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

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...

1. If you're afraid of long lines at the airport...you might have a terminal illness
2. If you're afraid of the elevator...there are steps you can take to avoid it.
3. If you're afraid of large birds...don't you think might be getting carried away?
4. If you're afraid of German sausages...that means that you fear the wurst.
5. If you're afraid of a very large speed bump...you can slowly get over it.
6. If you're afraid of giants...you probably have fee fi phobia.
7. If you're afraid of negative numbers...you should stop at nothing to avoid them.
8. If you're afraid of the self-serve-buffet...you really gotta learn to help yourself.
9. If you're afraid of intruders sneaking into your house...you're not alone.
10. If you're afraid of overly complicated buildings....you might have a complex complex complex.

In today's scripture passage, the two Marys (Mary Magdalene and a woman identified simply as "other" Mary) have an encounter with an angel of the Lord, and with the resurrected Jesus. Throughout the passage, the two women are terrified. The angel tells them, "Don't be afraid" and then Jesus tells them "Don't be afraid" but you get the idea that's easier said than done.

Neither Mary is mentioned again in Matthew or in the later books of the New Testament, but there is an old tradition in the Orthodox Church which relates how Mary Magdalene, later in life, was invited to a banquet held by the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Upon greeting the Emperor, Mary held up an egg in her hand, saying "Christ is Risen." The emperor laughed at her, and said that was about as likely as the egg in her hand turning red. The legend says that the egg immediately turned red, and Mary fearlessly began to share the gospel with everyone in the emperor's household.

Whether or not that story is true, it is certainly true that within a few decades of Jesus' death, his followers--men and women alike--were boldly sharing the message of his death and resurrection, risking (and often laying down) their lives to do so. They went from fearful, to fearless. And it all began on that first Easter Sunday.

When someone says to you, "Don't be afraid," how does that make you feel? Does it work? Do you believe them?

For me sometimes it has the opposite effect: "This is your captain speaking. We had a minor problem with the left turbine, but don't be afraid--everything is under control." Well, I wasn't afraid before, but now I am! If you really had things under control, why would you call my attention to the danger?

It also depends a lot on WHO exactly is telling you not to be afraid, and what the situation is. I have two younger brothers (they are twins) and whenever one of them says, "Don't worry--this is perfectly safe!" it usually means that something is about to fall apart, catch on fire, or explode.

Sometimes when people say, "Don't be afraid," what they really mean is, "I'm afraid, too." While sympathy is nice, it doesn't really and the power to change anything, and so the fear remains.

No, I think that in order to convincingly and credibly say, "Do not be afraid" of something--for those words to actually inspire and deliver confidence, the person saying them has to have one of three things that those who are afraid do not have: Power, Knowledge, or Experience.

Think back to the last time someone said "Don't be afraid" and because of their words, you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it would be okay. Perhaps it was a parent when you were younger, a teacher or a mentor, or some authority figure in your life. Chances are, you believed them because you knew they actually had the power to protect you from what you were afraid of, or they had personally experienced what you were going through (and therefore you knew they could guide you through it), or they had information (unknown to you) that was relevant to your situation.

If I'm in the passenger seat of a car driving 120mph, I want Mario Andretti in the driver's seat telling me not to be afraid, instead of my 100 year old grandmother. That's experience. (My grandmother has never gone above 30mph in her life).

If someone has broken into my house, I want an armed police officer on my front doorstep telling me not to be afraid, not a 911 dispatcher on the phone. That's power.

And if I can't find my youngest son at a crowded event, I want to hear my wife saying, "Don't be afraid, he's right over there" instead of, "Don't be afraid, let's look for him." That's knowledge.

You get the idea. Now I want to go back to our scripture text and look at three fundamental fears that the two Marys experience on Easter morning; how they relate to fears we all face; and what it takes in each situation for God to move us from fear to fearlessness.

THE TOMB

When we first encounter the two Marys, they are on their way to the tomb. A tomb is a scary place. It's dark, there is (presumably) a dead body inside. It's a reminder of defeat, loss, grief, and (since Jesus was executed by the Roman government) it's a reminder of the unknown fate that lies ahead for those who followed him. The presence of Roman guards underscores this fear.

