Mark 16:7-8 “But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

Jesus had trained the Twelve disciples to be his messengers. At least two times during his ministry he sent them on training runs to preach and teach in villages around Galilee.

The women who followed Jesus mostly spent their time learning from him and providing material and financial support, we learn from the gospels. One of these women, Salome, was the mother of James and John and may have been involved in some way in the family fishing business. But none of these ladies had been trained for mission work like the Twelve.

That was not an excuse to keep their mouths shut about the good news they had just learned. “Go and tell…” the angel commands. That was their new calling on this day, their new “vocation.” God didn’t ask them to pastor congregations or evangelize a pagan tribe in some far off land. He did ask them to tell people they knew that Jesus was alive. Mark’s comment, “They said nothing to anyone,” isn’t evidence of disobedience. It was an indication that they took their mission seriously, and went straight to the disciples without stopping to tell anyone else.

When I preach on Sundays, I stand in front of retirees, security guards, students, dishwashers, managers, IT professionals, homemakers, medical aids. They have come to church to learn about Jesus for many years. They have provided material and financial support for the ministry of the gospel. They aren’t trained theologians or called pastors or missionaries.

But you and they know that one spring day about 2000 years ago a crucified corpse woke up in its tomb and walked out alive. You and they know that he died to set everything right between God and humanity, to make amends for all the great crimes and small slips committed by every person who ever lived. You know that he can and will wake the dead from their graves, just as he woke up himself, and give them a life of never-ending pleasures in God’s presence. You know that he is your Lord, your brother, your Savior, and your God.

Does it have to be stated that this is not information to keep to ourselves? Does some church have to vote to send us a call before we know that we have a calling, a “vocation,” to share this with the people we know? I believe that it is self-evident for those who may or may not have been looking for Jesus, but he found them when he captured their hearts with his gracious words of love.