Do Not Be Afraid
Matthew 28:1-10
…the angel said, “Do not be afraid…Jesus said, “Do not be afraid… vs. 5, 10
Easter dawns with an earthquake and bright lights. The shadow of the cross is no more. God has overcome death and sends God’s messenger to announce Good News. Dead is no longer dead. The grave is empty. Jesus moves toward his home base in Galilee.
The situation and the news engender fear in the guards who “secured” the grave. An angel confronts the women visiting the grave. They are also frightened. And why not? Any encounter with the divine brings with it fear. Angels always have to lead with, “Do not be afraid.” The divine, the holy, is so different, so foreign that fear is the natural response. Yet…Do not be afraid. The holy one comes not to harm but to heal, comes not to condemn but to save, comes not to bring despair but hope. “He is not here. He is risen. He goes before you…”
It’s not all over. It’s a beginning. The disciples go back to where it all started, to Galilee. They go back home again to what they know. But now nothing is the same. Jesus will meet them on their home turf and then send them out into the world.
Annie Lamott said it best when she said, “God meets us where we are, but doesn’t leave us there.” God is always meeting us in comfortable places. Yet, we are sent again and again to “the least of these,” for they are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, in prison. We go among them to meet God, to meet Jesus who is risen from the dead.
Easter brings resurrection light. True, the shadow of the cross still lies across our lives, but our lives are also lit with the powerful light of the resurrection. We come to celebrate with gratitude the God who is in both the shadow and the light.
We may not be able to gather to worship, but we still celebrate the presence of the living God in our world. Our celebration includes being the body of Christ in the world—Christ’s hands, feet, mouth, heart in the world. Christ is risen! He lives in the least of these! Alleluia!
Prayer prompt: God of new life, of resurrection and presence, we give thanks for the ways you come among us to cast out fear. You call us to face our fear with love for one another. So equip us and empower us that we may live out the new life you have given us. We pray in the name of the crucified and risen Christ. Amen.
...the least of these... 