12

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

As you would imagine, different preachers take different approaches to Easter preaching. And in the years that I’ve been preaching on Easter Sunday, my approach has mostly been to try and let the story come at us in a fresh way. As familiar as the story is, in preparing an Easter sermon I try to just read it as if I were reading it for the first time, and then focus on what strikes me as most important.

This year what struck me is the phrase near the end of the text when, as instructed by the angel, the women were running from the empty tomb to tell the disciples, and Jesus met them. He said, “Greetings!” Well, that’s the way our Bible translates the word. But mostly when that same word is translated in the New Testament, it means “rejoice!”[1] “Rejoice,” says Jesus, “because this is a happy moment.” Then the text says, “And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.”

That’s the sentence that got me this year. They came to Jesus, grabbed him, and worshiped. The women had a Worship Encounter with Jesus. All through Lent we looked at various ways we encounter Jesus. The women at the empty tomb had a Worship Encounter. I think that is mighty important to talk about today, because that is also how we encounter Jesus. In fact, that’s happening right now. We are in worship. The risen Jesus Christ is here. So let’s take a few minutes to think about what it means to encounter Jesus in worship.

It turns out that worship is a pivotal concept in Matthew’s Gospel. At the beginning of the gospel the Magi from the East follow the star to where the baby Jesus is so they can present gifts to him, pay him homage, and worship him.[2] Old, evil King Herod hears about that and tries to trick the Magi into disclosing where Jesus is on the false premise that he also wants to pay homage and worship.[3] The Magi weren’t fooled by Herod’s evil schemes but they knew the direction to worship Jesus. Because, you see, worshiping the Lord provides our direction in life.

Fred Craddock tells of pastoring a church in Tennessee where there was a girl about seven years old who came to church regularly for Sunday school. Sometimes her parents let her stay for the worship service but they never came. The family had moved from New Jersey and were upwardly mobile types. Both parents were very ambitious and they didn’t come to church.

But on Saturday nights, the whole town knew of their parties. They gave parties, not for entertainment, but as part of the upwardly mobile thing. Of course, the “right” people were always invited. And those parties were full of drinking and wild and vulgar things. Everybody knew that. But then there was their beautiful little girl, every Sunday.

One Sunday morning Fred looked out and she was there with some others. He thought, “Well, she’s with her friends,” but it was her Mom and Dad. After the sermon, as was the custom at that church, came an invitation to discipleship, and Mr. and Mrs. Mom and Dad came to the front. They confessed faith in Christ. Afterwards Fred asked, “What prompted this?”

They said, “Well, we had one last night again, and it got a little loud, it got a little rough, and there was too much drinking. The noise woke up our daughter and she came downstairs to about the third step. She saw that we were eating and drinking and she said, ‘Oh, can I say the blessing? God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. Good-night, everybody!’ She went back upstairs.”

Everyone started saying they had to go, they had stayed too long. “Within two minutes the room was empty.”

Mr. and Mrs. Mom and Dad began cleaning up, picking up crumpled napkins and wasted and spilled peanuts and half sandwiches, and taking empty glasses on trays to the kitchen. And with two trays, he and she met on either side of the sink, they looked at each other, and he expressed what both were thinking: “Where do we think we’re going?”[4]

Worship also provides our hope. Another mention of worship in Matthew’s Gospel was when the disciples were out in a boat in a storm and Jesus comes to be with them by walking on the water. Jesus said to take heart because he is with them and the text tells us they worshiped him.[5] Given their extreme circumstances, not much surprise about that!

A young student pastor named Tex Evans once noticed that whenever he walked past a certain house, the owner was always whistling while he worked in his lush garden with its brilliantly colored flowers and green vegetables. One day in a conversation with one of his own parishioners, Tex mentioned his curiosity about old Mr. Gentry and asked why he always whistled so loudly while working in the yard. His friend suggested that he stop by and visit Mr. Gentry and find out for himself.

So a few days later he opened the garden gate and introduced himself to the retired gardener. During the conversation, Tex glanced up and saw an elderly woman sitting placidly on the porch in a wheel chair. Finally he summoned enough courage to ask Mr. Gentry why he whistled so steadily and loudly.

Then Tex Evans learned that the elderly woman was Mrs. Gentry and she was crippled and blind. Mr. Gentry whistled for the benefit of his wife. He wanted her to know that he was nearby. He wanted her to know that he was mindful of her, that he would never leave her, and that she wasn’t alone. He was available and would go to her the moment she called.[6]

Though infinitely greater, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a little like Mr. Gentry’s whistling. It affirms that there is something stable, something permanent in creation that will not be defeated by human sin and evil.[7] The resurrection means that Jesus is with us and we are never alone. To worship him, therefore, provides our hope.

Worship also provides our voice. The third mention of worshiping Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel is today’s text. Mary and the other Mary grabbed Jesus’ feet and worshiped. That worship provided them the voice to be the first witnesses of the empty tomb.

