Sermon on Matthew 28:1-10
At Steeleville, one of the churches I served before coming here, there was hanging in the fellowship hall a picture that I always found odd. It was of an angel, but certainly not a biblical one. It wasn’t picture that would be out of place in almost any fellowship hall of any Caucasian church. It was a blonde woman in a long, flowing, white robe, radiating with light. I can’t remember if she had a literal halo.
That’s the image of angels we have in our culture. Beautiful women, chubby infants with wings, Michael Landon–these non-threatening, reassuring types are what we think of when we think of angels. From Raphael’s cherubs to greeting cards, angels are, to us, visions of beauty and compassion, protecting us, watching over us.
I can’t think of any less biblical image of an angel than something peaceful. According to Isaiah, they are terrifying creatures. He calls them Seraphim, a Hebrew word meaning fiery or poisonous serpents. They have six wings or six garments, depending on how you translate the word, and they use four of them to cover themselves and two to fly. Since they are snake-like, I would imagine the wings to be scaley, not feathered. Perhaps they look more like something from the cover of a Dungeons and Dragons book than a Thomas Kinkaid painting.
Like most biblical concepts and characters, what exactly angels were seemed to change over the generations. We don’t really get a description of the angel that appears in this morning’s reading, except that his “appearance was like lightning” and his “garment was as white as snow”. We do know that he was so terrifying that even the Roman guards posted to Jesus’ tomb were afraid of him. These would have been men who had seen battle and survived, who had killed, who had walked among the fields of dead comrades, and this angel scares them. So much for the strength of Rome, if Rome is scared of even God’s messenger.
Whenever an angel appears in the scriptures, it is almost always with the greeting, “Do not be afraid.” If angels are beautiful creatures with harps and halos, pulling us out of harm’s way and reassuring us when we need it, why would they greet us by telling us there is no need for fear? I wonder what type of conversation took place between the angel and the guards before the two Marys arrived at the tomb. Certainly he would have proclaimed the resurrection to the guards, as well, but their terror prevented them from hearing. They were too afraid to be able to hear the good news.
When angels appear to humans, it is to deliver a message from God. Messages from God are not easy to believe. Even later in this same chapter of Matthew, we learn that some of the disciples doubt the message of the resurrection even as the are worshiping Jesus at the mountain in Galilee. One angel delivered a message that Sarah would have a son, which she found so hard to believe that she laughed. One angel delivered a message that a virgin named Mary would have a son, and he would be called Son of the Most High. All of these are pretty difficult messages to believe.
I’m sure that the angel told the guards not to be afraid, but they were still frightened. They were not open to the gospel. However, when the angel told Mary and that other Mary not to be afraid, they listened. They came to the tomb in mourning and in despair. Their teacher, their friend, their loved one had been killed. They were on their way to prepare him for internment, a necessary but sorrowful task. They arrive at the tomb to find their friend missing and a terrifying vision in his place. But when this vision, this fiery serpent, this messenger of God tells them not to be afraid, they listen. And, in the act of listening to God’s word, they were changed. They were transformed from creatures of fear and sorrow to creatures of joy and exaltation. They were so excited that they could not wait to share the message of the resurrection with the other disciples, and, forgetting their sorrow, ran into town with “fear and great joy”.
It’s interesting to think that their fear did not leave them, even after the angel told them not to be afraid. Even with that commandment, they were still afraid. However, unlike the guards, who were left petrified at the tomb by their fear, they didn’t let their fear stop them from obeying God’s instruction that they share the good news of the resurrection with the other disciples. Instead of obeying fear, they obeyed love, following God’s commandment.
One of the most highly-rated and successful movies that came out last year was a long-awaited project by one of my favorite directors. It was nominated for everything from “Best Picture” to “Best Editing” and was on almost every major critic’s top ten of 2007 list. It was called There Will Be Blood, and that title also seems to me a warning about Holy Week services. The hymns will all be about blood atonement, the prayers will be about being washed in the blood (which frankly sounds pretty unpleasant to me), and after a few worship services of this content one starts to feel, if you’ll pardon my saying it, rather sticky. But the Easter story, the gospel, the good news that God has for all humanity, is not about blood. The good news is about the transformative power of obeying God.
