Steven Furtick - It Can't End Like This... (10/31/2018)
The preacher examines Mark 16's abrupt ending where women flee the empty tomb in fear and astonishment, announcing Jesus is risen but saying nothing due to terror. He declares this Easter truth: "It can't end like this" – frustration, failure, and fear aren't the finale; God works while we walk, rolling stones ahead and calling us beyond graves to new purpose and grace.
The Women at the Tomb – Mark 16
Mark 16, verse 1. When the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
And they were saying to one another, who will roll the stone. In other words, you can look, but don't stay long. Because he is not here in this dead place. He is not here. He is risen.
So go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. And there you will see him just as he told you.
And they went out and fled from... I wonder what you're running from today. Because sometimes when life disappoints our expectations, we find ourselves hiding from the very places that we came to looking for God.
They fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
And on that note, Mark's gospel ends. It's an anticlimactic ending. It's not how we would expect it to end, but that's how it ends.
It Can't End Like This
And there is an announcement for this Easter that I want to give to you. In fact, I want you to give it to your neighbor. So pick one. Look him in the eyes. And give him my sermon title for Easter 2018.
Tell him, neighbor, it can't end like this. Look at your other neighbor, the one you were secretly hoping you'd get to talk to. Tell him, it can't end like this.
Father, anoint your word and open our hearts to hear it. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated.
Timing in Parenting and Life Lessons
I'm certainly no parenting expert, but from what I can tell, a large percentage of successful parenting revolves around timing and understanding when your kids are ready for certain things, certain forms of discipline, certain conversations.
The other day, it became apparent to me that my oldest son, Elijah, was ready to watch the movie Rudy for the first time.
How many have never seen the movie Rudy? We want to give an altar call right now that your soul might be spared from the flames of hell. You are in danger.
I was saving Rudy for him for the moment that I thought he could fully appreciate the beauty of the story of triumph, of Dan Rudy Ruediger. It's based on a true story. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. But the Hollywood version is great.
The Power of Rudy's Ending
because this kid who wanted to play for Notre Dame… Hands up again if you've never seen the movie. I should cancel this sermon and just show the movie. I feel so bad for you.
It's a beautiful movie, especially the ending. It's the last five minutes that's going to get you. I'm just warning you, don't watch it around anybody that you don't want to seem soft in front of.
If you have a soul, the last five minutes after Rudy has applied and reapplied to Notre Dame and sacrificed everything in the face of people who said he could never do it, it's just the end.
The movie is kind of slow, but if you can make it to the end… I wanted Elijah to see Rudy because he's playing football and he's starting to understand that his genetics aren't necessarily on his side and putting some things together.
So I said, you're ready for Rudy, and we watched Rudy.
Differences in Movie Endings – A Marriage Insight
Now, my wife and I, if you're new to the church, I share a lot from our personal life, maybe too much sometimes. We don't fight a lot. We don't fight that much over money. We have fought over money, but we don't fight much over money.
There was that one time with the… Yeah. But usually she tells me she got it on sale, and I go with it. And that's kept our marriage happy. So we don't fight over money. And I have more shoes in my closet than she does, let's be honest.
We don't fight over money. But we don't fight over parenting. One thing we do fight over, though, we sometimes fight over movies because we like different kinds of endings.
She likes the ending where they end up together on a beach. I like the movie where everybody's dead in the end. I don't know what that says about me.
Holly's Take on Rudy
But no. Before you think she's the angel, my wife, this is one time I only questioned whether I should have married her one time. It was too late by this point for me to reevaluate, but it was the first time we watched Rudy together.
And, you know, Rudy wants to play for Notre Dame, and they start him in the last game, and Rudy runs out of the tunnel. And it's such a beautiful moment.
And the first time we watched Rudy together, of course, I'd seen it multiple times by this point, with tears in my eyes because I have a heart, I looked over at Holly to find her rolling her eyes.
And she said, quote, That's the stupidest story I've ever seen. If you're clapping right now, we've got security. I will take you out of the church. There's a lot of people who want your seat.
No, she said, to me, Rudy was a story of triumph of the human spirit. To her, it was a story of a kid who lacked self-awareness. Somebody needed to tell him, and he needed to believe. You are not a football player, Rudy. You need to practice piano, Rudy.
