Sermon thoughts and other musings

The Fear of Easter

We've gotten used to reading about the appearances of angels to humans, which invariably begin with the angel declaring "Do not be afraid!" We imagine that the sudden appearance of an other-worldly being would be a frightening thing, and the angel's first task is to calm us down.

In Matthew's Easter story, the same occurs. The angel appears to the women at the tomb and announces: "Do not be afraid!" The women look at the empty tomb, and flee.

As they flee, they meet the risen Christ. Jesus greets them, and the women take hold of his feet and worship him. This would suggest that they weren't afraid of the risen Christ, yet he says "Do not be afraid."

What is there to be afraid of in the risen Christ? The fear of change. The fear of being compelled to act. The fear of not having fear as an excuse. Once we know the tomb is empty, once we know that Jesus Christ is risen, we no longer have an excuse not to do as Christ commands. We know we have to work for social justice, even if it makes us unpopular. We know we have to befriend the poor, even if we don't want to. We know we can't rest behind our doubts, we know we can't use uncertainty as an excuse anymore. We have to love our enemies because we know Christ is risen.

Knowing that Christ is risen means we have no choice but to fully live as Christians - advocating for the poor and the oppressed. For many of us, that is scary indeed.

Head faith, heart faith

While reading this week's story of the healing of Lazarus, it struck me that what was significant to me were the actions of the characters other than Jesus and Lazarus. Mary, Martha, Thomas - they were the ones who drew my attention.

Thomas, forever immortalized as "doubting" Thomas, makes a significant declaration of faith: he is willing to go with Jesus to Bethany to die. Sure, he isn't exactly an optimist ... but he is willing to go where none of the other disciples want to go.

Martha and Mary are also people of faith, but I hear a different quality of faith in each. When Martha is asked about her faith, she gives a very theological declaration. Yes, she knows that Lazarus will rise again at the end times. But she strikes me as the stoic one - the good worker who did her duty (and resented Mary) in Luke 10:38-42.

Mary, on the other hand, simply kneels at Jesus' feet and weeps. And her emotion causes Jesus to weep. And when Jesus weeps, we see a declaration from God that goes far beyond anything words or logic can tell us. God weeps! God cares! My own journey of faith has been a journey of about 18 inches - the distance from my brain to my heart. It's the most important 18 inches a person's faith can travel. Theological understanding pales in comparison to feeling the love of God and love of others.

Want to know how God relates to humanity? Just remember: Jesus wept.