The Dawning
Rev. Mark Porizky
04/16/06
Matthew 28:1-10
After
the sabbath, as the first
day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the
tomb. 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. His
appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white
as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the
angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for
Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell
his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead
of you to
Dawn. The first light of day;
Dawn, the moment in the day when everything is
possible. Though dawn draws the night to a close, dawn is more about
beginning than ending. Dawn is advances rather than retreats.
It is light emerging. Today, this dawn, that light is the Light,
the Light of the World. (Pause)
According to the Gospel
story, at dawn the two Marys approach the tomb.
The purpose of their visit is largely about moving on. There hadn’t been
time for a funeral. As Friday’s crucifixion concluded in death, the Sabbath was
approaching. No time for the rituals or
prayers. No time for saying goodbye.
So these two women have work to
do. According to other gospel writers,
the first visitors wanted to prepare the body more properly with spices. But not Matthew. According to Matthew, the two Marys simply
want to see the tomb. They have no
concern about how they might get inside.
They simply want to be there, to stand and take in the full reality of
what has happened.
They are trying to move on,
don’t you see? They want to do what they
can to come to terms with death and move through their grief. Whatever has gone
before this moment, it is now life on the other side of Jesus. (Pause)
Or so they think. Yes this new dawning is not going to about
grief. No. The new dawning will be about joy, abundant
joy, and hope beyond all hope imaginable.
As Mary Magdalene and the
"other Mary" went to Jesus' tomb, a violent earthquake shook the
ground, and the stone that covered the tomb was rolled away. An angel of the
Lord appeared and said,
(v. 5-7)
"Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was
crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Then go quickly and
tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into
Galilee. There you will see him.'"
As the women hurry
away, "fearful yet filled with joy" only a few hundred yards now from
the tomb, suddenly Jesus greets them. He says,
(v. 10) "Do not be
afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
These are the first words
the resurrected Christ speaks. In this simple message, we learn how to live out
the significance of Easter in our lives. The defining moment of our lives are
found in the dawning of a new, Easter-filled world. In living out the significance of Easter,
there are three things we need to do.
First of all, we need
to... Stand up to your fears. (Repeat)
Time and again Jesus
commanded his followers to "fear not." After his resurrection, his
very first statement is (v. 10) "Do not be afraid..."
Why would Jesus say this?
Isn't fear an emotion that we can't control? It's not the kind of feeling we
would choose, is it? Typically, fear strikes like a tidal wave when we're least
prepared for it. Have you ever felt a suspicious symptom in your body, like a
pain in your chest or a numbness or a lump—and you're seized with panic. Or
have you ever fallen asleep on the couch while waiting for your teenager to
come home, and then woken up an hour or so after their curfew, and you realize
they're still not home? Barb worries if
I’m late from any bike ride I take.
She’s certain I’ve done something stupid. She starts listening for the sirens that she
is sure are on their way to claim me.
The media sells fear
every day. Just last Wednesday, fear was
on the front page. Iran has nuclear
weapons. Just one more thing to fear.
Fear can overpower us.
And yet, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid,"–to the Marys? To the Disciples? To us?
He says “do not be afraid” as
though it were a matter of choice. Do you know what? It IS a simple matter of
choice, and here's why. Jesus is not speaking about our emotions, which we
often can’t control. Rather, Jesus is
speaking about our thoughts and actions. Jesus says–to Mary, to you, to me–Jesus
says, “Don’t think fearfully; don’t act fearfully."
Because of his
resurrection we need not live in fear. If he can conquer death, he can conquer
anything. Fear is simply a feeling, and we no longer have to live by feelings alone. We can live by faith. We stand face our fears
by thinking in "faith" and acting in "faith."
I remember when my son
Joshua and I were once walking through a section of South Beach in Miami. I became confused as to where I was. Stupidly, I said my thoughts out loud, “I
think we’re lost.” Josh was only
four. He simply took my hand and said
with the faith of a four-year old, “I’m not lost. I’m with you.”
Josh wasn’t afraid
because he was with me. Jesus says to
each of us, “Lo, I am always with you,” We are never lost. We are with Jesus. Do not be afraid. (Pause)
Secondly, in
living out the meaning of Easter, in living out the dawning of a new day, we
need to...Focus on our mission. (Repeat)
Listen again to what
Jesus tells the woman (v. 10)
"Go and tell my brothers...."
Jesus gave those faithful
women a message for the disciples. Jesus
also gives us the same message for the world: "Tell them that I am
alive." In each of the four Gospels, Jesus emphasizes this mission that he
has given us.