Holly's ideal ending of Rudy would be him playing the piano because he was better at that all along and gave up on his dreams because she is a soul crusher.
Savage Jesus Series – Easter Context
So, I was looking over at Elijah, you know, the last five minutes of Rudy, and I wanted to see. I didn't want him to see that I was looking at him because I was hoping he had a soul, hoping he took after me.
And he looks at me and goes, you know what would be awesome? Rudy's running out on the field. He's about to get carried off on the shoulders after he goes in for one play.
And Elijah said, if they did a different ending for Rudy, where he goes in the game, and screws up and ruins the whole season for the whole team.
And I said, go sit with your mom, you demon.
I know you thought I forgot about Mark 16. I didn't. We've been in a series called Savage Jesus in our church.
Don't be shocked. Don't be frightened. When we say savage, we certainly don't have in mind the dictionary definition of savage in reference to the Son of God.
We just mean that he did whatever it took, whether it's flipping tables in a temple or, as you heard in that beautiful Easter opener, spitting in blind eyes to get them open.
Whatever he had to do, even if he had to make a mess, he always got the message across.
Mark's Abrupt Ending
This study from Mark's gospel has brought us all the way to chapter 16. Last week we were in chapter 2. I had to skip to the end for this occasion called Easter.
And it's kind of shocking. It's kind of an alternate ending. It's kind of what Elijah always wanted from Rudy.
Because we don't see Jesus at all. We don't see the appearance of the risen Christ. We see that in Matthew's gospel. We see that in Luke's gospel.
Because there are four different gospel accounts. It's the same story, but just told four different ways, from four different perspectives for four different audiences, with four different major themes but one main character.
And when Mark gets ready to end his gospel, there is no appearance of Jesus. There is only an announcement.
Faith as Interpretation, Not Imagination
Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God. We walk by faith and not by sight.
And so Mark's gospel ends in a most unsatisfactory manner. If you're reading along in your own copy of the Bible, you may see verse 9, 10, 11, and 12.
But those were put there much later by second-century scribes. The oldest manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, after they had been transcribed for centuries, took on some additions.
It was almost as if the ending, and they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment, had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Whoever was copying it thought, well, it can't end like this. Come on, we have to get Rudy out of the tunnel, and we have to get Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene, and we have to get the Emmaus road that Luke writes about, and we have to talk about how he appeared to the eleven and they didn't believe at first.
And we have to get the part where he told them they would have authority over demons. And we have to get verse 20. And they went out and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
That is the Rudy resurrection, with the eleven disciples carrying Jesus off on their shoulders to the mountain Galilee, where he proclaimed and professed his authority.
But it ends, in the original manuscript, on a note of uncertainty. It ends right there.
Faith – Deeper Reality Over Denial
There's a tendency for us sometimes to want to make faith something that it's not. I wonder, can I preach to you today like we're real people?
It may be that people outside of the faith sometimes get the wrong idea about the nature of faith, and they think that faith is chiefly a matter of imagination.
So people who have faith have really good ability to suspend their disbelief and think about this world that doesn't really exist.
But faith, for me, is not a matter of imagination. It's a matter of interpretation.
What I mean by that is, for me, faith is not a denial of reality. But it is a deeper reality than the reality that I see that governs the way that I live.
This is the essence of faith in Mark's gospel. It is always a demonstration. It is not always visible, but just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't real.
And isn't it powerful and profound that the greatest demonstration of God's power came in the moment when Jesus wasn't there?
The greatest demonstration of God's power was his absence in the place where the women looked for him.
Touch the person next to you and say, It can't end like this. It can't end like this.
Frustration and Fear at the Tomb
And sometimes our faith leaves us at a place of frustration. The atmosphere of this text in Mark chapter 16 is an atmosphere of frustration, specifically for these women.
And I wanted to call this message Hidden Figures, but I figured only one movie reference per Easter sermon. And so I had remarkable restraint not to call the sermon Hidden Figures about Mary Magdalene and Mary and Salome.
Looking for a baby name, consider Salome. They bought spices.
Now remember, Peter in the garden drew a sword because he had strength as long as he was in control of the outcome.
But if you look on Sunday morning, Jesus has been dead now for three days, according to the Jewish way of counting days.
