When we moved into our North Seattle home over ten years ago, we moved into a nearly empty house. I say “nearly” because the previous residents left us a lawn mower, some tools, and an “Earthquake Preparedness Guide.” It is posted on the wall in the garage. I’m ever grateful for these precautionary measures laid out and what to do when the earthquake takes place. It is good to have around in case we get surprised by an earthquake.
There’s another part of me that wonders if you can ever really prepare for a surprise, especially something like an earthquake. We can do our best but we don’t know ahead of time the scale of the earthquake or what the damage might be. Even if it is forecast, it will still come as a surprise and it might upend your life.
Matthew includes an earthquake in his story of the Resurrection of Christ. And this earthquake comes as a big surprise signaling big change.
Mary Magdalene and another Mary went to the tomb and suddenly there was an earthquake. Then an angel appeared who rolled back the stone and the angel sat on the stone. The effect of the earthquake frightened everyone, especially those guarding the tomb. The guards fainted at the sight of the angel and they appeared to be dead. Makes sense. Earthquakes are kind of scary. Still, the angel wants to let the women know that they need not fear. “Do not be afraid,” the angel says.
In Matthew’s Gospel, these grand wonders or special effects don’t begin at the empty tomb. They begin a chapter earlier at the time of Jesus’ death. No sooner does Jesus breathe his last than the Temple Curtain is ripped in two, the dead begin to emerge from their graves, and the earth quakes. The first earthquake occurs at Jesus’ death and the second one at the tomb. The message seems clear: the death and resurrection of Jesus shook the earth.
When the foundations of the earth shake and the earth shifts there is change afoot. Listed under the rubric of “natural disasters,” some earthquakes can cause tremendous damage bringing about a not so great change. Often the damage leads to communities rebuilding and regrouping. That sort of change can lead to a kind of rebirth for people. Regardless the outcome, an earthquake can bring momentous change.
Besides the collateral damage of rocks splitting and guards fainting, the earthquake at the empty tomb proclaims something altogether different than destruction. This earthquake has caused a shift in the earth and the world has never been the same since.
Rocks split open, curtains torn in two and a rather forceful angel rolling back the stone from Jesus’ tomb signals not destruction, but life. The beginning of a brand new age. This is the real surprise here. No one could have prepared for this and did anyone even see it coming?
At the resurrection of Jesus the foundations of the earth were shaken. The world had changed, but the change is nothing to dread. If you’ve experienced the ground beneath you shaking you know how it can be a terrible fright. You feel out of control and other than hold on and hunkering down, there’s nothing you can do. Still, the angel says to the women, “Do not be afraid.” Why say this in what is normally a frightening experience?
Because Jesus is risen and had gone ahead of them. No need to be afraid. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead has shaken the foundations of the earth for good. Beyond the rocks split open and the guards cast to the ground, something was going on here. Something shifted. A new reign of grace and mercy began!
To be sure, the Kingdom of God had already broken into the world through Jesus. The mystery of his death and resurrection has changed the world for good.
The cover of your bulletin is called “The Harrowing of Hell.” In this icon you see split rocks, broken objects, and littered ground while Jesus is busy rescuing people from the depths of hell. The debris from the shaking of the earth is only secondary to the real action of the Risen Jesus being very busy. He is rescuing people from the depths of hell.
This big picture and today’s Gospel say that Easter is cosmic and the consequences of the Resurrection signal a new age of grace now completed in Christ. It touches every corner of the earth.
That’s important to remember. Oh, how often we forget.
We can make Easter puny by making Easter a private matter. We can view the Resurrection as something only for me. We can make it a private matter. We shrink Easter when we limit its effect to something that is private or only for the individual to secure his or hers place in heaven. When you make it about you then the earth shifting, world rocking event of Jesus’ Resurrection is eschewed or ignored and forgotten.
Faith in this Jesus, however, is to trust that the power of the Risen Christ is let loose in the world and that since the earth has shifted Easter is about something greater than any one person. Resurrection faith draws us to a community of believers and places us in the world of the neighbor. So, to walk in faith is to have the audacity to believe that, in spite of evidence to the contrary, Christ is indeed risen and there is rejoicing to be found in every inch of the world.
Last evening, in this very space, we gathered for the Easter Vigil. One of the wondrous pieces of the Easter Vigil is the ancient hymn known as the Exsultet or the Easter Proclamation. It is a stunning hymn of praise that summons not just the church, but all of heaven and all of earth to praise God. Why, there’s even a line in the Easter Proclamation that gives thanks to God for bees who helped make the melting wax of the Paschal Candle. The bees are acknowledge as God’s servants.
It’s not so different from the words that will be sung later at the altar and will continue to be sung throughout the season of Easter:
“And so, with Mary Magdalene and Peter and all the witnesses of the resurrection, with earth and sea and all their creatures, and with angels and archangels we praise your name and join their unending hymn…”
Yes, humans and creatures of earth and sky and sea. Trees and mountains and rivers clapping their hands. All of heaven and all of earth gives thanks and praise to God for the Resurrection has profoundly shifted the world for good!
Earlier in the reading from Acts we heard Peter’s testimony. “Truly God shows no partiality.” Since Jesus is risen, anyone anywhere is free to follow him and trust in him.
Along with Peter, we get to testify to the incredible mercy of God and, as the reading from Colossians reminds us, we are set free to seek the things that are above. Now, that doesn’t mean we live having our heads stuck in the clouds. It does mean that we live in the world without the deathly powers having reign over us and we are free to walk in newness: practicing gratitude, forgiveness, reconciliation, mutual love, mercy, and a spirit of openness instead of fear. Practitioners of fear put Jesus to death. These powers want us to live as greedy, self-centered, violent people seeking domination over others. These powers crowd in on us but in the Resurrection we see a life-giving power. The shifting of the earth due to the Resurrection is nothing less than God’s vindication of Jesus. We may freely live as Jesus lived.
Though the powers of hatred said “no” to Jesus, God said “yes” to Jesus. God’s “yes” was more than a heavenly nod. It shifted the earth.
Baptized into Christ, we are free to join in God’s “yes” …
- Jesus loved all people. The powers of death said no to this. God said yes.
- Jesus forgave sinners, hung out with them, dined with them, and welcomed them. The powers said no. God said yes.
- Jesus spoke the truth to abusive power without resorting to violence. The powers said no. God said yes.
- Jesus was a rebel rouser. He got himself and others into “good trouble.” When he broke the rules it wasn’t a defiance of tradition but situations that called for putting people first. Healing the suffering, rescuing the captive, and feeding the hungry even if it was on a Sabbath day was the first priority. The powers didn’t like that at all. They said no. God said yes.
- Jesus gave dignity to the poor and those cast aside. His was the way of mercy. The powers said no and God said yes.
- Jesus cast out demons. He met evil straight on. Such evil is embedded in our systems and communities where people seek control and domination. The powers said no. God said yes!
Friends in Christ: At the crucifixion and at the empty tomb the earth shifted and it has shifted in the direction of God’s “YES.” Christ is indeed risen.
We are free to bear witness to this good news and what a wonder it is to sing with all the earth and all of heaven in hymns of praise.
And we are free from fear. It wasn’t just the angel who counseled the women at the tomb to not be afraid. When Mary Magdalene and the other Mary ran from the tomb to tell the others the good news, Jesus himself met the women. “Greetings!” he said. “Do not be afraid.” Go and tell the others.
God has created a path for us to set aside fear, to embrace joy, and to tell the good news to friend and neighbor alike, the good news that is for all the world: Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Amen.