“Suddenly there was a great earthquake: for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone, and sat on it.”
This morning, the unbelievable is the Truth. Jesus Christ lives. And by the grace of God, we know his presence in our lives today. Jesus is with us in his Word as it is preached, in the Sacraments as they are celebrated, in our prayers as we pray them, and in this community of the Church as we experience it. The Good News of the Gospel is no idle - no made up tale. We have the evidence - the Risen Christ - among us, and for us. Alleluia!
For a few minutes this morning, this glorious day, I would like us to consider the best way to celebrate Easter, namely, the way that Jesus did. This day, the most important day in the Church’s calendar, sets loose a torrent of activity – you all have experienced that!
We celebrate Christ’s resurrection in countless bright and colorful ways. We dye Easter eggs, and eat Chocolate covered marshmallow rabbits. We shop for new clothes – hoping for spring weather – and we buy hats and dresses and suits and shoes. We sit down to wonderful festive meals and enjoy dishes of ham or lamb or other treats. We gather for worship: to sing triumphant hymns with brass and tympani and organ; to hear the resurrection gospel, to receive Holy communion, and sing “Alleluia” – for the first time in 40 days. We have all these ways and many more to celebrate this Sunday of the Resurrection.
But I would like to suggest this morning, that we might celebrate Easter in a very different way - - to celebrate Easter the way that Jesus did. And to celebrate Easter this way does not require painted eggs, or springtime flowers, or even crowded churches, as happy as that is. To celebrate Easter as Jesus did means to forgive somebody, even somebody we may not think deserves it. Jesus forgives. He forgives those who don’t deserve it! Jesus forgives all who will receive the gift of forgiveness and even those who won’t. His friends – and his enemies! The Jews and the Gentiles! People of his time - and people of our time! Israelis and Palestinians! Egyptians and Libyans. Afghans and Americans. Jesus comes back in the power of his unending life – to forgive what was done to him on that First Good Friday – by all of us. Jesus comes back to forgive all the people for what they do to him - - in the person of each other - today and every day. And the marvelous good news is that we all have a place under Jesus’ Easter tent, the umbrella of his forgiveness - - all are a part of that great throng of what Archbishop Desmond Tutu likes to call the great multitude of God’s Rainbow people, all the peoples of the world who find a place in God’s outstretched loving arms - - the Rainbow people who find forgiveness.
Each one of us will find a place there, amongst God’s forgiven people, along with the boss that we can’t stand, and the next door neighbor who irritates us, and the family member we don’t get along with – all of us are there, beneath Jesus’ big rainbow Easter tent – though we don’t deserve it. The whole human race, including you and I, pushed Jesus out of this world into death’s doorway. And what happens? Jesus comes back, radiant with glory, and ushers us to the banquet of the forgiven, where old enemies can feast together as friends! Jesus forgives us.
He knows the secrets of our hearts.
He knows us better than we know ourselves.
He knows us, and still he forgives.
So there’s a couple of things that we can do in response this day: We can recall a person we need to forgive – and who doesn’t deserve it. It doesn’t matter who it is, near or far, out of our lives, or closely involved with us. We can decide that the wall of enmity that has divided us has gone on long enough – and needs Resurrection.
Then, later in the service, when we arrive at the Altar for Holy communion or a blessing, we can pray there for the grace to forgive – as we have been forgiven – and by God’s grace, both we and another person may experience Easter resurrection as never before. In the Name of God: our + Creator, Savior, Sanctifier, Of whom the Glory, in both heaven and earth is made manifest – Alleluia! Amen.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
17 April
Our Lenten journey has brought us to Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. In this final part of our journey, things shift. In our liturgies, we are invited to become more actively involved than usual. Today, and throughout the week, we engage in a process of remembering. The word “remember” is related to the word “member,” to belong to, to join in. When we “re-member,” we enter into an event or a story. We become part of it. On Palm Sunday, we re-member Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem by holding palms, singing a song of praise, and even joining in the procession. Some people re-member the story of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion by taking the parts of various people in the reading of the Gospel story, a departure from our usual pattern of a deacon reading the Gospel lesson for the day.
As we move through Holy Week, the pattern of re-membering continues. On Maundy Thursday, it is Jesus’ final meal with his disciples and his act of servanthood: footwashing. On Good Friday, the story of Jesus’ death on a wood cross and our own action of venerating the Cross. On Holy Saturday, in the afternoon, we will have a service of light and water. Children will be offered lighted candles, with the message that they are the light of Christ.
Why do we emphasize this re-membering in Holy Week? Because it is the most important week of the Church year. These are the events that are at the heart of our faith. Because, by becoming actively involved, we enter into the events. We become part of them and they become part of us.
I wish you a blessed Holy Week.
Deacon Sue Nebel
As we move through Holy Week, the pattern of re-membering continues. On Maundy Thursday, it is Jesus’ final meal with his disciples and his act of servanthood: footwashing. On Good Friday, the story of Jesus’ death on a wood cross and our own action of venerating the Cross. On Holy Saturday, in the afternoon, we will have a service of light and water. Children will be offered lighted candles, with the message that they are the light of Christ.
Why do we emphasize this re-membering in Holy Week? Because it is the most important week of the Church year. These are the events that are at the heart of our faith. Because, by becoming actively involved, we enter into the events. We become part of them and they become part of us.
I wish you a blessed Holy Week.
