Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons and Happy Easter. This Easter Sunday
we are looking at four simple words. Come, see,
go, and tell. These are four words that the angels
say to the women who come to the tomb early in
the morning as an invitation for them to come
and see where Christ was laid and then to go
and tell that Christ has risen. But this isn't
just an invitation to those women, it's also
an invitation to us. Let's listen in as Rob unpacks
more of these words for us. This morning, our
reading is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter
28, verses 1 to 10. After the Sabbath, at dawn
on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
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. His
appearance was like lightning and his clothes
were as white as snow. The guards were so afraid
of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the woman, do not be afraid.
For I know that you are looking for Jesus who
was crucified. He is not here. He has risen just
as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples, he has
risen from the dead and he is going ahead of
you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now
I have told you. So the woman hurried away from
the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran
to tell the disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them.
Greetings, he said. They came to him, clasped
his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said
to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers
to go to Galilee. There they will see me. The
word of the Lord. I want to start by telling
you that back in 1631, a Bible was printed in
England that became famous for all the wrong
reasons. You see, the printer made a typo. One
little word was left out in the Ten Commandments,
where it said, thou shalt not commit adultery.
They left out the word not, and it said, thou
shalt commit adultery. And it was just one word,
but of course it changed the meaning of the whole.
There was quite an uproar. The printers who printed
the Bible were fined a huge amount of money.
King Charles I, he decided that every single
copy of his Bible needed to be burned. And yet,
and yet a few copies have remained. And they've
stuck around to this very day. And it's as if
they're there to remind us that when it comes
to your faith, You better watch your words. You
better watch your words, and especially you should
watch the verbs. By the way, they ended up calling
this Bible the Wicked Bible. It's called the
Wicked Bible. You can look it up. You've got
to watch your verbs. I don't know if any of you
have ever learned a new language, but often one
of the things that your instructor will tell
you at the very beginning is you've got to pay
special attention to the verbs, right? Because
the verbs are where the action is. The verbs
are where it all happens. And the verbs tell
you kind of what to do and what not to do. They
tell you how to live or how not to live. And
if you get the verbs wrong in the sentence, you
might not just misunderstand the sentence. You
might misunderstand everything that's trying
to be communicated to you. Well, lately here
at Trinity, we have been learning that faith
in Jesus has a lot more to do with... the verbs
than it does the nouns or the adjectives, right?
Jesus actually says, come and follow me. That's
a very active word. And the Bible says elsewhere,
it says, faith without works is dead. Another
way you could put this is you could say, right,
the nouns of faith without the works of faith,
without the verbs of faith, is dead faith. I
think the word Christian is a pretty, it's an
okay noun. I think Christian is a bad adjective
but christianity and following jesus is all about
the verbs it is all about this life that you
live now right in the middle of the easter story
we come across a sentence that contains four
verbs and it's not a typo right the printer did
not make an error here the angel sees the women
and says to them come and see And then go and
tell. And I want to suggest to you this morning
that if you understand these four verbs, then
you understand the whole Easter message. Or if
you understand these four words, then you understand
the whole of the Christian life. But as we'll
also see in a few minutes, just like that old
printing press, sometimes we omit one. or two
of these words from our own life. Some people,
for example, refuse to come to Jesus. Other people
say, oh, I've already seen all there is to see.
I don't need to see anything more. Other people,
they say they don't want to go. We don't want
to go out into that big, bad, scary world. And
still others, they will never, never tell anyone
anything about Jesus. But if we leave these words
out, then just like the wicked Bible, it kind
of changes everything. So let's walk through
what I'm calling the verbs of Easter this morning.
And as we do, I just want you to think, where
are you in the midst of these words, right? Where
is God calling you to act like a verb? Is it
come, see, go, or tell? I've even given you some
little teaching notes if you want to follow along
and keep track of where I'm going. Let's start
with the first verb, come. When the women arrive
at the tomb, they're met by this angel. I love
the angel is like sitting on the stone, like
so chill. The stone is rolled away. The tomb
is empty. The angel is sitting there. And the
angel says to the women, come. And I want you
to notice right away that the Easter story begins
not with a demand, but with an invitation, right?
The Easter sermon does not begin with the angel
saying, hey, I want you to believe this immediately.