There seems to be a tendency to use the resurrection as proof of Jesus’ divinity. If he came back from the dead, the argument goes, he must be the Son of God. But I don’t think that this is the right way around. As we read about the early church, the resurrection appearances, and the teachings of the apostles, we see a pattern begin to emerge. It isn’t that those who believe in the resurrection come to accept Jesus’ teachings–it’s that those who listen to Jesus, those who really understand his teachings–those people really believe in the resurrection.
Like the guards at the tomb, if all they know of is the actual resurrection, it means nothing. The guards, who had been at the tomb since Jesus was moved there, also knew of the resurrection. They believed in the resurrected Christ, but it made no difference to them. They stayed at their posts, obeying Rome, to afraid to share the good news.
The teachings of Jesus don’t make sense because of the resurrection. The resurrection makes sense because of the teachings of Jesus. Jesus was Emmanuel, God-with-us, throughout his life. The way he lived and the way he taught others to live showed the revealed the presence of God to those around him and, thank God, to us. The resurrection wasn’t some magical event that appeased an angry, vengeful God. It was the full revelation of God to humanity, the revelation that following the teachings of Jesus leads to life.
This leads us back to those women, those disciples who went to his tomb to prepare him for burial. The real miracle of this Easter lesson comes from them. Throughout his ministry, Jesus taught about abundant life. Through humility and love we encounter a God who gives life even in the midst of death. It should come as no surprise that Jesus was telling the truth, and that even in death Jesus leads us to abundant life. That isn’t shocking.
What is surprising is the women. These women didn’t argue with the angel, saying that such things were impossible. They didn’t say these things happen, but not to people like us. Instead, they remembered what Jesus had taught them. When the angel spoke to them to tell them about the resurrection, they listened. They obeyed. And they were transformed. That is the real miracle of Easter morning, that ordinary people like us can be transformed through the word of God.
We live in a dying world, in a dying culture. Through our word, the world is being transformed into a wasteland. We consume resources like locusts and leave deserts behind us. Through our word, billions of people are finding death, not life. We bring death in war, in environmental devastation, in unjust trade practices. We offer consumerism as a means of fulfillment, selling lust as a drug and promising that only good things come from greed. Just as through the word of God humans may find life, through the word of humanity all may find death. Even we who claim the name Christian fall prey to these promises. Even Christians look for happiness in new cars or new clothes, in food and drink and entertainment.
We buy into those promises, so it is no wonder that we, like those women at the tomb, feel defeated. We come here today in sorrow and in pain. Like the guards at the tomb, we gather together full of fear. When the angel speaks to us, we can respond like either group. The guards experienced resurrection just as surely as the women did. The knew the reality of the living God, and they witnessed the promise of abundant life. They believed in Jesus, if you will. But it meant nothing to them. Their fear, their complacency, their trust in Rome kept them silent.
The women, however, remembered their friend Jesus and what he had taught them. They listened to the word of God. They obeyed the word of God. They came to the tomb full of despair and trusting only in death, but because they obeyed the word of God they were transformed. They came to the tomb depressed, but because they were faithful, because they obeyed the word of God, they were transformed into heralds, bearers of the gospel, bringers of joy and celebration.
We have the same choice. We can continue to plod along in our daily lives, believing the promises of Rome. We can work and spend and work and spend and wonder why we aren’t happy. Or we can go out and actually try doing what God commands of us. We can go out in love and openness. Instead of gluttony we can embrace humility. Instead of greed we can embrace self-sacrifice. We can remember what God has taught us, and we can be full of joy.
What are the consequences of our choices? The guards remained at the tomb. They remained at the place of death, surrounded by corpses and decay. The women “left the tomb quickly, full of fear and great joy”. And when they did, the living God entered their lives. They became the first humans to speak to the resurrected Christ. In obeying God, they encountered God. The guards’ reward? A life among death. The women’s award? The joy of a life celebrated with the living God. All because they listened to the word of God. All because they did what God asked of them. For the grace to follow them in discipleship, thanks be to God. Amen.