In fact, the tomb represents the fear of the unknown. The fear of the dark. The fear of change and uncertainty. The fear of death. We all face that from time to time in life.

When the angel tells the women not to be afraid, they can believe him because he also opens up the dark tomb to the light of day. He invites them to come inside and experience for themselves what they otherwise could not have imagined.

So what makes us fearless in the face of the unknown? In the face of change, uncertainty and even death? Experience. That comes from walking with God over the course of a lifetime, learning to recognize his love and care in situation after situation, so that when you face the unknown, you know you can trust in the one who come through for you in the past. And where our personal experience fails, as Christians we can lean on the experience of others--the faithful men and women who have walked through the valley of the shadow of death before us. You probably even known a few of them--in your family, in our congregation.

THE EARTHQUAKE

The earthquake in our story is a natural disaster, what used to be called an "act of God" (and in this case, it clearly is). The earthquake represents the fear of what we cannot control. We spend a LOT of time worrying about those things in today's world: Political instability, economic instability, global warfare, climate change, school shootings, terrorism...to name a few. Now, I'm not saying we can't or shouldn't work toward societal solutions wherever and whenever we can--but the vast disparity between what we can do, and how much we worry is what makes these things out of our control.

What makes us fearless in the face of things we cannot control? Power. Not wielding power, but rather putting our trust in the right source of power, the highest source of power. In the world of the gospels, the highest earthly power, where most of the civilized world put their trust (or fear) was the power of the Roman government. The Roman government that was violently occupying Israel, had just crucified Jesus, and was now guarding his tomb--all things the two Marys had no control over. But when the angel of the Lord descended with an earthquake and rolled the stone away, the balance of power shifted. The soldiers shook with fear, and the women were given hope and purpose.

THE MESSAGE

The angel gives the two Marys the good news that Jesus "is not here--he has been raised from the dead . . . and you will see him. This is my message." And yet, in the very next verse, we read that "they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy." So they're joyful, but they're still afraid. Why? Because even though they believe what the angel has told them (he backed it up with power and experience), it still makes absolutely no sense. Think about how you would have responded: "Hey, your friend that died a few days ago...he's back!" Part of me would be happy, but my very next question would be, "How? Is he back back...or like zombie back?" In first century medical terms or 21st century medical terms, there just was no answer that could have made sense.

This is the fear of what we don't understand. In the 16th century, we had a convenient label for those things: Witchcraft. Today, it might manifest as a fear of new technology; a fear illness or disease for which there is no known cure; or frightening questions for which there is no discernible answer: Why did my child have to die? If God loves the world, why does he allow evil, pain, and suffering? Why do I keep failing when I've been trying so hard? More than any other type of fear, I have seen this one drive people into paralysis and depression. As human beings, we are naturally curious and inquisitive, so when our understanding falls short, we shrink back in fear.

What can make us fearless in the face of things we cannot understand? Knowledge. That may seem obvious, but just like the previous two answers, it doesn't necessarily mean our own knowledge. There's a difference between knowing the answer, and knowing that there IS an answer, even if YOU don't know what it is. I don't need to know the entire United States Tax code in order to do my taxes...but it helps that I know a good accountant who does know.

As much as I would LIKE to know why bad things happen to good people, I don't absolutely NEED to know that in order to live a good and happy life. It helps that I believe there IS a reasonable answer to that question, known by the creator of the universe. Perhaps someday when my intellect is up to it, he may share it with me. Or not.

The angel says to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus." Sometimes the person we're looking for is more important than the answers we're looking for.

THE LORD

I said earlier that there were three fears, and three things that can help us overcome those fears. There's actually one more in our text today. When the two women first encounter the risen Jesus, he too, tells them, "Don't be afraid." Why would they be afraid of Jesus, their friend, their teacher, someone they knew pretty well? The simple answer is, because he's different now. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus walks almost all the way to Emmaus with two of his disciples before they finally recognize him. But it's more than physical appearance--Both Marys recognize Jesus immediately, but where before they knew him as their friend and teacher (and *maybe* they kind of bought into at least some of that Messiah stuff...) know there is no doubt that Jesus is who he said he was: God's own son, the savior of the world--and that puts distance, awe, and fear between them.

This is the fear of the "other" (what is different from us).

• What makes us fearless?
• RELATIONSHIP

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?