make her uncomfortable. Just addressing it to Emily and Nathan is fine!

The reality is that Jesus is anything but common and so a common response is not enough (4-7)

There is nothing common or natural about the resurrection.

I have heard people state that the reason they don't buy Christianity is that they just can't believe the resurrection. In reality, these people are much closer to truth than we sometimes give them credit. The resurrection is anything but natural, anything but common. We should be shocked and alarmed at the resurrection.

Image: An uncommon response requires preparation and practice.

I really enjoy going up in the airplane and just practicing landings with Emily. We practice standard landings, she works some of her skills toward landing the airplane, and we just work together to land the airplane. However, one of my favorite exercises I have done with Emily is a simulated engine failure. We will be flying close enough to the airport to be safe. And after warning her, I cut the power. I immediately take the controls of the airplane and start maneuvering for the runway. Emily grabs the checklist and begins asking me call and response questions. Together we go through all the emergency procedures as I am maneuvering to touch down on the runway. The whole process from start to end takes less than a minute and we are on the ground rolling out. You might ask, why would you do that? Simple, if it ever happens in real life and we are at 1000 feet or less we have less than one minute to land the airplane. If we take 15 seconds of that time for a common response of freaking out then we will not make it. If our engine fails we will need an uncommon response so we practice so that the uncommon response becomes our natural response.

The problem is that we commonly fail to properly respond (8).

Initially, the women who were first tasked with telling the disciples failed.

In Luke 24 we learn that eventually they did tell the disciples.