April 24, 2011 - Easter Sunday

“But You Don't Have to Take My Word For It...”
Matthew 28:1-10
Easter Sunday – April 24, 2011

I was a PBS kid growing up. We watched a lot of public television in my house, and one of the shows I always enjoyed was “Reading Rainbow”. You know, the one with LeVar Burton of Roots and Star Trek: the Next Generation fame as the host. I think it's ironic that there are TV shows designed to encourage kids to read, but that aside, I did enjoy the format of the show. They always had one featured book that some actor would read to the audience, complete with all of the pictures. But my favorite part of the show was always at the end, when LeVar would say something like, “If you enjoyed this story, here are some other books you might like... but you don't have to take my word for it.” And with that, they'd go to all of these little mini-book reviews by other kids, telling a little bit about the book they had read and why they liked it.

It reminds me of what happened to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in this story from Matthew's gospel. As we join back in with the story we heard last Sunday, when we read the passion according to Matthew, it's on the third day. Jesus has been crucified. He died on the cross, and his body was taken by Joseph of Arimathea and laid in a tomb. A guard was set in place and the entrance to the tomb sealed with a stone, lest the disciples try to steal the body away. And so the women come, as the first day of the week was dawning – that's Sunday to you and me. They didn't come expecting anything, and they certainly weren't expecting or even daring to hope that Jesus wouldn't be there. Yet on the way, “suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it... “ (vs. 2). The guards shook in fear and fainted away, but the angel came with a message for the women: “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised as he said. Come, see the place where he lay” (5-6).

The angel announces this great and miraculous news – Jesus is risen! - and he follows it up, “but you don't have to take my word for it...” Look for yourselves. See where he lay – it's empty now.

And the women do. They see for themselves, and they off they run, filled with both fear and great joy, doing just what the angel had told them to do – to share this good news with the other disciples, to take them a message that Jesus “has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him” (vs. 7).

The women don't simply get the word of the angel. They don't even have to take just the word of the empty tomb, because on their way, suddenly Jesus himself met them, and said, “Greetings!” There Jesus is! They can see him with their own eyes, touch them as they grab hold of his feet, worship him in person.

And so down on the line it goes, because Jesus sends them with the same message to the disciples that they got from the angel: “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The women go to carry the words of the angel, and the witness of the empty tomb, and their very own encounter with Jesus with the disciples. But the disciples don't have to take the women's word for it – for they too will see Jesus risen with their very own eyes when they go back to Galilee.

And so it has gone all down through history, from that time forth until this very day. The disciples carried the good news of Jesus rising from the dead to the corners of the world, passing on the story in different places, to different people of different cultures. They shared of their own experience, but always, underneath it all, was this silent refrain: “But you don't have to take my word for it.” Not that their words weren't trustworthy and true, but “you don't have to take my word for it” because you can have your own experience of Jesus.

It's amazing, this story. Jesus sends an angel to greet the women. Jesus sends the women to his disciples. Jesus sends his disciples to the world. Always, Jesus sends people to prepare the way for his coming. Always, Jesus sends his followers on ahead of him, messengers to share the good news with all of those who come to the graveside of loves lost, dreams that have died, hope that has been extinguished – and those messengers remind us not to be afraid – because death and despair do not have the final word. Jesus is not here; he has risen as he said! But we don't have to take the messengers' word for it, because Jesus himself meets us along the way as we go, in our moments of great joy, in the times when we are deeply afraid, even when joy and fear are all tied up in some strange combination.

Jesus comes and meets us where we are, wherever we are, telling us not to be afraid. Jesus meets us in the darkness of our Good Fridays, and as the light is dawning on this Easter day. Jesus meets us even in this place, as we gather to hear this old, old story, not always certain if we dare to believe it or not. He meets us in word and sacrament, in stories shared and songs sung and prayers prayed. He's present in baptismal waters poured and bread broken and wine drunk.

Jesus is alive and active beyond these walls too, wherever God's will is done – where the hungry are fed and the naked given clothing and the homeless sheltered and the stranger welcomed. He is here with us and for us, reminding us that we no longer need to live our lives in fear, because by dying, Jesus has destroyed death, and in rising, he has raised us to eternal life. He gives us words of comfort and of hope along the road, and then he sends us on our way to carry this good news to a world that surely needs it, going forth to prepare the way for someone else to meet him soon. Jesus is not dead – he is risen just as he said!

But you don't have to take my word for it. Come. See. Taste. Touch for yourself. Experience the risen Lord - and then go to share his story, for it is your story. It is our story. It is the story of good news of great joy for all people. Thanks be to God!

Amen.