Sermon for April 9th, 2023
Matthew 28:1-10
1After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.7Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Fearless Easter Sermon
There are countless things that people have been afraid of through the years; many of them even come with a clinical diagnosis and a fancy name. For example, have you ever heard of...
- Syn-geneso-phobia – Fear of one's relatives
- Xantho-phobia – Fear of the color yellow
- Arachi-butyro-phobia – Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth
- Ana-tidae-phobia – Fear of being watched by a duck
- Hippopoto-monstro-sesquip-pedalio-phobia – Fear of Long Words
But wait! Did you also know that...
- If you're afraid of long lines at the airport...you might have a terminal illness
- If you're afraid of the elevator...there are steps you can take to avoid it.
- If you're afraid of large birds...don't you think might be getting carried away?
- If you're afraid of German sausages...that means that you fear the wurst.
- If you're afraid of a very large speed bump...you can slowly get over it.
- If you're afraid of giants...you probably have fee fi phobia.
- If you're afraid of negative numbers...you should stop at nothing to avoid them.
- If you're afraid of the self-serve-buffet...you really gotta learn to help yourself.
- If you're afraid of intruders sneaking into your house...you're not alone.
- If you're afraid of overly complicated buildings....you might have a complex complex complex.
Seriously though,
-Fear of the Dark (unknown) - the tomb -Fear of what we don't understand (also unknown) - Angelic pronouncement -Fear of the other, what is different from us (also unknown) - Jesus
Fear of AI
In order to convincingly and credibly say, "Do not be afraid" of something, the comforter has to have knowledge, power, or experience that the comforted does not.
The guards have "power" but no experience of Jesus. The women have experience of Jesus, but no power, and no knowledge (understanding) of God's plan.
Can we believe in Jesus' resurrection today? -Can't prove it one way or another. -But why would the followers of Jesus and the first century martyrs go so willingly (and fearlessly!) to their deaths if they did not have some reasonable assurance that death was not the end?
