Creekside Church Sermon of April 15, 2001 "The Death of Fear" Matthew 28:1-10	Rev. David Bibbee
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For preachers, Easter is a pressure-packed Sunday. On Easter people come with great expectations. If the preacher has anything worthwhile to say, he or she better say it. Easter is one Sunday when people want to connect with the message. Pastors also put themselves under pressure on Easter. An average sermon won’t do. There are more people listening. If you’re going to hit the homerun ball, this is the day to do it. You’re being counted on to deliver the goods.

But I don’t get as keyed up over Easter as I once did. I don’t drain my brain like I did before trying to articulate Easter in a new way by saying something that’s never been said before. I’ll try not to lose your attention, but my main responsibility is to get out of the road and allow the story of Jesus’ resurrection to tell itself.

Twenty years ago the writer Kirk Vonnegut preached a sermon in a New York City Episcopal church. In his sermon he said, "I know what Delilah really did to Samson to make him weak as a baby. She didn’t need to cut off his hair. All she had to do was break his concentration." Throughout history this has been the world’s best tool for weakening the Church’s witness. Get church people preoccupied with other matters. Divert their attention. Break their concentration from things that matter with things below.

God devised a scheme to reclaim our concentration...something more than an idea, or a new twist on truth. Something spectacular was necessary. It would take an earthquake, at least a 7 on the Richter Scale, an angel in majestic raiment and a back strong enough to roll away the stone from Jesus’ tomb. Matthew says he sat on the stone like a throne, scaring the Roman guards to death and comforting the women, telling them that Jesus would be found nowhere among the dead. "He is alive...already on the way to Galilee! That’s where you will see him!" The resurrection was God’s way of getting our attention.

People who have grieved the death of loved ones often say they were unprepared for another unanticipated loss. Sometmes after only a few days we forget the sound of the loved one’s voice. Some say that without a picture, the memory of the face begins to fade. Maybe this is what it was like for those closest to Jesus. The disciples were hidden behind locked doors, afraid, trying to make sense of it all, wondering what to do next. The two Marys, who were the only disciples left, were determined that Jesus would have a proper burial, despite the guards, the stone, and Jesus’ mutilated, decomposing body.

What were they thinking as they walked to the tomb in the dark before dawn? Wondering how they would get over their grief? Going back to the lives they led before Jesus came along? Trying to remember his voice? Whatever their thoughts, God grabbed their attention. Easter is God’s way of telling the world, "Pay attention, everybody! Listen up. Death is not final. It isn’t all there is. I have something to tell you!"

If you have not done it before, compare the Easter stories from each of the four gospels. You will find some discrepancies. Who was first on the scene? Mary Magdalene and the other Mary? Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome? Was it Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna and the other women? Or, as John’s gospel records, was it just Mary Magdalene? Who did the women find at the tomb? An angel descending from heaven? A young man in a white robe? Two men in dazzling clothes? Two angels in white? If the compilers of the New Testament wanted to make a compelling case for the resurrection, wouldn’t you think the gospels would be consistent with one another? But maybe the fact that their details do not line up is in itself a compelling argument that something spectacular happened. they felt fine with letting the differences of the stories be.

All four gospels agree about two things. One, Jesus was raised from the ded. And two, "fear not" "Don't dawdle around the dead. Go quickly! Tell his disciples he is arisen, alive and well and headed for Galilee and there you will see him." Matthew says the women were filled with fear and great joy. They had been since Friday, then come Sunday they were face to face with an angel. Fear and joy. Then, as they hurried back, Jesus himself stood before them. "Greetings!" he says. That translates, "Howdy!" Jesus repeats the instructions of the angel. "Tell my brothers to stop hiding and go to Galilee. There they will see me." But before this Jesus repeated the words of the angel. "Don't be afraid." The good news of Jesus' resurrection isn't good news unless, like the women, we run with it. It does nothing if we hear it, then leave it. Easter is just another dress-up day unless the resurrection takes root within us. The power of Easter becomes real when you use what God has given, to do what you can and must, without fearing failure. Easter transformed the disciples. They developed spines and possessed courage, conviction, and power. But we would know none of this if the first words of Easter had not been heeded..."Fear not."

Shortly after he had been released from 25 years in a South African prison, Nelson Mandela was interviewed by David Frost. He asked Mandela his formula for a lasting peace in South Africa. Mandela replied that peace, "would not come from diplomacy, nor the military, nor would economic power guarantee peace in his troubled land. It would be the death of fear...the fear of oneself, the fear of the other, the fear of the unknown, fear of the everyday circumstances of one's life; white, colored, and black. The death of fear would be the beginning of life."

