EASTER DAY 2005
March 27, 2005
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. M. Anthony Seel, Jr.
Matthew 28:1-10
“Resurrection Life “
When I was in seminary in the late 80s we read a book entitled Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? It is a written presentation of a debate that took place in 1985 between Christian scholar Gary Habermas and the renowned British philosopher Antony Flew. Flew has been called the “world’s most influential philosophical atheist,” but that has changed, according to ABC News and other sources.
Flew’s father was a famous Methodist preacher in England and the first non-Anglican to earn a doctorate in theology from Oxford University, and so, the son’s rejection of faith at age 15 must have been a terrible burden to the family. When Flew was in college at Oxford he attended a weekly religious forum chaired by C.S. Lewis. But even C. S. Lewis, whom Flew calls “by far the most powerful of Christian apologists” of the last sixty years of the 20th century, did not convince Flew of the truth of the Christian faith.
In a new video of a symposium in New York City last May, Flew said that the recent discoveries of biologists’ studying DNA "has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce (life), that intelligence must have been involved."
Here we are, twenty years later, and how things have changed! Antony Flew has not yet become a professing Christian, but neither does he continue as an atheist. Flew at age 81 is as committed as ever to going to “where the evidence leads,” and he has come to understand that a universe as varied and complex as ours requires a creator.
While Flew has not yet embraced the Christian faith, he does recognize that there are good reasons to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Maybe that’s as good as it gets at this point after nearly 70 years as a convinced atheist. In our gospel lesson today, two women are presented with the best reason of all to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
vv. 1-2 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
There was not much optimism on that first Easter morning as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, probably the mother of Joseph and James, approached the tomb of Jesus. It was still dark, but the day was dawning as the women venture toward the tomb. The two Marys went there with the items they needed to embalm the dead body that they expected to find there.
What they experience at the tomb is totally unexpected. First, there is an earthquake. Matthew mentions an earthquake when Jesus died, and again an earthquake at the empty tomb, and both of these violent natural events mark a supernatural one that shook the world, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.
Speaking of the angel, Matthew continues
vv. 3-4 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
The angel’s appearance, in the sense of his arrival at the tomb and also in the sense of what he looked like completely traumatized the guards. In a beautiful irony, Jesus, the one presumed dead is alive, and the two guards, presumed to be alive, “became like dead men.”
vv. 5-8 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. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
“Do not be afraid,” said the angel to the two women, but they were afraid. There was a strangeness to this whole scene, and the women could not help but be afraid. The heavenly visitor was enough to provoke fear, and this combined with the discovery that the body of Jesus no longer was no longer in the tomb gave plenty of cause for fear.
The angel’s message to the brave women is precisely what Jesus told His followers would happen when He predicted His crucifixion. “He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.” After telling the women that Jesus is alive, the angel instructs the women to “go quickly and tell his disciples.” The message that they are given to deliver to Christ’s other followers is this: “that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.”
As Christ’s followers, there are times when we wonder, as the women at the empty tomb must have wondered, where is he? There are times when we can question whether Christ is really present with us. Having heard the message of the angel, the women at the empty tomb must have wanted to see Christ with their own eyes.
The women at the tomb must have wondered about the angel’s message, is it true? It seems too strange and too good to be true. Is He really alive? How could he be? Will we see Him again. The angel says that we will. Is this really happening? It seems so surreal.
The women fled the tomb in haste, “afraid yet filled with joy.” We can understand this odd mixture of feelings, fear and joy. They were fearful because of what they did not understand, yet still, they had an inexpressible joy. In this stage of “it might be, it could be, I hope it is, they are encounter Jesus along the way.
vv. 9-10 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
Only the women who went to the tomb have the privilege of seeing Jesus now. The others will have to travel to Galilee to see for themselves.
One of the challenges of the gospel is to work through our questions and doubts until we find a point of resolution. That is what the former atheist Antony Flew did. He looked at the evidence and he moved in the direction where it led him. He is not yet a Christian believer, but think about how much closer he is from where he came. How remarkable it is that a convinced atheist like Antony Flew would embrace God after so many years.
