Jeremiah 31:1-6, Colossians 3:1-4, Matthew 28:1-10, Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Easter Day A

For our Prayers of the People this morning, our friend Eleanor Ward comes off the list of concerns and goes onto the list of those who have died.  Eleanor died Friday about midnight.  We’ve been praying for her for these many months since her diagnosis of lung cancer.  Eleanor was not a member of our parish; she had visited only a few times and was known to only a few of us. 

But, when Eleanor was stricken with severe breathing problems a few weeks ago, she reached out to her friends here – friends who faithfully gathered around her.  She knew she was very ill, and she was terribly afraid.  She needed to be assured of God’s presence with her; she needed to be assured that even though she had not had a close association with the Church, she was still loved by God.  She spoke of her love for God and her desire to follow his will.

Eleanor reached out in need of the Risen Christ who has fulfilled his promise of everlasting life.  As I read our Gospel lesson for this morning determining a direction for the sermon, I reflected on our discussion on my first visit to Eleanor in the ICU at Leigh.  We spoke of God’s most frequent command – a command we read hundreds of times throughout the Old and New Testament – “Do not be afraid.”  I believe, for most of us, this is the most difficult command to follow – trusting that God is truly the breath we breathe; Eleanor’s breaths came with great difficulty; perhaps she felt she was suffocating physically and spiritually.  The assurance of angels – friends and family gathered around her, surrounding her in prayer, was of great comfort.  God was present in these healing graces at this time of great fear and uncertainty.

Hundreds of times throughout the Bible, we hear, “Do not be afraid.”  These are the words of the angel to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as we have just read in our Gospel account from Matthew of Resurrection morning.  In the words of the angel whom these two women encounter, we hear echoes of other familiar joyous scripture.  We remember the angel Gabriel’s words to another Mary, the newly expectant mother of Jesus, when she was told she would bear a son – the Messiah – “Do not be afraid; you have found favor with God”; and, we remember the words to the shepherds as the angels appeared to them to announce the birth of Jesus.  “Do not be afraid; you will find the babe wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 

To Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the angel said, “Do not be afraid.  He has been raised.  He is not here.  Come, see the place where he lay.”

And, to their great amazement, as the women turned to run to share these glad tidings with the other disciples, Jesus, himself, appeared, and again we hear the words, this time from Jesus’ lips, “Do not be afraid.”  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were beginning to understand.  It was important that they go and gather the other followers – carry Jesus’ message that they were to gather in Galilee.  Jesus, their teacher and leader, had kept his promise.  He had overcome death and risen again.  All who believe would be gathered to him as one Body.

You have come this morning to gather with others to find and to share the assurance of this message of great joy – that Jesus Christ lies no longer in the grave.  Jesus Christ has risen to overcome death and evil and he gathers us to him, sustaining us with his ever-abiding presence, so that we are not to be afraid.

We arrive for worship as individuals or perhaps two by two as the women came; we come shouldering our earthly cares and fears.  As we gather with one another – friend or stranger, and as we worship and pray, we come to believe and understand bit by bit that we are one in the Body of Christ.  Living into our worship together, gathered as one, our fears are assuaged; in the place of our fear we find greater faith.

We gather in communion with one another to receive the Body and Blood of Christ; we become one in the mission of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ mission on earth was completed and perfected by his death and Resurrection.  The mission is ours to carry on.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Do not be afraid.

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Come and gather with him at His Table

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Go and tell the others.