It's Easter Sunday! We're getting started here with a brief retelling of the story. Then we get to the part where the angel says, "Do not be afraid." I have trouble with this. Maybe we all have trouble with this. There's so much in the world that causes us fear. So what makes this angel think he can come into our place of worship, look us straight in the eye and say with all seriousness, "Do not be afraid?"

After he tells us not to be afraid he makes an announcement and then a promise.

An announcement that, if true, changes everything. He is risen. What if that's true? If it's true, it changes everything and all things are possible.

Then he makes a promise: Jesus is ahead of you. Most of what causes us fear is in the future. It's an uncertain tomorrow. Jesus is ahead of us. Jesus promises to be with us in whatever we face in our uncertain future. And that gives us hope.

Of course, hope isn't something we can just sit back and enjoy. Welp, I hope everything turns out okay tomorrow! Welp, I hope God shows up tomorrow. That's wishful thinking. Hope, real hope, is to throw ourselves into the struggle for the realization of that hope.

And that's how Matthew's story about Jesus ends. It ends with an invitation to live into resurrection - to live into hope - an invitation to let it define our lives.

Speaker: Aaron Vis

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10

https://www.bible.com/events/49422813