Easter Vigil Reflection on Matthew 28

EASTER VIGIL REFLECTION on Matthew 28:1-10

Preacher: Pastor Carrie Smith

Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!

^“So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”

Fear and joy, which at first seem quite unrelated, can sometimes become mingled into one stomach-churning emotion.

I think of the day when, at age 20, I boarded an airplane by myself and flew across the ocean to study in Germany for a year. I had never flown by myself, much less to another country. But there I was, fearfully and joyfully flying toward this new life, with all my belongings packed into one suitcase, and my hair teased and sprayed into an impressive 90’s “poof” that I was sure would be a hit in Europe. (It wasn’t!)

Fear and great joy also propelled me down the aisle of the church on my wedding day, and accompanied me in those first terrifying and exciting days of motherhood.

Maybe you can recall some of those fearful/joyful moments, too. Do you remember how it felt when you, the new kid, walked into school that first day? How about your first day without a drink; the first time you said “I love you” and really meant it; or your first day on the job? I’ll never forget walking through the door that said “Pastor’s office” at my first call, and how the fear and joy together nearly brought me to my knees.

Fear mixes with joy in these moments because new life is both exciting and scary. The old life is more manageable. We know it better! We feel comfortable there—even when the old life promises only dead-ends, disappointment, and death.

And this is why, after learning of the resurrection, the women at the tomb didn’t stand around joyfully singing “alleluia”, but instead ran away with both fear and great joy. This Good News, this new life, was a radical departure from anything they had ever known, and it sent Mary Magdalene and the other Mary running with mixed emotions from the empty tomb.

An angel had sent them on their way, of course, charging them with the responsibility to go quickly and share the Good News with the disciples. One could assume that’s what they intended to do. But perhaps Jesus knew how quickly fear can overtake even great joy, because partway down the path he suddenly appeared to the women.

As if they weren’t scared before, can you imagine what it was like to see Jesus suddenly popping up in the roadway? Pop goes the Savior! “Greetings!” he said. Subtlety really isn’t God’s strong suit…

But after the women had recovered, the very first words from the risen Christ are: “Do not be afraid.” 

Do not be afraid, he said. It really is me! Now go, and tell the others that you’ve seen me!

Alleluia, Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Romans chapter 6 proclaims: “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. …So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” You, sisters and brothers, are alive in Christ Jesus. The resurrection life is your new life! And the first thing the risen Christ wants us to know about our new life in him is this: Do not be afraid.

Easy enough for him to say, right?

There will always be moments in life when fear is part of the equation. But what would it mean to live a life motivated not by fear, but by joy?

Too often, the Easter message comes across as “Christ is risen! Alleluia! Now go, quickly, and follow the rules! And try not to get into trouble!”

But what if living in the light of the resurrection isn’t about staying on the path, following the rules, or living in fear of each mistake?

What if the resurrection life liberates us to speak the truth, love generously, accept difference, embrace change, and remain open to possibilities? What if this new life releases us from living dangerously and frees us to take risks?

After all….What are you afraid of?

Embarrassment? Losing face or losing friends? Being seen as foolish? Being wrong? Or is it the fear of death that holds you back?

Sisters and brothers, the Good News of Easter liberates us from all these fears, especially the fear of death. Now that Jesus has broken the bonds of death and has been raised, we have nothing left to fear. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” From now on, no matter where life leads us—even through the valley of the shadow of death—we go with these words of Jesus ringing in our ears:  Be not afraid!

That’s what this night and this Easter Vigil liturgy is all about, after all.

From the creation to the flood, from the parting of the sea to the fiery furnace, the message is the same: Be not afraid! God is with you!

This is what we want our children to know deep in their hearts, isn’t it? This is why we teach them these stories! This is why we raise them in the church! This is why we sing these songs, pray these prayers, and gather at this table—so that our children and our children’s children will know they need not be afraid.

Tonight, as we celebrate with five brand–new saints who have come to be baptized into Christ, my hope is that they hear these words, loud and clear. 

And if they aren’t old enough to remember, then you, my sisters and brothers, will be promising in a few moments to share these words until they are written on their hearts:

Do not be afraid, Brock, because God created the whole world, and called it good—and that includes you!

Do not be afraid, Brody, because goodness is stronger than evil.

Do not be afraid, Nikolas, because with God all things are possible.

Do not be afraid, Corrine, because you are never alone. God is with you!

Do not be afraid, Olivia, because no matter what anyone else says, you will always be Olivia, Child of God.

Friends in Christ, children of God, Easter people, do not be afraid, for Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!

November 11, 2012: Living Courageously

 

November 11, 2012: 24th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 12:38-44

"Living Courageously - The Offerings of the Widows"

PREACHER: Pastor Paul Cannon

 (Drops two coins in the can and pauses for a moment)

Those are the sounds of a poor widow’s last remaining coins. 

In our gospel story today, Jesus is in the temple preaching and teaching, and then he goes and sits down to watch for a moment.  And what Jesus sees, is a woman who is down to her last dollar – in fact – she’s down to her last pennies. 

Maybe you can imagine such a person – maybe you’ve seen such a person holding signs on a street corner – maybe you know some poor soul (a neighbor?) who has lost everything – maybe you’ve been there yourself.  You all know what poverty looks like – even if you haven’t experienced it yourselves – and if you have any sense at all you are probably afraid of it.

