2026.04.05 | ALIVE IN THE WORLD

“The Good News is. . . 

Alive in the World”

Matthew 28:1–10

Preached by 

Rev. Dr. Marvin Lance Wiser

Eden United Church of Christ  

Cherryland, CA 

05 April 2026

Early in the morning, with the heaviness of grief and dread, Mary Magdala and the other Mary went to the tomb. They came because love makes you show up even when you don't know what you'll find. They expected death. They expected silence. They expected the end of the story.

But instead, the earth shook, the stone rolled away, and the angel spoke the words God has been saying since the beginning: "Do not be afraid."

Not because everything is fine. Not because the world is suddenly safe.
But because death does not get the last word.

Let’s be real, we are still living in a world where empires rise and fall, where systems harm the vulnerable, where policies threaten the hungry and the sick, where war looms and families are torn apart.

Even after Jesus’ sacrifice to end all sacrifice, the despot Pontius Pilate still governed and the tyrant Cesar still reigned. And today, powers still operate that deny dignity—the imago Dei—the image of God in so many, in our neighbors, in the stranger, in the most vulnerable among us. Medicaid and SNAP benefits are on the chopping block, while the war machine revs once again, blasphemously in the name of God. Abomination after abomination.

So Easter is not denial. It is defiance. 

It is the audacious claim that even in a world like this—especially in a world like this—God’s Good News is still alive.

Al amanecer, abrumadas por el dolor, las Marías fueron al sepulcro. Esperaban la muerte. El silencio. El final.

Pero la tierra tembló, la piedra se movió y el ángel les dijo: «No teman». No porque todo estuviera bien, sino porque la muerte no tiene la última palabra.

Aún todavía vivimos en un mundo de imperios, daño, hambre y guerra. Incluso después de la muerte de Jesús, Poncio Pilato seguía gobernando, y César seguía reinando. Y hoy en día es igual: los poderes siguen negando la dignidad —la imagen de Dios— a los más vulnerables.

Por eso, la Pascua no es negación. Es un desafío. La audaz afirmación de que, incluso ahora, especialmente ahora, la Buena Nueva de Dios sigue viva.

The angel says, “Do not be afraid.” Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.” It’s the most repeated command in all of scripture. It shows up over and over. To Abraham. To Moses. To the shepherds in the fields. To Mary at the Annunciation. To the disciples on the water. And now, here, at the empty tomb, to two women who came carrying everything but hope.

God keeps saying it because we keep needing to hear it. And let's be honest, we need to hear it today. The Good News cannot be buried. It is alive, unbound, and wild in the world.

Like a mustard seed—it grows beyond control.
Like water turned into wine—it surprises us with joy.
Like loaves of bread—it multiplies until all are fed.

And now—even in the face of death—it rises. You cannot legislate it away. You cannot incarcerate it. You cannot defund it. You cannot bomb it into submission. Amen? Because fear is the tool of every empire, but resurrection is the language of God.

But notice this: the angel doesn't stop with comfort. Neither does Jesus. When the women leave, with fear and great joy, both at once, because that's what resurrection feels like, Jesus meets them on the road. And he says:

"Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee — there they will see me."

Go. Not just feel. Not just believe. Go. Go; tell; meet me in Galilee.

Galilee, the place of the people, where the poor, the working class live. Galilee wasn't the temple. It wasn't the seat of power. It was the ordinary world, fishing boats and dusty roads and everyday people just trying to get by. Jesus says: That's where I'll be. Go meet me there. Let’s go fishin’: exit the economy of Empire for good.

In other words: Don’t stay at the tomb. Don’t stay in fear. Don’t stay in despair. Take a step of faith.

This is the audacious hope of Easter. Not apathetic, or even a passive hope that sits in a pew and waits for things to get better. But a hope that gets up, and goes, and looks—in the faces of neighbors, in the hands of strangers, in every act of mercy and resistance and solidarity that refuses to believe the tomb has the last word. Because resurrection is not just something we believe, it’s something we live. This is what the Church has always called anamnesis—not just remembering, but making Christ present among us.

El ángel dice: «No tengan miedo». Y todavía necesitamos escucharlo. La Buena Nueva no puede ser sepultada: está viva, es libre y es indómita.

Como una semilla de mostaza: crece.

Como el agua convertida en vino: sorprende.

Como el pan: se multiplica.

Incluso ante la muerte: resucita. No puedes silenciarla. No puedes detenerla.

Porque el miedo es el lenguaje del imperio;

pero la resurrección es el lenguaje de Dios.

Pero fíjense: Jesús no se detiene en el consuelo. Él también dice: «No tengan miedo. Vayan y digan... encuéntrenme en Galilea».

Vayan. No solo crean. Vayan a Galilea, donde está la gente, el barrio. No al templo. Con la gente es donde estaré —dice Jesús. 

Así que no se queden en la tumba.

No se queden en el miedo ni en la desesperación.

Esta es la esperanza de la Pascua: no pasiva, sino en movimiento.

Porque la resurrección no es solo algo en lo que creemos, es algo que vivimos, en comunidad.

La buena noticia está más viva que cualquier cosa que intente matarla.

Viva en el amor. Viva en la justicia. Viva en ti.

Todo acto de valentía —

toda elección a favor de la dignidad —

todo momento de misericordia —

eso es resurrección.

Así que no temas. La buena noticia está... viva. Y sigue alzándose.

So if you’re asking this Easter, “Tell me something good…”

Here it is:

The good news is more alive than anything that tries to kill it.
More alive than violence.
More alive than injustice.
More alive than despair.

And it is alive in you.

Every time you choose love over fear—
Every time you stand for dignity—
Every time you feed, welcome, resist, and repair—

Resurrection is happening.

It is alive in the nurse who stays an extra hour. 

It is alive in the parent that keeps advocating for medical care for their child.

It is alive in the immigration attorney who keeps appealing.

It is alive in the organizer who won't quit. 

It is alive in the congregation that keeps showing up. 

It is alive in the child who gets to eat because of Comida Para Cherryland. 

It is alive in the “Do not be afraid” we speak to one another across the fear.

And it is alive because He is alive.

So go. Go to Galilee. Go to the crossroads. Go to Cherryland. Go into the world as it is.

And there—
in the faces of neighbors and strangers,
in acts of justice and mercy,
in communities that refuse to give up—

You will see him.

Because Christ is not locked in a tomb. The tomb is empty. The stone meant to silence is rolled away. Christ is risen and loose in the world. Alleluia.

And the final word is this my friends: “Jesus is with us always, to the end of the age.” So do not be afraid. The good news is… alive. And it’s still rising.

Alleluia and Amen.