Every year I do my best to tell the story. The discipline of preaching through Lent toward Holy Week is important (for me.) I need to keep myself from taking shortcuts; I need to see the tension develop between Jesus and those pesky, religious experts. I need to be attentive to the little details that - while they are always there - speak a little differently every year. Our circumstances determine how we hear and react to Scripture, and that is never more evident that in the weeks leading up to Easter.

And every year, I wonder if there is anything left to say. The stone is moved and the tomb empty. We variously encounter divine messengers who remind the participants that this is just what Jesus said would happen. We are drawn into their fear, their wonder, their sense of joyful relief. Jesus is Risen - he is Risen indeed.

So what?  Now what?

For Two Thousand years the story has reminded an expanding audience that God intends good even when we engage in evil pursuits. For countless generations, we have affirmed our faith and renewed a promise to share the good news…but what if we have missed something essential?

For all our best intentions, the (universal) church has failed to live into the truth of that good news. We cannot shake the fear that gripped even the first witnesses of this bold new model of God’s creative majesty. Fear has been a defining feature in the history of the church.

First it was fear of discovery. It became fear of losing our influence. That grew into a fear of letting any other ideas exist side by side with ours. There has always been a fear of compromising the message - of letting our ideas and our culture dilute these powerful ideas about God’s activity among us. And an old favourite - fear of some horrifying judgement in the end, if (somehow) we got it all wrong.

This fear makes the church reactive. Christianity developed a reputation for being judgmental and narrowly focused on ‘heavenly things.’ Churches learned that fear worked - when people are afraid, they are more inclined to take advice - especially if it is offered ‘in the name of the Lord.’ We have to account for our behaviour where the crusades and colonization are concerned. In the name of the faith, peoples and nations were subjugated. Under the banner of the Prince of Peace, nations were conquered and resistance was harshly subdued.

There have been some spectacular moments in the long, complicated history of Christian witness. Those who follow Jesus - those who love their neighbour and feed the hungry and strive for kingdom things in the midst of empire and oppression - they have shown what it is to live past the fear and into the promise. Forgive me if this surprises you, but far too often, the church established a position based on fear: either a fear held by the people within the institution, or by using fear to ‘encourage’ people to take the churches side.

So maybe it’s time - time to consider the first thing Jesus said when he met those faithful, fearful women at the empty tomb.

“Do not be afraid.”

Jesus didn’t mean that there was nothing to be afraid of. There is always going to be something waiting to scare us. Jesus is reminding them (and us) not to be afraid of this new freedom that comes upon the discovery of his empty tomb.

The message of the resurrection requires no formula to follow - no fancy theology (much of which comes from fear) to accept. Jesus invites us to overcome our fear.

Fear of death - fear of God as the chief punisher. Fear of global systems of oppression and dominance. Fear of what those systems can (and are) doing to civilization and the planet... We are invited to stop fearing the world that had been turned upside down, and consider how the resurrection might help put Creation back on its feet.

The women at the tomb were not easily convinced to abandon their fearful attitude. The man who looked like lightning wasn’t enough. They were sprinting into town to tell the others when they met Jesus, whose first words were enough to put them at east: ‘Do not be afraid.”

Jesus’ resurrection changes things, and we are not always so good with change.

Change stops us in our tracks, and demands that we pay attention to the new possibilities that God is offering.

Jesus’ resurrection presents us with an alternate path – a new way forward in this often-troubling world. His empty tomb gives us hope. His Risen glory brings us joy. The love of God that sets Jesus free from death empowers each of us and all of us to see the world differently – engage the world differently.

The resurrection of Jesus ushers in God’s kingdom. It is where we see the words of the prayer come to life – ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ This is the day we are reminded that nothing needs to stay as it is. Do not be afraid. Rejoice and be glad. Christ is Risen, and that changes everything.