And these women, they didn't draw swords in the garden. They had a different kind of strength.
These Spice Girls, watch out, had the kind of quiet strength that would enable them, even in the midst of disappointment, to still go to the place where their dream died and do the best they could with what they had.
Who's Missing – The Men
Notice who is missing in the text. It's not only Jesus who's missing in the text. He was expected to be in the grave, and he wasn't there.
But where is Peter? Where is Peter waving his sword and talking so loud?
Have you ever noticed how sometimes the loudest people aren't the most loyal? I noticed it at a Panthers game. There was a lady in front of me. She was so loud. She was gone in the third quarter, too, because sometimes the people who are the loudest are not the most loyal.
That's a dating seminar, and it's Easter. I'm giving you bonus material.
Where's Peter? This is what the women are trying to figure out, because the men who should have been with them to help them move the stone away…
Remember, it's much easier to roll the stone that is at the mouth of this cave, which we call a tomb, but it's more like a cave, and Mark points out a detail. He says, it was a very heavy stone, so we can't do this by ourselves.
Upon realizing that we've got the spices, watch this, but we don't have the strength to roll the stone away, I think it's an indictment on the men.
I think it is an indictment on the eleven disciples. I thought there were twelve. Judas is dead. It's already a different thing for him. He's already gone. He couldn't hang on. He couldn't face himself after it.
And Peter… Well, Peter, who's going to preach in 50 days on the day of Pentecost, is so disappointed that he can't potentially show his face, or maybe he doesn't want to venture out into the darkness and risk greater disappointment.
Quiet Strength and the Question
I found out that the greater the faith, the deeper the disappointment. When you really believe in something, and this is why some of you don't expect much out of life anymore, it is your defense mechanism against disappointment.
Because if you don't venture out, you don't have to be vulnerable. Hope is very vulnerable. Faith is very fragile. It puts you in a place where you're actually expecting something.
And as Peter stood there considering the cost of discipleship in the shadow of the cross, it shot through his central nervous system that this was the end.
And he's not with the women. Neither is James. Neither is John, for that matter. Or Bartholomew. There were plenty of people who could have been with him, but they weren't.
And so now the women, they have their spices. They're not talking much. It's not a happy processional, but they're on their way.
And on their way, they realize, hey, wait a minute. When we get there, we can't do what we need to do to do what we came to do.
Because we have spices, but we're not strong enough. Have you ever felt like there was something in your way?
Now, it could be depression. It could be addiction. It could be genetics. It could be your history. It could be your mental conditioning.
Have you ever felt like there was something in your way that no matter how great or how high your faith would rise or become, there was something in your way, some stone in your way?
God Already Working While We Walk
I love what the Bible says, because the women are walking and they're worried. Well, you can't do it. Well, you can't do it either. Well, Mary, you should have... Well, don't tell me what I should have done, Salome.
I'm not the one whose mom named her after a deli meat. You should have done it. You should have thought, where's Peter?
But instead of resenting who wasn't with them, they asked the question, Who will roll the stone away?
I have good gospel news this Easter. God is already working out what you're worried about.
God already has your miracle in motion if you will take a step in faith.
The Bible says when they got there, not only was the stone gone, but there was a young man, most theologians believe because of the synoptic gospel accounts that confirmed the report, that this was an angel who had not only rolled the stone away, but sat down on it.
Now, the reason he sat down is not because he was tired. This angel did CrossFit and had excellent cardiovascular conditioning.
No, this angel came down, rolled the stone, and sat down because in Jewish custom, when a teacher got ready to teach, they sat in a seat of authority.
So the message is this. What you thought you couldn't get through, I'm already over. What you thought you couldn't do has already been done, and all power...
Are there any Easter people in this section? I believe stones still roll. I believe God is working on what you're worried about.
Why would you stay up late crying about... See, we don't understand a lot of times what's happening as we're walking.
What's happening as we're walking. Matthew gives us a detail that Mark omitted, because he said that at some point, while these women, between 3 and 6 A.M., in the darkness of despair, doubt, and disappointment...
This is the atmosphere of the text, and in their great frustration because of their lack of strength and ability, while they were walking, God was working.
Watch the second verse of the last chapter of Matthew. It's a different ending. It's a little bit of a different detail that we don't get in Mark's Gospel.
