27
March 2005 St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
The
Resurrection of our Lord Vienna, VA
Jesu Juva
“Do Not Be Afraid!”
Text: Matthew 28:1-10 (Colossians 3:1-4)
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father,
and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Fear. It is one of the most powerful and crippling
emotions we have. Sometimes our fears
are rational and reasonable, like fearing the power of nature; and sometimes
they are not, like my fear of heights!
Sometimes our fears are disabling, and prevent us from taking part in
things with others; and sometimes we can overcome them with a little
courage. But one thing is for sure –
when you’re locked in fear’s grip, when it has a hold of you, it is a very real
and powerful thing, and it can be overwhelming.
And
that’s true not only of our personal fears, but the fears that we face in the
world. I think of the fear that people
living under oppressive dictators must feel.
The fear that existed in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, or in
the Soviet Union, or under Hitler in Nazi Germany. And then there is the fear of the unknown.
What does the future hold? What is the doctor going to tell me? What will life be like without my loved one? Will terrorism strike on our soil again? Am I going to suffer? How am I going to die? And when? And what will it be like?
And
you know, that’s a lot of fear to deal with! And how much more is there that I haven’t
even mentioned! Almost enough to make
you wonder how we can live!
Now
I guess there are two ways to deal with it.
The first way is to ignore it, and just pretend none of that stuff
exists. Ignorance is bliss, and if those
things make me afraid, well, I’m just not going to think about them. And that might work . . . for a while. But it’s just not that easy to ignore life,
and to shut out what we see happening around us. The truth is, this method never works for
long, although it seems to be the most popular and widely-used method.
But
there is another way, a better way, a permanent way, and that is what we
are here celebrating today. For it is
not to ignore our fears, but to know and trust and rejoice that we have a God
and Saviour who has dealt with everything that
causes us to fear. He has come and
conquered everything that is against us.
He has come and faced our enemies, and defeated them. And so He comes this morning, triumphant from
the grave, triumphant over death, triumphant over our sins, and triumphant over
the devil! And thus victorious, He has a
very simple message for us – spoken first by the angel, and then by Jesus
Himself. The message of what Easter is
all about: “Do not be afraid.”
Now
you’re probably thinking, “I’ve heard that before!” And it’s true, because we often tell each
other that, trying to help each other out.
But when we say it, it really doesn’t make much difference, does
it? We pat each other on the arm, or
give a warm smile, and say “Don’t be afraid” – but if you’re the person
who’s afraid, you’re thinking, “Easy for you to say!” You’re not the one facing this! . . .
But today the One saying those words is the One who faced our
fears. He is the One who confronted
whatever it is that is causing your fear, and defeated it. No sin, no wickedness, no enemy, no trouble,
no disease, no hatred, no division, not anything in all creation escaped His
victory! When Jesus rose from the dead
on Easter morning, nothing was left that was not under His feet. That was not under His control. That was not under His authority and power
and His good and gracious will. Nothing. And so when this
One, this Jesus, our risen Saviour, says “Do
not be afraid” it does make a difference!
For
what causes our fear? Really? Is it not the fact that we are not the
ones in control? Things can happen to us
that we cannot prevent and that we would rather not have happen. Things that seem too big
and overwhelming and frightening.
Things that leave us wondering what the future will hold, and unsure of
how it’s all going to turn out. And so
simply having someone tell us “Don’t be afraid!”
really doesn’t help because it really doesn’t change anything! . . .
But Jesus did change that!
In fact, He changed everything.
And though we are not in control, He is. And He is not just as the almighty God – for
God’s strength can be quite frightening too!
The strength and power of natural disasters, for example, can leave us
in fear and awe of the power of God! No,
the fact that God is in control because He is almighty doesn’t take away our
fear. But the fact that Jesus, as our
suffering Servant, as our suffering Saviour, as a
man like us, is in control – that is a wondrous thing! For as a man, as our serving Saviour, He knows our fears – He faced them too. He knows our troubles – He had them too. He knows the pain – He endured it too. He knows the sins and temptation – He
wrestled with them too. And He knows
much more than we will ever know. The full, all-out assault of Satan against Him. The weight of all the horrors of all the world’s sin on His shoulders. Being completely ignored and forsaken by His
Father. Being utterly
alone to face our enemy, with no one to help. And then, like us, facing and entering death,
relying solely on faith: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
(Lk 23:46) He faced it all.
