Scripture - Matthew 28:1-10 Easter 4/4/99
"A Joyful Fear"
A young boy moved with his family to a new community and church. The Sunday School class required each student to give a memory verse to the entire congregation. The boy was given the verse from Matthew 14:27: "It is I, do not be afraid."
The boy was nervous about speaking in front of so many people, so he avoided learning his verse as long as he could. Finally, the teacher insisted.
The boy's mother and father pitched in to help him. The boy recited the phrase over and over again. He said it in the morning, at the breakfast table, at school, at supper time, and before he went to bed. He wore out everyone with his repetition of the words, "It is I, do not be afraid."
On Easter the Sunday School class marched into the sanctuary. The boy had his eyes closed repeating to himself, "It is I, do not be afraid. It is I, do not be afraid."
When it came his turn, the boy opened his eyes and saw a church full of people, all staring at him. The young boy panicked. With nowhere to hide and nowhere to run, he blurted out: "It is me, and I'm scared to death!" (1)
How many times have we turned to the Lord in prayer and said, "It is me, Lord, and I'm scared to death"? Why is it that we tend to associate fear with a lack of faith? Should fear and faith be considered mutually exclusive? What is it that causes you to fear? Has fear ever led you to deeper faith?
Some people fear public speaking. Some people fear a loss of their job. Some people fear failure and rejection. Some people fear crowds, closed in spaces, or heights. There are many fears that are quite legitimate.
There are other fears which get way out of hand. One of the common fears this year is the fear of next year, and the impending doom that the Y2K bug will have on us. When we reach the year 2000 many computers will recognize only the last two digits, and interpret the year as 1900.
The potential computer crashes have caused people concern. Concern is all right, but some people are going way overboard. They're hunkering down and storing up food, clothing, and other supplies. Some have even taken up arms, believing it to be a sign that it will be the end of the world.
Fear can cause our emotions to go wild and then we rely more on instinct than on reason. There are people who love to prey on other people's fears. Urban legends like the stories of gangs killing people who flash their headlights at them and people getting pricked with needles infected with the HIV-virus attempt to take advantage of our gullibility. All of us have been beguiled by our fears at times.
We can even laugh at our fears. One writer claimed that scientists have predicted the end of the world:
"If everyone keeps stacking National Geographics in garages and attics instead of throwing them away, the magazines' weight will sink the continent 100 feet sometime soon and we will all be inundated by the oceans. ...[Scientists have also] reported the striking discovery that pickles cause cancer, communism, airline tragedies, auto accidents and crime waves. About 99.9% of cancer victims had eaten pickles sometime in their lives.... So have 100% of all soldiers, 96.8% of communist sympathizers and 99.7% of those involved in car and air accidents. Moreover, those born in 1839 who ate pickles have suffered a 100% mortality rate. And rats force-fed 20 pounds of pickles a day for a month ended up with bulging abdomens and loss of appetite." (2)
We can laugh at our fears, or let them get way out of hand, or deal with our fears in some stage somewhere between those two extremes. But to say we will have "No Fear" at all is not being realistic. There will always be those who respond, "Fear This!"
How can we tell those in Albania who are fleeing from the Serb armies, "Do not fear"? How can we say to those whose lives depend on computers and are faced with devastating viruses like Melissa, "Do not fear"? How can we say there is nothing to fear to those who are infected with the HIV-virus, or to those who live in environments of abuse, or to those who find themselves in a situation where there seems no way out?
I understand the phrase, "Do not fear," to be more about how to deal our fear rather than deny we have any fear at all. Having faith in the Lord doesn't mean that we will have no fears. Having faith in the Lord means we can call on the Lord to help us manage our fears.
One of our greatest fears is the fear of death. Curiously enough, studies have shown that people fear death of a loved one even more than they fear their own death. (3) A part of that fear is that it is compounded by the fear of loneliness.
In Matthew's telling of the first Easter, we are challenged to deal with our understandings of death and loneliness.
Graveyards can be spooky places. A great earthquake had just occurred (28:2). No doubt these two together created an ideal setting for fear. Add to that the appearance of a strange being whose appearance is like lightning and you have a good recipe for terror. The guards were so scared that they keeled over as though they were dead.
The women were present, shaken, but not as badly as the guards. They had lost their beloved leader, the one they though of as their Savior, to death. They were in a state of fear, but it was a joyless fear.
The angel said to the women, "Do not fear." And the angel explained to them that Jesus was not there. He is risen from the dead. And the angel even showed them where the body had once been laid.
Well, that explains everything. They now have verbal proof and visual proof. Everything should be fine. Yet the women left the tomb still in fear -- fear and great joy.
Strange combination of feelings. Must be a different kind of fear. Not a fear of hopelessness but a fear mixed with joy.
If this was a horror movie, Matthew would have quickened the pace. The music would be increased in tempo. The women are running, running. And the audience just knows something is about to pop out at them. And even though they know something is coming, when it finally comes there is an audible intake of breath.
Suddenly, suddenly! Jesus appears! Gasp! Is it a ghost? Is it more of the dead they heard about that were walking around?
But no, it is the resurrected Lord. Once again the women hear the words, "Do not fear." Easy for Jesus to say! All this stuff is so... so shocking! Just because Jesus tells them to, does that mean their fear goes away? I hardly think so. It becomes a fear with even greater joy.
If we have come to church this morning hoping to be comforted by soothing words, we may be disappointed. This resurrection stuff is so shocking, so troubling, and so fear-producing that we cannot simply pass it off as business as usual. Easter morning is not just a casual walk through the park -- or garden, for that matter.
Who among us likes to be reminded that all of us will one day die? Many of us will be here next year to celebrate another Easter. But there are those of us gathered here who may not be, and death is no respecter of age.
Are we ready to face death? If God can die, what hope is there for us? Yet there is hope, a resurrection hope!
Will we face death with a hopeless fear that gets out of hand or will we handle it with a joyful fear, believing that Christ has died, is risen again, and if only we believe, we will rise with him some day?
William Willimon tells of the time he learned 'the hard way that Easter lilies, which blossom in such profusion on church altars this Sunday, are very fragile flowers. They don't look fragile, all large and white and substantial appearing. But they are very fragile.
Touch an Easter lily, even a light brush against the flower, and it almost immediately turns brown. He had tried to move the lilies, so that the choir could have more room for their anthem, and ended up defacing most of the lilies.
"Some flower of Easter," he thought to himself, watching them turn brown, "some symbol of life and resurrection."
But then he thought. Life really is fragile, as fragile as those lilies. Life is short, brief, and insubstantial. We are all on our way toward death and the defacement which comes with mortality.
How much more wonderful then the claims of Easter. Nothing lasts in this world, in this life. Everything is busy decaying. Almost nothing is as substantial and resilient as it first appears.
Into this scenario of death and decay comes something from the outside. An act of God. God bringing life out of death. Easter!' (4)
To walk away from the empty tomb with fear in our hearts is not such a bad thing. It helps us to respect more the author of life and how much we need to trust him with all we have, all we are, and someday, what we will become.
(1) Adapted from a story told by Ronald Kowalski, First Baptist Church, Hubbard, Ohio.
(2) Barry Siegel, "World May End With a Splash," Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1982.
(3) Psychology Today (Feb. 1985)
(4) William Willimon, Pulpit Resource, Vol. 27, No. 2, April, May, June 1999, pp. 9-10.
Lightstreet United Methodist Church
(near Bloomsburg, PA, USA)
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