But you got to see Jesus!

Yesterday's gospel was the story of "doubting Thomas" found in John 20:19-31.  I focused on the idea that Thomas just wanted an equal opportunity experience to see Jesus.  And apparently I'm getting into even shorter sermons, as this one along with my three Holy Week sermons, are each under a page in length.  


Enjoy!

We all know Thomas’ nickname:  Doubting Thomas.  But it is a pretty undeserved nickname.  Yes Thomas said “unless I see the mark of nails in his hands and place my finger in them and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”  But Thomas was not asking for anything different than what the rest of the disciples got. 

It was Easter evening, Mary Magdalene had come flying in the house that morning telling the disciples “I have seen the Lord,” and yet here they were in a locked room, fearful that the Jewish and Romans leaders would crucify them next.  They had not believed Mary and yet we do not call them “Doubting Peter” or “Doubting James”

Thomas was not asking for anything more than the other disciples and Mary had received, a time to see Jesus, alive again, risen indeed.  And it was not until Jesus proved to the disciples who he was, by showing them his hands and his side that the disciples rejoiced for they had seen the Lord.  Thomas wanted to experience the risen Lord for himself.

And isn’t that really what we all want?  Isn’t that really want is at the heart of our faith?  What forms it and makes it a tangible thing?  We all want to see and experience the risen Christ.  Without those experiences we do not have faith, at least not for long.  It is the God moments, moments when we see God in our lives, times when we have seen the Lord, or have felt the Holy Spirit’s presences that keep us in faith. 

And when you hear someone else’s story about how they have seen God and you have never experience God for yourself, or have never seen the Lord, or have never felt the Holy Spirit, you feel left out.  You yearn to experience it your self.  You desire to have your own encounter with the Word made flesh. 

We are exactly like Thomas and the rest of the disciples, not wanting to just hear about other people’s experiences but we want to experience them for ourselves. 

And yet Jesus came back for Thomas.  Jesus came back to the disciples, he appeared for the third time now, this time when Thomas was present so Thomas could see for himself.  So comes could touch Jesus’ hands and side and not just hear what the others had to say but also experience the Risen Christ for himself.

And Jesus comes to us as well.  We might not always realize it.  We might not be able to name our experiences as times when Jesus has acted in our lives.  We might not always be able to comprehend that it was God who was working in our lives or that it was the Holy Spirit who was causing us to feel such great emotions.  But it is!  God is with us wherever we go, whenever we go there.  Some times we just have to pay attention so that we no longer have to just rely on others telling us “We have seen the Lord” and instead can say with confidence “I have see my Lord, and my God!”

MMC: Easter & Seeing

Happy Easter!

I hope the joy of Easter is continuing for you today as Easter is not just one day but 50 days in the church calendar. 

First things first: THANK YOU!  Thank you to everyone who helped make Holy Week and Easter so wonderful.  Especially thank you to Frank and Judy C for organizing the Easter Breakfast (yumm). To Becky P for organizing the flower order and decorating the sanctuary (beautiful).  To Lyudmila and the wonderful celebration choir, bells and Jeff for all the practice that went into singing at Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Easter Vigil and Easter morning, it was a delight to hear.  To everyone who served as communion assistants, ushers, readers, and worship assistants over the three days, for your willingness to serve God and God's people.  To the Easter Bunny who made a lot of kids, young and old, really excite to see him and receive some goodies. To everyone who invited friends and family to join us, whether they were able to attend or not, you were sharing the Easter message with them.  And to all of you for being such a delightful community of God, God is truly present in each of you.  

A few announcements

• Items are being collected for the tag sale on May 14.  Please bring in gently used items to the church basement.  Official donation times are on Thursday evenings, Saturday mornings and Sundays before and after worship.  However if you would like to stop by during a different time please give me a call to make sure the church will be open, or if you have a key stop by anytime. 
• Bible Studies continue this week!  Women's bible study at 7:30pm at the parsonage on Wednesday and a co-ed study of the book of Revelation on Sunday at 9am.  
• Council is meeting on Monday May 9 at 7:30pm, all are invited to attend. 

