Hiding the Good News
Psalm 118:6-9; Matthew 28:1-15a
A Sermon for Resurrection Sunday
Delivered by Thomas J. Boone, Ph.D.
Central Presbyterian Church, Mobile AL, March 23, 2008

Easter traditions. Most of us have been around the church so long that we can’t imagine an Easter morning without getting into Easter clothes, donning the white at last, and trekking to church. Some of you made your way very early to Bellingrath Gardens for the Easter Sunrise service. And before that others of you were at Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. Besides church, if children have been around, then odds are you’ve watched them dive into their Easter baskets or gone on an Easter Egg hunt, maybe four or five! Family is a big part of Easter. Before my family moved around me I used to spend Easter visiting other families so I had a chance to experience several Easter traditions. Food is a part of our Easter. Maybe some of us will go out to the Grand Hotel and other restaurants. Maybe some of you will be getting a pot roast or ham ready for a big feast later. Oh, and let’s not forget the joy of a break that comes from schools and for some of us, work, at this time of year.

Church, family, food, fun, and breaks from routine have come to signify the things we value during Easter so that Easter just doesn’t seem like Easter without them. Can you imagine what it must’ve been like that first resurrection morning? Cold, dreary, and sad, more than likely. For the earliest disciples there was one defining moment of the day; they had to get Jesus’ body ready for interment. They would soon discover, however, that there would be a new defining moment.

Resurrection, not death, had become the defining moment of human existence. Hiding behind the rock soldiers rolled in place to seal Jesus’ dead body was the good news that would change history. For one full day it remained hidden from sight, but on the next morning the good news burst out the tomb and shook the Roman guards to their knees. The good news that Christ was alive remained hidden for one day, but God never intended it to be hidden again.

Yet hiding the good news is just what people have tried to do since it broke free from that tomb. Leaders silenced the guards about what really happened. Jesus was a threat to their authority when he was alive. But, now that he was resurrected and had conquered death itself, they were terrified. What sort of power were they dealing with? No one had seen this kind of power before, so they had to silence it lest they lose their own power. People are capable of anything to hold onto power.

Some disciples allowed fear to silence their testimony. Matthew encourages the disciples not to be afraid, and the original ending of Mark concludes with the disciples running away in fear. That was real fear for them, and there were a few reasons for it. First, this was new ground for them. They'd not seen this type of thing before. Sure they had seen Jesus restore a girl to life, and Lazarus, but who was around to restore Jesus to life? It had to have been God, and if it was God who did it then there was no way to know what was coming next. The old rules of living and dying no longer applied, and in this new territory people were afraid. Second, psychologists suggest that when we're confronted with someone or something we can't control that can produce fear. Well, if death couldn't even control Jesus then how could the disciples? All their boxes about Jesus were now shattered, and this man they thought they knew apparently lived under a completely different set of rules. They could no more control Jesus than people could control the rising floods in Missouri or Texas this week. A third reason for their fear was their unbelief. Imagine that you had denied Christ before His death, and he ended up being God. How do you stand before God and justify your unbelief and abandonment when He was walking, breathing, eating, and laughing with you? How do you face the Lord when you hid while he was being crucified?

We continue to live in a world that tries to hide the good news. The long shadow of the steeple that society once knew diminishes it seems in every sector. No prayer in public school; “happy holidays” rather than “merry Christmas;” church competing with soccer games and swim practice; the NFL didn’t allow churches to show the Super Bowl, but had no problem with sports bars doing so; and we witness courts supporting the stripping of Christian influence most of us grew up with. Modern culture, it seems, would like to hide the good news behind the guise of political correctness and tolerance of other perspectives. And while I find a variety of perspectives, cultures, and views to be part of a healthy society, that doesn’t excuse me from hiding the good news behind what culture finds acceptable. God never intended that the good news be hidden behind the veil of cultural appropriateness.

...behind the mask of false living.

...behind the guise of knowledge.

...behind the sins we cover behind smiles and manners.

...behind the idolatry of self.

God never intended that the good news be hidden behind the poverty of our choices that dishonor Him or others.

...behind priorities that squander our lives in false hope.

...behind decisions to remain quiet in the midst of injustice.

...behind the silence of our refusal to tell others about our faith.

...behind our fears caused by illness, failures, and let-downs.

No, when the good news broke forth from the tomb God put an end to the time that His good news would remain hidden behind human walls. Like news of an engagement that a couple wants to tell everyone. Like news of a pregnancy that we can’t help but share. Like news of a son or daughter coming home from war, that we want to tell everyone around us. The good news of Christ is the most important, most urgent, and most crucial thing in our lives; it’ll break out of any walls we or others can build to hide it.

Whether you’re coming to church a couple times a year, or weekly, the same question applies to each of you, and it does to me as well. Do we treat good news of life in Christ as the most important, most urgent, and most crucial thing in our lives? In the floods of this week one of the stories that impressed me was that of a farmer whose horses were stuck on what had become an island. Rising waters guaranteed that his horses would drown, so forgetting himself he courageously drove out into the water and risked his truck being swept away as he brought his horses one by one to higher land. Nothing else was more important to him than rescuing the livestock that needed him.

When my daughter was learning to crawl the world opened up a treasure of wonderful new sights to her. One of those new sights was my coffee cup, which at the time had scalding hot coffee in it. You guessed it ... she grabbed for it and before I could pull her back she pulled it to her and the coffee spilled all over her. I lost all sense of myself and all fear as I rushed both of us into the bathtub to douse her with cold water ... nothing else mattered.

When something is truly important it becomes our center. The Psalmist wrote that nothing of human origin can compare to the security we have in the Lord. What is your center when it comes to issues of security and strength? To what or to whom do you run when stress gets too high, or fears mount heavy on your shoulders? Is it the bottle on the shelf? The office? Friends without whom you’d be sunk? If you’re here and Christ isn’t your center then I invite you to make this Resurrection Sunday a new beginning.

Stop hiding the good news and start letting it live in you. Christ is risen, and that’s not just a theological declaration. It’s a reality you and I can live each day. With the good news at our core we don’t have to depend on circumstances to make us happy, or financial markets to give us security. With Christ at the center hope replaces fear, confidence replaces doubt, and peace replaces despair. The more you build a history of trusting God the less tempting it becomes to hide the good news behind walls of our own making, or created by culture.

If you’re here and Christ isn’t your center it’s an easy thing to make Him the center. You simply confess the things that’ve kept Christ hidden behind walls in your life. And then you invite Jesus to fill your heart with His peace and Spirit, by asking him to be your Lord. There’s no more appropriate Sunday than to stop hiding Jesus and let Him break into your heart, either for the first time or as your recommitment through faith that has been renewed. So today if you feel inclined to make the most important decision in your life, to stop hiding Christ and start letting Him live in you, or if you want to recommit yourself to Him, I invite you to say to yourself this prayer with me., and if you want to share with me that you’ve made a commitment then I’m eager to hear. Let us pray.

“Jesus, I’ve spent too much of my life hiding from you, or keeping you hidden through my words, actions, and thoughts. For too long I’ve bought into culture’s gospel of self over Savior. Lord forgive me and now fill me. Break through my unbelief and reticence. Fill me with your Holy Spirit today because I claim you as Lord of my life. Wash me from my sin, and set my heart free. Jesus, I believe in you and receive you. Hallelujah, dear Jesus, for being Lord of my life. Amen.”