By: Pastor Brian Krause and Erin M Diericx
A sermon given on Matthew 28:1-10.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
I remember the day I had to go to the Candidacy Committee of my synod to meet with them about becoming a candidate for ministry. I had already graduated college and now I was preparing to go to seminary. I had written a detailed description of my life to that point. I had gone to see the Psychologist to have a Psychological exam. The results of that exam were in the hands of the candidacy committee. I was nervous about what the candidacy committee might ask me, and what they might do with the information they had in their hands. Would they find in my Psychological evaluation a reason to prevent me from entering candidacy and working towards becoming a minister? I was nervous about the interview, so I called one of my college professors, Phil Ruge-Jones. I told him I was nervous about the entrance interview for candidacy. I still remember what he told me that day. He told me that if this call I felt was from God, then God would be with me and help me with the interview. I went to the interview and soon realized that several members of the candidacy committee were members of my home congregation. They had known me all my life. The interview was very friendly, not contentious or intimidating as I thought it might be. In the end God was with me that day and God led me through the candidacy process so that I became an ordained minister.
Another time when I was a pastor in my first-call I had several students whom I led through the confirmation process. I remember one student I had who always seemed to be disinterested in the lesson I was teaching. If I asked him a question he never had the answer for me. The other students I had in the class would engage the material, but this one student seemed not to care. One night I even asked him to stay after class so that I could talk to him. I told him that confirmation was a religious ceremony, not an inalienable right. I needed to see him engaging the material and I needed to see that he was learning if he wanted to be confirmed. In that congregation they had a tradition of having the students come and speak with the church council before they were confirmed. I was nervous that this kid would do horrible. How would we deal with a student who clearly seemed like he could care less? What would his failure say about me as a pastor and teacher before the church council? The night of the council meeting arrived, and I was blown away. The student who seemed like he wasn’t learning anything and that he would rather be anywhere but in confirmation class actually answered the catechism questions correctly. The student also had intelligent answers for the more subjective questions. That night there was no question that the Holy Spirit had been at work creating faith in that student, even though I thought he didn’t care.
Erin M Diericx says…
Sometimes our biggest worries and fears are our biggest hurdles to overcome, at least for me. When we give into our worries and fears, we make a hurdle for God to help us and to reveal his plan for us. However, when we let go of our worries and fears, we break down the hurdle and let God work in amazing ways.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
For all intense and purposes Jesus ministry was over. Jesus had been arrested, tried and executed. How could anyone come back from that? The disciples were trying to figure out how to move on from this seemingly failed movement. Their leader was dead and buried, what more could possibly come of this Jesus movement? Just when all hope seemed lost, Jesus shows up again. Jesus rose from the dead and showed his disciples that he was indeed the Lord of Life.
Erin M Diericx says…
It must have felt hopeless, just like it does now. Jesus had died, and the disciples do not know what to do. They are hiding from the Jewish authorities in fear they will be arrested and crucified next. It was a scary situation as it is now.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day thought they had squashed this movement and maintained the status quo. The leader of the movement was dead and buried. What’s more, to prevent any claims that this would-be messiah had risen from the dead they had gone to Pilate and secured a guard of soldiers to watch the tomb. They sealed the stone and posted the guard to keep watch over it to prevent anyone from breaking in and stealing Jesus’ body. They had thought of everything to maintain the status quo and hold on to their power.
Erin M Diericx says…
Their sense of power is misguided and misdirected. The Pharisees think because they follow all of the Old Testament laws, they are good to go and will be permitted into the Kingdom of God. However, the Pharisees are missing how God is acting in a new way, which is redefining who is God’s family, who will enter the Kingdom of God, or even what happens when we die.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
The Pharisees had not thought, however, about the possibility that this one really was the Son of God and that God would raise him on the third day. There was no way they could have prevented that. The text tells us that as the women were walking to the tomb there was an earthquake. An angel descended from heaven, rolled away the stone and sat upon it. The soldiers who were tasked with securing the tomb shook in fear and became like dead men. The angel told the women to not be afraid for Jesus had been raised. God had achieved that which seemed impossible. The women even see the resurrected Jesus not long after receiving the message from the angel.
Erin M Diericx says…
I can only imagine the women’s emotions in this moment. “Huh? What are you talking about? What do you mean? Where is his body?” In John’s gospel, Mary even asks the gardener where Jesus’s body is. It is only when the gardener says her name that she realizes it is actually, really Jesus. Mary goes from being distressed and weeping to being overcome with joy and happiness that Jesus Christ has risen from the grave.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
It is amazing how God moves. Sometimes we think that God is absent and then all of a sudden we get a sign that God has been with us all along. We find ourselves in situations that seem hopeless and we wonder how we will get out of them, then God shows us a way that we never saw before. We sometimes deal with people who seem to resist God’s work and God’s call and we think that it is hopeless, then God moves to break down barriers that we thought were impenetrable. The story of Easter is the story of God breaking in to do the impossible.
Erin M Diericx says…
And Thanks be to God that he does break in and make the impossible possible. Without God, things would be hopeless, but he does not leave us to our own devices.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
The message of Easter is that God breaks into our world to bring life out of death, hope out of despair, and victory out of defeat. God turns the mourning of Jesus’ disciples into joy. Human beings had done their best to try to stop Jesus, but God would not be stopped. God’s plan for the salvation of the whole world could not be thwarted!
Today civilization seems to have been thwarted by an invisible enemy, the coronavirus. Many countries have shut down and ordered people to shelter in place to stop the spread of the virus. We wonder if things will ever get back to normal, or if this might be the end of civilization as we know it. How could something so small bring about so much destruction? It seems as if our dreams have been thwarted by a small pathogen. While things look bleak in the world around us this Easter we know that God has a plan for creation. Our plans may have been thwarted, at least for a time, but God’s plan for us will not be thwarted.
Erin M Diericx says…
God does have a plan for us; we just have to be patient and open to things becoming new again. God is presence in the world today. God is acting and making things new even now.
Pastor Brian Krause says…
God does have a plan to make all things new. God has a plan to give us eternal life. God has a kingdom for us where there is no more suffering, death, mourning, or pain. In God’s new kingdom we will know life forevermore. God’s plan to bring us to this new creation will not be thwarted. There is no plan or scheme of man that can throw a wrench in to God’s plans. There is no virus or bacteria that can make God’s kingdom crumble. Although our world is in the midst of mourning this day the death of thousands in this global pandemic, we know the God who brings life out of death, joy out of despair, and peace out of chaos. Today we may struggle to see how God is at work, but one day we will see what God has been doing all along. On that day we will celebrate Easter, not just for a day or even fifty days, but forevermore.
Erin M Diericx prays…
O Lord, Thank you for defeating the grave and for the blessing that you are always with us, even when we feel alone. We lift up the first responders, doctors, and nurses and other essential workers. Guide them and give them your wisdom. Comfort the sick, those on ventilators, and those who are actually dying. Hold them and give them your peace. We pray all these things in your holy name, amen!