Creekside Church Sermon of March 31, 2002 "The Day the Earth Shook" Matthew 28:1-10	Rev. David Bibbee
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Easter is not a story. Easter is four stories as told by the gospel writers. Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. Comparing their accounts does not form a seamless story of the Easter Event. They do not agree on the details of who was first at the tomb. The number of angels and contents of their messages, vary. What happened when the eye-witnesses told the disciples differs. In the original ending of Mark's gospel no one saw Jesus, and the women who went to the tomb were so terrified that Mark says, "They said nothing to anyone."

But rather than make the accounts consistent in details, those who compiled the books of the Bible let the differences stand as they were, side by side. Beyond their differences the gospels agree on one fundamental point -- something incredible happened to Jesus that shook the world. The famous film director, Cecil B. DeMille, was asked about his philosophy of film making. "It is very simple," he said. "I start with an earthquake and work up to a climax." It was also Matthew's philosophy of writing.

For Matthew, Jesus' resurrection was not subtle. A victory had been snatched from the jaws of death. What had been accepted as inevitable, was no more.

Has anyone here been in an earthquake? A 96-year-old resident at Timbercrest named LeRoy Fish took a trip to the west coast by himself. His family was concerned, but it didn't deter Leroy. While in San Francisco, an earthquake struck. Large sections of expressway heaved, buckled, and collapsed. An upper section at Candle Stick Park caved in. When news of the quake aired on TV, LeRoy's family worried. They would have been worried sick if they had known where he was at the time -- caught in a traffic jam on the Golden Gate Bridge. It shuddered and swayed, but sustained no damage. After LeRoy returned I asked him, "How did the earthquake affect you?" He grinned and said, "Let me put it this way…it got my attention!"

Easter is God's way of getting our attention. The disciples shared something in common. They did not expect the resurrection. They were not parked at the tomb, checking their watches and saying, "It should be any moment now." His death was such a shock.

But something more "shocking" happened. Easter morning did not sneak up on the disciples, as someone said, "like little cat feet in a fog." Easter hits us in the dace. It contradicts the way we have been told the world works. The world was about to get a "good shaking."

On Easter Sunday I wish we could worship in a church built upon the San Andrais fault, that seismic hot spot in California. We would flock to church with our Easter finery and familiarity: expecting the chancel to look like a cavalcade of flowers expecting everyone to be decked out like mannequins at Marshall Fields; expecting the pastor to talk about Easter in terms of the return of the robins, the blooming of crocuses and daffodils, and beautiful butterflies emerging from their brown paper cocoons; expecting everything to be painted in pretty pastels, and afterwards, chocolate bunnies, boiled eggs, and ham.

Wouldn't it be something if we were on a fault line right here? Sitting prim and proper, our feet would detect vibrations through the floor, quickly turning into violent shaking. The chandeliers would flicker and swing from the ceiling like monkeys in a tree. Hymnals would jump from their holders. The pews would buck us every which way like rodeo bulls. The offering plates would turn into moving targets our money couldn't hit. Maybe then we would have a hint of how it was when the angel rolled the rock, perched upon it and told the two Marys, "Don't be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here anymore. He's been raised from the dead."

The women had not expected to see a vacancy sign over the tomb entrance. A tombstone was no longer necessary. Last Sunday on the Public Radio program "Car Talk," Tom and Ray were reading some of the crazy stuff that appear in classified ads. My favorite one read, "Slightly used tombstone. Ideally suited for anyone named Homer Henkleberg." Apparently Homer didn't need it any more. No one expected the resurrection. Maybe they didn't want it either.

If Jesus was alive, it meant the things they thought were constants, weren't. They would have to look at the world through corrective lenses. "Lo in the grave he lay." Death took on God's son and won. King of the Hill still…they thought. Jesus was dead. There was no sense hoping for anything. They hated death, but at least they know what to expect from now on. No surprises. What will be will be. It would be hard getting used to life without him. When they first heard the news they didn't believe it. Maybe they didn't really want a resurrection. If Jesus was alive, who would want to face him, given their mass desertion? It would be easier to hear, "Come pay your last respects. Ladies. Do your grieving and get over it."

As you were getting ready to come here this morning, were you aware of any expectations? I know a reason most of you are here. You are here because you are here every Sunday. I hope it is not the only reason. I hope you have come to be exposed to the Word, maybe Jesus himself. But did you bring any expectations with you today? You know that Easter brings folks to church who are not here every Sunday. Why? I could site some ungracious reasons, but there is one reason they come which would be good for all of us to have.