Fear grinds life to a halt. The resurrection did not just bring an end to the fear of death. It brought about the death of fear. Years ago in a famous fireside speech, Franklin Roosevelt told the nation, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." But, and all these years later there is still a lot of fear of fear in the world.

There once lived a very wise man known as Jacob the Baker. From far and wide people sought his wisdom on issues of great importance. One day a respected man in the community came to see Jacob, hoping for an end of his burden. The man had a repetitive dream he did not understand. "Jacob, in my dream I have traveled a long distance to a great city. But at the entrance I am always met by a tall soldier who tells me I must answer a question before I'm admitted. Will you help me?" Jacob agreed. The question is, "What supports the walls of this city?" "That's easy," Jacob replied. "Fear supports the walls of the city." "But what supports fear?" Jacob responded, "The wall. The fears we cannot climb become our walls." Certainly one of the truths of Easter is that death does not have the final say. Faith in Jesus' resurrection helps us overcome the fear of death. But the fear of death is not the only fear. As one contemporary songwriter put it, "Dying is easy. It's living that scares me to death."

So much of our lives are organized around our fears. It may not be a specific fear, just an ominous feeling that often sweeps over us. I confess that I am one of the fearful. My administrative assistant Denise asked if this sermon dealt with fear because I know it so well. "Not if you didn't give me cause to be frightened," I replied. I recently returned to the office from hospital visitation. I was looking for Denise but couldn't find her. She wasn't at her desk. I called her name, no response. After looking around I returned to the office and what I saw made my heart leap into my mouth. Two legs were on the floor sticking out from under her desk. Motionless. Immediately, fear fed my thoughts. "Someone whacked her!" "Denise?" I said. No response. "Denise, are you alright!" Then there was movement. "Sure, I'm alright." "But what are you doing on the floor?" "I'm reconnecting the lines to my computer. Did you think something happened to me?" "No, no...my heart always beats 130 beats a minute and my complexion is usually sheet white!" Denise laughed uncontrollably. I had instantly concluded the worst.

I admit it. I'm too anxious. I too often let my fears overwhelm me. But I've got company. What pushes your fear alarm? Is it a fear that you'll be discovered and not turn out to be the person others think you are? Are you afraid of others' high assessment of your abilities and anxious of what they will think when you fail? Are you afraid you're a fraud? Is it the fear of failure, or perhaps the fear that you will succeed? Are you afraid you'll be fired, or promoted? Are you afraid to take off your mask because you're sure people will turn away? Are you afraid to love because you're afraid you'll be hurt? Are you afraid that the beliefs you've based your life upon aren't true? Are you afraid that God does not exist? Or are you afraid of what will happen if you should hand your life over to God?

You have seen the young people who wear the T-shirts that say, "Fear this!" In my imagination I see myself confronting one of these people saying, "Look, Buster, I've got all the fears I can handle as it is, and I don't need you telling me to fear one more thing!"

If Easter has anything at all to say, then it most certainly is..."Fear not. You no longer need allow fear to run your life." Jesus said, "Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life...don't worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself...fear not, for I have overcome the world."

The value of Easter Sunday is not gauged by what happens to you here. It has nothing to do with how enjoyable the music was. What matters most is what becomes of you after you leave the service. Will Easter leave with you?

Before we can be free to live, we must be freed from fear. Death is a given. We will all get around to it sooner or later. What is not a given is whether we will live while we are alive. Will we live and love and serve and enjoy the blessings of life which Jesus' resurrection makes possible?

"Embalm and lay them to rest. Jesus is raised from the dead. He's going ahead of us into Galilee, into life, into the future...and there you will see him." He has walked the path before you. You do not need to fear walking it. He went to the cross. We don't need to fear the cross. He went to his death. We need not fear death. He has promised he will be waiting for us. We do not need to fear the future. His spirit inhabits all of life. Therefore, we do not need to fear life. Today belongs to those who believe that Jesus' resurrection has resulted in the death of fear.

A man who was hungry for the deeper things of life met Jesus on a lonely stretch of road. He asked him, "Lord, after you performed the miracle of the bread and fish which fed all those people, you told your disciples to gather up all the fragments so that nothing would be lost. What are the fragments that must be gathered up so that nothing will be lost?" Jesus gazed at the seeker and answered, "The fragments are your fears which multiply like loaves and fishes and fill more baskets than you can carry by yourself. These must not be lost. Instead, they must be brought to me, so that I may bear them for you."

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