Or I want you to understand what's happened right
now. Or I want you to do this right away. No,
the angel just says, come. And there are... Been
many an Easter sermon preached over the years
where the focus has been, you know, you need
to make a decision about Jesus. Or you need to
go out into the whole world and tell everyone
about Jesus. And actually there is a place for
those sermons. But that's not where the Easter
story starts. And for good reason. Because...
For many of us, we're like those women. We're
coming to Easter this morning, not full of faith
and not full of confidence, but we're coming
full of questions. Some of us are confused. Maybe
we're grieving. Maybe we're afraid like they
were. And for people like that, God's first word
is come. What a wonderful first word. Come, come.
And there are, I think, a lot of people, maybe
some even in this room, who would say, I'm not
ready to believe all this. No, no, no. I've got
way too many questions. I don't know enough yet
to believe this. But that is okay. Because the
first word of Easter is not believe. It's not
repent. It's not change. It's just come. Jesus
invites all of those who are doubtful to come.
You know, if you're curious about the faith or
critical about the faith or you're just not convinced
about the faith, that is okay. Even after Jesus
rose from the dead and his disciples saw him
alive, we read that some, yeah, they still doubted
him, but Jesus still invited them to come. Jesus
invites those who are fearful to come. Maybe
you are like those women. For some reason, you're
fearful in this moment. I think some people are
fearful of God. They're certain that God is going
to punish them. They're certain that God is out
to get them. But that word, come. It dispels
all that fear. In fact, the angel says to the
one, no, no, no, you don't need to be afraid.
Just come. Jesus never scared anyone away. Even
children came to Jesus. They weren't afraid of
him. And Jesus invites all those who are weary
to come. He says, come to me and I will give
you rest. If you're running on empty, if you're
worn out, you don't need more pressure right
now. You don't need one more thing to add to
your to -do list. Just rest. And if that's you
today, if you're weighed down by the burdens
and cares of life, Jesus is first of all just
calling you to come. Now, Jesus... invites the
doubtful. He invites the fearful. He invites
the weary. And I just want to make sure I say
this, that the invitation he makes to us, though,
is not shallow. It's not like he's false advertising
here. Jesus does say, look, if any, you're all
welcome to come. If anyone does come, it means
denying your life and taking up your cross and
following me. It's not an easy invitation, but
it is an open invitation for everyone. So before
we go anywhere else this morning, before believing,
before understanding, before obeying the first
verb of Easter is come. Come with your questions.
Come with your problems. Come with your struggles.
Come with your fears. Come as you are. Don't
stay at a distance. Don't stay at a distance
because secondly, note the second verb of Easter
is come and see. The angel says, come and see
the place where he lay. In other words, God is
not asking for blind faith. He's asking for personal
investigation. The angel doesn't sit on that
rock and say, oh, guys, don't ask so many questions.
He doesn't say, oh, trust me, he's risen. Don't
go in there. Just take my word for it, you know.
No, he says, come and see. Don't take my word
for it. Look for yourself. I actually believe
that a lot of people today haven't really rejected
Christianity. They've just never really looked
into it. They're not like, well, I studied the
resurrection, I've read the Bible, and I've just
decided it wasn't true. It's more like, yeah,
you know, I just never really looked into it.
Oh, I always wanted to get around to studying
a little more, but, you know, I never really
thought about it. And that is not new. That's
not new. In fact, even at that very first Easter,
there were lots of people who heard about the
resurrection, but they never went to look into
it. There were the guards, there were the religious
leaders, even Pontius Pilate, they all heard
the rumors. He's risen, and they just kind of
moved on. Many people, therefore, have no personal
experience with God. Now, they know something
about God, but it's all word of mouth. It's all
word of mouth. But this second verb is about
personal faith. It's about seeing, right? It's
not second -hand faith. It's first -hand faith.
Like the women, the invitation of Easter is not
just for you to believe something because someone
else told you. No, it's to see for yourself.
And that means, seeing means not relying on others'
words to you. Right? Or seeing it through someone
else's experience. There was an old South African
preacher by the name of David Duplessis. And
he once said, God has no grandchildren. Right?
In other words, you don't inherit your faith
from your parents. Right? You can inherit traditions.
You can inherit habits or customs and all that
stuff. But you don't inherit a relationship with
God. You maybe had parents who were wonderful
Christians and your grandparents had very deep
faith. And that is such a gift. But it's not
the same as seeing for yourself. At some point,
faith has to become personal. And not just, oh,
my parents believed. Or my church talks about
this. Or the pastor preached about that. But
I have seen for myself. And secondly, therefore,
seeing means being willing to examine the evidence.