It says, Behold, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat down on it.
The angel was already on the way while the women were walking to the tomb.
I dare you to look at somebody and say, your angel is already on the way.
So don't stress out about it, and don't you dare turn around and go back home? Because while you're worrying, God is working.
God does some of his best work in the dark, and just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not in progress.
You can't end like this. You think God would let these women get all the way to the tomb and let a stone stand in their way?
God says, When you do what you can do, I will do what you cannot do.
I'll help you raise those kids. I'll help you stay married to that man. I'll help you make it through another week. I'll help you.
Help is on the way. That's Easter.
It can't end in frustration. It can't end in my frustration. And it can't end in failure, either.
Beyond Frustration and Failure
It can't end in frustration. It can't end in failure. Rudy can't lose.
Touch somebody and say, It can't end like this.
See, when you know the director, you have a pretty good sense of how the film is going to end.
God, I wish somebody came to help me preach and not just look at me today.
When you know who made the movie, when you know how it ends, when Jesus sat down with Peter, he said, You're going to fail. You're going to deny me. Not once. Not twice. But check out this King James English. Thrice.
By the time the rooster crows. But don't worry about it, Peter. I've got a job for you to do on the other side of failure.
When the angel said, I'm going to meet you in Galilee, it was more than a geographical arrangement. It was a statement of mission.
For many of you remember that Galilee was the place where Jesus did most of his miracles. It was the place where he first called Peter.
It was the Sea of Galilee where Peter took Jesus all around to preach and heal and deliver.
So when the angel said, Your story can't end here, Peter, turn around and go tell the disciples that I will meet them in Galilee.
He was saying, in effect, This can't end in a grave because there's something more that I want to do. Meet me in Galilee.
Now that's good news all on its own. For you to know that God is not through with you.
For you to know that if the devil could have killed you, he would have by now.
For you to know that the testimony of your purpose is the very fact of your survival. The fact that you're still here... Well, that's a reason to celebrate.
P.S. Tell Peter – Personal Redemption
I think this is my favorite Easter message I've ever studied. Because of two words. Go tell his disciples, verse 7, please, and Peter.
That hit me hard. that the one who disappointed Jesus the most deeply was the one he singled out by name for redemption.
And it gives me this hope that maybe my name can go there too.
I'm going back to Galilee because I don't believe this story ends at a grave.
It can't end like this. It can't end in failure because God has already promised me his grace for every failure that I would face in this life.
And Peter and Peter make sure you make sure P.S. tell Peter.
I want to put that in an Easter message when you're P.S. tell Peter tell the one that snuck into church that really doesn't even want to be here.
I'll meet you in Galilee failure is not the end it's the hinge it's the hinge on which the doors of God's grace swing wide open for you to experience his forgiveness at a greater level
don't you see it Peter he called you by name and the women responded in a surprising way
you know I never could get over this I understand why they were so disappointed when he died.
But I never got why they were so surprised. He told them this three times. I'm going to die. They're going to mock me. They're going to scourge me. They're going to spit on me.
But after three days... I view resurrection a little differently now.
I used to think resurrection was God's exclamation point. You know, it is finished. He is risen.
But now I see it more like three dots. Now I see Easter as the ellipses of heaven.
Now I see Easter, those three days, as three dots. To see whether or not your story is going to end here, in your fear.
Because the final note of Mark's gospel is fear. They were afraid. It's such a strange note to end on. It's such a crazy way to end your gospel.
Maybe there was more to the manuscript. I don't know. And it got lost. That's one theory.
Or maybe verse 9 is up to us. Maybe fear is not the end. Maybe it's an invitation.
Fear as Beginning, Not End
You see, in Mark's gospel, usually when it talks about fear, something comes after it. In Mark's gospel, there's a pattern that emerges.
It's over and over again in Mark's gospel. So like in chapter 5, there's a woman who has an issue, an issue of blood, and nobody can make her better.
The Bible says that she spent all that she had, but instead of getting better, she got worse. She shoved more stuff into her life. She got busier, and she just got broker.
She spent more time trying to be liked, and she only felt more lonely. Then she comes up and touches Jesus, and everybody wants to know who did it, because there was a big crowd around, and they didn't know, but she did.
