Come and See, Go and Tell
Matthew 28:1–10
March 23, 2008
University Christian Church, Seattle, WA
Rev. Sandy Messick

There’s a chill in the dawn air as you step out onto your porch on Sunday morning. You have your coffee cup in hand, or, since this is Seattle, you have your nonfat grande white chocolate mocha, double shot, extra hot, no whip. Anyway, you are prepared to watch the coming new day. As you look to the east, the sky is just beginning to show light. Not even a color as yet, but soon, the sky begins to turn a pale yellow, then pink, and then a brilliant orange. And just when you think it can’t possibly get any brighter or more beautiful, the glowing red tip of the sun peeks up over the horizon. Sunrise. A new day has begun. And without your even noticing, a sigh escapes your lips. Ahh!

Now you know that somewhere out there, there is a scientific explanation for what you’ve just seen, for why the sky turns such brilliant colors. But you don’t waste time looking for it. You don’t need to know. You just celebrate the beauty of the miracle before you.

Easter is like that. The resurrection. Jesus who was dead made alive again. Somehow. Some way. Jesus, who was crucified and buried in front of witnesses is alive! And we don’t know exactly how it happened, or how to explain it. We simply celebrate the beauty of the miracle before us.

And make no mistake. Something did happen. Like the man who was visiting the Grand Canyon for the first time. As he looked around at this huge hole in the ground, and at the splendor of the sight lying before him, he slowly nodded his head. “Oh yes,” he said, “Something happened here.”

Easter Sunday. The empty tomb. Something happened here. All four of the gospels proclaim that something happened on that morning of the first day of the week. And Matthew, the gospel writer for our scripture reading today, wants us to know, even more than the others, that something big happened here. For Matthew it wasn’t a quiet event. And it wasn’t a peaceful event. And it wasn’t a subtle event. In Matthew the something happened in a big way, with an earthquake and a stone that rolled away and a heavenly presence that looked like lightning. In Matthew it was an event so incredible that the guards posted at the tomb fainted dead away and the women who had come with their spices ready for a burial shook with fear. Something happened here.

And we can spend our time trying to analyze exactly what the something was. And we can write books describing or explaining or debating all of the details, but to do so would be to miss the point. The point for Matthew, and for the other Gospel writers, and for those who believe is that in the resurrection story something happened.

And that something is hope. In the resurrection of Easter, God made a way when there was no way. God triumphed over the darkness of death, the despair of overwhelming grief, the hopelessness of betrayal and crucifixion. God triumphed over the tragedy of a good man being killed for his faithfulness and promised that such a death would not be the end of the story, that God has more to say on that. God offers life in the face of darkness.

The resurrection wasn’t the footnote, the epilogue to the story of the crucifixion. No the resurrection was the main event. And yet so often we live as Good Friday people instead of Easter Sunday people. So often we live as a people without hope, caught up in our despair and discouragement. Caught up in the realities of the world we live in, a world at war, a country facing recession, a culture still fraught with racism. Homelessness is seen in the faces on our street corners and written on cardboard signs. Children are caught up in abusive homes. People die of cancer or disease or malnutrition or lack of clean drinking water. We read the newspaper and scan the headlines and it is all too easy to be Good Friday people experiencing only the despair and pain of crucifixion. A people without hope.

But the Easter message is the promise from God that God will not leave us in Good Friday. Easter is the promise that after the darkness comes the light. And after the despair comes the hope. Easter is God’s way of saying that death will not have the final word, that God will make a way.

That’s what happened to those women when they came to the tomb that morning. Caught up in the despair of all that had gone before, coming to the tomb because they couldn’t let go. And instead of being left in their grief, they were met instead with God’s declaration that something was happening here. When they trembled with fear, the angel met them and said, “Do not be afraid. The story isn’t over. Jesus isn’t here but goes before you. Come and see….Come and see.” God’s message is the same for us. “Come and see…the story continues. Spring has sprung. New life abounds. God will offer us possibilities and promise and something beyond the present despair. Come and see….Come and see.”

But the angels had more to say to those women. It isn’t enough to just come and see. The angel continues: “Now go and tell. Go and tell the disciples that Jesus yet lives and is going ahead of them to Galilee.” It’s an important point that first the angel and then Jesus himself says that Jesus will meet them in Galilee. Because Galilee was home. It was the place where they lived their everyday lives. “Go and tell the disciples that Jesus will meet them where they live, and where they work, and where they deal with all of the trials and tribulations and business and joys and sorrows of life. Go and tell Jesus’ friends that where you are in the ordinary places, that is where Christ will meet you. Go and tell the disciples that Christ is still in our midst and lives among us.”

God says the same to us. Come and see. Come here to this place and experience the risen Christ. Come, be baptized in these waters and experience the love of a God who claims you as God’s own. Come here to this table and eat of the bread of life and drink from the cup of salvation. Come, gather in the company of those who believe and draw strength from their faithfulness, and learn from their stories, and meet Christ in the living presence of the Body of Christ.

Then Go and Tell. Don’t keep the message to your self. Because there are still those who need to hear the good news. There are still those who are living in Good Friday’s hopelessness. There are still those who are beaten down by sorrow, and forsaken by the world. There are still those who are hungry and thirsty and lonely and afraid. There are corners of the world where despair is the order of the day and hope is a meaningless word. Go and tell, because the world is sorely in need of good news. The story of the resurrection. The Easter proclamation. That darkness does not have the final word. That the powers that be will not finally rule the day. That over all the hate that the world can produce, love still proves more powerful. That in the midst of death, new life can spring forth. Go and tell, because the news is too good to keep to ourselves.

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!