And
today, He is alive! He could not
be defeated, but defeated all – all that came against Him, the full fury
of sin, death, and devil. And He
won! And so when He says to us today, “Do
not be afraid” – those are not mere words, but words that do what they
say! Words filled with the power of His
resurrection. Words filled with
forgiveness. Words filled with
victory. Words that
give us hope – and not just for a life after this one, but for our lives
already here and now. Knowing that we have a Saviour who is in
control. A Saviour who loves us and laid down His life for us. A Saviour who is
risen for us and who is ruling all things for us. “Do not be afraid!” Your King who
entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday humble and riding on a donkey, now enters our
world and our lives glorious and victorious, with not just palm branches and
cloaks under His feet, but with all our enemies under His feet!
Now,
our enemy doesn’t like that truth so much, and so is going to try to convince
you that it isn’t so. And while we do
not need to be afraid of Him any longer, He can still talk a mean game. And He can be pretty convincing. Telling us how bad and sinful we are. Convincing us how great and powerful our
troubles are. Getting
us to doubt the love and control of our Saviour. For just look around you, he says! Just look!
You don’t look so victorious! Its all just talk.
Just talk, is all it is. You
should still be afraid. I’m the
powerful one, after all. . . . And
sometimes it looks that way, doesn’t it?
As if God’s not in control.
And we get afraid. And confused. And
things don’t seem so clear. It happens
to all of us. Just ask the ladies who
went to the tomb that Easter morning.
And
so the words of the apostle Paul from the Epistle are good for us to hear as
well. For they help us understand, and
see things – not as the devil wants us to see them! – but
as they really are. For Paul said: “If
then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth. For you have
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then
you also will appear with him in glory.”
Your
life is hidden with Christ in God.
Your enemy wants you to rely on what you can see – the sin and evil in
the world, the sin and evil in your heart, the troubles and fears, the
confusion and doubts – and he says, SEE!
I TOLD YOU SO!
But
no! Today we point to the empty
tomb, to our risen Lord, and say to Satan: NO, HE TOLD YOU SO! He told you He would crush your head, and He
did. He told you He would rise and
conquer death, and He did. He told you
He would destroy your stronghold, hell, and He did. He told you He would forgive my sin, and He
did. You can do nothing. Nothing. You have no power. And although my life, my victory, and my sonship is hidden now, it is
real. I know that my Redeemer
lives! And I have nothing to fear.
And that, dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
is the confidence that we have because of this day, Easter Day. And so no
matter what you are facing in your life – whatever challenges, whatever fears,
whatever doubts, whatever uncertainties, whatever enemies – “Do not be
afraid.” Your Saviour has triumphed.
And He is here for you, triumphing still. Here hidden – His body and blood hidden in,
with, and under the bread and the wine of Holy Communion; hidden under the
words of His Word and Absolution; hidden under the water of His Baptism – but
here. Really here. And in control. Forgiving our sin, giving
you faith, treading your enemy underfoot, and providing you all that you need. And saying to you, “Do
not be afraid.”
Now
to close, I have to give an example, and credit where credit is due for this
sermon. Oh, I wrote it! But it was really inspired and taught to me
by my mother, a few weeks ago. For a few
days after her funeral, my father was looking through some of her things, and
in her Bible he found a small slip of paper – like this one. (I made a copy of it!) It was stuck in the pages of Matthew chapter
28, the Holy Gospel that we heard today.
And on it was written just a few words.
It said:
Do
not be afraid.
Matthew
28:5-6.
Hospice.
What
are you facing in your life right now?
What seems too big to handle? Too great to forgive?
Too strong, too overwhelming, too . . . what? “But the angel said to the women,
"Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.
Come, see the place where he lay.”
Easter
means we have a Saviour who is risen
from the dead, who is victorious, who is in control, who has won! Do not be afraid. For Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.