Easter Sermon
Let the people say, Christ is Risen! (Christ is risen indeed.) Let the people say Alleluia! (ALLELUIA! )
This is the Easter message: Christ rose from the dead and we respond with a joyous “Alleluia” which is Latin for “Praise God!” But that first Easter morning did not begin with a joyous shout of Alleluia.
Instead, in Matthew’s Gospel, it begins with a roar as the ground shook between the feet of two women, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary. They came to see the tomb where Jesus lay. They hadn’t expected a cosmic reaction. But the ground shook as an angel descended and rolled away the stone of the tomb which had been sealed. He was frightening to behold –the guards trembled and fainted. They looked like dead men. But to the astonished women, the angel says, “Do not be afraid, I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.”
“Do not be afraid.” These are the first words of most angels who visit people in the Bible so they must look pretty frightening. But the angel – whose name means “messenger” has a message to share with the women about Jesus: “He is not here, for he has been raised.”
This is the Easter message. But to the women, this must have seemed impossible. Everyone knew that what’s dead – stays dead. Perhaps sensing their doubt, the angel invites the women, “Come and See.” He wants them to see for themselves that the tomb is empty. Jesus’ body isn’t there.
Experiencing an earthquake, watching a mighty angel breaking the bonds of a sealed tomb and witnessing an empty tomb would have been overwhelming enough, but the angel has one more message for the women. This one is a mission: “Go quickly and tell Jesus’ disciples that he has been raised. Jesus will meet you all in Galilee.”
This was a lot for the women to take in. But they listened and then…following the advice of the angel to “Go quickly” – they ran. Matthew writes, “They left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy.
Fear and great joy: These two emotions would seem to be contradictory.
And yet… aren’t there times for us when fear and joy hold hands and we experience both of these at the same time?
When a new baby is born – we hope and pray for health for the baby and the mother with anticipation and joy and yet… with a little bit of fear too… until the first cry comes. Then… it’s all joy.
Whenever we experience change – or even a new beginning in our life, fear and joy hold hands because often we are saying goodbye to the way things were in the past – students graduating from a school for example – they are joyful and excited for their next journey but also a bit scared, fearful of the unknown future. The same is true for our church as we talk about consolidation and becoming one brand new church together with First Lutheran and Cross of Glory. It is exciting and joy-filled as we dream about a bigger choir and perhaps having bells again and more people to do God’s work together. But the future can also be a little scary, just because it is unknown – and beyond our control.
The future certainly felt out of control for the two Marys. And, they had reason to fear. A fierce looking angel appeared; the whole cosmos was quaking. Two Roman guards were laying at their feet, looking dead. The tomb was empty! They saw them put Jesus’ body in the tomb. And yet, Jesus’ body was not there. Was not even death certain anymore?
The women had plenty of reasons to fear… but even more reasons for joy! The angel said that Jesus had risen! Even a guarded stone tomb could not contain a resurrected Jesus. And then, the angel gave them hope for the future: Jesus would go ahead of them to Galilee.
Preacher and author Jim Wallis once said, "Don't base your hope on the evening news. Base your hope on Jesus and the resurrection, and watch for the evening news to change." I think he got the first part right. Regardless of how you get the news, it is rarely good and even less often is it hopeful.
Our hope is in Jesus and the resurrection. And because of this, we can’t just wait for the evening news to change. Like the two women, we too have a mission. We too have good news to share.
The angel told the Marys that Jesus was going before them and would meet them in Galilee. But, as they were running, suddenly, Jesus met them on the road. Jesus was with them – not just in the future. But Jesus was with them – and with us – Right Now. Jesus is God with us.
Despite having been beaten, spit upon, lied to, betrayed, tortured and finally, crucified, the resurrected Jesus does not speak words of hate, demanding restitution. He greets them and us with love and grace – saying “chairō” which can be translated as simply as “greetings” And it can mean: “Be glad!” or “Rejoice!”
“Rejoice! Be Glad!”
With this greeting of love and grace and JOY, Jesus reflects the character of God. As we read in Jeremiah: “God loves us with an everlasting love.” There are some that would portray God as vengeful and judgmental. But our God is the God of the covenant. Our God is the God of love. This is why Jesus came. Jesus came out of love, a love that is everlasting and gives us hope over despair; joy over sorrow and new life over death.
The power of death has been defeated. But this does not mean that we will live forever. No, as we are reminded every Ash Wednesday, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” We are mortal. But, because of the resurrection of Jesus, death no longer has the last word for him or for us. Instead, the last word belongs to God: God’s love is what lasts.
And that love is what gives us hope, Resurrection Hope, for the future. Resurrection Hope propels us out of our lethargy and keeps us engaged in the world rather than simply staying home and watching the news from afar and wishing things would change. Resurrection Hope means acting in love in our everyday lives. The ways that we can do this are many: from buying groceries for the hungry through our offerings, delivering food to school kids through Everymeal, driving a neighbor’s kid to school, making a prayer shawl, supporting Global Refuge care for immigrant families, and simply doing acts of kindness every day – no matter how small. This is what makes up the Kingdom of God, the gift of love which comes from resurrection hope.
This hope does not comes from the news and our motivation does not come from fear. Our hope and our mission comes from Christ.
And so, like the two Marys, let our fear turn from fright to awe and let us respond to the Resurrection of Christ with joyful praise and worship.
At the beginning of the service, you received a card from the children proclaiming the Good News. Let it be a reminder to you of God’s Good News. Stick it on your refrigerator or your bathroom mirror. Post it on your screen and on your facebook page. Let it be a reminder to you that Christ is alive and active in our world. And so, Let the people say: Alleluia! (ALLELUIA! ) Let the people say Christ is risen. Christ is Risen! Amen.