As a child growing up, I loved watching reruns of Columbo. These days the 1970s and 80s made-for-TV murder mystery starring Peter Falk is considered a cult classic. It is arguably Falk’s most loved role. And why not?

Columbo sports disheveled hair that is chronically out of place.
He constantly misplaces his pencil, asking suspects, “could I borrow yours?”
He drives a comically small 1959 Peugeot, that was outdated from the start.
He always wears an oversized, crumpled raincoat. Even tho it rarely rains.

Columbo defines what it is to be an anti-hero.

He never appeared to be the right person for the job.

My childhood self couldn’t get enough.

On the surface Columbo appears aloof, disorganized, clueless. Suspects consistently underestimate him. But given the task at hand: solving crimes, no one is better. Columbo always catches his mark.

When my daughter Hannah saw me watching an episode several years ago and plopped down on the couch to check it out I was thrilled. Before you knew it our family of four was watching one episode a week, in order, every Sunday nite.

A new tradition, for us, had been borne.

We have now seen all 69 episodes of Columbo. And have since moved on to watching other murder mystery shows with quirky detectives including Monk and Father Brown.

As a family we relish trying to find clues to the case, seeing if we can name them before the great detective does. A good clue, we’ve learned, hides in plain sight, waiting to be discovered. Then, once you find it, and understand what it means, everything suddenly makes sense. Over the years Columbo had some truly great reveals.

That discarded piece of gum? The bite marks in it could be matched to the killer, making a positive ID.

Or the security footage that, at first blush, clearly showed what happened? Turns out the recording had a clock that was broken. Someone must have altered the footage to spin a tale.

And that typewritten ransom note? It originated from an obscure make and model of typewriter. A typewriter that, by chance, was behind a locked door. Only one person had the keys.

A good clue, it seems, can make all the difference in the world.

Brevity
Our reading this Easter is the shortest of the gospel resurrection narratives. The resurrection stories in Matthew, Luke and John contain all sorts of extra details. A journey on the road to Emmaus, the Great Commission, a miraculous fireside fish breakfast with the disciples, followed by Christ’s ascension into heaven.

But Mark? The book simply ends here, with three women running away, afraid.

So unsatisfying was this original ending that scribes later appended the longer, happier ending to Mark, hoping to tie up loose ends.

Like a good episode of Columbo, what we make of this brief, unexpected turn of events is a mystery. To solve this case we’ll need to keep an eye out for clues.

Clues
Our first discovery? An open tomb. The three women there that morning expected to encounter death. Not being able to complete the one task at hand, of anointing the body, a tomb with a missing corpse would be jarring. No wonder they were alarmed, amazed, afraid.

But the tomb wasn’t empty. There’s a young man sitting in it, dressed in white. How did he get in there? Even more curious, he shares some vital pieces of information. He knew who they were looking for. And knew where he could be found. Who was this man? His face and voice seemed familiar. Could it be?

What this man tells them offers us more hints. He said Jesus had been raised. The women knew Christ had brought others back to life. Each time it meant their story here on earth wasn’t yet done. Could he have been brought back too? Was it possible? That would change everything, right? What might this mean?

Tell the disciples, the man told the three. Just like the Blue Brothers, it seems Jesus was looking to get the band back together. Why? Because we’re on a mission from God. Clearly Jesus and the crew had more work here to do.

Tell Peter, the man continued. Jesus wanted to reunite with the disciple that denied knowing him *three* times, when it mattered most? What’s most interesting about this particular clue is what isn’t said. There are no mentions of past wrongs, no demands to explain. To those who abandoned him Jesus only offers grace, forgiveness, connection, community, care.

Have them meet me in Galilee, the man told the women. What might this clue reveal? Galilee is Jesus’ hometown, the location of much of his ministry. It is here where Jesus multiplied the fishes and loaves, feeding thousands. It is here where he calmed the storms on the sea, giving peace to all. Galilee was the land of marginalized people, different people, people treated as less than. Might Jesus be calling the disciples to get back to caring for these people too?

So many clues.
What do to?

Not knowing what to make of it all the women fled the tomb. Initially they said nothing to anyone. For they were afraid.

Here ends the book of Mark.

Next
Unlike Columbo, not everything gets wrapped up by the end of the tale. There is no grand reveal that explains, in plain language who done it, when, where, and why.

The women were left to ponder, pontificate, pray.

What shall they do?

How the women interpreted the clues before them, and decided to act on them, in some ways, will always be a mystery.

Did they huddle up and discuss, comparing notes?
How long was it before they went to share the good news?

Minutes?
Hours?
More?

Eventually they did reach the disciples, proclaiming:

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

And because of –

their witness,
their testimony,
their action,

The world will never be the same.

Now
The beauty of Mark’s resurrection story is this: it is an open-ended narrative. We, the hearers of this word, get to finish the story from our point of view.

Like the women at the tomb, we too get to write our own endings.

We live in an era where the civil rights of many marginalized groups are in jeopardy. The groups are many, including –

women,
children,
LGBTQ,
immigrants,

the unhoused,
the poor,
the hungry,
the physically and mentally unwell.

Attacks on these groups are being done with a toxic mix of religion and politics.

It is a version of Christianity that values privilege and power over care of neighbor.
It is a version of Christianity that frankly I can’t even recognize.

In many ways –
We have become Rome.
We are the empire.

And that, my friends, is simply not of God.

The promise of Easter, what with its exclamations of:

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Is proclamation, yes.
But it is also a challenge to act.

Facing the civil rights crisis of his era Dr. Martin Luther King famously said this:

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”

People of God, on this Easter Day, a question for you. Faced with injustice all around…

What shall we do?
Christ offers clues.