Easter Sermon
Preached at St. Luke’s: 04/09/23
“Do not be afraid,” is terribly good advice; truly some of the best I’ve ever heard from
anyone, at any time. And yet, I’m afraid it’s far easier said than done, even when it
comes this morning from the lips of a faithful and true messenger of the One who is
wholly Good and entirely Holy. Because according to our Gospel this morning, on
that particular day when the LORD uniquely acted as never before; and in such a
manner as to forever cast away our fear of death itself – that when He acted so as to be
certain that we would rejoice and be glad – even around that tomb which had been
miraculously emptied of everything else worthy of note – fear is nonetheless, in no
short supply. And when those who witnessed the first rock-solid evidence of the
Resurrection are told, flat out, “Do not be afraid,” by the only one in that chaotic scene
who has any real sense of what’s actually going on, it’s almost as if they can’t help
themselves. Because it’s not as if they just ignore what the angel of the Lord is telling
them, or as if they’re being willfully disobedient to his instructions. After all, he also
instructs them to “go quickly and tell the Lord’s disciples, ‘He has been raised from
the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’”
And so, they left the tomb quickly, and ran to tell his disciples just that. And yet, they
did so, not only with “great joy,” but also, with “fear” – with that human emotional
and physiological response they had just been instructed to abandoned at the tomb.
To abandon it, as if fear itself was now as useful to them and their task, as the
discarded burial cloths were to their now resurrected Master.
And think about this, it’s not as if these two women could be mistaken, in any way,
shape, or form, as “faint of heart.” When all but one of His Apostles had abandoned
Christ, to suffer the pain, and shame, and fear of the Cross alone, these two were not
about to be even dragged away from Him. No, they sat at His feet till the bitter end.
While those men, who’d been previously sent out by Jesus to fearlessly carry His
Good News to ends of the earth, sat cowering behind locked doors for fear of
persecution, or even just the fear of being associated in any way with the defeated
Messiah –the Marys, at the first possible opportunity, willingly rush in, where
seemingly all others – apart from literal angels – fear to tread. They all but waltz their
way into what might very well be a trap, intended to snare any onetime followers of
the recently dethroned King of the Jews. Unescorted and without defense, they go
where they know for certain, that roman guards have been placed to bar their way –
not to mention, a stone big enough to sink a fishing boat. And yet, what they meet at
this place, where they must have known they’d encounter at least the frightful sight of
what remained from that terrible Friday, must be something truly fearful. And to
know that, all we have to do is look to the men who’d been posted as guards at the
tomb – for fear of what they and the Marys encountered, those guards “shook and
became like dead men.”
All of which is to say, these two women are some of the most stout-hearted Disciples
of Christ that we encounter in all of Scripture. Unlike the twelve, or even the so-called
men sent to guard the broken body of the Christ, there isn’t a cowardly bone in either
of their bodies. Which is why they are called to be the world’s first evangelists –
because they, and they alone, refused to be ruled by fear. So then, what we really have
here this morning is what we might call “a failure to communicate.”
The women are told, first, not to fear, and then to go, and begin the process of disseminating the GoodNews of that first Easter morn. At which point they’re then assured that Christ will meet His followers in Galilee – “there you will see Him,” they’re told. That’s the plan– or should I say, that’s plan A. But as they say, “Rarely, if ever, does plan A survive first contact with the enemy.”
And this particular case is no exception to that adage.
As soon as Plan A comes into contact with the enemy, it’s time to start exploring Plan
B. Because what’s required of these two disciples is to move forward in faith – yes,
they have “great joy,” and joy is a genuine fruit of God’s own Spirit, and certainly a
welcomed gift; but joy cannot replace faith. And the true enemy of faith is not doubt,
as we often think, but fear. So, when plan A – a plan requiring tremendous faith –
comes into contact with the enemy of faith – fear – Plan B is then set in motion. As
such, instead of seeing Jesus in Galilee as they were promised; before they can get
anywhere near their Apostolic brothers in hiding to deliver the good news, their
Resurrected Lord has to make a detour on His own way to Galilee, in order to head
them off at the pass. Where He greets them face-to-face, in the flesh, bearing the very
same message and instructions the two women had previously received from His
messenger. Beginning just as the angel did, with that first and most important
command, “Do not be afraid.”
