Let us Go with the Myrrhbearing Women

Holy Myrrhbearing Women                  Mark 15:43-16:8

 As the memory of the paschal celebration fades in the days and weeks following the feast, we are offered in the Myrrhbearing Woman an image—a living icon—of paschal wonder, ecstatic wonder. If we listen attentively to the magnificent hymns of the Pentacostarian, we can hear the angelic announcement they heard and share the wonder that was theirs. In the midst of our ordinariness—shopping, taking the kids to school, fussing with the computer, sitting through office meetings, fighting traffic, or battling anxieties in the middle of the night—in the midst of it, that image of the Myrrhbearing Women extends an invitation. It calls us to step out of ourselves for a while, and with them to enter the tomb where Jesus was laid out in death. It calls us to contemplate the ineffable mystery of the empty shroud, together with the angelic proclamation, “He is not here, He is risen!” (John Breck, Longing for God)

BEFORE THE DAWN, THE MYRRHBEARING WOMEN SOUGHT, AS THOSE WHO SEEK THE  DAY,  THEIR SUN, WHO WAS BEFORE THE SUN YET HAD DESCENDED TO THE GRAVE,AND THEY CRIED TO EACH OTHER: O FRIENDS, COME, LET US ANOINT WITH SPICES HIS LIFE-BEARING YET BURIED BODY, THE FLESH WHICH RAISED FALLEN ADAM AND NOW LIES IN THE TOMB. LET US ASSEMBLE, AND LIKE THE MAGI, LET US HASTEN AND LET US WORSHIP! LET US BRING MYRRH AS A GIFT TO HIM WHO IS WRAPPED NOW, NOT IN SWADDLING CLOTHES, BUT IN A WINDING SHEET.  LET US LAMENT AND CRY:LET US LAMENT AND CRY: ARISE, O MASTER!  AND BESTOW RESURRECTION ON THE FALLEN!    (Ikos from Matins)

The Church: We are to be Ministers of the Gospel

In the season beginning with Pascha part of the daily scripture readings  of the Orthodox Church includes lessons from the Acts of the Apostles.  There we learn about the work of the apostles and early Christians as they carried out the ministry which Christ commanded them to do and as they formed the Church in accomplishing the great commission.

All Christians are called to some form of ministry—we are to be actively working to build up the church.  St. John Chrysostom wrote:

Paul writes: ‘Anyone who will not work shall not eat.’ [2 Thess.3:10] The Apostle himself would have been able not to work, since he had been entrusted with a great mission. Notwithstanding that, he worked day and night. All the more reason for others to do the same. ‘We hear that some of you,’ St. Paul goes on, ‘are living in idleness, not doing any work.’ Even if they were passing the time in prayer and fasting, they would not be doing the manual work of which the Apostle is speaking. He concludes: ’Such persons we command and exhort in the name of the Lord Jesus to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living.’ Paul does not say: ’If they are idlers, let the community keep them.’ On the contrary, he demands two things; that they keep quiet, and that they work!    

Chrysostom envisioned all Christians actively working in ministry – not coming to church to see what they can get out of it, but coming to the church ready to serve others.  Our word “liturgy” implies that we are going to work together for the common good (liturgy has the same root word as energy which is the same root as urge and erg – it means work!).  Just prior to being sent into  exile in 403 by the emperor, St. John Chrysostom wrote about what the Church meant to him.   He found strength and encouragement from his flock – his fellow believers:

Tell me, what do we have to fear?…I mock the threats of this world; I disdain its favors. I do not fear poverty, I do not desire wealth; I am not afraid of death; I wish to live only for your benefit…Do you not understand this word of the lord: “When two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there, in the midst of them?” And where so many people are united by the bonds of love, will the Lord not be present with them? I have His word; should I trust in my own strength? I have His word; He is my support, my safety, my haven of peace. Should the world know total upheaval, I nevertheless have this one Word: I can read it; it is my protection, my safety. Which text? “I am with you always until the end of the age.” Christ is with me; what then shall I fear?