Easter Sermon

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Know what the two most dangerous words in America are? “Watch this.”

The three most dangerous words, of course, are: “Hold my beer.”

If you hear either of these two phrases, back away. We all know how what will follow will end, and if anyone is filming it, of which there is an increasing likelihood nowadays, it will probably end up with millions of pageviews on YouTube.

There are all sorts of situations in which something inside of us knows how it is going to end. I have the distinct memory of being at a Reds game with Rachel in which the Reds' worst pitcher had been brought in to face the opposing teams' best hitter with the bases loaded. I remember turning to Rachel and telling her to be ready for exactly how far that ball is going to fly. To this day, I don't know if I've ever seen a baseball hit farther. I'm not sure that ball has landed yet.

The same is true of every romantic comedy ever made. Within the first five minutes, or perhaps before it has even started, most men can tell the basic plot. Most women can, too, it's just that such knowledge doesn't prevent them from watching them.

We know how certain situations end. Some things are simply predictable. They end in a certain way, every time.

Death is that way, too. When someone dies, we know how it ends. As in, that is the end. The story of death isn't one that suddenly changes halfway through. When someone dies, we don't hang around the mortuary in the hopes of getting a burger with them later. We don't pop by the cemetary in hopes they don't have any plans that day. Death is a permanent condition.

At least, that's what the disciples thought. That's what the whole world thought when Jesus died.

But when Jesus died, everything changed. When Jesus died, our expectations shifted. When Jesus died, he came back alive.

The women went to the tomb that morning, and while they expected to find Jesus in the tomb, they instead found an angel rolling away the stone, and the angel was inviting them in to “Come, see the place where they laid him.” The women were invited in to view the new reality, to be amazed at what Christ had done, to witness the evidence that death was no more. The reality they expected to find had been shattered by this new reality, the one where life is the answer to the questions death raises.

After they were invited to come and See, they were sent to go and tell. The new reality into which they had stepped needed to be shared, and they were invited to step into this new way of life, where the good news of Christ's resurrection is meant to be shared with the world around them. Come and see, the angel says. Go and tell, the angel says.

And through it all, do not be afraid. The angel tells them not to fear, and the resurrected Jesus tells them the same thing. They have nothing to fear. This new reality is not laced with sin and death and fear and worry like the old one. Now that they have seen the new way of life, where the shackles of death no longer have power, they have nothing left to fear, for the Christ who conquers shall walk with them and give them the strength to overcome any obstacle that confronts them. They have no need to fear, for God is faithful and true. Note what the angel says—He has been raised, just as he said! What Jesus says is true—and if he can be trusted as to his own resurrection, he can be trusted with ours as well.

Come and see that God is stronger than death.

Go and tell that you are invited into this new reality.

And in all things, be not afraid!