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Life Renewed, Gathered to Love

I often try to imagine what it must have been like to witness that first Easter morning at the tomb. When I was in Jerusalem a couple of years ago and we sat in the area that many believe was the place of the tomb, I imagined what it might have been like to be sitting out of sight but watching what happened. Imagine it’s dark and the sun is just about to rise. You can see that red glow just beginning to shine in the horizon. Then in the darkness you see two women heading toward Jesus’ tomb. There are guards around the tomb and they begin to move toward the women to see what they want when suddenly, the earth begins to rumble and shake and as you look you see a glow descending from the sky above and as that glow gets closer, you see it’s an angel and he goes to the tomb and he pushes away the boulder that is covering the entrance to the tomb. The guards who just seconds before were bravely heading toward the women, are frozen in there tracks, almost as if they were dead and the angel speaks to the women announcing to them that their Lord has been raised from the dead and he invites them to look in the empty tomb. As they look in the tomb the angel instructs the women to quickly leave and go tell the disciples the good news and have them return to Galilee and gather there where they will meet the Risen Jesus. Can you imagine the feelings and emotions those women experienced that morning? Mathew says, they were filled with both fear and great joy!

You know as I read Matthew’s version again this year, I was struck by something that I have not paid a lot of attention to before. The angel said that the Resurrected Jesus wanted his disciples to travel to Galilee before he would appear to them. Jesus wanted his disciples to travel some 120 miles and go back to their home area of Galilee before he will appear to them. That seems a little excessive, doesn’t it? I mean the disciples were already gathered in Jerusalem. He showed himself to the two women. Why not just go and show himself to the rest of the disciples?

But the more I thought about it and the more I prayed and studied with this story, I came to an important realization. I think it has to do with why, and how, the disciples were gathered. You see, on that first Easter morning, the disciples, as we will hear next week, were secretly gathered in a locked room in Jerusalem and they were gathered there because they were sacred and filled with fear for their lives. They were gathered there with no hope of ever being with Jesus again and they were gathered there unsure of what they would do now. They were gathered there, so that they would not have to interact with the outside world.

In contrast, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, although I am sure they had some fear in going to the tomb, did not fear for their lives, apparently. Instead, they were willing to face the guards so that they might serve their Lord. Oh, they didn’t go expecting to see Jesus alive, but they did go and they did not let fear rule them and I would argue that the promise of the Resurrection is that we no longer have to allow fear to rule our lives. We do not have to fear the world that rejects Jesus, or us at times, because Jesus is alive and in him we have been given a renewed life and a renewed strength to proclaim him as our Lord. We no longer have to gather in secret and in fear.

Jesus wants his disciples to get out of that place of fear, both physically and mentally, so that they might gather in joy, in hope and in the promise that when they gather again, they will gather in the presence of their Lord. Instead of gathering in fear, the Resurrected Jesus will challenge his disciples to gather in joy, with hope and with purpose.

Gathering in communities of believers is critical to our faith and why we gather is just as critical. As we will hear over the next five weeks in the Season of Easter there is a reason Jesus wants us to gather and it is not because we need to earn our salvation, or to avoid being a sinner, or to learn how to believe properly. No, we Christians gather so that we might come to experience the presence of the Resurrected Lord in the Word, in the sacraments and in community. When Jesus eventually shows himself to the disciples, the gathering is not about right beliefs and moral teachings, but instead it will be about gathering to be strengthened to experience a new way of living. Instead of gathering in fear and not knowing what to do, Jesus desires we gather in joy and the confidence that through him, we will be strengthened to do whatever God desires of us.

You know one of the joys and drawbacks of being a pastor, is that people, especially strangers, love to confess their life stories to me. Usually when I first meet someone, or if I see someone whom I haven’t seen in a while, one of the first things I hear is why these folks don’t attend worship or haven’t been to worship in a long time. For most people who don’t worship regularly, their rationale to me is that they absolutely believe in God and they live good moral lives, but they just don’t think they need to go to church. they can worship God outside or at home and besides there are a lot of issues in the church. These excuses, we all use at some point in our lives, are valid for our lives, but my response is usually something like, but none of this is why we ought to gather as a community to worship. We attend worship so that we might experience the Resurrected Christ, for he promised where two or more or gathered in his name, he would be present. We attend worship so that we might learn about our Lord and his way of living. We attend worship so that we might experience a new life in the community in which we belong. We gather so that we might be renewed and strengthened each week to face this scary, fear-filled world confident that we need not fear anything. But ultimately we gather regular in worship because Jesus said to gather.

Brothers and sisters, regardless of your personal reason for being here today, I pray that in some way you experience the Resurrected Lord. It might be in the Word as it was read, or now as it is being interpreted. You might experience Christ in the people around you, or as you come to the table to receive his body and blood in the bread and the wine. It might be in the prayers or in the music, but know that Christ is present and we know this because he has said it was so.

Today, we gather because we celebrate the truth that our Lord over came death for us and by doing so offered us a renewed life and in that renewed life, we now know there is no reason to be afraid anymore. There is no need to gather in fear, but instead, he says wherever you go, I will go ahead of you and be there when you gather. I pray this Easter Season is filled with joy for you and that you know that when you have that feeling of fear, remember that we are called to overcome our fears by gathering in love in the presence of our Lord. And we can do this because he is risen. Amen.

Tags: Sermons