So the Bible says that trembling, she fell down in fear on her face before Jesus. But it wasn't the end of the story, because when Mark says fear, something follows. It's not the end.
Touch somebody and say, it's not the end. It's a new beginning.
And after her fear, Jesus looked at her and said, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Now go in peace, because fear is not the end.
Fear is the beginning.
Right after this, a man named Jairus has a little daughter who has died while Jesus is on his way to heal her. The crowd says, Don't worry about it. She's already dead.
Jesus said, No, she's just asleep. Don't be afraid, Jairus, because when I get there, something is going to happen that is going to overrule and overturn the verdict of earthly principles.
She's going to get up, and the little girl got up, because fear is not the end.
One night the disciples were in a great storm. The wind was blowing so hard they thought, Surely we're going down this time.
No, you can't die here. There's something left for you to do. The Bible says they were greatly afraid, but fear was not the end.
The moment they felt the fear, Jesus spoke the word, Peace be still. I feel him speaking in peace to somebody today.
Fear is not the end. It can't end like this. It can't end like this. God has more for you to do.
He said, Meet me in Galilee… Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The stone is already rolled.
God has already done what the law was powerless to do, in that it was weakened by the sinful nature.
I know you're weak. I know you're frustrated, but frustration is not the end.
Frustration is the hinge on which the door to surrender swings wide open.
To say, I need you to do for me, God, what I can't do for myself, it's not the end.
Your failure is not the end. God is going to use the one who knows their need for grace to show others what his grace is capable of.
It can't end like this. Your story can't end in this grave. You are needed in Galilee, Peter.
There's more for you to do. It can't end like this. It can't end in fear.
What if those women would have stayed silent? We know they didn't. We know they went and told the disciples, and we know the disciples' first instinct was fear, because the starting point of faith is always fear.
It's always scary to step out and trust God. It's always risky to make yourself vulnerable.
What if I come to God, and what if it doesn't work? What if it ends on a cross?
See, even if it ends on a cross, it doesn't end on the cross. This is your third day.
Invitation to New Life – Resurrection Moment
I want you to bow your head and close your eyes. Stand to your feet right where you are. This is a resurrection moment for somebody.
With no one moving, I believe that God is calling someone out of your grave today.
Our graves look like shame. Our graves look like religion. Our graves look like us trying to roll a heavy stone away that we can't push no matter how hard we try.
But the stone has already been rolled away. The price has already been paid. The end game of Jesus Christ is grace.
God has brought you to this moment to receive his grace.
Right now it's my privilege to pray with you for every Peter, for every Mary, for every Salome who has been in a season of disappointment, and you are realizing now your desperate need for God.
We're going to pray a prayer right now, and it is for those who need to experience the salvation and resurrection power of God.
So, in this moment, if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, I've got good news for you. You will be saved.
Even if you have to do it with your hands shaking like the women did as they went from the tomb.
Even if you're staring at a stone or a life situation, chains you can't break. It's already been done.
Even if you feel like you've wasted time, God can redeem what's left and turn every mistake in your life into a miracle.
But it begins with faith. It is by grace we are saved, through faith. This is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, so that no one can boast.
It starts with admitting that I am a sinner and I need a Savior.
Right now, in this moment, if you are ready to come to God, we're going to pray out loud as a church family for the benefit of those who are coming to God or coming back to God.
With our heads bowed and our eyes closed, if you will pray this prayer from your heart, God will hear you from heaven, forgive your sins, and give you a new heart.
I'm praying together as a church. Heavenly Father, I come to you, a sinner in need of a Savior, and I thank you today for your Son, Jesus Christ.
I believe he died to forgive my sin and Rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. Make me a new creation.
This is my new beginning. I'll follow you all the days of my life.
With your heads still bowed and your eyes still closed, if you just prayed that prayer, on the count of three, I want you to shoot your hand in the air signifying this is my third day at every location.
One, two, three. New beginnings all over the room.
Come on, let's thank God for it. Let's thank God for resurrection power. Let's thank God for the blood of Jesus.
Let's thank God for his grace. Let's thank him for his victory. Let's thank him for his triumph.
Let's thank him for canceling the sin that stood against us. Let's thank him for rolling. Let's clap those hands, Sian. Give him your best praise.
Declare his victory in this place. Let's give him praise. Let it rise.