Some people think that when you come to church,
you need to leave your brain at the door. But
Christianity has never asked for that. It actually
invites investigation. Look at what the angel
says. The angel says, see. this place where he
lay. He's actually inviting them to see something
physical, to see a real spot, a real place. The
tomb is evidence. And there is throughout history,
therefore, Christians have never been afraid
of talking about the evidence of faith. Because
resurrection isn't just like this spiritual idea.
It's a historical claim. It can be examined.
It always could be. So take... A closer look?
Why not? Why not go and read the Gospels for
yourself? Why not do some research? Why not take
Alpha? Why not dig into it a little bit more?
Because if Christianity is true, then it can
handle all your questions. And if Christianity
is not true, you should probably know that as
well. Okay? But thirdly, seeing means, and this
is just maybe for some of us, it means not just
looking, but it means looking again. I hear people
say it all the time. You know, I've already made
up my mind about this stuff. I've heard it before.
You know, I went to church when I was little.
In fact, I was hurt by the church or I had a
bad experience or, you know, when I was in university,
there was a lecturer who came in and he proved
that all this is not true. And so we think, oh,
now I already know. But what if you don't? Right?
And what if what you rejected That faith you
rejected wasn't actually Jesus. What if it was
like a misunderstanding? What if it was like
a caricature of the faith? What if it was a version
of the faith that you were never supposed to
believe in the first place? Sometimes the most
important step a person can take is not believing
for the first time, but it's actually looking
at it again with fresh eyes. When Philip, one
of Jesus' friends, first met Jesus, he told...
his friend Nathanael. He said, hey, Nathanael,
we found the one. We have found Jesus of Nazareth.
And Nathanael's answer was kind of skeptical.
He said, well, can anything good come out of
that town? And I love Philip's answer. He doesn't
argue. He doesn't debate. He simply says, come
and see. No, you don't have to take my word for
it. Come. Listen for yourself and make up your
own mind. And that's how it often works, right?
People come, maybe, because of an invitation,
but they stay because they've seen for themselves.
So don't just come. Come and see. No, but the
angel doesn't stop there. There's another verb.
The angel says, go. And this is so important
because resurrection people don't stay at the
tomb. They are sent into the world. The women,
they don't set up. outside that tomb. The tomb
was never turned into a shrine or a pilgrimage
point. No, no. They could have said, oh, let's
just stay here. Let's always just come back here
and be here and reflect on this moment. No. The
tomb actually had very little significance in
early Christianity because from the very beginning,
they were told to go. And this is the pattern
of the Christian life. The Christian life, you
come, you see, and you go. It's this constant
rhythm of coming and going and coming and going
and coming and going. But if we're honest, especially
for church people, we prefer just to come and
stay, right? We want to come and enjoy worship.
We want to come. and enjoy the community we want
to come and enjoy the camp we want to come and
enjoy the coffee or we want to come and enjoy
all the programs we want to keep our faith kind
of inside these four walls kind of contained
in here and safe in here but jesus won't let
you do that you're not allowed to stay i love
in john's version of the resurrection story the
women mary especially tries to hold on to Jesus,
just to hold on to that moment. Oh, Jesus, you
know, I never want to leave this garden. I never
want to leave this site. And I don't want to
decry that. We all need those intimate moments
holding on to Jesus. But Jesus says, don't hold
on to me. You got to go, right? I don't want
to, I'm not here to pull you out of the world.
I'm here to send you into the world. That is
where. The Christian life is lived. It's lived
on Main Street. It's lived in the marketplace.
It's lived in the classroom. It's lived in your
workplace. It's lived in your home. It's not
lived in this church. I always get a little suspicious
when people spend too much time in church. Something
funny happens to people when they're in church
too much. It's like they're almost using church
to avoid the world. Or even worse, they're using
Jesus to avoid the world. No, no, no. If you
come and if you see, then you have to... Go.
And just a few verses later, like literally just
a few verses later, Jesus gives his parting words.
He says, go into all the world and make disciples
of all nations. Go in all the world. You might
say, oh, my gosh, does that mean that I have
to go overseas or I have to go physically around
the globe? And, you know, obviously some people
do do that. But no, for most of us, your world
is already defined. Right? It's the people you
already interact with every day. That's your
world. So take the grace of your life into your
home. Take the integrity of your life into your
workplace. Take the character of your life into
your school. Take the love of your life into
your friendships and relationships. Take the
light of your life into your neighborhood. All
of these parts of your world need to be permeated
by your life, your changed life. So Jesus says,
go, go, go. And remember, you never go alone.
