“Love Conquers Fear”      2011

Psalm 118:1-14      Matthew 28:1-10

 Psalm 118

1  O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!  2Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 3Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

4Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 5Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. 6With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me? 7The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. 9It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

10All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 11They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 12They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 13I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. 14The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

 

Matthew 28:1-10

28After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2And 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. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” 8So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

 

With the longer and warmer evenings of summer, when I was a boy,

            all the neighborhood kids would come out after dinner

                        and we'd gather to play games in the backyard together.

           

And one of the games that we liked to play was called, 'statues';

            in which the one who was 'it',  would take hold of another player's arm,

                        swing them around and around, and then suddenly let go.

 

            And they'd fly off,  stagger a few dizzy steps – then freeze,

                        and pose as a statue in whatever position

                                    the dizzy spinning around had caused them to land à

                  until the backyard was filed with contorted living statues.

 

            I can't remember why we thought that this was such a good game,

                        but I do remember that it seemed great fun at the time.

 

I guess it was a pretty good backyard game for children to play,

            but how unfortunate , and even tragic  when as adults,

                        having been so spun around and twisted by this world,

                                    we find ourselves flung like statues, frozen in place,                                                         afraid to move, to risk and go any further in life.

 

This world around us can be a very difficult and frightening place,

            life’s harsh events & circumstances can immobilize us with fear.

 

In these uncertain economic times, businesses fail, contracts end,

           and workers worry about keeping their jobs or finding another,

                  retired folks may feel less sure about their investments,

                        and church leaders struggle more with balancing the budget.

 

Politically and morally, we fear for our children and grandchildren,

            and what sort of world and nation they will inherit someday.

      There are no sure guarantees of future prosperity or good health,

               and our world can be a very frightening and disturbing place.

 

And worse than the actual dangers, troubles and worries we face,

            is the pervasive way    those fears can overwhelm and dominate us,

                        becoming a powerfully limiting and driving force thatà

                                    directs & restricts how live and how we see the world.

 

When fear is allowed to dominate our thinking and planning,

            we’ll pay any price to feel more safe and protected;

                        even if it’s a false image of security, as in the 1950’s

                                    when school children practiced huddling under desks

                                                as if that would help to reduce nuclear fallout.

 

Have you ever noticed that it was primarily fear that drove and forced

            the horrific events of the days preceding the first Easter?

 

The religious leaders

            were so afraid of Jesus, His teachings, and His influence,

               that they willingly broke God’s law, to murder an innocent man.

It was fear that caused the disciples to run and desert their Lord,

            and three times, Peter fearfully denied that he even knew Jesus.

 

Pilate the powerful ruling Roman governor,

            was so frightened by the crowd shouting at him

                        that he had Jesus brutally scourged and crucified,

                             despite having declared Jesus innocent of any crime.

            He knew it was totally wrong and a miscarriage of justice,

                        but yet he was afraid   to stand up and do the right thing.

 

Did you notice that the word, ‘fear’ or ‘afraid’,

            is used four times in just these ten verses of the Matthew text?

                        There is a lot of fear associated with the Easter story…

 

… as with the guards at the tomb, frightened by the earthquake,

            and by the angel of the Lord     who rolled back the stone & sat on it.

                        vs. 4    … For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.

Fear is a central and defining element of the Easter story,

            that also helps us understand the meaning and significance

                        of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 

The women who came to the tomb on that first Easter morning

            had seen the gruesome horror of Jesus brutalized and killed,

                        and hadn’t come expecting or even hoping for any good news.

 

But the point of the resurrection story, is that God wasn’t defeated.

 

            The tomb was empty because Jesus had been raised from the dead,

                        which meant that there was hope,  and no reason to fear,

                                    as the women at the tomb were told:  vs. 5-6

            the angel said to 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.

            God’s love & gracious purpose had conquered human sin & hatred.

 

But we may wonder, why did the resurrection of Jesus from the dead

            mean that the women should no longer be afraid?

 

            Why does that empty tomb make such a difference?

                    In what way is Easter God’s answer and solution to our fear?

 

One time, I was visiting

            an old Civil War cemetery just outside Petersburg, VA…

                        … and I noticed two things

                                    which help illustrate and explain the significance,

                                                the meaning and effect of Easter resurrection.

 

First,

    there is a huge stone archway at the entrance into the cemetery

        with these words carved across the top:    Awaiting The Reveille.

Though we may die, and someday we surely will,

            Jesus has promised,  that we shall awaken to eternal life.                         

Because Jesus has been raised;

            God has vindicated Jesus and all the things he said and did

                        demonstrating that his promises are true, including:

John 14:18-19, 3

            I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. I will not leave you orphaned; … because I live, you also will live.

 

Because Jesus has been raised;

            our fearful concerns about life and danger are overthrown…

                        … sustained by gracious love, God’s promises give us hope.

 

Apostle Paul described this truth of Easter, 1 Corinthians 15:54~57

            Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, … but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Easter resurrection means that God's love, promises and presence

            change and redefine everything about life and how we live,

                        and how we can deal with our fear, and all that confronts us.

 

The second thing I noticed at that cemetery in Petersburg,

            was a single tiny purple flower that had somehow managed

                        to push its way through a little crack in an old tombstone.

 

We all know that a tombstone is hard and impenetrable,

            and that it’s far more powerful than a petty little flower ----

                                    -- yet there it was, growing gloriously à

                                                and proclaiming the power of life over death…

            … just as the living and loving presence of Jesus

                        proclaims His victory over human sin and death.

 

Jesus came, died, and rose again from the dead, conquering fear,

            that we might have life more abundantly, now and forever more.

 

Though I can’t prove it,

            with any empirical or scientific proof that Jesus really arose…

… I do believe passionately in the bodily resurrection of Christ,

            not just as a Bible story or memory,   but as a living presence –

                        because in my own life,  I have experienced the risen Lord;

 

            - because my own life and everything about it

                        has been changed by the power and presence of God,

                 - because the truth of God’s gracious love and promises

                                    transforms how I deal with my fear and anxiety

                                                toward a better life of faith and hope and peace.

 

Since I let Easter and God’s love     instead of fear      define my life;

            I find that the closer and more faithfully I walk with God,

                        the more my experiences of God and faith   overcome my fear.

 

By the power of the resurrection as demonstrated through Christ,

            God has revealed his power to redeem and to save us,

                        which gives us renewed hope over our every worry and fear,

                              restoring to us the abundance and blessings God intends.

 

There was another neighborhood game we used play when I was a kid,

            another backyard game that we called,  'freeze tag'.

 

In freeze tag, the one who is it,      

            chases & touches the other players who freeze,

                        stop just as they are, frozen in place like a statue.

But if someone who hasn't been tagged can touch a frozen player,

            then they are 'unfrozen', released to run freely again.

 

So imagine a yard full of frozen statues

            but then one is touched, who touches another, who touches another

                        and then life and movement spreads out all over the yard.

 

So too Jesus touches our lives, his gracious presence gives us hope.

            His love empowering us to let go of our fearful and broken pasts,

                  freeing us and releasing us from whatever fear restrains us

                            to live a future that is filled with promise, joy and hope.

 

Easter celebrates God's loving presence, our comfort that enables us

      to live in hope beyond all our fear, pain and loss in this world;

            to live in hope, beyond all tragic appearances of death & defeat.

 

As the psalmist reminds us,   Psalm 118:1,5-6,14

            O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!  Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.  With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?  The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.