Fear and Great Joy

April 16^th, 2017         “Fear and Great Joy”        Rev. Heather Jepsen

Matthew 28:1-10

          We come once again to the highest most holy day of our church year, Easter morning.  Today we gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, the promise of new life, and the hope that springs eternal.  Today we come full of joy and thanksgiving to worship the one who conquered death, Jesus Christ our Lord.  All of the gospels tell a slightly different version of the Easter story and this morning we are hearing the story from Matthew’s point of view.  It is a story of drama, excitement, and fear.

          Early in the morning, as the sun is just rising, Mary Magdalene and another Mary head out to see the tomb.  Unlike some of the other gospel writers, Matthew doesn’t tell us that they bring spices to anoint the body.  Rather, in his version, they are just coming to see the tomb, much as we might visit the grave of a loved one.  In Matthew’s story, the Roman soldiers have been careful to seal the tomb and set out guards, just in case anyone gets any ideas about stealing the body and starting a resurrection rumor.

          Upon arriving at the tomb the women experience a great earthquake as an angel comes down from heaven.  The angel rolls back the stone that seals the tomb and proceeds to sit upon it.  Like I mentioned, guards are present in Matthew’s story and at this amazing sight and experience they shake with fear and enter a catatonic state, becoming like dead men. 

          The angel says to the women, “Do not be afraid”, even though all this scary stuff has just happened, and then he tells them that Jesus has been raised.  The women are invited to look into the tomb and see the place where Jesus lay.  Matthew doesn’t tell us if the women explore the empty tomb or not.  He just says that the women are sent on a mission, to go and tell the disciples that Jesus is headed to Galilee. 

          And so the women take off, in fear and great joy, running to Galilee to share the news with the rest of Jesus’ followers.  Only, they are stopped on the road by the man himself.  Jesus greets them and they immediately worship him there.  Once again they are told “Do not be afraid” and off they are sent to tell the others in Galilee the good news.

          Most of us here today are not surprised by this story.  You came to worship this morning expecting to hear some version of this familiar tale.  The women come in the morning, the tomb is empty, and they run to tell the others.  We have heard this story so much, and accepted it as the natural way of things, that we lose some of the drama that this story is meant to evoke.  We forget just how exciting and frightening that first Easter morning really was.  We seem no longer able to tap into the fear and great joy of that miraculous day.

          This story, of the women and the empty tomb, is both scary and wonderful.  I love that Matthew, unlike the other gospel writers, has the women experience an earthquake and witness the stone being rolled away.  It surely would have been a terrifying event.  At some point we have all seen footage of big earthquakes on TV.  Images of skyscrapers swaying like trees in the wind, images of office workers hiding under desks as everything around them crashes down, images of grocery store shelves as items crash to the floor.  Imagine going to visit the grave of a loved one, only to experience something as scary and surprising as an earthquake!  The earth rumbles and shakes, the angel comes down from heaven, the giant sealed stone begins to roll, it would have been quite the scene!  The guards standing watch were so scared that they passed out!  Any one of us might have done the same thing.

          The women are shocked with this earthquake and the presence of the angel.  So it is no wonder the first thing the angel says is “Do not be afraid.”  I would have been shaking with fear.  And then they receive the news, Jesus is not there, he has been raised from the dead.  Now you and I are expecting to hear this, because we know this story.  But we have to remember that the women didn’t know the story.  They know that Jesus talked about being raised, but they could not have known what that meant.  Just like the disciples, they probably assumed he was talking about something at a later date, a time when all the righteous people would be raised.  I imagine they were just as surprised and scared as you would be if you went to the grave of a loved one and found it suddenly empty.

          So, it is perfectly understandable that the women run off in fear and great joy.  It is the only natural response to such a life altering event.  This has been a frightening morning, but joy is there as well at the sudden uprising of hope in their hearts.  I am sure they were questioning whether what the angel said was true, whether Jesus really was alive, as they ran towards Galilee.    

          And suddenly they do see Jesus on the road, the very one they saw crucified suddenly alive again.  Jesus says to them, “Greetings” and “Rejoice” but he also says “Do not be afraid.”  Clearly the women are still shaken and shocked.  They grab hold of Jesus and worship him there, with their hearts pounding, for this has been one of the scariest and most exciting days of their lives.  Fear and great joy.

          That Easter morning was a scary morning for the two Marys.  It was a morning when their lives were turned upside down.  When they heard the good news of the resurrection they ran from the tomb as fast as they could.  Imagine the way you would run as a child, having no care if you might trip or fall down.  They were full of fear and joy together.  It is a heady feeling.  It is a fullness of emotion that threatens to overwhelm us.

          Fear and great joy.  Like spinning too fast on the merry go round.  There is that exhilaration of freedom but also that fear of losing control, that fear of being out of control.  Can you call to mind that feeling in your heart?  I can see it on my kids’ faces when they ride their bikes a little too fast down the hill by our house.  Fear and great joy as the wind blows through their hair and the trees lining the path become a blur.  I remember being a kid riding so fast that I felt like at any moment my bike just might leave the ground.

          In our adult lives fear and great joy are more elusive.  We have hardened our hearts, and while we know fear, we rarely experience the abandon of pure joy.  In my own life I can recall fear and great joy at the birth of Olivia, my first child.  Lars and I were so excited and in love with our little red head, yet we had no idea what to do.  Neither one of us had ever even changed a diaper, and here we were expected to be totally responsible for another human being.  Fear and great joy.  I also felt it the first time we landed in Malawi.  Great joy to look around and think “I am in Africa!” and fear to look around and think “I am in Africa!”  It is the joy and wonder of the totally new, a totally unknown and wonderful experience.  It is exhilarating, it is heady, it is the very essence of life, it is the story of Easter morning.  Fear and great joy.

          I love the part of the story where Matthew says that when the women met Jesus on the road they grabbed a hold of his feet.  I imagine they simply needed something to hold on to.  They were reeling with the events of the morning.  I am certain that they were physically in shock having witnessed the earthquake, the angel, and the empty tomb.  Their hearts were pounding, their hands were sweating; they were full of fear and excitement and probably wondered if this wasn’t all just a dream.  And so, when they see Jesus, they grab a hold of him.  What better way to ground themselves than grabbing on to Jesus’ feet.

          We too can grab a hold of Jesus in those moments when we need to be grounded.  When we are reeling with fear, he is there to comfort us.  When we are shocked with joy, he is there to celebrate with us.  When we are simply not sure where our life is going, he can give us guidance.  Fear and great joy.  From the birth of a child to that first footstep in Africa, Jesus is something to hold on to.  Just like the women, when we are running through life and need to slow down, we can grab a hold of Jesus and get some perspective.

           This morning we have come together once again to hear the story of Easter.  You know in your heart how this story is speaking to you today and you know what you need to hear.  Maybe you are full of fear and simply need to hear the divine voice cry out, “Do not be afraid.”  Maybe you are full of joy, and simply need to slow down and be thankful.  Maybe you are here simply looking for something to hold on to. 

          Deep in our souls, we are all here to hear the good news.  Jesus has risen, death is over, and life has won!  Imagine the wonder, the exhilaration, the deep emotion of that first Easter morning.  Fear and great joy!  May we tap into that energy, may we embrace that emotion, may we experience it today; fear and great joy.  The promise of Easter is the promise of resurrection, and life (and death) will never be the same again!  Thanks be to God!  Amen.