EASTER SUNDAY 2011 "DO NOT BE AFRAID”

Readings: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, Jeremiah 31:1-6, Colossians 3:1-4, Matthew 28:1-10
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, April 24th 2011

A printable PDF file can be found here

Some scary stuff can happen from time to time. There’s good scary. And there’s bad scary. Sometimes we enjoy a scare. A ride on the ghost train. Watch a horror movie. Attend a Lady Ga-Ga concert. That’s scary. Some scares we welcome.

Then there’s the bad. Near misses that could have been a bad accident. When a child disappears at the Mall. When you receive some bad news that has an uncertain outcome. The scare of terrorism. The scare of disease and death. The Easter story – part of which is found in Matthew 28:1 -10 – is a mix of good scary and bad scary. Twice there appears the phrase: “Do not be afraid”.

There are a lot of bad things happening in the Easter account. The unwarranted execution and death of Jesus Christ. To those who were His closest friends they had to not only contend with the loss, but the fact that their lives were now at risk. Such was the reality of this threat that Peter went as far as denying any association with Jesus.

It was a heroic and dangerous action that the two Mary’s were taking in making the journey to the tomb with their spices. To be around Jesus, even a dead Jesus, was taking a huge risk of guilt by association. It was a risk the other disciples were afraid to make as they hid away behind closed doors.

Then there is an earthquake to contend with. In my first church over in Wales we experienced a couple of earth tremors of a very minor nature. (Actually the day of my instillation as a pastor, but that’s another story!). It’s a bad scary experience when the earth starts shaking beneath your feet.

Visions of angels and great stones moving away. That’s not a phenomena we can fathom. The guards at the tomb couldn’t either. We know that the experience was of such an intensity that the guards trembled and fell to the ground as though dead. The women however seem made of sturdier stuff. Still – they are scared. If seeing the angel wasn’t scary enough, to be told that the corpse was now alive and well and would see them later was just the icing on the cake of a scary story.

So it is hardly surprising that the angel’s words are “Be not afraid”. The implications of the resurrection are pretty scary. People who are executed tend not to recover. However good a person may be, and however innocent of the crimes for which they have been condemned, the fact is that dead folk don’t go on walkabouts.

It’s the sort of thing that should be preceded by angels and earthquakes. It is certainly the sort of thing that should shake us out of our complacency and move our cold hearts of stone. ‘Christ is Risen’ – “He is Risen Indeed’. This is amazing news!!!

Now the women are given another daunting task. They have to go and tell the disciples what’s going on. What if the disciples don’t believe them? What if the angel was a bad angel playing a real nasty joke on them? Jesus is alive, that’s great – but who’s going to believe it?

So – zoom – they are out of there – away from the tomb – carrying a message that’s going to change the world. Full of great joy – but still carrying a burden of fear and uncertainty. If they needed more evidence of the truth they had heard, that evidence in the person of Jesus himself is about to show up.

There they go – zoom – and Jesus shows up and says “Hey…. Wazzup!” (Actually He says “Hail” but “Hey… Wazzup” carries a more contemporary ring and gets your attention better). This stops the women mid gallop. It’s true. It’s real. ‘Christ is Risen’ – ‘He is Risen Indeed’. There they are – with Jesus – a face to face encounter with the Living God… “Wazzup Ladies!”
They fall to their knees, take hold of his feet, and worship Jesus. What else were they to do?

They had gone to the tomb to pay their last respects to somebody they thought they had lost for ever, and now… here He was … larger than life and victorious over death.

In the midst of our busy lives – in the everyday normality or even times of heightened excitement, let’s be honest, we don’t expect to find God showing up saying “Hey, Wazzup!” The message Jesus brings is simple. “Don’t be Afraid!”

On Maundy Thursday some of us gathered around the communion table to hear words about a broken body and poured out blood. We could get the impression that was some kind of macabre memorial service for a fallen hero. If that be so... then we are the biggest losers in town. If we are celebrating a death – or a memory – or a mistaken crucifixion – then we are to be pitied.

But I’m here today to side with the angel. I’m here to bring you the good and scary (in the most awesomely positive sense of the word) amazing news; I’m here to stop you in your tracks with a huge and heavenly “Wazzup!”, I’m here on Easter Sunday 2011 to declare that ‘Christ is Risen’ – “He is Risen indeed”.

I’m here to declare the Word of the Lord… “Do not be afraid”

Do not be afraid of the bad scary stuff and rejoice in the good scary stuff.

Do not be afraid of the storms that surround your life, because Jesus calms the storm.

Do not be afraid of the waves that disrupt your calm, because Jesus walks on the waves.

Do not be afraid of those who set their hearts against you, because they do not have the final
word.

Do not be afraid of sin or of sorrow or of sickness for Jesus died for your sins, sorrows and
sicknesses.

Do not be afraid of death for Jesus declares, “I am the Resurrection and the Life”

Do not be afraid to seek Jesus for direction and help and counsel for Jesus declares, “I am the Way. I am Truth, I am the Life”

Do not be afraid to believe in love, to believe in hope, to believe in life beyond anything that we can currently comprehend.

Do not be afraid to make a stand for Jesus, to take holy risks, to embrace Divine Foolishness, to set your life on a sacred course…..
… to boldly go where no man has boldly gone before.

( No wait.. that’s Star Trek)
I ‘m not here to recruit Trekkies for Captain Kirk, this is not science fiction, I’m here to say that there is a reality known as the resurrection, that Jesus died on the Cross but that God raised him from death on the third day and that the Holy Spirit can today confront us, convict us, empower us and move us forward along the road of discipleship.

Do not be afraid. Seek for the love of God to be renewed in your heart and for God’s life to be the lifeblood that flows through out your being.

Do not be afraid. Be assured. God has everything under control. One day we’ll see the whole picture. But for now be content to know today that the resurrection is making a difference to your life.

Do not be afraid “Christ is Risen’ ‘He is Risen Indeed” AMEN!


Adrian Pratt