Book of Faith Puzzler

Last week's question was: What festival was being celebrated the week of Jesus’ death in Jerusalem? A) Rosh Hashanah B) Passover C) Yom Kippur D) Mardi Gras.  There are multiple references in each of the four gospel that tell of the preparations for Passover that were occurring while Jesus was in Jerusalem during his final week.  It was also after the Seder meal that Jesus took the bread and cup and commanded that we eat and drink in remembrance of him.  It is also because of the Passover celebrations that the soldiers made sure Jesus was dead before sunset and why it wasn’t until Sunday that the women returned to care for Jesus’ body.  Congratulations to Paul D for winning the puzzler.

This week's question is: How many days was Jesus dead?  A) 1 B) 3 C) 7 D) 40  If you know the question, or are willing to look it up, email me with the correct answer by noon on Wednesday to be entered into this week's drawing. 

Yesterday's sermon

A written version can be found here.  How have others told you about the Easter message? How are you spreading the Easter message?   How have you seen the Lord?

Sunday's worship

Serving this week is:

Worship Assistant - Ryan H

Reader ______

Communion Assistant - Cheryl M

Ushers ______

Bread Baker - Becca MC

Counter - Frank C

Coffee Hour Hosts - Dorothy H & Nancy L

Please let me know if you are willing to serve as a reader or usher on Sunday

Sunday's text

The Second Sunday of Easter, the gospel is always the story of "doubting" Thomas, John 20:19-31.  When have you needed proof in order to believe?  When have other's testimonies not been enough but you have needed to explore, to see, for yourself?  How are we all like "doubting" Thomas?  What ways are we to be like him?  What ways are we to not be like him?

The first lesson is Acts 2:14a, 22-32, Peter's Pentecost sermon.  Peter preached about Jesus' death and resurrection and looks to the Psalms (16:8-11 to be exact) to show that Jesus is the Messiah.  How have Old Testament scriptures helped you understand Jesus as the messiah?  Can we, followers of Jesus, just get rid of the Old Testament? 

The second lesson is 1 Peter 1:3-9.  Verse 8 reads "Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy."  How do you love Jesus, who you have not seen physically?  How do you believe in him and rejoice?  What are ways that you do see him?

Have a blessed Easter week!

Pastor Becca 

I Have Seen the Lord!

Happy Easter!  


Easter at Bethlehem was such a joy-filled packed morning.  Pancake breakfast, flowers decorating the sanctuary, joy-filled choir, bells ringing during Alleluias, a remembrance of baptism, family and friends worshiping with us, and even a visit by the Easter Bunny after worship.  


For various reasons, including wanting to start worship with part of the gospel (I have always found it odd that we begin worship with "Alleluia Christ is risen!" but we don't hear about his resurrection until a third of the way through the service) I decided to preach on John's version of the resurrection instead of Matthews which is the preferred text in the lectionary.  Since Mary is the one who spread the Easter message with her words "I have seen the Lord" I was struck by how much that is like when people share their stories each week of where they have seen God.  


Enjoy!

I have seen the Lord!  Those are five simple words (only 3 words in Greek) that have changed the world. 

Over the past few months I have asked you, the people of Bethlehem, week after week, where have you seen God this week?  So today on Easter I ask you:  Where have you seen the Lord?

________________________________________

And today I have a second question for you:  What is it like for you when you share these stories, these moments of where you have seen God, the Lord in you life? 

____________________________________________

My observation is that it took time for you all to be comfortable with answering that question.  Many of you were or still are too timid to answer that question publicly.  And that is okay because often I still here stories, via email or during coffee hour or senior lunch or visits about how you have seen God in your lives.  But as some of you have started to answer that question more of you have become comfortable answering it.  And once you answer one week, you are more likely to share a story or a God moment in the following weeks.  And then it become contagious as you share stories.  There have been a few weeks where I have felt that worship should just be us sharing our stories because nothing I can say in preaching would convey the Easter message, God’s message of love and grace any more than what you have said through your stories. 

I picture this process was similar for Mary.  She was probably timid or fearful at first.  What if the disciples think that she is crazy for having seen Jesus whose body they just laid in the grave a few days before?  What if they don’t get how excited she is?  Or what if they think she is lying?  But instead she told her story.  “I have seen the Lord.” And in doing so she shared the Easter message, God’s message of love and grace with those disciples who as yet did not understand the scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead. 

