Reflections on “Death and Resurrection” Matthew 28: 1-10 Easter Sunday

 

Easter morning worship with a brass quintet, timpani, handbells, choir anthem, terrific hymns, and the biggest crowd since COVID.  The stage was set for a wonderful celebration of resurrection.  I think I managed to stay out of the way in my sermon and let the news of resurrection capture the moment.  In my sermon notes, I had an ending to the sermon that was different than what I ended up preaching.  I got to the conclusion at the 8:30 service and decided to focus on the image of the angel sitting on the stone, instead of what was written.  I think the ad lib ending worked better than what I had written!  

Two future areas of sermon preparation I would like to explore:  1.  the whole sermon built around the image of the angel sitting on the stone.  2.  I had a member respond to my greeting, "Christ is risen!" with "Good for him!"  I think that would be a fun sermon theme to pursue.  

Announcement from the tomb:  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary arrive at the tomb.

There is an earthquake as an angel comes and rolls the stone back.

He sits on the stone, looks at them, and announces:

Jesus is not here.  he has been raised.”

Christ is risen.  He is Risen indeed.

“Death and Resurrection” April 9, 2023 ; SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp; Matthew 28: 1-10; Jeremiah   Lenten 2023 series

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And 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. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” ⁸So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Introduction:   Easter morning worship!

Brass blaring!

Choir anthem that transports us to the heavens.

Organ playing full bore as we sing powerful hymns.

Lilies adorning the sanctuary.

A glorious message to proclaim

Christ is Risen! (he is Risen indeed)

Move 1: About three years into serving my first call, which means I had attended about 30+ Easter worship services like this one today,

I was staining in the sanctuary alone practicing my Easter sermon - no doubt a great one in the works - 

and it hit me:   there has to be a death to have a resurrection.

For some reason, it had never occurred to me before - but there is no resurrection in the Easter story if there is no crucifixion.

a. Peter Gomes, who was a professor at Harvard Divinity and minister at Harvard’s Memorial Church before his death, noted:  “There are many routes to Easter, but none of them escapes the shadow of the cross, that point where our time and God’s eternity converge; and at the center point where time and eternity meet is the Christ who makes it all possible.” (in sermon An Opportune Time,)

1.  I say that not as a downer on Easter morning, but to remind us that Easter is not #christ is Risen, and now move on to the next happy thought.

2.  Our glorious worship today embraces both the death of Christ and his resurrection.

b.  Maybe you come here to escape your grief for a few minutes;

or forget about that issue in your life;

or step away from your medical struggles or the struggle of a loved one

or to be with family on a  special day as you try not to think about that broken relationship or loved one who is  not with you

or to leave the distractions of our world with all its injustices and battles and divisions behind.

1.  maybe that’s what all of us are doing here to some extent.

2.  We secretly hope that the worship and brass and shouts of “Christ is risen” may provide distraction and escape.

3. at least for a little while.

c.  I hope our worship and fellowship are a refreshing moment for you in your life.

1.  But we also have some really good news for you, for me, and for all the world.

1.   Resurrection is more than a momentary escape.

2.  Death has been defeated.

4. God has transformed the world and changed its trajectory forever.

Death is no longer the final destination - resurrection and new life are there for all of us.

5.  I pass a church on my drive home every day.  They have one of those signs with a message posted on it.

Sign changes depending on the season and sometimes depending on who has come in the night and rearranged the letter.

This week, they changed the sign for Easter:  it reads,  “Easter is the most wonderful day of the year for Christians.”  

(Pause)

5.  they are selling Resurrection short.

6.  Easter is the most wonderful day of the year for all the world because the God of resurrection has transformed the world forever.

Move 2:  When Mary Magdalene and her friend Mary arrive at the tomb they are told the incredible news - Jesus is not here; for he has been raised.

  a.   A glorious, miraculous event.

1. This morning, we read the Gospel of Matthew’s description of this incredible event and hear about an earthquake.

2. none of the other gospels mention this, but I think it is Matthew’s clue for us that something extraordinary has happened.

3.  God has acted in the face of Christ’s death and changed how we understand death.

4. Death is no longer the final answer, but the God of resurrection is.

b.  Maybe Mary and Mary should not be surprised.

1. Maybe you and I should not be surprised.

2.  Remember the passage we read from the prophet Jeremiah who spoke to God’s people generations before?

1.  Remember what their life was like: 

  2.  “The temple is destroyed.

the king is stumbling blindly toward his doom, 

he priests’ sacrificial fires [have been put out], 

and the land promised to the descendants of Abraham is no more.” (Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 2, Thomas Mann, 355

3. If we were to list all our struggles and challenges in our lives and the world around us, we might find ourselves feeling like the Israelites in Jeremiah’s time. 

4.  and in the face of all those challenges, Jeremiah proclaims:   God has loved with an everlasting love; 

God will continue to build Israel and give it a future.

5.  The God creation, who created out of love; 

the God of Exodus, who led the Israelites out of slavery into the Promised Land;

the God who will continue to build Israel;

the God who loves with everlasting love has now acted again to resurrect Christ from the dead.

6.  God’s love knows no bounds.

Move 3:  the God of resurrection turned death into life, which speaks not only about that day long ago but to how we live our lives today.

a.   Notice that when the two Marys discover Christ has been raised, they do not stop in that moment.

1. the angel sends them to tell the other disciples.

2.  They are all to go to Galilee.

3.  They will be met by the Risen Christ.

4. Resurrection changed the way they live their lives in that moment and in the future.

b.   Resurrection changes the way we live our lives in the moment and into the future.

1.  As Reformed theological Karl Barth noted – “If you have heard the Easter message, you can no longer run around with a tragic face and lead the humorless existence of a man who has no hope.  One thing still holds, and only this one thing is really serious, Jesus is the victor. “  

 

2. . Here is the great thing about resurrection. 

1. God does not need us to explain it.

2. God’s power to resurrect does not depend on our ability to give details about what happened between crucifixion and resurrection.

3.  Maybe we do like Matthew and just say there was an earthquake!

c. We do not have to be able to explain it, but it changes how we live our lives.  

1.  As Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us: extraordinary the Easter claim is that God has raised Jesus from the dead ("Dust to Dust" The Christian Century, 3/27/02, p. 32).   Now we have to stand up and bear witness to a different reality. It is not our task to explain something that defies conventional wisdom and reality." ( Journal of Preachers, "Preaching the Easter Texts: Can I Get a Witness," Easter, 2014, p.3) 

2.  We no longer need to be held hostage by

our own failings;

or our fear of death;

or our fear of what the future might bring.

2. the hope and the promise of what the God of resurrection is doing and will do in the future frees us from that which holds us back.

3. We go into the world and boldly live, knowing that the God of resurrection is still at work.

Conclusion:  Matthew leaves us with an image I have never paid much attention to in previous years.  

did you notice that after the angel moves the stone away from the tomb, he sits on it.  I was captivated by that image this week.  I could see the angel sitting there, or maybe reclining on his elbow.

He looks one way and sees the way of death.

He looks the other way and sees resurrection.  Jesus calling us to live life as people of the resurrection.