Sermon, Easter, A

And the angel said, "Go and tell the disciples 'He has been raised from the dead'." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy.

They left with fear and great joy.

I get the joy part of this; but how is it that on this day of the first resurrection, on this day when the two Marys are assured that Jesus lives, how is it that they left with fear?

First, let's take the angel out of the picture. Angels, I've said before, are Scary Dudes. Almost always, the first words they speak are, "Be not afraid." So the angel does play a part in the fear of the women. But I think there's something more, something deeper, something emotional.

We hear at various points in the gospels that both Marys believe Jesus is the Messiah and we hear that they believe in the resurrection. But this belief, up to this point, has been of a personal nature. It's a belief that says, "I believe in God," and stops there. And while belief is a good and necessary thing, the women are asked to do more. We are asked to do more.

The angel tells the women to go and tell the disciples that Jesus has been raised from the dead. He is telling them to put their faith into action. He is telling them to proclaim to other people publicly what they have believed in private -- namely that Jesus is the one who has defeated death and through him we are led into life.

If I were to ask if you believed that Jesus is the Son of God and if you believed that he was resurrected from the dead, I'm betting that most of you would answer in the affirmative. Which is right in line with the Marys. They also believed Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah.

But in addition to asking if you believe, I am also going to ask you to go out from here and proclaim that belief. I am going to ask you to go tell people that Jesus has been raised from the dead. And here's the catch -- not only am I going to ask you to tell people that Jesus has been raised, but I expect you to tell eleven people; and next week I am going to ask you if you did what was asked of you.

Afraid?

I think that this is where the fear comes in. It's a fear of having to tell people what you believe. It's a fear of not being taken seriously, or worse, that those people will think you believe in fairy tales. It's a fear of having to actually stand up and be noticed for what you believe.

So how do we temper that fear? How do we overcome our fear of proclaiming our faith in a resurrected man to other people? Because, to be honest, if we can't do that, our parishes, on a local level, will close, and Christianity, on a global level, will cease to exist. Christianity, remember, is based on relationships with other people and our willingness to proclaim our belief. So how do we keep this enterprise going and how do we overcome our fear?

We overcome it through joy.

We have just come through what we call Holy Week. I would be willing to bet that the two Marys have come through what they would call Hell Week. It began with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem -- people waving palm branches, laying their coats on the road and shouting, "Hosanna!" It ended with Jesus being laid in a tomb.

In between those events, we hear about and participate in a variety of events. They include a meal among friends, a servant leader, the willingness to submit to Jesus, our act of betrayal, a trial, our condemnation of the same man we sang "Hosanna!" to, his crucifixion and death, and the loss of a man we love that leaves us wondering, "Where do we go from here?" It is an intensely emotional week that often leaves me drained; and that's to say nothing of how those women who were actually there felt.

Yes, the week ends with Jesus being laid in the tomb, stone cold dead. But it begins early in the morning with new life.

Early in the morning, before dawn, the women went to the tomb. Early in the morning, before dawn, we gathered out back. What the women found was an empty tomb and new life. What we found was the light and warmth of a new fire. We have all moved from darkness to light, from death to life.

The women saw and were told that Jesus was no longer there. They were told that he has been raised from the dead. They were told that he was, in fact, alive. And in that news there was great joy.

We light the fire and process into the church as we sing, "The light of Christ!" We hear stories about creation, freedom and life. We began in darkness and watched as the sun crept over the mountains lighting up the valley. As we moved through the liturgy, the darkness gave way to light. And then, at a specific point, all the lights in the church came on, bells were rung, candles on the altar were lit and we shouted, "Alleluia!"

Both of these events, the empty tomb and the lighting of the church, are joyous occasions that are cause for celebration. The women were ecstatic that Jesus was alive. It's sort of like knowing that someone you love was on the bus to Spokane that went off the edge of Lookout Pass but then hearing that they survived the accident. We have participated in one of the great liturgies of the Church, a service that calls us to rejoice, sing and be glad in the victory of Christ over death. This service should bring a joy that seeps out into every part of our life.

This is our dilemma: fear and joy.

How are we going to depart here today? Well, if you take my mandate to tell other people that Jesus has been raised seriously, probably with a little fear. And if you take with you the excitement of this service, with joy. Like the two Marys, we are certainly going to leave here with fear and joy.

But the bigger question is this: Which wins? Will fear gain the upper hand, or will joy triumph? If fear wins, then this service is just another service, the resurrection is not that important, and tomorrow is just another Monday.

But if joy wins, then this service becomes the first day of a new life, the resurrection is so vitally important that our excitement about new life seeps into every aspect of our being, and tomorrow . . . tomorrow has no chance of becoming simply another Monday.

We have just come through a traumatic week. We have seen light overcome darkness. We have seen the empty tomb. We have seen life triumph over death. We know that Life WINS! And with that knowledge, with that excitement, with that JOY, fear doesn't stand a chance.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!