And once Mary told her story, “I have seen the Lord!”, then Simon Peter and the other disciple shares that they had seen the empty tomb.  And they told not just the disciples, the 11 remaining close followers of Jesus, but all of his followers.  And in doing so they shared the Easter message, God’s message of love and grace with many who believed.  Mary’s story, the Easter message, then spread farther and wider.  And as Jesus appeared to others they too told their stories. And the Easter message, God’s message of love and grace continued to spread.

And it has continued to spread and be retold in new ways all the way till today.  And when we share with each other how we have seen God, that “we have seen the Lord!”, we are sharing the Easter message, God’s message of love and grace with each other.  And hopefully you are not just sharing your stories in here in this sanctuary but other there with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, strangers in the line at the grocery or fellow parents at the baseball field.  Because when we share our stories, we become part of the Easter story, of God’s message of love and grace that is still here today, abundant and alive because Alleluia! Christ is risen! 

Christ has overcome sin and death, Christ has died in order to forgive our sins.  Christ has died for each and everyone of us so we are part of the Easter story, God’s message of love and grace, and you being willing to share this Easter story with one another is just one of the many away that I see God in you.  I have seen the Lord and I see in you!  Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Where was Thomas?

Fortunately I didn't have to ask where was everyone else. Normally the Sunday after Easter is a low attendance Sunday but at Bethlehem we had above average worship attendances - WOOHOO!! Though I was a little worried when at 10 minutes to 10 there was the choir and maybe 6 other people in the building.

So my sermon was based on the gospel lesson: John 20:19-31. In a side note on my adventures in Biblical story telling, I did memorize the gospel but was having some difficulty reciting it that morning (probably could have used one more day), including forgetting the very important line "Do not doubt but believe" so I stood at the pulpit just in case I needed to refer to the text, which of course I didn't. Though it was not an accurate telling but at least 80%.

I do apologize, I found multiple typos in my written text which I use on Sunday mornings but that copy got tossed and I need to run out the door in a few minutes so I don't have time to edit the sermon currently. So fair warning, there are probably more typos than normal, but let's be honest, there are always typos in my sermons. Hope you can get past them and enjoy:

Where was Thomas on that first Easter evening? Why wasn’t he with the rest of the disciples in that locked room? Apparently the disciples were afraid to walk about the streets of Jerusalem hence why they were in a locked room. They were afraid for their lives, afraid that they would be the next to be crucified. They were confused about what to do next, their leader of three years was just killed. The stories, the promises he had made them about heaven, eternal life, the Son of God, have now seemed to them to be just that – stories. The man they thought was the messiah had been killed as a political prisoner, as a enemy of the state. And one of their own, one of the people that they considers a friend, a brother was the one who betrayed Jesus, the one who turned him into the authorities.

The disciples had probably been in the house with locked doors since Friday evening. And now it was Sunday evening. That morning Mary Magdalene and some of the other women came to them telling them some wild tale about the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid is now empty and that Mary had seen and talked to the risen Jesus. That Jesus is alive again. And yet they were still in a locked room, frighten, confused, maybe even a little heart-broken. And then Jesus appeared to them. But where was Thomas?

Had he abandoned the disciples? Did he try to catch the first caravan out of Jerusalem? Was he so afraid for his life that instead of hiding he ran? Well that doesn’t make a lot of sense because he came back later to hear the disciples’ story of seeing Jesus. And then he was still around a week later when Jesus reappeared to them.

So where was Thomas? Maybe he had gone on a food run. They had been holed up in the house for three days. Their food supply was running low, so maybe he went to go get some sandwiches, or to the market to buy some bread and a lamb, they would have been half price since it was now after Passover. But it was evening, most of the shops would have been closed, unless he purposely went late in the day so to avoid the majority of people since he was afraid for his life.

