Do Not Be Afraid: Reflections on an Easter Morning Sermon

by Dr. Everett Flanigan
Assistant to the Bishop/Director for Evangelical Mission

This year’s Easter morning sermon started out pretty much like many sermons I’ve heard over the years. I hear the sermons from a front row pew. You see, I’m a member of the choir, and at my home congregation, after the acclamation, choir members move from the steps of the altar to seats on the front row. You know the routine: the pastor moves into the center aisle, reads the gospel among the people, and delivers his sermon from there. And so it was on that morning the pastor recited the words,

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:5-6

Maybe it was Pastor’s position in the aisle, standing opposite to me; maybe it was the words of the gospel lesson; maybe his voice was unusually convincing that morning-what ever the reason, the “Do not be afraid!” caught my attention and stuck in my mind. Of course, I admit that my mind is known (by me only) to wander off into more interesting places during some sermons, but not this morning. Instead, I started to wonder “Where is this going?” For the words of the angel in that passage caught my attention and perhaps resonated with me because of my transitioning from the churchwide organization in Chicago to Southeastern Synod in Atlanta and all of life’s details that moves necessitate.

Moves involve change, and change is not always easy. Currently I am in temporary housing in Atlanta, with a home in south suburban Chicago waiting to be sold or rented; and so on any one day, I find myself in between houses, without the familiar; the books in my study, my noisy printer, the squirrels running across the roof in early morning. The seventy-four mile drive into the office in Chicago, had become routine and to some extent comforting! Deliberate doses of NPR and music bought a kind of tranquility and reflection that can only enjoyed on an eight lane toll way. I look forward to entering a similar comfort zone in the 10 mile drive to the synod office in Atlanta.

Jeff Manion in an insightful little book entitled: The Land Between, Finding God in Difficult Transitions, reminds us “Life is full of unwanted transitions. These transitions propel us in a land not the way things were, or not knowing what ultimately is in store for us. It is our response to this land that will determine whether our journey through the desert will result in deep, lasting growth or prove destructive to the soul.” In the land between, life is not as it once was, and where the future is in question. It is here where one has the ability to experience God’s desire to meet us in times of upheaval or in times of chaos. As the spiritual “Wade in the Water” reminds us, God is constantly stirring the water: “God’s gonna’ trouble the water.” Perhaps God meets us in these places of swirling water, or barren desserts. N. T. Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death.

The preacher continued with his comments on the angles’ admonition to the women, not to be afraid. Even though Jesus, whom you loved, is not here, do not be afraid; even though the world has changed around you, and things will never be what they were, “Do not be afraid.” The disciples are hiding behind locked doors, but do not be afraid. He is risen, This is the land between, May be there is some truth in what N.T, Wright has written, that what hope and belief we have in the resurrection, directly affects what we believe about life here and now.

Atlanta is quite a transition from the small exurban town where we lived, worshiped, where we reared our four children, where our grandchildren love to visit. This transition moves us from a place of comfort to one of great expectations: new mission work, new friends, new family relationships, new ecologies and new hope, and it is this resurrection message of faith and hope that allows the growth and redemption that transitions allow. Upon further reflection, I remember that life for me and for our family has been at its best when we were moving in and out of transitions; in and out of the land between.

As the pastor concluded his sermon with an admonition to turn to God in trust and hope,” I refocused my thoughts to hear that while “Life may have detours, its opportunities and challenges; the resurrection gives us hope.” I am not at all sure what I missed as my mind wandered off to other places during the sermon, but on its return, I heard the Good News.