Mark is a rather odd gospel in how it ends. Mark doesn’t end with joyous shouts of "He is risen!" Mark doesn’t end with Jesus’ appearance to the disciples or to the women who come to the tomb. No, Mark ends with the women fleeing from the tomb and saying nothing to anyone about what they had seen and been told. That’s it – that’s how it all ends.

There has been a great deal of speculation about the rather abrupt ending for the gospel. Some people say that maybe the last page of Mark’s original got ripped off and lost. Some ancients were so disturbed by this abrupt ending that they added their own ending. Some of these are probably included in your Bible. But the vast majority of the evidence tells us that Mark’s gospel really did end with the women fleeing from the tomb and not telling anyone what they knew. A literal translation would be that they said nothing to nobody.

But then again can you put yourself in their shoes? Can you imagine if you were the one coming to tend to the dead body of the man you had followed around for the last three years only to find that it was gone and in its place there is a messenger from God? As if appearances of angels were not fearsome enough, this angel claims that Jesus has been raised from the dead! And they will see him soon in Galilee! Wouldn’t you be a little scared to tell that story? Why if you go around today talking about how you heard from an angel that someone had been raised from the dead, people might think you were crazy.

The women had been faithful followers of Jesus since his time in Galilee. They had followed him and supported him throughout his ministry. They had seen Jesus get crucified. They had watched as he was taken down from the cross. They had followed Joseph of Arimathea when he laid Jesus’ body in the stone tomb and rolled a stone over the entryway. They knew that morning when they went to anoint Jesus’ body that they were at the right place. Yet, instead of finding a dead body they received a message that must have seemed too good to be true – "he is not here. He has been raised."

Not only are the women told this good news but they are given a task to do. They are to tell the disciples about the resurrection and instruct them to go on to Galilee. They are asked to be the first proclaimers of the gospel. But instead of shouting with joy and telling the good news, they flee from the tomb and the presence of this heavenly messenger and keep silent. They were afraid to speak. That’s it – end of story. The women keep silent out of fear and the story ends. Right?

If the fear of speaking was the end of the story then we certainly wouldn’t be here today. If everyone was afraid of telling the good news of Jesus’ resurrection then we wouldn’t be gathered here celebrating it.

Mark ends his gospel with the women being afraid to speak in order to ask a different question. The question lingering at the conclusion of Mark’s gospel is not, "Why didn’t he women spread the good news?" After all, their fear is highly understandable. The question lingering at the end of Mark’s gospel is rather, "Are you afraid to spread the good news?" Mark places before his readers the task of spreading the gospel. Mark had told the story of Jesus’ ministry and here at the point of the resurrection he asks the reader, "Now what are you going to do with this?"

The ball is now in our court. The question is before us. We have heard the teachings and events of Jesus’ ministry so now what are we going to do about it? Will terror and amazement take us over and silence the gospel within us? What are we going to do about the resurrection? What does the resurrection do inside of us? Is it just something we pull out of our theological tool kit once in a while to try to soothe the aching parts of our hearts? Is the resurrection just something to celebrate once a year with beautiful hymns and fancy new dresses? Is it just another excuse to eat candy?

God raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead! Jesus, fully human and fully divine, was completely dead and now is alive. This truly is good news! Nothing can ever be the same again. Death is not the final word any more.

The heavenly messenger doesn’t just tell the women that Jesus had been raised from the dead and that is the end of the story. The messenger tells the women that Jesus is going on ahead of them and will meet them in Galilee. The resurrection isn’t the end of the story. Jesus is going on ahead of the disciples and the women. The work of Christ in the world is not over. The women think the story is at an end. Fear of telling the story takes over the women and they keep silent.

But we know that is not the end of the story. Christ is going on ahead of us. Christ will meet us in Concord, Rustburg, Lynchburg, Guatemala, Malawi, Austria, and anywhere his followers go. Christ is going ahead of us out of these doors. The story doesn’t end here in these four walls. The story doesn’t end with us looking around to the people standing next to us and proclaiming to each other that Christ is risen. The story goes on. The task is ours. Christ is going ahead of us to all the corners of the world where God’s children are suffering and in need. Christ is going ahead of us. If we are to truly call ourselves Christ’s disciples; if we are Christ’s followers then we must follow Christ who has gone ahead of us.

The ball is in our court. Will terror and amazement silence the gospel within us? Will fear prevent us from moving ahead to where God calls us? I’m not going to lie – this can be scary stuff. Stepping outside of these comfortable church doors and out into the world can be intimidating. But we do not go alone. Our Savior goes ahead of us. Don’t let the gospel waste away in silence. Go and tell.