Sermon: "Resurrection Matters Now"

Delivered April 12, 2009 (Easter) by Rev. John Schmidt.
Sermon Text: Matthew 28:1-20

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About 15 years ago we were living in Japan as missionaries. My wife Debbie was in a conversation with a Japanese woman. She asked Debbie what Easter was all about. What an incredible opportunity! Now of course Debbie had to do this in Japanese with a person who had never ever heard any details about Jesus' life. No fancy terms, no theological words. So she talks to her that Jesus was a man. He was God too. He was killed on a Friday, and on Sunday he came to life again. It was when Debbie was about there that the woman looked at her and said, "And you believe this?"

Debbie knew that she believed in the resurrection, but when she had to say it in such bald, simple terms, she felt a little bit foolish. We sometimes struggle with the resurrection. It's not the story about Jesus that bothers us. We love the story. We love to tell about how God in love sent his Son who lived a perfect life, but despite that, he was rejected by the very people he came to love and save. He's beaten. He's killed, and it looks like all is lost, but unexpectedly God raises him from the dead. The bad guys don't win. Evil is destroyed. People are forgiven, and they now live with God forever in love. It's a great story.

We make movies like this all the time. Our problem is when we insist that it's real not just a story. A real Jesus. A real death. A real resurrection. The poem we heard by John Updike just now struggles with this. It talks about the struggle that the church has always had with the reality of the resurrection. Make no mistake, if he rose at all it was as his body. If the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules re-knit, the amino acids rekindle, the church will fall.

He goes on to tell us that it wasn't just a spiritual event in the minds of his confused followers, but it was in real flesh just like ours. Resurrection is not a metaphor. It's not an analogy. It's not a parable. It's not something we can side step. It's not something that only people in another age could actually believe. It's not a play with paper-mache props. It's reality. And yet, as he notes in the poem, we can sometimes be embarrassed by the claim of reality.

The resurrection has never been easy. Even the very first witnesses of the resurrection weren't expecting it. Certainly they weren't expecting it now in the middle of history. They weren't looking for it, and they were confused by it. And we're going to go now into the book of Matthew and take a look at these very first experiences with the resurrected Jesus. We're going into the book of Matthew, chapter 28, and I'm going to read the whole chapter.

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "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. Come and see the place where he lay. 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.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep." If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore 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 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"

Let's pray: Lord, help us to understand your Word and to respond in faith and obedience. For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.

This passage begins, verses 1-4, with the women going to the tomb on the dawn after the Sabbath Day. Now, Matthew doesn't tell us why they're going, but the book of Mark does. In Mark it tells us that they're going there to prepare Jesus' body for burial. The custom was the body was supposed to be cleaned, and special spices were to be put on the body, and then it was to be wrapped a certain way and put on a slab in the tomb. None of this was possible when Jesus died. He died right before the start of the Sabbath and they weren't allowed to do things like this on the Sabbath. So as soon as they can they're going to the tomb looking for a dead body.

They're met by an angel. This angel is frightening in appearance, an appearance like lightning, his clothes as white as snow. The stone is rolled back by an earth tremor. And what Matthew is showing us is that the door to the tomb, the stone is not rolled away to let the body out, it's to let the women in so that they can witness the reality of what God has already done.

In verses 5-10, there are conversations the women have with the angel and then with Jesus, and I'd like to take a closer look at that because in this experience of the resurrection the women receive three challenges. They're challenged to believe. They're challenged to rejoice, and they're challenged to share.

First, to believe. Verses 5 and 6 point that out. The angel says to the women, "Don't be afraid for I know that you're looking for Jesus who was crucified. He's not here. He has risen just as he said. Come, and see the place where he lay." "He is risen just as he said. Come, and see the place where he lay." First the angel points to the promise. Jesus has been talking about this and promising this. The Old Testament bears witness to this. There has been a promise. It's now being fulfilled. "Come and see."

And that brings the other point. There's the promise he points to and then there are the facts. Come, take a look. The tomb is empty. Promise and eyewitness fact. And they're encouraged to engage the facts because there are enough facts for them to intelligently believe. They're not called to believe in the dark. They're called to look at the evidence, and then to believe.

But despite there being evidence, it can be disbelieved. We see that happen in the lives of the soldiers. You can reject it. You can try to explain it some other way, and these women could have chosen to disbelieve and explain it some other way. It might have been pretty difficult to explain an angel and an earthquake and an empty tomb, but they could have done it. It's their choice, but they're challenged by the angel to believe.

The second challenge is to rejoice. We see this in verses 8 and 9. "So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. 'Greetings,' he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him." They are afraid and confused, meeting an angel doesn't usually calm people down. It's just a fact. They are afraid. They are wondering what's going on, but they're also joyful because they're starting to believe what they've seen. They're starting to believe what they've been told.

When Jesus meets them he gives them a standard greeting. In this translation it simply says, "Greetings." In other translations you might see, "Hail." It's a normal greeting, but the actual word that they used in Greek for this kind of greeting was, "Rejoice." So when Jesus gives them this normal greeting, the word meaning behind it is to rejoice. They're already starting to grasp the joy, Jesus tells them, "Rejoice," in his greetings. And then they fall at his feet in worship. They worship in joy.

