{"id":3580,"date":"2012-04-03T07:02:12","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T12:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=3580"},"modified":"2012-03-27T16:39:57","modified_gmt":"2012-03-27T21:39:57","slug":"april-8-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"April 8, 2012&#8211;Open Ended Resurrection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Dennis Sepper, University Pastor, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Washington<\/p>\n<h3>Warm-up Question<\/h3>\n<p>Have you ever experienced something for which there was no explanation?\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 How did it make you feel?<\/p>\n<h3>It&#8217;s a Mystery&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p>In the past months two mysteries have made the national news and were all noted on the internet.\u00a0 The first mystery happened in Le Roy, New York.\u00a0 Twelve female students from Le Roy Junior Senior High (that\u2019s not a mistake, both Junior High and Senior High must me in the same building or on the same grounds) began experiencing uncontrollable twitching movements and verbal outbursts.\u00a0 The condition then spread to some adults too.\u00a0 While the twitching was indeed real no one could explain what was happening\u2026but they sure tried.\u00a0 The school was checked for mold and chemicals but nothing was found.\u00a0 Some psychologists stated that it must be stress that is causing the problem.\u00a0 But in the end no one could explain what was causing the condition.\u00a0 It remains a mystery.<\/p>\n<p>The second is currently going on is Clintonville, Wisconsin where the residents were awakened by loud sounding booms that rattled their windows.\u00a0 The event took place in neighborhoods all over town for about four days straight.\u00a0 No one could figure out what was causing the booms and the city hired a company to explore what might be happening.\u00a0 Again, people were quick to come up with possible explanations:\u00a0 pipes were bursting underground or perhaps there were very small earthquakes under the city.\u00a0 But in the end no one has yet explained what is causing the booms.\u00a0 It remains a mystery.<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you identified a mystery in your life thinking about the warm up question, did you or others try to explain what caused your experience?\u00a0 Were the explanations satisfying or did it remain a mystery?<\/li>\n<li>Why do think it is that when we are confronted with a mystery the first response is to try to explain it away?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 8, 2012 (Resurrection of our Lord)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=199536945\">Acts 10:34-43<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=199536979\">1 Corinthians 15:1-11<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?ql=199537009\">Mark 16:1-8<\/a><br \/>\n(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)<br \/>\nFor lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.<\/p>\n<h3>Gospel Reflection<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3595\" style=\"margin: 5px\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/a>It is interesting to note that in all four Gospels it is the women who go to the tomb of Jesus and learn of the resurrection first, not the disciples.\u00a0 In our text today the women are going to the tomb of Jesus to place spices in the tomb to try to overcome the smell of death.\u00a0 However, they encounter a \u201cyoung man\u201d in the tomb who tells them that Jesus has risen.\u00a0 The young man then instructs the women to tell Peter and the disciples that the risen Jesus will meet them Galilee.\u00a0 Who is this young man?\u00a0 No one knows for sure, perhaps an angel though Mark doesn\u2019t tell us that.\u00a0 It remains a mystery.<\/p>\n<p>What happens next?\u00a0 The women run out of the tomb and go immediately to the disciples to tell them that Jesus has been raised from the dead, right?\u00a0\u00a0 No, Mark tells us that \u201cterror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.\u201d\u00a0 When confronted with the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus the women react with amazement, terror, perhaps some joy, maybe doubt.\u00a0 In other words the women react to the mystery the same way we react to a mystery.<\/p>\n<p>And that leads to another fact.\u00a0 If you look at the end of the Gospel of Mark in a Bible you might see that there are three endings to the Gospel.\u00a0 One is the ending at verse 8 (our text) and then there is a short ending and long ending that were added by someone in the first or second century who couldn\u2019t accept the mystery but had to have Jesus appear to someone in order to validate the resurrection.<\/p>\n<p>I must say that I like the ending of Mark.\u00a0 It is a strong proclamation of the fact that the resurrection is a mystery that cannot be explained (remember no one had risen from the dead before and no one has risen from the dead since Jesus!).\u00a0 The resurrection of Jesus is a mystery to be entered into by faith.\u00a0 Also, the ending of Mark\u2019s Gospel begs the questions of where do we encounter the Risen Christ today?\u00a0 To quote one theologian, \u201cthe risen Jesus is simply still \u2018out there somewhere.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Discussion Questions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>What do you think about the ending of Mark\u2019s Gospel?\u00a0 What do think Mark is trying to say to us by this ending?<\/li>\n<li>How do you feel about the reaction of the women?\u00a0 They went out expecting the status quo\u2026a dead body, but encountered an empty tomb.\u00a0 How would you react?<\/li>\n<li>How does the risen Christ come to us today?\u00a0 (Hint to those who are Lutheran that Word and Sacrament should be among your answers!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Activity Suggestions<\/h3>\n<p>There will be some in your church or faith community who will not be able to attend Easter services.\u00a0 Have your group purchase some Easter cards and send Easter blessings and the Good News that Christ is Risen to the shut-ins, those who are hospitalized or in the military, those in prison or treatment centers and others who you know cannot be there for the Easter celebration.