Sermon 4/12/2020 “What do you see?”
Preacher: Jo J. Belser
Location: Church of the Resurrection from the Oratory of Immanuel Chapel, Alexandria, VA
Text: Matthew 28:1-10
Day: Easter Sunday 2020 during a pandemic
I am always amazed that in the middle of the disaster that had happened to them, the two Marys went to see Jesus’ tomb. Their Rabbi, whom they loved, was dead. They had seen him die; they had seen him be placed in the tomb.
Jesus had been their hope for a better tomorrow. They had hoped Jesus would somehow diminish all that had oppressed them. They had hoped Jesus would make their lives better and give them a reason for living. But Jesus was dead.
Matthew’s gospel tells us the two Mary’s had set out to “see the tomb.” I wonder what they expected to see there other than the outside of a sealed stone tomb.
Did you NOTICE what happened to the women as they neared the tomb?
- An earthquake! The people I know who experienced major earthquakes were unable to stand up, thrown again and again to the ground while all of reality was turned upside down. They couldn’t even see anything clearly, just snippets of sight all mixed up, like with strobe lighting.
- But the earthquake wasn’t all! An angel had appeared before their eyes. They had wanted to see the tomb, but what they got to see was God breaking into our world in a supernatural way. The guards at the tomb—Matthew says there were guards—were so scared they had passed out. Not the women, though. To THEM the angel had given the usual angelic calling card: He had told THEM to “fear not.” God’s word was spoken: Fear not! I’ll bet the Marys were afraid anyway, afraid for their sanity and fearful of what God might want from them.
Clearly God had wanted something of the Marys or they would have been comatose like the guards. God had wanted them to come SEE the empty tomb. Somehow, they had gotten the idea to “go see,” not even knowing the tomb was empty. And now there was an angel—God’s messenger—delivering God’s invitation to do just what they had set out to do. There were other instructions which summarize as, “Come see; go tell.”
The angel didn’t just say, “Go tell,” though. He told the Marys to “go quickly” and “tell the [other] disciples.” So, they looked inside and found the tomb empty. Then they went quickly, just as the angel had instructed, with “fear and joy,” Matthew says.
Some have long wondered why women were the first ones to perceive Jesus’ resurrection. But if men had gone first, they would have been accused of foul play. Two women couldn’t possibly have overcome guards and rolled away the tombstone.
That’s not all, though. This is when the women perceived Jesus. He’d been there all along, but this is when the women saw him. Jesus comforted the women and gave them the same task God had sent via the angel. This is a characteristic of Jesus: always present, although not always perceived, always channeling God’s words and actions. God’s message via the angel had been, “Fear not and go tell.” Christ Jesus affirmed this mission by saying, “Fear not and go tell so others can perceive me, too.”
After worshiping the risen Christ, the women did as he had commanded.
That was the first Easter; what if God wanted to get our collective worldwide attention today? How would God do that, how would he wake us up from our inability to see and motivate us to look with new eyes at something terrible that has happened—the virus, for example. How might we perceive the very bad thing happening as the crucible for something new, something good, that will emerge?
Perhaps the answer will depend on where we look. Will we focus on the human cost of a sick and dying way of life? Will we take our fear and grief to worship, as we are doing today, to perceive Christ Jesus and receive his comfort? Will we focus our sight on those in need and tell others, so they can perceive the Risen Christ, too? Because, make no doubt about it, the tomb was empty. Christ is alive and available for comfort. Let Jesus change your grief to joy as he did with the two Marys.
Will you miss the flowers, the attire, the pageantry, the music, our physical togetherness as Church of the Resurrection on our Feast Day—on the day for which our church is named? I will, in a way. But these are not where we will see the risen Christ and feel the joy of Easter. Come see the tomb but go quickly and tell others: the tomb is still empty and Christ is alive in us.
Alleluia, Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
the Oratory of Immanuel Chapel at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.
Sermon is at 11:59-20:24.
