Ending at the Beginning

Sermon for Easter Day – 4 April 2026 – All Saints, Kesgrave

Baptism of Carri James

Text: Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’  (Matthew 28v10)

God give you peace my sisters and brothers

What are you frightened of?

Have you any childhood fears of phobias that have lingered on and grab hold of you every time the light goes out suddenly or a spider blocks your path?   Some of us have a fear of the natural world.  Carri (who is being baptised today) I hope you do not have a case of Thalassophobia – but then our font is not very deep and wouldn’t really count as a frighteningly deep ocean….

Then we have our common fears?  

Residents of Thorpeness or in Hapisburgh worrying that their homes will soon be out to sea alongside the ruins of Dunwich.   There is a whole host of natural and human, though I tend to call them inHuman – disasters.  Wars, flood, famine, plague – it sometimes seems as if the horseman of the Apocalypse have decided to take up an offer of stabling somewhere close to Broadcasting House.

And of course, always there and ever lurking, are our personal fears about the future and what life holds for us.  Will my health hold out?  Will we be able to manage on our pension?  How will I cope if I find myself left alone?  These are perhaps the ones we never speak about because they are just too big…

Mind you, it’s not just us every day folk who have fears and phobias.  Even celebrity type people like Freddie Mercury and Queen had fears.  Apparently Thunderbolt and lightning are very, very frightening…

Which takes us to today’s Gospel reading which begins and ends with the words ‘Do not be afraid’ by Jesus and the angel who adds to the fear factor by appearing like very, very frightening lightning.  

Angels, weird creatures aren’t they.  Meant to be messengers – the literal meaning of the word angel – they never do quite seem to get the very message they are proclaiming!  Not wanting people to be afraid they appear like lightning ‘early in the morning while it was still dark’ or, right at the beginning of the gospel story, with a whole posse of the Heavenly host on a midnight hillside.  How can they expect bewildered shepherds and a grieving disciple to not be afraid?  Who do they think they are kidding?

It seems that after all of the long journey from Bethlehem to Egypt, Nazareth to Galilee, Jerusalem to Golgotha, we finally end up where we began.  ‘Do not be afraid!’  But this time the angels and our risen Lord provide an antidote for our fear.  For all of our fears.

The angels tell us to not be afraid because Jesus has risen.

Jesus tells us to not be afraid and gives us the task of telling others to not be afraid.  ‘Go and tell my brothers’ He says, ‘to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’  

We are called to be the destroyers of fear by the words of our mouths and the deeds of our lives.   Because of Easter, as the writer of the Book of Hebrews reminds us, our Beloved Saviour has…

 ‘…through death [destroyed] the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.’ (Hebrews 2v14-14)

‘Do not be afraid’, says the angel.  ‘Do not be afraid’, says the risen Christ.  We are set free from death.  We are set free from slavery.  We are set free from fear and can enter into new life carrying with it the promise of life after life.

In a few moments as Carri makes her promises we will renew our own, and with her say;

I turn to Christ.

I repent of my sins.

I renounce evil.

…and with those words together we will dive deep into the ocean of God’s love where not only our sins but all our fears are washed away.

Sing with me…

Wide, wide as the ocean
High as the heaven above
Deep, deep as the deepest sea
Is my Saviour’s love
I, though so unworthy
Still, I’m a child of His care
For His Word teaches me
That His love reaches me everywhere

[This blog ‘Ending at the Beginning’ is copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2026 and may be reproduced without charge on condition that the source is acknowledged] 

oooOOOooo

Jesus has Risen

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.” Now I have told you.’

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’

(Matthew 28.1-10)