Which is, as we already mentioned, easier said than done. Except, neither the angel of
the Lord, or the Lord Himself are speaking about that knee-jerk, reflexive kind of fear,
which immediately comes to mind. That sensation you get when you step off the curb
without first looking, only to have a car pass you by, going 35 miles an hour – and
there’s no question of fast it was going…because it was close enough that could read
the speedometer. That kind of momentary fear cannot be helped. So, what they’re
referring to is the kind of systemic fear that effectively prevents us from doing what
we need to do, and keeps us from living into what God has created us to be. The kind
of fear which can take a dozen, otherwise faithful disciples, and lock them up, away
from the very world they have been sent out to help redeem. And even when it comes
to that kind of fear, the truth is: we still can’t help ourselves. For that kind of fear,
there is only one remedy and one help – the faith that is gifted to us by God Himself.
So, plan B is really nothing more than God Himself, swinging by on the way to
somewhere else, if only to deliver our only hope against any and all such fear, as may
prevent us from following Him.
Because, Easter itself, along with the One who is Himself the Resurrection, means this:
that death no longer has any power whatsoever over any who follow Christ.
Therefore, among them, literally no one and nothing may be rightly feared. Since
what is being asked of all who find their salvation in God, is that they would then go
out and find those who have yet to encounter that salvation face-to-face, in the flesh.
And in such a ministry as that, fear is not only of no help, it is our one and only true
hinderance. Because many of those we will encounter in that ministry are those for
whom fear has become a way of life, as well as those for whom that kind of systemic
fear which the faithful cannot afford, is how they actually make their living. Those for
whom fear is not even so much a weapon, as an everyday tool. Something to be
regularly used as a means to their own ends – as an artist employs a paintbrush. And
when it comes to preaching the Gospel to likes of those who are, either, themselves
ruled by fear, or hell-bent on ruling others by it, there isn’t even the least bit of room
for us to bring our own fears into the conversation – and more importantly, as it turns
out, there’s absolutely no need.
Because this same Easter Gospel, which explicitly tells those who are to follow Christ,
“Do not be afraid,” likewise has its own message for those who have long ruled by
terror, fearfully attempting to oppress God’s faithful. Lest we overlook the obvious,
it’s not only the two Marys who are afraid of the one act of God that literally changes
everything. When it comes to the fact of the Resurrection, it’s the Roman guards who
are the most scared of all; they don’t just have fear – fear has them. These oppressors
“shook and became like dead men,” when God’s messenger delivered the joyful news:
that death no longer has any dominion over those who belong to Christ. In fact, they
became like dead men, because – in light of the Resurrection – that is precisely what
they are. And note: no one – not the angel, not these heroically faithful women, and
not even Christ Himself – bothers to tell them, “Do not be afraid;” Why? Because the
truth of the matter is: that any and all who employ fear to manipulate or oppress their
neighbors, now have every reason to be afraid. And from that one morning on, those
who lord death over others, are themselves already as good as dead. For on this day,
the Lord has directly and eternally acted – acted against all that they so falsely value,
and against the very thing they have long held near to their own hearts, at the dear
cost of others.
So, all who fear the Lord now have absolutely nothing to fear. While
any who do not, have every right to be fearful! But even for them there is still hope,
and God has placed that precious hope in you and I. Because as of this morning, it is
now our task to fearlessly deliver the message, “that Jesus Christ is risen today,
because He is the Lord of all.” Meaning: fear is now exactly as useful to us, as
Christians; as burial cloths are to our Lord, now that He is risen. So, I’m afraid, to dare
to do what we must, means we dare not be afraid.