Deacon Sue Nebel
Monday, April 11, 2011
10 April
Yesterday, we were blessed with the preaching and teaching of The Rev. Jim Steen. His sermon on the raising of Lazarus stuck with me all through yesterday and into today. He shared he was most struck by the verse where Jesus tells the people to go to Lazarus (who has just emerged from the tomb) and “Unbind him, and let him go.” This verse, Jim preached, speaks to those in Lazarus’ life who will want him to be the person he was before. We don’t know what Lazarus’ reaction to being raised from the dead was, nor do we know how he lived his life from that point on. One thing is sure, he was not the man he was before he died and rose again.
It was my niece’s birthday yesterday and we decided to go to a movie, her pick. She chose Soul Surfer. I’d not heard of this movie, but discovered that Fr. Jim’s message continued to work in my mind as I watched the film. It is the story of a young woman, a surfer (big surprise), who loses her arm in a shark attack. She is no longer the person she was before. The movie is about her response to the situation, as well as the response of others. Those people are asked to do what Jesus commanded – unbind her. Let her go. Let her live into this new life.
Life is ever changing. When we face a change, a difficult situation, something that changes us, are we able to unbind ourselves? Let the old self go? It’s something to think about as we approach Holy Week and Easter, when Jesus gives us the ultimate gift of new life.
Peace,
The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC+
It was my niece’s birthday yesterday and we decided to go to a movie, her pick. She chose Soul Surfer. I’d not heard of this movie, but discovered that Fr. Jim’s message continued to work in my mind as I watched the film. It is the story of a young woman, a surfer (big surprise), who loses her arm in a shark attack. She is no longer the person she was before. The movie is about her response to the situation, as well as the response of others. Those people are asked to do what Jesus commanded – unbind her. Let her go. Let her live into this new life.
Life is ever changing. When we face a change, a difficult situation, something that changes us, are we able to unbind ourselves? Let the old self go? It’s something to think about as we approach Holy Week and Easter, when Jesus gives us the ultimate gift of new life.
Peace,
The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC+
Saturday, April 2, 2011
3 April
Almost all of the really worthwhile insights in life occur to us gradually. Sometimes these insights take a lifetime. In our relationship with Christ, things are no different. We may have discovered him quite suddenly: in a moment in the liturgy in church, on a weekend retreat, in a conversation with a friend. It could have been in a most ordinary place. In C.S. Lewis’ case, it was on the top of a double-decker bus on the way to the zoo! But wherever and whenever the moment, it is always just a beginning. We may see Christ, but we then spend a lifetime learning what knowing Christ means.
Our gospel passage today is about a blind youth to whom Jesus gave sight. People who had known him blind were so astonished, they thought at first it was a look-alike. They then brought some prominent people, some Pharisees, who seemed blind to the reality of what had happened. All they could see was that Jesus had acted on the Sabbath, and had thereby broken Law. It followed, in their thinking, that Jesus was a sinner, so he could not have been the healer! They simply could not admit that the young man had been healed. They called to his parents. Was this really their son? Of course it was. The leaders turned again to the young man. He stuck to his story. As the questioning goes on, he becomes even more aware of what he owes to Jesus, and more aware that Jesus embodies a power and a love and a grace that these people around him, for all their influence, do not have. In the end they dismiss the young man. Jesus encounters him again and the youth recognizes an even greater authority that calls for his allegiance.
This story is about a person who came to see more and more clearly, while other people became more and more blind to the same reality. Life is like that. There are those who recognize the power and love of Christ, and there are those who are completely unable and unwilling to do so. Today we can make assumptions that healing happens only in certain technical and scientific ways, all of which are valid. But we can also be blind to the hidden ways in which Christ can heal through our memories, our thinking, our emotions, if we are prepared to be open to his healing love. Sometimes it may happen through a friend, sometimes it will be through a professional or pastoral counselor, sometimes a doctor. Our Lord has many ways to reach us. Thanks be to God.
Peace,
Fr. Bob+
Our gospel passage today is about a blind youth to whom Jesus gave sight. People who had known him blind were so astonished, they thought at first it was a look-alike. They then brought some prominent people, some Pharisees, who seemed blind to the reality of what had happened. All they could see was that Jesus had acted on the Sabbath, and had thereby broken Law. It followed, in their thinking, that Jesus was a sinner, so he could not have been the healer! They simply could not admit that the young man had been healed. They called to his parents. Was this really their son? Of course it was. The leaders turned again to the young man. He stuck to his story. As the questioning goes on, he becomes even more aware of what he owes to Jesus, and more aware that Jesus embodies a power and a love and a grace that these people around him, for all their influence, do not have. In the end they dismiss the young man. Jesus encounters him again and the youth recognizes an even greater authority that calls for his allegiance.
This story is about a person who came to see more and more clearly, while other people became more and more blind to the same reality. Life is like that. There are those who recognize the power and love of Christ, and there are those who are completely unable and unwilling to do so. Today we can make assumptions that healing happens only in certain technical and scientific ways, all of which are valid. But we can also be blind to the hidden ways in which Christ can heal through our memories, our thinking, our emotions, if we are prepared to be open to his healing love. Sometimes it may happen through a friend, sometimes it will be through a professional or pastoral counselor, sometimes a doctor. Our Lord has many ways to reach us. Thanks be to God.
Peace,
Fr. Bob+
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