Evan M. Dolive
Second Presbyterian Church
Sermons: March 23, 2008; Easter Sunrise Service

"With Fear and Great Joy"

This has been an interesting week. We began our journey together with Palm/Passion Sunday, worked our way through the betrayal and arrest of Jesus on Maundy Thursday, remembered the crucifixion on Good Friday, reflected and mourned on Holy Saturday and now here we are, Easter Sunday. The story is not new to most of us. Whenever children are old enough, Sunday school curriculums begin to introduce the concept of a man dying and rising on the third day. Even if you weren’t raised in the church, you became aware quite early that Easter is one of the Holiest days in the Christian calendar. However, when we come to this place to worship God and remember Jesus Christ and his wonderful earthly ministry, it’s hard to block out the world. It’s hard to turn off our brain that at times can seem to be swirling with problems and concerns that we might have. The economy is fluctuating, the dollar is weak one day and a little stronger the next, the nightly news seems to always have a report on the latest statistics of cancer, murder and drug use rates, deadlines at work and school keep mounting, we can have problems within our home and personal relationships, questions arise: is there enough money to pay the bills, what am I going to do next week, month or year? All of these concerns and problems combined can drain us physically and emotionally. There are times when we just want to quit and give up, times when our joy has left us and fear of the unknown comes in and takes over. Sure we lift up a couple problems and concerns here and there and even tell the congregation, Bible study group or close friend to remember the ones that aren’t spoken or the ones on our heart. I don’t know about you, but there are times when that is not enough. Facing the world can be quite frightening, having to come face to face with the uncertainty of tomorrow.

This idea of uncertainty is exactly what the followers of Jesus must have been feeling. Seven days ago crowds cheered his name, put clothes and palms on the road to make way for him, seven days ago the followers of Jesus must have thought that he was wrong, nothing bad was going to happen to him in a crowd of just happy people. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday came and nothing major happens, The Disciples’ fear meter: Low. Then comes Thursday when Jesus began to speak of betrayal and come to find it was one of their own, Judas. Jesus continues and says that Peter, the one that proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah first and Jesus told him that upon Peter the church would be built, was going to deny that he even knew Jesus. Jesus then takes them to Gethsemane and then the unthinkable happens, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and the Roman authorities take him way. The Disciples’ fear meter: Medium/ High. The next 24 hours are jammed packed with trails before the Sanhedrin and Pilate; even Jesus’ prediction of denial comes true. Then Friday comes, the day which Jesus was crucified and died. What a difference five days makes, what a difference 120 hours makes, one minute people are overjoyed to see him, the next Romans are hanging him on a cross between two robbers. Then he is laid in a tomb. The last we hear from the disciples in the story is Matthew 26:56 - "Then all the disciples deserted him and fled." The disciples and all of the followers of Jesus were filled will fear. Their fear meter was off the charts. They probably thought to themselves, "This is not what was supposed to happen." To the Disciples the future was uncertain and quite bleak; a Messiah was supposed to defeat the Romans, not be defeated by the Romans.

This is where today’s scripture begins; Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are going to the tomb; there they are met with a violent earthquake and an angelic figure descending from Heaven glowing white as lightning and snow. Now as miraculous as this, this is not the highlight of the story. This angel tells the women who have come to see the tomb, that he knows they are looking for Jesus but he is not there, he is risen. He shows them as a way of proving his point, and sure enough the angel was right, there was no body of Jesus to be found. His request is simple: Go tell the Disciples that Jesus was risen and that he will meet them in Galilee. The author of Matthew tells us that the women ran to tell the Disciples and they were filled with fear and GREAT joy. This was no ordinary joy, this was great joy. This was what they wanted to hear, they had suffered and wept and mourned, but they did not have to anymore, Jesus was alive and they had to get to the Disciples as fast as they could. I imagine them running with gigantic smiles on their faces, with tears streaming down their cheeks. They probably had hundreds of questions or concerns in buzzing around in their head, "How is this possible?, Will they believe me?, What if the Romans find out?" They had good reasoning to be afraid but they had a much greater reason to be filled with great joy.