Or maybe Thomas wasn’t there because he went to go see the empty tomb for himself? He had heard the story of Mary Magdalene and the other women, he had heard Peter’s tale of seeing the empty tomb. Maybe Thomas too wanted to check for himself. Maybe he understood what the empty tomb meant. Maybe he didn’t see the need to be hidden away because Christ is risen! Maybe he wasn’t there because he was being more faithful than the other disciples. Imagine Doubting Thomas being the faithful one!

Regardless why Thomas wasn’t there that first Sunday, that first Easter evening, later he hears the other disciples stories. He hears that they had seen Jesus alive again. They hear about the wounds in his hands, feet and side. And he doesn’t believe them. But he doesn’t give up on them either. A week later he is still with the disciple, still in that stupid locked room.

But maybe that is why Thomas didn’t believe the disciples. Maybe it wasn’t that Jesus was alive again that caused his unbelief, maybe Thomas’ unbelief was because these disciples had seen the risen Lord and yet there they were in that locked in that stupid room. They had seen Jesus alive again, walking and talking, they had received the Holy Spirit and been given the power to forgive sins and yet a week later they were still locked in the room acting like it was still Good Friday. Their messiah was back, the words he had told them about the Son of God dying and coming to life again has come true. They had seen the living Lord, and yet they were still locked in the room. They had experienced the resurrection and yet they were still locked in the room.

Maybe it wasn’t the disciples’ words that caused Thomas to not believe but their actions. If they truly had seen the risen Lord, if they truly had seen the messiah, if they truly had received the Holy Spirit, if they truly were given the power to forgive sins, if they truly experienced the resurrection shouldn’t they be out there, out on the streets of Jerusalem telling others about what they had seen, telling others how great God is, forgiving the sins of the crowd who called for Jesus’ crucifixion, forgiving the sins of Pilate, the Pharisees and the Sadducees would captured Jesus and sentence him to death? If the disciples truly believed what they had seen, shouldn’t they have been out there telling others and not in the locked room waiting for people to come to them?

Maybe that is some people’s problem with Christianity, why they find it hard to believe in the Risen Lord. They hear the stories that Christians have to say about the Risen Lord, about Jesus in their lives, about what Christ calls us to do. They hear the stories from scriptures and the stories that people claim occurred in their own life that they attribute to the Holy Spirit and to God intervening in their lives – miraculous medical cures, a friend or neighbor keeping them from the brink of emotional, mental or financial disaster.

But yet they see Christians who allow the poor to remain poor, who refuse to not just give money to the panhandler on the street but to even look at them. Christians who allow food to rot in their kitchens each day but never give a spare can of food to a food pantry or help out at a soup kitchen. Christians who want the best medical care for themselves but publicly speak out against having universal health coverage because it will affect the amount of taxes they will have to pay or because it would mean a longer wait at the doctor’s office for them. Christians who talk about how we should support the widows and orphans, and yet they never visit their elderly mother in the nursing home. Christians who talk about the risen Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit but their actions do not follow their words.

And we are no better than those hypocrites, those disciples. I am no better than those hypocrites, those disciples who talk about how great it was to see Jesus but then do not listen to his words. In many ways we are locked in that stupid room. We are locked in this church. We expect people to come to us. Yeah we send out food to Redding Social Services or household goods to Lutheran Social Services. But it has been multiple years since I last served a meal to a homeless person. How about you? I don’t think I have ever been to a nursing home to just volunteer and hang out with the residents. Sure I have been to them to visit someone I knew, I even worked at a nursing home for a summer, but if I ever did anything like that it was when I was still in Girl Scouts. When was the last time you volunteered to care for the elderly or for orphans, especially people that you did not know? When was the last time our faith, the words that we speak, the creed that we recite each week match our actions? Maybe you have done something like this with in the last week but for the majority of Christians who are at church today, this low Sunday, the Sunday after Easter, when the true Christians, the hard core members come out, for the majority of us, our words often do not match our actions.

We are still the disciples lock in a room waiting, wondering and worrying about what to do next. We have seen the risen Lord yet we wait for more. And yet there are Thomases out there, people who are clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, supporting the elderly and orphans who have not seen Jesus, do not believe he is risen, but yet continue to do what they do because they know it is right.

