What if It's True

Karen Karpow

Danbury United Methodist Church

April 24, 2011

Easter Sunday

Matthew 28.1-10

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; = What If It’s True? = &nb= sp;

= Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known wi= th boldness the mystery of the gospel= . Ephesians 6.1

Once upon a time, there was= a little boy who was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go= out to the back porch and bring her the broom.= The little boy turned to his mother and said, “Mama, I don't w= ant to go out there. It's dark. I’m afraid of the dark.̶= 1;

The mother smiled reassurin= gly at her son. “You don't have to be afraid of the dark, sweetie,” she explained. “Jesus is out there. He'll look after you and protect you. He’ll always take = care of you.”

The little boy looked at his mother skeptically and asked, “Are you sure he's out there?”

“Yes, I'm sure. Jesus is everywhere, and he’s always ready to help you when you need him,” she said.

The little boy thought abou= t that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it open a little. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Peering out into the darkness, he c= alled, “Jesus? If you're out there, would you please hand me the broom?̶= 1;

As I was studying the scripture, preparing for today, something strange jumped o= ut at me. Easter is such a joyous occasion—but did you notice? All of the non-divine beings in this passage from Matthew are afraid.

The guards are literally petrified by fear.&nb= sp; When the angel comes and rolls back the stone and perches on it—ta-da!—the Roman soldiers who have been posted by the govern= or, Pilate, are completely incapacitated.

^{4 For
fear of [the angel] the guards shook and became like dead men.}

This makes sense. These guys stand to lo= se a lot if anything untoward should happen—for instance, if Jesus’ = body isn’t there any more. T= he penalty for failing at a task for them could be…death. So no wonder they’re afraid.= If the earthquake and the appearan= ce of the divine messenger—all bright and flashing like lightning, shining = like snow—if that were not enough, the potential consequences of the divine intervention certainly would be.

Now the women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary—why are they afraid? I think the earthquake and the ang= el are probably enough to explain why the first thing the angel says is,

“Do not be afraid.= 221;

Mary and Mary left their homes at first light this morning, walking together in near-darkness to visit the tomb where the dead body of Jesus was sealed behind a huge stone the day before yesterday. Yesterday was the = Jewish Sabbath, when work and travel are not allowed. So they have come this morning, as= soon as they can. They are expecti= ng to sit and mourn together, beside the huge stone that divides them from their = beloved, their teacher, their master, their friend; the huge stone that separates the living from the dead.

These women are no cowards. Remembe= r, all the male disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested. They ran away. All we hear from Matthew about any= of them is that Peter lurked in the courtyard outside the high priest’s house, trying to find out what was going on. When someone recognized him, he denied—three times—even knowing Jesus. But the women—Matthew says “many women”—are there, through the night, the next day at the crucifixion, when Jesus’ body is finally cut down from the cross, when he is laid in the tomb. Matthew tells us that these two women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, remained in the garden on Friday, sitting opposite the tomb, after everyone else had gone home to prepare for the Sabbath. They are not afraid to be associat= ed with Jesus.

But the earthquake, the appearance of the angel, and the open tomb shakes them up.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The angel certainly has their attention. He tells them that= the impossible has happened, and gives them an assignment. He says,

“I know that you are = looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; f= or he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ^A=
279;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.” ^{8 So
they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his
disciples.}

Immediately they do as they are told—with fear and great joy. What is that fear about, I wonder?= But before we have a chance to thi= nk much about that, the women get another surprise.

^{9 Suddenly
Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took
hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jes=
us
said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to
Galilee; there they will see me.”}

Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.”

When is the last time somebody said to you, “Don’t be afraid,” and you believed it? I think it m= ight have been when I was seven years old and my mom came into my room, opened t= he closet door, turned on the light, looked around, moved the clothes on their hangers, looked in the corners, then came over and held me tight on her lap= and told me, with complete confidence, that there was nobody in there, in my cl= oset. I believed her. But now, when somebody tells me no= t to be afraid, I get suspicious. = On an airplane, for instance, when the pilot’s voice announces that we̵= 7;re encountering some unexpected turbulence, and everyone should sit down and p= ut on their seatbelts, including the flight attendants, but don’t worry? I don’t think so= .

But Jesus says, with authority, “Do not be afraid.” Well, what would we have to be afr= aid of?

I think the scariest thing about this is: what if it’s true?

What if this Easter story is not just a myth we tell once a year, when we come to church and admire the flowers and the music, and celebrate that maybe, just maybe, winter is finally over?

What if it’s true? <= /span>

What if: God really came to earth = as a tiny helpless baby, was named Jesus by his parents, grew up in an ordinary family in the middle of nowhere, was baptized in the river Jordan and recei= ved the power of the Holy Spirit, spent three years teaching and healing and lo= ving the unlovable, and telling God’s people to do the same? What if God ended up dead on a cro= ss, between two common criminals, and got put in a tomb, sealed by authorities = and guarded by the world’s best soldiers—and then wasn’t there any more? What if he wasnR= 17;t there any more because he wasn’t dead any more?

What if death has been defeated? What= if that life is offered to us? W= hat if all we have to do is say “yes?”

And what if that changes everything? Well, a reasonable person would be afraid.

Because if we say yes to this new life, it does change everything. First, we have to give up some things. We have to give up our assumptions about how the world works.&nbs= p; We turn away from the politics of power and “Do unto others be= fore they do unto you.” We s= hare what we have with those who have not, because we are confident that we will have enough. We dismantle our defenses and lay down our arms. We become people of peace, with those we love the most, and with those we like= the least. We love the sick and t= he poor and the homeless and the powerless as much as we love our own family.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> As much as we love our own selves.=

If we say yes to this new life, we can’t relegate faith to the edges of our lives any more. It doesn̵= 7;t necessarily mean everyone’s going to become a pastor or a missionary. It doesn’t = even mean you all have to be back here next week—but I do think that a lif= e of faith is really hard, practically impossible, without a community of people= to practice with. If this news a= bout Jesus is true, then our lives will be directed by our faith, instead of fai= th being stuffed into the corners of the calendar, to be pulled out on ceremon= ial holidays.

Jesus says, “Do not = be afraid.” This is not a promise that everything will go right.&nbs= p; Because I’m telling you now, everything will not always go right. Rather, it is a promis= e that whatever happens, God has the power to strengthen and uphold us; that whate= ver we must face, we do not face it alone; that nothing we can ever encounter is stronger than God’s love.

“Do not be afraid” doesn’t mean “Don’t ever feel afraid.” Rather, it mea= ns, “Don’t live afraid.= ” Don’t act out of fear. Stare fear in the face, and go ahe= ad and do the right thing anyway—because there is something greater than the things we’re afraid of.

God is greater than our fears. And if this whole East= er story is true, then God gets the last word, and that word is love.

Matthew 28.1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was da= wning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ^2ʌ=
79;And 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. ^3&#=
65279;His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ^ʌ=
79;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.” ^{8 So
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, ̶=
0;Do
not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see
me.”}