Tom Long tells about finding himself at a dinner party at which one of the guests was a prominent church leader from a former Iron Curtain country. The Soviet Union had collapsed a few years before and Eastern European countries were then beginning to put democratic reforms into place.

The dinner guests peppered this man with questions about what church life had been like in the Soviet era, and he answered them with candor and unaccustomed freedom. He spoke encouragingly of the vibrant faith and courageous commitment of the Christians in his land, but he also described the years of fear, of being watched and under suspicion in a controlled society.

“KGB-type agents infiltrated the church,” he said. “We would go to church meetings and know that some of the pastors present were really agents posing as clergy, listening to what we said, reporting everything. There were spies in our midst.”

“Oh, they were, but we could tell,” he replied. “There was something in their voice that gave them away.”[8]

Something in their voice. There is something about people’s voices that reveals the truth about them. What a person says, how a person says it, and the very sound of the voice all reveal the truth. And if we worship Jesus Christ the world will hear in our voices the truth that we live by faith, hope, and love. Worshiping Jesus provides our voice.

Finally, worship provides our courage. There is one other mention of worship in Matthew. After the resurrection, Jesus told the eleven remaining disciples to meet him in Galilee. When they did, we’re told this: “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”[9] Isn’t that interesting? Even after the resurrection, even amongst the original disciples, some doubted. That’s important because I don’t know any honest Christian who doesn’t have doubts. In fact, without doubts our faith is shallow. But worshiping provides us courage to face our doubts and fears, to move ahead and do what is right.

I read a story last week about a school teacher who was assigned to visit children in a large city hospital when they were hospitalized for various illnesses or accidents. She received a call to visit a certain boy and wrote down his name and room number. She was told by the teacher calling her, “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now. I’d be grateful if you could help him with his homework, so he doesn’t fall behind the others.”

It wasn’t until the visiting teacher got outside the boy’s room that she realized that it was located in the hospital’s burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a young boy horribly burned and in great pain.

The teacher felt that she couldn’t just turn around and walk out. And with a quick, silent prayer — Oh, God! Help me! — she stammered awkwardly, “I’m the hospital teacher and your teacher sent me to help you with nouns and adverbs.”

The boy was in so much pain that he barely responded. The young teacher felt ashamed at putting him through such a senseless exercise. She doubted it would do any good. But somehow God gave her the courage to stumble through the English lesson.

The next morning when she went back, a nurse on the burn unit asked her, “What did you do to that boy?”

Before the teacher could finish blurting out her apologies, the nurse interrupted her: “You don’t understand. We’ve been very worried about him. But ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back; he’s responding to treatment. It’s as if he has decided to live.”

The boy later explained that he had completely given up hope until he saw the teacher. It all changed when he came to a simple realization. With joyful tears, the boy said: “They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a boy who was dying, would they?”[10]

We all have doubts. We all face situations that seem hopeless. Worshiping Jesus provides our courage to do what is right.

There was an East Indian Jesuit named Tony de Mello who used to tell a story about disciples gathered around their master, asking him endless questions about God. And the master said that anything we say about God is just words, because God is unknowable. One disciple asked, “Then why do we make statements about God at all?” and the master replied, “Why does the bird sing? She sings not because she has a statement but because she has a song.”[11]

Encountering Jesus Christ in worship provides our direction, our hope, our voice, and our courage. In very truth it gives us a song to sing not just today but through all eternity. Thanks be to God.

[1] The Greek text of Matthew 5.12 reads: cai÷rete kai« aÓgallia◊sqe, o¢ti oJ misqo\ß uJmw◊n polu\ß e˙n toi√ß oujranoi√ß: ou¢twß ga»r e˙di÷wxan tou\ß profh/taß tou\ß pro\ uJmw◊n. Matthew 28.9a reads: kai« i˙dou\ ∆Ihsouvß uJph/nthsen aujtai√ß le÷gwn: cai÷rete. The NRSV translates those verses as: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” And “Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” Elsewhere the New Testament translates same word as follows: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10.20) “Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13.11) “And in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2.18) “Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.” (Phil. 3.1a) “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4.4) “Rejoice always.” (1 Thessalonians 5.16) “But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4.13)

[2] “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” (Matthew 2.2)

[3] Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” (2.8)

[4] Fred B. Craddock, Craddock Stories, Mike Graves and Richard F. Ward, eds., (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2001) 23-24.

[5] And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (14.33)

[6] Floyd W. Thatcher, ed., The Gift of Easter (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1976) 108-109.

[7] Donald William Dotterer, Living the Easter Faith (Lima, OH: CSS Publishing Co., 1994) 16.

[8] Thomas G. Long, Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004) 157-158.

[9] When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. (28.17)

[10] Dotterer, 16.

[11] Anne Lamott, Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year (New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1993) 180-181.