Another Easter, Another Missed Opportunity?

We have come through another Easter Sunday, with churches filled to the brim and folks feeling inspired afterwards. I don't think we will ever know, truly, what brings people out to church on Easter Sunday. Unlike some more skeptical folks, I don't think it has as much to do with making a fashion statement as it does with folks wanting to feel that they are part of something very special. So, once a year our churches are full and we have such an opportunity to address the meaning of the day. And I cannot help but feeling that we never really address it in the way that would be most effective.
I could not help but notice that, although we are in the lectionary cycle that features the gospel of Mark, John's account is also offered as the text for Easter Sunday. The church that my family and I attended used the Johannine passage. I am curious as to why the Markan account is not enough for the day and why we have to fall back on John's more detailed account. And what if we read the account from Mark and stop where many of the most ancient manuscripts did, at 16:8? Instead of an account where Mary sees Jesus at the tomb and assumes that he is the gardener, Mark gives us an account of a young man in the tomb who tells folks not to be alarmed, but the Jesus they have come looking for is not in the tomb, but has gone before them into Galilee. The young man told them that they would see Jesus there, out in the world among folks, just as he had told them. Why is that account not enough for us?
People come out on Easter and they want a show, they want the stops pulled out all the way. Might I go so far as to say that they want whatever proof the pastor can offer that the story is true? That task may seem easier with an account that has Jesus actually appearing to the disciples. Even Mark's gospel has an alternate ending, with more of Jesus and less left to the imagination.
As for me, give me the shorter ending every time. The empty tomb is plenty for me; I don't need to read about Jesus appearing to many people, as if such an account can remove all of the desire for more proof that each of us wants, secretly, or not. Truth is, I want it to be left to me to figure out, on my own. I know the story, I know the faith, so let me try to reason it through. Make me think it through, pray it through, read it through. I want to be challenged to look for Jesus "out there" among the people. I think we get way too attached to the empty tomb. I remember reading long ago that when we have an empty tomb, all we have is a tomb without a body in it.We should spend less time wondering if the shroud of Turin is authentic, because it means nothing. What matters most is the life that Jesus lived, and the sacrifice that he made on Friday. Students are amazed when I tell them that I believe Good Friday to be the most important day of the Chrsitian year. It is the authenticity of Jesus, his faithfulness to the message that he taught, and to his calling from God, that matters most. He was loving, obedient, and his words and his activities were seamless; he was the real deal. I prefer Mark's shorter ending, because it makes me keep looking for Christ in everyone I see and everywhere I go. That is something that lasts longer than the Easter Sunday service; it renews me daily, all year long.