Jesus says, I am going to go with you. So go.
Don't go with pressure. Don't go as, I've got
all the answers. Don't go with a sense of superiority.
We just go as someone who has encountered Jesus.
And we go with Jesus. But that brings us to this
last verb. The angel does not say just go. He
says go and tell. Now, let's be honest. This
is the verb that most of us wish were omitted
from the Bible. What? Tell? You mean I actually
got to open my mouth and talk to people about
this? I mean, gosh, I don't want to do that.
What do I say? What if I say the wrong things?
What if I don't know the answers to their questions?
Or, you know, what if I just don't know enough?
And then what if they start to resent me because
I'm talking about my faith? Or what if they start
to avoid me? And because of all those things,
many of us... We just stop right here. Sure,
we will come and we will see. And we may even
go and kind of just be that presence in the world.
But no, we will never tell. But see, just see
this. The angel doesn't say, go and become a
professional preacher. No, most of us are not
called to be a preacher. But all of us are called
to be. a witness. Let me ask you a question.
What does a witness do? In a courtroom, the witness's
job is not to win the argument. That's the lawyer's
job, right? The witness is not the lawyer. The
witness simply sits there and says, this is what
I saw. This is what I heard. This is what happened
to me. The witness is actually only allowed to
tell what they've experienced from direct experience,
right? It's like in those courtroom dramas. Maybe
you've seen one on TV. Every once in a while,
the attorney will stand up and say, objection.
The witness is drawing conclusions. And that's
right. Witnesses are not supposed to draw conclusions.
They're not allowed to do that. They're simply
supposed to state and tell what they know from
personal experience. So if Jesus has done anything
in your life, you've got something to say about
it. I mean, the story may be dramatic, but it
may be quiet. It may be that that story is still
unfolding for you. It doesn't matter. You have
something to say. And you don't have to say it
from a stage or a platform. You can say it over
coffee. You can say it on a walk with a friend.
You can say it, maybe one of the best ways to
say it is just by inviting a friend to church.
That's a great way to bear witness to others.
After she saw Jesus, Mary Magdalene, what'd she
do? She went and told the disciples and said,
I have seen the Lord. period. And she told them
that he had said these things to her. She doesn't
have a theological argument here. This is just
testimony. Mary came, she saw, and then she went,
and now she tells. Guys, what story do you have
to tell, right? What have you seen? What have
you heard? What have you experienced? What have
you witnessed? And just remember, you're not
the message. Jesus is. You're the messenger.
So let's go back to that old printing press in
1631. One word left out and everything changes.
And the truth is we can do the same thing. We
can easily skip one of these words, one of these
verbs, and it changes everything. I just want
to say we're not in the same place though. For
some of us today, it's just about coming, right?
Maybe Up until now, you've actually avoided places
like this and you've kept your distance from
faith. It's been scary to even think about going
to church. But this Easter, you've come. And
we are really glad that you've come. For others,
you've come, but you've never really seen, right?
And if you're honest... You did make your mind
up about this stuff long ago, and your mind is
still pretty closed. You've never really investigated
this for yourself. Maybe this Easter, God is
calling you to see for yourself this time. I
mean, faith was never meant to be secondhand.
Others have come and seen, but you won't go.
Your faith stays here where it's safe. But maybe
this Easter you need to go. And I'm not talking
about going somewhere far away. Just go into
the life you're already living. Remember, people,
resurrection people, don't stay at the tomb.
They go out into the world. And maybe there are
some here today. Yeah, you've come. You've been
coming for a long time. You've seen. And you've
even gone, but you still won't tell. You're trying
to follow Jesus, but when it... comes to speaking
about it, you hesitate. You just don't want to
stand out, and so you stay silent. Maybe this
Easter, God is saying to you, it's time to tell.
Tell what you've experienced. Tell what Jesus
has done in your life. You don't need to know
everything to tell something. These are the verbs
of Easter. Come, see, go, tell. And we can't
leave any out, because when we do, We don't just
miss a word, but we miss the life Jesus is calling
us into. Thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning
in to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.
This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville
in Mississauga, Ontario on April 5th, 2026.