This joy isn't possible if it isn't true. This joy isn't possible if they don't believe, but confronted by an angel, an empty tomb, and now Jesus himself they let loose of their fears and step into the joy. Their whole world is being turned upside down. As pious Jews they may have expected a resurrection, but the resurrection they expected was only at the end of history, and it would be everyone being resurrected all at once. On the Day of Judgment God would raise the righteous to life in God's perfect kingdom, a kingdom of peace and joy and perfection. And this resurrection of every righteous one together was the mark of the end of history and the beginning of a new age.

But here's Jesus resurrected alone... now. And he's not just resurrected to assure us that something's going to happen for us in the future. The church came to understand that the kingdom of God, that is, the rule of God in this world has come now decisively in Jesus. What they expected would come all at once at the end of history is present now through the resurrection of one person, the King in the middle of history.

The fullness is in the future, but in the resurrection from the dead we see that God's rule begins now. God's desire for us to love and respect each other is possible now. God's demand for justice for the poor can begin to be lived out now. God's design for us to be living in purity can happen now. And most amazingly, we can know God... now.

All the things we long for in a perfect world, the things that make life exciting and truly human, the things in life that allow us to live in harmony with the Creator and creation, these things can be tasted and experienced in big ways and in small ways right now. Right now, today, we can experience God's destiny for us. We can live knowing God as Creator, as Savior, as Father with all the peace and security that means for us right now.

So when they're challenged to rejoice it's not a challenge to rejoice in what we'll get someday. It's a challenge to rejoice in what we have right now, what's begun now in part and that we'll inherit in full in the future. Jesus has already been resurrected from the dead. Resurrection matters now. But the interaction of these women with the angel and with Jesus didn't result, didn't end, with just the women having an incredible personal experience. They're sent to do something. They're sent to share. They're given a purpose.

Murray Smoot was the founding pastor of this congregation at this site, and I've heard that one of the things he often said is that there are no resurrection appearances without a commission. In other words, every time there's a resurrection appearance some kind of assignment or mission is always given to the eyewitnesses. We see it here in this passage in verse 10 and verse 7. In verse 7 it says, "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.'"

In verse 10, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." Go and tell his disciples. "Go and tell my brothers." "Go and tell" is built into the assignment of everyone who saw the resurrection. "Go and tell" is part of the assignment of everyone who has ever experienced the resurrected Jesus ever since. It's part of the reason why we're here.

In fact, it comes again at the end of the chapter. In fact, at the end of the whole gospel, verses 18-20, it's called the Great Commission.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore 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 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

These are the last words of Jesus in this gospel, calling his disciples to share this news with the world. It's the last words of Matthew, calling believers of every generation to do the same, make learners of all people, of all ethnic groups. Teach them to join the new kingdom and obey the King. We are written into the story. If the resurrection is real, if what we believe and celebrate really has changed the basic rules of the world, if he's really King, if we really can experience it now and know God now, how can we not share it?

Resurrection matters now. The empty tomb opens a door to a whole new way of life right now, but only because it's real and some of us here today are struggling with believing that. That's the issue for you right now. "I don't think it's real." "Is it real?" It's okay to have doubts. In fact as we find out in verse 17, in this chapter even the disciples who were there worshipping him had doubts. And in fact I think that's a healthy thing if without facts, without any support you lightly believe in resurrection, maybe you're not a good witness.

I think we all begin in the place of doubt. The question is... what are you going to do with those doubts? The challenge here is to believe, but to do so by examining the facts. Test the facts. Gather them together if you don't have enough. But not just test the facts; I think if we're going to be honest we have to test ourselves. Are we willing to follow if it proves to be true? Let's at least be honest with ourselves. And if we get our answers, the challenge then is to believe and not be afraid of what that will mean.

Some of us need to rejoice more. Now I'm not talking about pumping ourselves up emotionally like some kind of spiritual cheerleaders. I'm talking about carefully looking at the resurrection and what that means, understanding in its meaning and in that understanding coming to a sense of joy about what God has actually accomplished. Nothing is the same anymore. We are forgiven and acceptable to God. The rules have changed. We can live a new life. We can experience a new level of peace and security right now. We can know God right now. And so it says, "Rejoice." If those things are true, if those things can be experienced, and they can, then there is every reason to rejoice. The most fundamental problem in our existence has been dealt with by the very God who created us.

Some of us are being challenged to share, to go and tell because all of the reality of God's present rule in this world is funneled through the church, a church that's challenged to live this new life of love and compassion in the world and tell others about the reason behind it. And that's us. That's why I'm sharing it right now. I've been told to, and we all who believe share in this call to live a new life and go and tell others about it. Tell others where we live, where we work, where we play.

In this passage the women left Jesus that morning and they were never the same again. The disciples changed, even though they doubted, they changed when they saw him and heard him. What about us? Are we content to leave today unchanged? Or deep down do we want something more? What is it that God's touching in your life right now? Are you called to believe? Are you called to rejoice? Are you called to share? Whatever it is that God's touching in your life... don't push it aside. Open yourself up to the challenge. Resurrection matters now.

Let's pray: Lord God, we give you thanks and praise. We honor you and we pray now that we might understand and in that understanding move to faith, into joy, into new purpose in our lives. For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.

© 2009, Rev. John Schmidt
Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD 21204 410/823-6145
www.centralpc.org