Of all the places to be on Easter morning, they come here. They are aware enough to know that on Easter, church is the right place to be. When in need, you go where the need will be met. If your are is broken, you go to the doctor. If your heart is broken, you look for a shoulder to cry on. Easter visitors may not be conscious of it, but they have a hunch that the church is the place to be on Easter. What are they looking for? Peter Gomes puts it like this: "They come because they are hungry and we are told by Jesus that when someone is hungry and thirsty, we should not offer stones in the place of bread. So what do we offer at Easter?

We don't offer explanations. The world has explanations for everything. Problem-solving is the task of life. When something is wrong, we apply ourselves, we fix it, and wait for the next problem to come along. To the world, the resurrection is a problem to be explained. It shouldn't be taken literally. There are reasonable explanations for it. The resurrection was a hoax. The disciples couldn't bear the fact that Jesus was gone, so they concocted the story. Jesus only lived in the collective memory of his followers. They would say, "Do you remember the day when Jesus…" They thought about him, and it made it seem as if he was in their presence. There are lots of explanations why the resurrection didn't happen…except…

How could a fabricated story give birth to the church and a 2,000 year old faith that has brought new life to countless numbers and changed the course of history? Hoaxes don't stand the test of time. Besides, the Gospels' description of the disciples makes it clear they were not smart enough to create such a story.

We don't come to church on Easter for explanations. We don't come for facts, either. Do you remember the television show Dragnet? When investigating a crime, Sargent Joe Friday was interested in one thing. His signature line was, "Just the facts, Ma'am." Sargent Friday would be frustrated investigating the resurrection if all that interested him were facts. No one saw Jesus come from the tomb. Rational explanations are full of holes. It is not facts we are after so we can pile them up and say, "Ohhhh…now I get it!"

Those who come to church at Easter are not after explanations. They are after an experience. They come to be shaken out of their perceptions so they will know for themselves the Man that death couldn't hold and discover a better, hopeful, meaningful life.

When I was a boy, Easter morning was special. I thought, "Maybe something will happen in church today." What better day could there be for something to happen? Anticipation is something that lots of us have lost. Did you come expecting an earthquake? God still uses the resurrection to get our attention. God is telling us we can live without all the answers. But not without the mystery that surrounds and lakes our lives far more interesting. It in the "experience" of the Christ we are after. We want to know for ourselves that he lives. We want to experience his life in our lives so we can live. We want to live with him.

We also want something else. We want to live without fear. There is no limit to what we fear. We fear being known for what we are, or what we aren't. We fear failure and we fear success. We fear that if we love someone, we will be hurt. We fear for our children. As much as we have sung, "Jesus loves me, this I know," we fear that he really doesn't. We fear we will spend the last days of our lives alone. Preachers fear that on Easter Sunday as they stand at the pulpit, a little voice will say, "It isn't real. You know the resurrection didn't happen, don't you? You just pretend you believe." And there is our ultimate fear…death.

Easter is God's way of getting our attention. Easter is God's way of responding to our fear of death by pronouncing the death of fear…the death of fear at the hands of Christ's perfect love.

After the great earthquake, the angel told the women, "Don't be afraid." Moments later they saw Jesus, very much alive and well. He shook them--into hope, and again they heard the words, "Don't be afraid."

Maybe you remember the incident that took place in 1989 involving a United 747 jet that had just take off from Hawaii, bound for New Zealand. The passengers had settled into sleep, read, or watch the featured film. Suddenly, 20 minutes into the flight, there was a "pop" and a 10 x 40 foot hole was torn from the fuselage and nine passengers were instantly sucked from the plane into the Pacific. The passengers found themselves staring into the Pacific night, holding on for dear life. Everyone thought the same thing--they were doomed. Still, the captain was doing everything he could. He dove to a lower altitude and began to turn the plane around. It smoked, shuddered and shook, an earthquake in the air. The passengers thought of those they loved. They frantically wrote notes to their families, telling them what was happening and how much they would miss them, and put the notes in their pockets in case their bodies were found.

Three hundred people prepared for the worst. How could they know that minutes later their plane would come to rest in Hawaii at the airport tarmac? How would these passengers react if they knew they would make it back safely? Would they have been consumed by anxiety? Would their blood pressure go off the scale? Would they have written the notes? Not if they already knew they were going to make it.

We're going to make it. The message of Easter is that whatever happens to us, the outcome is not in question. Confidence belongs to those who know the plane with land. Confidence belongs to those who know that where Christ is we shall be also. Confidence belongs to those who know that whatever may shake us, nothing will shake us from the foundation on which the resurrection has set us, and nor will separate us from the love of God which is ours in Jesus.

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