In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     This Easter morning, we have heard proclaimed, in our midst, the pre-eminent Gospel account of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; the witness to the resurrection provided for us by the Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 1-18. Interestingly, this account from John's gospel is the one appointed in all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary, as well as the Roman Catholic lectionary--and it's also the Gospel lesson that was appointed for Lutheran churches in our old one year Lutheran lectionary. And for good reason! It is the passage most of the faithful think of when considering the resurrection--it provides most of the details we remember, when we think of Easter Sunday: Mary Magdalene is there, as well as Peter and John; they peek into the tomb, and see the linen wrappings lying there; Mary stands, weeping outside the tomb, thinking that someone has stolen the body of Jesus, never considering the fact of a resurrection; and finally, Jesus himself speaks to Mary, who thinks him the gardener! These are the details that are recorded by St. John, that are not all included in the other gospel accounts of the resurrection. Which is why the Gospel of John is always the appointed Gospel text for Easter, with the other texts being listed simply as alternatives.

     This year, for example, as we are in the year when most gospel lessons will be read from St. Matthew's gospel, the alternative is, of course, Matthew's account of the resurrection, from Matthew 28. And while we're not reading that account as our chief gospel text for the day, it's worth noting some of the details of that first Easter morning that Matthew records, that are not in John's gospel. Matthew begins his account this way, writing, "Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake." Now, isn't that worth noting? It would be worth reading the alternative Gospel lesson from Matthew once every three years, just to hear, again, how the resurrection happened with an earth-shaking, earth shattering, earth-quake. Odd, also, that none of the other three gospels tell us that--whereas Matthew actually records two earthquakes--one at the moment when, nailed to the cross, Jesus cries out with a loud voice and yields up his spirit--dying for the sins of the world, and the other, at the resurrection, when Jesus was raised from death, to give life to the world. And why is it that St. Matthew tells us this? Why does Matthew see this as so important, when the other evangelists don't?

     Maybe Matthew wants the death and resurrection of Jesus to shake us up a bit? Maybe Matthew wants his hearers to sense the earth-shaking impact, of the death of the Son of God, and His resurrection from death, after three days buried in a tomb! Maybe St. Matthew thought that after that first Good Friday and Easter Sunday, folks were too complacent, folks were taking it for granted, folks were all to ready to witness the resurrection, and then go back to their daily routines saying, "How nice--a resurrection." The truth is, that's pretty much how John records it. He says, "Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head.then the other disciple.also went in.then," John says, "the disciples returned to their homes." It is kind of odd, isn't it. You walk into a tomb, you see the dead body of your friend gone, and you just go home?! Of course, on Easter morning, it's the men who don't seem to get it--if it weren't for the women, the resurrection might never have been proclaimed. But all the way around, Mark, Luke and John present a kind of relaxed, easy-going Easter morning. The male disciples go home, Mary Magdalene sits weeping. And Matthew doesn't want to leave it at that. Matthew wants the world to know, that when the Savior of the world died, and was raised, there was nothing common or ordinary about it. Matthew wants the world to know that that first Good Friday and Easter--the earth shook! The foundations of the world were shaking to the core, as if God grabbed death and life, and shook it--as if God grabbed humanity by the shoulders, looked us in the eye, and said, "Now, everything will truly be different! Life can not go on as it has before--because now, death will not win--now, Jesus has won the victory, and Jesus' life, means life for the world--and for you!" That is what Matthew wants us to hear and to know, this Easter Sunday, as we sit here in our Easter finery, all comfortable and contented. He wants OUR world to shake, with the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection. Matthew wants to rock our world with the proclamation of the Easter message!

     Because the danger is, this Easter morning, that WE will say, simply, "How nice, a resurrection", as we get into the car and head off for a satisfying Easter brunch. If that's how we respond to Jesus' death and resurrection, then we're missing the point--in fact, we may be guilty of denying or ignoring the resurrection altogether. It's kind of like your spouse saying, "I love you," and you shrugging, and saying, "how nice". In the death and resurrection of Jesus, God is expressing to us, to you and to me, His eternal, never-ending love for us, and for the world. In the death and resurrection of Jesus, God is declaring us redeemed, saved, restored, not just for now, not just for today, for eternity--such that WE need not fear death, because just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too, will be raised, to live forever. And if this good news doesn't shake us up, and rattle our minds, and move us to the very core of our being--then, we need to hear it again--and again--and again, until this good news gets through to us. Until this good news changes our hearts and minds and lives, so that we leave church, this Sunday, and every Sunday, different--transformed, ready to live life differently, because of Jesus' death and resurrection. No Sunday, not Easter Sunday or any other Sunday should come and go, without us leaving the church ready to live life differently, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Every Sunday, we should come to church ready to nail to the cross, whatever pain, broken-ness, disobedience, sin, shame, needs to be put to death in our lives, so that having that buried with Christ, we can leave assured of resurrection--assured that God will bring to us, new life in Christ, in our week ahead. And then, as we leave, we are to be prepared to live as the resurrected people we are--ready to make changes in our homes and families and relationships; ready to find new joy and meaning in our jobs; ready to commit ourselves anew to being the kinds of spouses and parents God has created us to be; ready to give ourselves, in love to our neighbor; ready to care about peace, and justice, and life and dignity; ready to go and tell others about the Light and life of the world; ready to shake up the world, with the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the new life we are to live, as resurrected people--as resurrection people. And I know, that's scary. We know that part of the reason we disciples of Jesus, fail to live as His disciples, is because we're afraid--we're afraid of what it will mean to live the faith we proclaim; we're afraid of what it will mean for our marriages, and our families, and our jobs, and our world, if we commit ourselves to living the resurrection in our everyday lives. But here's something else the Gospel of Matthew tells us: the angel says to the women at the tomb, "Do not be afraid; I know you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen. Come, see the place, then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead; and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there, you will see him."

     Isn't that powerful--not just that having witnessed the resurrection this morning, that we are then sent out to be witnesses to Jesus, risen from death--but as we are sent, not to Galilee, but to our homes, to our workplaces, to our neighborhoods--Jesus is going ahead of us! Jesus will meet us there! When we sit at the dinner table, dealing with hard family issues, Jesus is there! When we sit in the counseling office doing the hard work of growth, and change, Jesus is there! When you are working on a project in the office, or doing a deal with a customer, Jesus is there! When you sit at the bedside of a loved one at the end of life, Jesus is there! When you have hard decisions to make in life, Jesus is there! When you grieve the loss of a loved one, or face cancer treatments yourself, Jesus is there! God doesn't send us off into the future, wishing us good luck and happy trails--Jesus goes before us, and we will see Him there, in every dark, difficult, troubling situation we find ourselves in, as well as in every joy-filled, blessed moment in life. And it is His presence that frees us from fear; it is His presence that gives us the strength and the courage to leave the tomb, to leave the church building, and return to life, assured of Christ's risen presence with us. That's why Jesus was raised, and that's why Jesus continues to come to us--in flesh and blood, in bread and wine, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to be indeed, Emmanuel--God with us.

     So, let us leave here, this Easter morning, determined that life will be different, because of the earth-shaking, sometimes earth-shattering resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let us leave here ready to be the resurrection people, we already are. Let us commit ourselves anew, to shaking things up--making things different, at least in our own little corner of the world--knowing, trusting, that wherever we go, Jesus is going before us; wherever we go, we will see Jesus there!

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.