But we have seen the risen Lord, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been given the power to forgive sins. And that is what we as Christians have been called to do. That is what we as Christians are hoping to do. And we don’t need to continue to wait for Jesus to reappear, for Christ has already appeared to us. The Holy Spirit has already been given to us. We have already be commissioned to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, care for the sick, support the elderly and orphans. So isn’t it time that we leave the locked room and go out to not just tell other, not just shout to others, but to proclaim to others Alleluia Christ is Risen!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Easter finally arrived. After 40 days of Lent, after a long Holy Week, Easter had arrived. And what a gorgeous day for it. Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week was filled with torrential rains, Wednesday was overcast and cloudy, but Thursday through today have been absolutely wonderful! Bright sun shine, light clouds, an occasional cool breeze, and the flowers are blooming.

And while everyday is Easter, I'm so glad that our Easter celebration is only one day. I was wiped out! After not getting much sleep (I may have had too much caffeine in order to be alert for the vigil the night before) I was at the church by 7am so I could have some quiet time to prepare. Others started to arrive by 8am to set up for our breakfast (Ellen's vegetable bread pudding was the bomb!) and the choir shortly started to practice and the pews began to fill.

Worship was wonderful! The choir and bells performed a wonderful call to worship, we shouted Alleluia Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen indeed! Alleluia! The music was joy-filled, the flowers overflowed from the altar area and their fragrance filled the air and so many people were dressed in bright colors.

A highlight for many people was my children's sermon. I made confetti filled Easter eggs and talked to the kids about what their reaction would be if they found a plastic Easter egg without candy. I then asked about the real Easter eggs (and I even had one hard boiled one that I cracked and ate), how would they feel if one of those eggs were empty. And they responded appropriately - confused etc. I then took one of the confetti ones and smashed it on one of the boy's head who I knew would get a kick out of it and allowed the confetti to fall all over him and the ground. (Apparently his face was priceless) This then led to the confusing being a good surprise and Mary Magdalene and the other women's confusion at the empty tomb being a good surprise.

Worship was wonderful! Easter is my favorite holiday and it was wonderful to be the person who got to say "Alleluia Christ is risen!"

Below is my Easter sermon based on Luke 24:1-12

He is not here, but has risen! That verse is at the heart of our faith. But there is something interesting about that verse and our entire gospel reading today. Did anyone catch it? I’ll give you a hint – it has to do with a name.

The name Jesus is not mentioned in the gospel. Nor is the title Christ, or Lord or Savior. Jesus is in many ways not mentioned specifically but alluded to – “the body” “the living” “the dead” “he.” The closest we get to a name that we normally call Jesus by is “Son of Man” which in Jesus’ time was similar to someone saying that he was human.

But yet we all know who the “he” is. Jesus! The women were looking for Jesus’ body in the tomb, in order to prepare his body for a proper burial. The men in dazzling cloths tell them that Jesus is not here but has risen. They remind the women what Jesus said. The women went and told the apostles about Jesus. Peter went to see Jesus’ body but did not find Jesus and was amazed. Jesus Christ is not here, but has risen! Alleluia Christ has risen!

And as the Sunday School kids sang Jesus is alive! Yes the tomb is empty, he is alive!

Then why do we look for the living among the dead? We have heard the women’s account, we have heard of Peter double checking the tomb. And yet in many ways we still think of Jesus as dead. We treat Jesus as someone who died 2000 years ago, as someone who is far off and doesn’t have any impact on our lives today. We treat Jesus as dead. That he had some great moral things to say about what is good and bad, right and wrong. We know that Jesus wants us to be happy but yet we have a hard time connecting Jesus with our own lives here today.

When we pray to Christ, many of us envision our words being sent to the far reaches of space or through some space/time continuum. When we sing hymns of praise, many of us think of our songs being just one part of a long tradition. When we read scriptures many of us think that we are opening an ancient book that needs to be put on a pedestal and revered.

But yet Jesus is alive! Not just Jesus lived again, past tense, that Jesus rose from the grave once, two thousand years ago. But Christ has risen! And Jesus is alive!

