Continuing this series on the uncontrolling love of God (Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God), I'm quoting from Patricia Adams Farmer and her sermon on Matthew 28:1-10:
"I have always associated earthquakes with fear and destruction...in this passage in Matthew, we discover another kind of quaking -- the kind that wakes us up, gets our attention, jolts us out of our everyday assumptions about the world. These are the earthquakes that break open tightly closed minds and hearts--the kind of quake that issues forth new life and fresh possibilities.
"The Easter story in Matthew begins with this kind of earthquake: a quaking of pure wonder, awe, astonishment...(the text says that) 'they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy.'
"With this astonishing news (of an empty tomb), we are jolted out of our limited vision of ourselves and our world...This is the earthquake of Easter: it shakes us out of our everyday world with its heartbreaks, injustices, and might-makes-right philosophies; it cracks open an astonishing world of divine possibility and spiritual treasure...
"When the world values brute force and violence, we are astonished to see that, after all the destruction and suffering, it is love that survives -- love that triumphs. Love is the greatest power in the universe because God is love...
"But moving from death to resurrection, from darkness into light, from the world as it is to the world as it might be, is not as easy as it sounds...when fear becomes the master of our lives and lodges itself like a boulder inside our psyche, our worldview, even our religious life, it keeps us prisoners inside tombs of spiritual darkness. Such intrenched fear leads to depression and despair or mutates into hate and us-vs-them worldviews.
"Twice in this passage in Matthew, we hear the words: 'Do not be afraid.' Radical transformation can be a scary thing. Fear is more familiar so we cling to what we know best. But in order to meet the risen Christ...we must, like the two Marys, muster the courage to move past that heavy boulder of hard stultifying fear, and accept the divine invitation to enter a world of fresh imaginings..."