If we stay in our questions and doubts and never deal with them, we are agnostics. Agnosticism is a state of irresponsibility in the face of so much evidence that points to a reasonable faith in Jesus Christ. If we can work through our uncertainties, then we are acting not only with resolve, but also with integrity. It is eternally important, from the Christian point of view, that we give a serious and honest look at the gospel according to Jesus Christ.
When I was a young boy, one Spring break our family went on vacation to Disney world. On the way down my mother told my three sisters and me that she would get each of us a souvenir. I decided that I wanted a T-shirt. The T-shirt that I envisioned was one that said Walt Disney World and would have Mickey Mouse on it. I didn’t know whether such a T-shirt existed, but that was what I wanted.
The closer that we got to Disney World, the more we saw Disney World souvenirs in the places where we stopped. I saw T-shirts with Mickey Mouse and T-shirts that said Walt Disney World, but not the two together on one shirt. I wondered whether what I was looking for even existed. Faith can be like that. We can wonder whether what we believe is true or not. When we arrived at Disney World, I found exactly what I was looking for.
A long time ago, in the eleventh century to be exact, there lived a monk who became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a man of deep faith, as you might imagine, and also a great theologian. The great Anselm of Canterbury said
God cannot be conceived not to exist – God is that, than which
nothing greater can be conceived.- That which can be conceived
not to exist is not God.
Anselm went on to say that something or someone that we can dream up with our minds isn’t as great as something or someone who exists both in our mind and in reality. But, you could argue that we could believe in something that doesn’t exist, like pink elephants or unicorns, and our believing doesn’t make them exist. The question still is, is Christianity true?
C.S. Lewis said, “Christianity is a statement, which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing is cannot be is moderately important.” [Timeless of Heart]
For any here who believe that the resurrection is an impossible dream, consider this: The New Testament records ten resurrection appearances of Jesus. Non-biblical materials, including non-Christian works, carry reports of the risen Christ appearing during the forty days following His resurrection.
According to the Apostle Paul, He was seen in a variety of places by more than 500 people over a six-week period. Christ’s resurrection dramatically changed their lives. These witnesses risked their lives to tell others about their experience of the risen Jesus. Many of these witnesses died a martyr’s death.
The Easter story in our gospel lesson does not end with two terrified women fleeing the tomb. It continues with those same women meeting their resurrected Lord. Jesus continues to be present with us in the power of the Holy Spirit that He has given to every believing Christian.
Easter is not just a feel-good Sunday on a secular calendar. Easter is a celebration of the power of God to transform lives. First, Jesus Christ went from the humility and suffering of the cross to the power and glory or resurrected life. Now we are offered resurrection life as a gift from God. Resurrection life comes to us as we accept the gift of God that comes through His Son, Jesus Christ.
This Lent, a number of our adults participated in a study called “Experiencing God,” based on the book by that title. The sub-title of that book is “How to Live the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing the Will of God.” This full adventure begins for each of us when we give Jesus Christ first place in our lives. Jesus Christ is alive and He lives to give you new life through the power of His Holy Spirit.
If you have never given control of your life to Jesus Christ, today is an excellent day to do so. If you have strayed from Him, invite Jesus back into your life. Allow the power of Easter resurrection life to be the main story of your life. Easter is more than a feel-good day on the calendar. It is about the most powerful gift in the world, the gift of God to all who will believe and put their trust in His Son, Jesus Christ.
He who raised Jesus from the grave can do some amazing things in your life too.
Did Jesus rise from the dead? I can confidently proclaim that He did because I have experienced Him in my life. Many here today can make the same affirmation. In fact, He has risen in the lives of countless millions throughout human history and He lives today to give new life to anyone who asks Him for it.
Just ask anyone who has experienced the life-giving power of Jesus Christ. He is alive. He gives His life to us, and through Him we are able to live the full adventure of life that God has set out for us. Thanks be to God!
Let us pray.
Almighty God, who through your Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