We fear poverty, because we know what it looks like.  We fear it because one third – one third – of the people in this country are one paycheck away from being in the exact same situation.  Most of us are one devastating illness away from not being able to pay the mortgage anymore.  And even if you’re not in that boat, even if you are relatively secure financially, all it takes is a hurricane, or a recession, or a bad investment and you could be in the exact same place that the widow was in – down to her last pennies.

We know very little about this woman, but it’s not hard to guess what happened to her.  Her husband died, and with it died the means for her to make a decent living in that society at that time.  There wasn’t anyone to care for her.  She was probably forced to beg for those last pennies she had.  (takes the pennies out of the can). And yet Jesus watched her from across the room as she dropped them into the offering box.  (drops the pennies back in).

Those are the sounds of somebody giving everything. 

The first story that we read today was very similar.  This time, it’s Elijah, one of God’s prophets, who was walking down a road, hungry and thirsty.  And God told him that when he reached Zarephath – the city that he was traveling too – that there would be a widow there who would give him bread and water.  And when Elijah arrived, he found a poor starving woman who was down to her last cup of flour and her last drops of oil.

Elijah asks her – of all people – for some food and something to drink.  The widow responds to Elijah saying, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 

That last bit comes as a shock – they were starving to death.  Her food was running out.  Her son didn’t have much longer and it would all be over.  So she was going to make a fire, bake a biscuit or two for herself and her son, and wait for the end. Now, most of us would say that to ask somebody in this situation, for anything, would be unthinkable.  It should have been Elijah who was giving her some money and food and water.  It should have been the prophet of God who stepped in to save their lives.

Instead, Elijah brings the message that all of God’s messengers bring when they visit people: “Do not be afraid.”  Do. Not. Be. Afraid.  If you ask me, there is nobody in the world who has more of a right to be afraid than a mother whose son is starving to death.  Fear comes with the territory. 

But Elijah gives her a promise from God.  He declares to the fearful widow, “This is the word of the God of Israel: ‘the jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought.’” How much courage might it take to trust a promise like this?  How many of you would bet the lives of your sons or daughters on the promise of an unfamiliar God?

I’m guessing nobody here, myself included, would take that bet. (takes the coins out of the can) And maybe it was out of desperation, maybe it was because of madness, or maybe this promise was her last hope, but the poor widow of Zarephath took Elijah into her home, and gave him the last of her food.  (drops the coins into the can). 

Those are the sounds of courage.

During my time in Seminary, my internship congregation was “Light of the World.”  And this was a really unique place for an internship site because the congregation was only 3 years old when I got there.  It was a brand new mission start congregation. 

Of course, the two years that I was at Light of the World, was during the height of the recession.  To say the least, it was a tough time to start a church.  A lot of the regular congregation members were having a tough time either finding employment or finding full time employment or finding jobs in their field.  And of course with congregation members struggling financially, Light of the World was struggling financially. It was doing all it could to get by. 

Pastor Deb, who had started the congregation, was really fond of having one-to-one conversations.  She would invite folks out to coffee and just listen to their stories.  And as she talked with more and more folks – all those people who were struggling with money – certain themes started to emerge.  She learned that people were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to provide for their families.  People would tell her about the tremendous sense of shame they felt in their poverty.

I remember one woman in particular whom Pastor Deb invited out to coffee.  She had been a realtor when the housing market collapsed and on top of that, her husband was suffering from Parkinson’s and was no longer able to work.  Over the course of a few years, she lost nearly everything she had. She went into bankruptcy. She was forced to sell many of her valuables in order to get by.  And even though she was flat broke, she kept making payments on her Mercedes.  She didn’t want other people to know that what she was going through. She wanted to hide. She was ashamed.

And so as Pastor Deb heard all these heartbreaking stories, an idea began to form.  What if people could talk about what they were going through with each other?  Maybe if they could hear one another’s stories, they could begin to break free from the fear that caused people to turn inwards, rather than outwards.  And so the congregation started some dinner groups called “Fearless Feasts.”  And at these dinners, folks were encouraged to share their stories about money and the shame/fear that went along with it.

It was amazing to see the transformation in people. On Sundays, people were buzzing.  We had numerous folks share their stories – in church – about their fears and struggles regarding money. And they shared how their faith in our God – who gave everything for us – was helping to turn their fear into courage.

And wouldn’t you know it?  Offerings began to rise.  People were giving more as we were learning to live our lives free of the fear that causes us to turn inwards. We learned that how we spend our money is perhaps one of the truest reflections of our values. (takes the coins out)  And we learned to be brave enough to say “I value my church – I value my community – I value my faith more than I value a new pair of jeans.”  (drops the coins into the can).

Those are the sounds of a people following their faith.

In case you didn’t catch it.  This is stewardship Sunday.  And all across the country there are pastors giving sermons about how the church is in need of more money and about how you can share more of your wealth and more of your time and more of your talents – but I’m pretty sure that nobody wants to hear that drivel – amen?  (The stewardship team might have been the only dissenters there, but I guess that is their job).  And honestly, I wouldn’t want to hear that sermon any more than you would. 

This sermon is about living our lives courageously.  It’s about having faith in God’s promise to care for you when you are in need; having faith in God’s abundance of resources; having faith in a God that has defeated death itself. It’s about a God who shakes you free from the shackles of sin and fear.  This sermon is about opening yourself up to God’s call – listening to what he’s saying – and following him, even if it leads you to the cross.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is calling all of us to live like this - to live free of fear.  To give – not just one percent, or two percent or ten percent – but everything we have and everything we are.  And when we learn to do that (takes the coins out) – we will be free indeed. (drops the coins into the can).

Amen.