Jesus is alive in our lives today! Jesus is active in our lives today! Yes Jesus had wonderful things to say about what it means to live a moral life, but Jesus is also active in our lives today helping us make those moral decisions. Yes Jesus would like us to be blessed and happy in our lives and just because we currently do not feel blessed or happy does not mean that Jesus does not exist or Jesus is not alive today. Jesus is constantly blessing us even if we do not see it. Also Jesus did not die to take away all the bad things in life; Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is active in our lives even during bad times, Jesus is who gives us people who support and care for us during those times, Jesus is who causes those minor miracles to occur that keep us from financial disaster or from seriously injuring ourselves.

When we pray, we are not praying to someone far off in space or traveling through time, we are having a conversation with a dear friend who is sitting right next to us. And the risen Lord, Jesus who is alive in our lives, is listening and responding to our prayer, to our conversation. And when we sing our hymns, yes we are adding to a long tradition, but we are adding to that tradition. Making things new in our lives. Many hymns have been written to the tune of popular drinking ditties. So maybe in 50 years we will be singing hymns about Jesus’ resurrection to the tune of Lady Gaga songs.

And when we read the scripture, we are hearing, reading a living word. A word that is alive in our lives. Couldn’t you picture Mary Magdelene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the other women going to the tomb to tend to Jesus’ body and seeing the perplexed looks on their faces when the body was not there? Couldn’t you feel the emotions in this text as they hear men in dazzling cloths ask them why they were looking for the living among the dead?

Scripture is alive because our faith is a living faith. Worship is alive because our faith is a living faith. Prayer is alive because our faith is a living faith. And our faith is a living faith, our faith is alive because Jesus is alive! That is the heart of our faith – Jesus is alive! We worship a living Lord. We pray to a living God. We read and hear words from a living scripture.

The heart of our faith is Easter, this holy day. The heart of our faith is not something that happened once long ago but something that happens every day, every moment of our lives. He has risen! Jesus is alive! Continuous, on-going action. We are not commemorating the anniversary of Jesus rising from the dead today. We are celebrating that Jesus is alive today, right now, right this instance. Just look at our hymns today – Christ the Lord has risen TODAY! Jesus Christ has risen TODAY! Christ rose from the dead today. Christ rises from the dead everyday.

Every morning is Easter morning. Every day is resurrection day! Every day is a day to celebrate Christ rising from the dead. For Christ died for us, we have been forgiven and Christ is alive. Alleluia Christ has risen! Alleluia Christ is alive!

But....

I'm a little behind in my Easter postings. Saturday and Sunday were wonderful but full days and I have been spending the last few days slowing recovering and I just realized I forgot to post my sermons from Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday plus my recap on the days. Well here I begin!

Easter Vigil is a old new service. Easter vigil is one of the oldest services in the Christian church but it was lost over time and is now finding a renewal. Bethlehem and Christ Church Parish, the Episcopal church in Redding, used to do a joint Easter Vigil together but during the years of pastoral vacancies at Bethlehem, our church stopped the tradition, but Christ Church continued on their own. This past year we were planning our Easter services, both churches thought it was time to renew this tradition. And since Christ has done Easter Vigils in recent years, Bethlehem went to there to worship.

The Easter Vigil begins outside at a fire and the Christ candle (the big candle) is lit with the first fire of Easter. We then processed inside and a prayer (in the form of a chant) is give and our individual candles are lit. We then hear multiple readings from the Old Testament (we read 4 but you can read up to 12). Then we renewed our baptismal vows using similar words and promises that we or our parents made for us at our baptism. And then we were each marked with the cross of baptismal waters to individually remember that we are God's, and to God we shall return. All of this is done is just enough light so people can see. Then the fun come!

After everyone was marked with the waters of baptism and the altar candles lit, myself and Marilyn (the rector at Christ Church) turned around and yelled "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" And boy did we yell it! One teenager I noticed jumped a good few inches out of her pew! We then sang Jesus Christ is Risen Today and the congregation was given/brought bells which rang throughout the song. Afterward was our Easter Readings: Romans 6:3-11 and Luke 24:1-12, my sermon and communion. All of which was joyously done as we were now celebrating.