"Go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have
commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)
Jesus' first message to his followers after
his resurrection was "Go and tell others." In this age of fear, this
message is more important than ever before. The world needs to hear that Jesus
Christ is Lord, and he has power over sin and death. We are not to be merely consumer Christians,
self-satisfied with today’s Easter good news.
No. We’re supposed to share it
with others.
Our mission is to tell.
In Reader's
Digest I read a story about a guy
named Jeff. When he was 12, accidentally
broke a window while playing baseball with a friend. They quickly looked around
to see if anyone was looking. The only
witness was Jeff's younger brother. Jeff said to his brother, "Keep quiet
about this, and I'll give you some candy." The younger brother said he
didn't want any candy. Jeff said, "Keep quiet and I'll give you a
baseball."
The younger
brother said, "I don't want your baseball."
Jeff said,
"How about my baseball and my new glove?"
The younger
brother said, "I don't want your glove either."
Then Jeff said,
"Well, what do you want?"
(Pause)
The brother said,
"I WANNA TELL!" (Pause)
That little boy had some
important information, and he didn't want to keep quiet about it. It should be
the same way with us. We have a great story to tell, and our world desperately
needs to hear our story.
What makes Christianity
different from the rest of the world's religions? Are our ethics any better?
No. Is our concern for justice any greater? No. Is it an "Our God can beat
your God" kind of thing? No. The difference between Christianity and all
the other faith doctrines is that OUR Lord is ALIVE! Buddha? Dead.
Confucius? Dead. Mohammed? Dead.
But Jesus is alive! And this story needs to be told and retold.
If Easter means life, our
mission ought to be about sharing that message with those we know. Sometimes with words, always with the
confidence of living without fear.
(Pause)
Finally, in living out
the significance of Easter, there's a third task we must do... We must
believe Jesus’ promises. (Repeat)
Belief is a funny. Many of us believe in things that cause us
pain.
I love the story
where one woman says to another, "Poor Alice. She has really suffered for what she believes
in."
"And what does
she believe in? "asks the other.
"She believes that
you can wear a size six shoe on a size 9 foot.” (Pause)
Friends, every week I make bold promises from
this pulpit. Every week this church makes bold promises to the community. This
is our promise: Give your life to Jesus Christ, and he will turn it around.
Give your burdens to him, and he will bear them for you. Confess your sins to
him, and he will forgive you. Give him your fear, your sorrow, your broken
dreams, and Jesus will replace them with joy and peace and love and
fulfillment. These are bold promises to make, but I make them without
hesitation. I do so because I trust in the promises of Jesus. I believe that
Jesus will do what he said he will do.
Without the promises of
Jesus, the church doesn't have much to offer the world. We couldn't offer
joyful fellowship, because he's our source of joy. We couldn't offer social ministries, because
those ministries are operated by people whose lives have been changed Jesus’
power. Without his promises, those lives would not have been changed, and those
ministries wouldn't exist. We couldn't open our doors for worship, because
without his promises, there are no songs to sing and no message to preach.
The promise of Easter is
that Easter has power to transform us into people who live joyfully, not
fearfully. Easter’s promise either holds
power or we believers are wasting our time.
(Pause)
During Napoleon's
campaign into Austria his army advanced to within six miles of the village
Feldkirch. It looked as though Bonaparte's men would take Feldkirch without
resistance. But as Napoleon's army approached the village in the night, the
Christians of Feldkirch gathered in a little church to pray. It was Easter Eve.
The next morning
at sunrise the church bells in the village pealed out across the countryside.
Napoleon's army, not realizing it was Easter Sunday, thought that in the night
the Austrian army had moved into Feldkirch and that the bells were ringing in
jubilation. Napoleon ordered a retreat, and the battle at Feldkirch never took
occurred. The Easter bells caused the enemy to retreat, and peace reigned in
the Austrian countryside. (Pause)
Friends, at this Easter
time many of you are surrounded by enemies which storm the citadel of your
soul. But listen, the bells of Easter are ringing. Easter is a new dawning. Easter declares, do not to fear, tell others
the good news, and trust in God. Love is
stronger than death. Death retreats
before the bells of Easter.
Today is the dawning of
Easter. Again.
How will you live at the
dawning? Will you live differently as
you hear Jesus say to you these words:
Do not be afraid. Go and tell.
You will see me. Today Jesus’
tomb is empty. Someday, all tombs will
be empty. Today, the dawning is for you.
Will you pray with me
now..