So…
If the resurrection is true, what are you doing about it?
The Sabbath was over. The sun was up and a new day had dawned, and the women decided to go and make a difference.
It wasn’t really a big surprise. They were the ones up all the time early to see to household chores. This day, once the Sabbath restriction on travel was lifted, they gathered together and wandered off to find Jesus gave.
Other gospel writers tell us that the women wanted to anoint Jesus body and I’m sure that was part of the mission they had chosen for themselves.
But Matthew didn’t seem to care much about that!
Rather, what mattered to Matthew was what they saw, what they experienced, what they became the very first witnesses to, the resurrection!
Women in the first century didn’t get a lot of credit.
In court, women were not considered reliable witness. But here, Matthew wants us to get it straight. They went, they saw, they testified; and in the church, the Christian community has always believed the testimony of the women, because in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female.
They felt the ground treble and shake. They saw the stone roll away. They saw the angel and heard his words. They saw the big, strong, rugged soldiers faint and fall. They ran to tell the other disciples.
And they saw Jesus and hugged him, alive!
Make no mistake, they knew, Jesus was raised from death by the power of God and now they needed to get busy making a difference.
No more hiding. No more worrying. No more wondering if it was all real and if Jesus’ teachings were God’s word to them and to us. He was alive! And it changed everything!
So…
If the resurrection is true, what are you doing about it?
The resurrection, you see, completely disrupted everyone’s understand of how death was to work. Death was unstoppable. If the situation was grim, you prayed, but you stopped doing. It was like a huge mudslide headed down the ravine. You got out of the way. You didn’t try to stop it.
But now, knowing that death wasn’t the only option meant that the struggle for life, a full life was part of what following Jesus was all about!
The resurrection completely blew the doors off the disciples thinking!
I mean, do you see what I mean?
They couldn’t keep living in a way that suggested that death had the upper hand. Instead, they needed to live and love boldly, because that is exactly what God had done through Jesus, even when faced with what appeared to be insurmountable odds, even when facing death itself.
A deathly point of view is one that looks at the problems and gives up
A resurrection point of view sees that there are always ways to bring new life, to make things better, to alleviate suffering, to bring healing and dignity to folks who are weighed down by death.
But the power of death is broken!
We can love boldly!
Living resurrection means not giving in to the status quo, but rather always looking for a way to bring God’s power into the lives of others.
Always seeing possibilities. Always moving forward. Never giving up.
Because for three days they all had thought it was over.
But he is risen. He is risen indeed!
Turn to someone in the pew and say, God wants you to make a difference!
That’s it!
God wants you to Love Bold, Care Boldly. Hope Boldly, and Give Boldly.
Don’t be scared. God has your back. And so do all we who believe.
Because…
He is risen!
So…
If the resurrection is true, what are you doing about it?
Amen.
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