<\/p>\n<h3>Closing Prayer<\/h3>\n<p>Risen Christ, we give you thanks that by your resurrection the power of sin, death and evil has been defeat and that out of sheer mercy and love you grant that victory to us.\u00a0 We thank you also that the risen Christ is present to all generations to strengthen us and grant us the courage to serve you and our neighbor.\u00a0 May our Easter worship and celebrations be worthy of the incredibly good news:\u00a0 Christ is risen!\u00a0 Christ is risen indeed!\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cOur Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.\u201d<\/em> ~Martin Luther<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributed by Dennis Sepper, University Pastor, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Washington Warm-up Question Have you ever experienced something for which there was no explanation?\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 How did it make you feel? It&#8217;s a Mystery&#8230; In the past months two mysteries have made the national news and were all noted on the internet.\u00a0 The first [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[254,394,510,12036,105,410,404,331],"class_list":["post-3580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-easter","tag-gods-love","tag-miracle","tag-mystery","tag-power","tag-promise","tag-resurrection","tag-witness"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>April 8, 2012-Open Ended Resurrection - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"April 8, 2012-Open Ended Resurrection - Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributed by Dennis Sepper, University Pastor, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Washington Warm-up Question Have you ever experienced something for which there was no explanation?\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 How did it make you feel? It&#8217;s a Mystery&#8230; In the past months two mysteries have made the national news and were all noted on the internet.\u00a0 The first [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-03T12:02:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"faithlens\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"faithlens\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"faithlens\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7\"},\"headline\":\"April 8, 2012&#8211;Open Ended Resurrection\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-03T12:02:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1028,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Easter\",\"God's love\",\"miracle\",\"mystery\",\"power\",\"promise\",\"resurrection\",\"witness\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/\",\"name\":\"April 8, 2012-Open Ended Resurrection - Faith Lens\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-03T12:02:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/15\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/april-8-2012\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"April 8, 2012&#8211;Open Ended Resurrection\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Lens\",\"description\":\"Weekly Bible studies that engage youth and young adults in connecting world events with the Bible, faith, and everyday life.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7\",\"name\":\"faithlens\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"faithlens\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/faithlens\\\/author\\\/faithlens\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"April 8, 2012-Open Ended Resurrection - Faith Lens","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"April 8, 2012-Open Ended Resurrection - Faith Lens","og_description":"Contributed by Dennis Sepper, University Pastor, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Washington Warm-up Question Have you ever experienced something for which there was no explanation?\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 How did it make you feel? It&#8217;s a Mystery&#8230; In the past months two mysteries have made the national news and were all noted on the internet.\u00a0 The first [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/","og_site_name":"Faith Lens","article_published_time":"2012-04-03T12:02:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"faithlens","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"faithlens","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/"},"author":{"name":"faithlens","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#\/schema\/person\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7"},"headline":"April 8, 2012&#8211;Open Ended Resurrection","datePublished":"2012-04-03T12:02:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/"},"wordCount":1028,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg","keywords":["Easter","God's love","miracle","mystery","power","promise","resurrection","witness"],"articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/","name":"April 8, 2012-Open Ended Resurrection - Faith Lens","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-03T12:02:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#\/schema\/person\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2012\/04\/shutterstock_60658576edit.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/april-8-2012\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"April 8, 2012&#8211;Open Ended Resurrection"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/","name":"Faith Lens","description":"Weekly Bible studies that engage youth and young adults in connecting world events with the Bible, faith, and everyday life.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/#\/schema\/person\/b8300066980f72581b618e79dbe972e7","name":"faithlens","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53db3b51717c7bec114a3e1dd0d536804a7c8cbd5a7682c824ec5b186fe5957b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"faithlens"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/author\/faithlens\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3580"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3583,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3580\/revisions\/3583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}