The story doesn’t end there, while the women are running suddenly Jesus Christ appears. He tells them "Greetings" or another way to translate the Greek is "Hello." Can you imagine, the risen Christ, the one who you saw tortured and killed on a cross, appears right in front of you and simply and softly looks in the eyes and says, "Hello." Overcome with joy and fear the women fall at Jesus’ feet and worship him. They touch his feet, like in the back of their mind they could not believe that it was real, that this was really happening. These women have become the first people recorded in the Gospel of Matthew to see the risen Christ. Jesus repeats the request of the angel and women went on their way. We know they tell the Disciples and they believed them because they go to Galilee and meet the Risen Christ.

Can you imagine the roller coaster of emotions that the Disciples and the women must have been on? Three days ago Jesus was dead and put in a tomb and now is raised, just like he had said. Being overcome with joy and great fear is nothing new, but in this context we can empathize with the Marys. We have much to learn from the two Marys presented in this text. I believe that they had the right combination of emotions, fear and great joy.

Growing up I have heard many preachers or youth leaders or Sunday school teachers and even myself say to others "Being a Christian doesn’t mean that your life is going to be perfect." While this is a true statement, I wish it wasn’t so harsh. Life still goes on like normal even if you have a life-shattering event that overwhelms your soul. The world can pass by like nothing happened and they do not care, they have bigger fish to fry than you. It’s not like they don’t care, it’s that they have their own problems and can’t be bothered by yours. Have you ever felt this way? I know I have. There have been times when the fear of what was to come can seem to be crowding around me like a thick dark cloud that envelops everything in its path. In times like this, it’s hard to find even a little joy.

The other day I was shopping in a department store when I couldn’t help but overhear two women chatting. One woman was talking about a friend that was, as the woman put it, "in a funk." The second women stated that she never really got a good feeling from her the first few times they met. The first women responded and said, "Yeah, she’s not too happy with the world right now." The second women stated, "It doesn’t make any sense, I mean when you are saved you are supposed to be joyful from the inside. I don’t know why she’s not doing that." It took all of my energy not to go to the women and ask them if it was wrong of their friend to be in a funk. From what little conversation I heard, I bet they would have said "no", but their dialogue said "yes." Their friend was in a time of great fear and little joy and their answer was for their friend to just figure it out, I mean after all she was saved. It was like the women were saying that being saved or being a Christian was a metaphoric strike-through for all other emotions but happy.

The text this morning is not just about the two Marys and the role they played in informing the Disciples of the good news. No, this text is also about the risen Christ. I believe that everything we do should be an outward response to an inward reflection of the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church in this time and place needs to show the world the love of Jesus Christ and what not just this Sunday but also every other Sunday means to them. We need to have joy in the face of fear, hope in the time of despair, open arms for the oppressed and marginalized, love when surrounded by hate.

I am reminded of a story one of my professors told me. It’s about a Bishop in the Mid-West who told all of his congregations in his dioceses that he wanted them in the upcoming year to have two failures. I admit that this may seem a little odd. Two failures? Why not two successes or two new church starts or two new members, two failures? You see the Bishop wanted the congregations to try something new, jump in feet first into the unknown; he wanted them to be joyful about their choices of new ministries or campaigns but yet still move them out of their comfort zone, into an area that is full of fear. After the end of the year, every congregation in his dioceses reported more than two failures. Many members were relieved that they could try something new, something they felt God was impressing on their heart, but they where too afraid of failure that it kept them from sharing the love of Jesus Christ. It’s like the 14^th Century mystic writing, "The Cloud of Unknowing." The author states to know God, one must pierce the "the cloud of unknowing." It’s through this journey, through the unknowing, where we experience God first hand.

With fear and great joy, may we the church in this time and place act on our convictions and step out into faith.

With fear and great joy, may we remember those who have great fear and little joy. May we be a beacon of love, guidance, acceptance, care, strength. Not to pat them on the head and give them a lollipop but to take them by the hand, look them right in the eyes and say "I know what you are going through, I know that this time in your life is rather tough. I am in here for you." You don’t have to be a minister to minister to others.

With fear and great joy may we strive to pierce the cloud of unknowing and seek the face of God.

With fear and great joy, may we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and reflect on it.

Halleluiah he is risen. Halleluiah he is risen. Halleluiah.