If you haven't been to an Easter Vigil service before, I highly recommend it. This was only my fifth Easter Vigil but they have become one of my favorite services as we start in darkness and despair of Jesus' death and move into a full celebration of the joy that comes with Easter. And I know my brief description here is not a full enough description of all the joy that happens.

Below is my sermon from Easter Vigil:

For many of us, this journey towards Easter, towards this empty tomb began 40 days ago on Ash Wednesday. 40 days ago at the start of Lent, people around the world received ashes in the sign of a cross on their forehead and were reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return. We were reminded that we are human, that we are going to die. That someday we will be ashes, dust, part of the earth. That someday we will no longer be living and our remains will be lowered into the ground or our ashes will be scattered and we will again return to the earth. Death will win. We are all going to die.

And death did win, yesterday we mourned Jesus’ death. We were witnesses to his death through hearing the scriptures. We envision watching Jesus being nailed to the tree, we could picture looking at the disciples around us mourning while Jesus was dying. We could see the tears in the eyes of those around us, we could see Jesus breathing his last breath and then hanging lifelessly from the cross.

And today we gathered to mourn, to wait in vigil around Jesus’ body. To share stories about what he has meant to us, to comfort each other, to partake in a meal he commanded us to eat. We gathered here not to celebrate but to mourn.

Now isn’t that a lovely Easter sermon?

But there is more to the story. Luke’s gospel telling of the empty tomb starts with a very small word that changes everything…”but.” Six times in today’s gospel we hear the word but. But on the first day of the week, but when they went in, but the men said to them, but he has risen, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, but Peter got up and ran to the tomb. But…the story is not over. But…the most important part is still to come. But…death has not yet won. But…he has risen!

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!

Jesus is alive again, he is not still in the tomb but has risen. The tomb is now empty! Jesus overcame death. Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is alive again! That is the reason for all the buts, that is the reason why we are here tonight no longer mourning but now celebrating. That is the reason why we sing and shout Alleluia!

But yet we have to first talk about Jesus’ death. If Jesus didn’t die, why would we celebrate? If Jesus did rise from the dead, why would we sing and shout Alleluia? If Jesus didn’t die for our sins and over come death, why would we worship?

We start Lent, our journey towards Easter being reminded that we are human that we are going to die someday because Lent ends with Jesus’ death. However the story is not over, there is still more to come, there is that little word that changes everything…but! But our lives do not end at Ash Wednesday, our journey towards Easter, towards the empty tomb does not end when we receive the cross of ashes on our forehead. There is still more to the story. Our journey towards Easter and the empty tomb just took us to the baptismal font, to the place were we were claimed as daughters and sons of God. And there tonight we were reminded that we are God’s and to God’s we shall return. We are children of God and nothing we can do will ever change that.

No matter how many blemishes to our record we have committed, no matter what we do, those blemishes are made clean through the waters of baptism. No matter how many marks we receive against us, there is only one mark that matters, the mark of the cross. Tonight we were reminded that ours sins, our ashes, our dust, our human self have been made clean through Christ’s death and resurrection.

Death did win, but only temporarily. There is more to the story. For Christ has risen. Jesus is alive and we have been made alive through Christ. We have been marked as children of God. And even our future death is only temporary. And that is reason why we shout Alleluia. That is the reason why we worship. That is the reason why we celebrate. Death will not win. Death will not destroy us. For we are alive with Christ.

Why do you look for the living among the dead? We are the living and we worship a Living Lord. A Living Lord who lives in each and every one of us. A Living Lord who has conquered death. A Living Lord who has washed us clean. A Living Lord who has changed everything with one little word…but. And that is the reason why we can shout Alleluia Christ has risen!

Love me some Palms

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week - AKA the busiest week of the year for pastors. This is like April 15 for accountants or the week before Christmas for retailers or the last week of August for Disney World. My holy week will end with me preaching 4 times between Thursday night and Sunday Morning, but fortunately it started out fairly easy - I didn't preach yesterday!

Instead of a sermon, our Sunday School student and some adult helpers did a dramatic reading of the passion narrative from Luke (Luke 19:28-40 and 22:14 -23:56). They did a wonderful job!

We started outside, though cold with our palms and the reading of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We then processed inside singing All Glory, Laud and Honor. Our narrative then brought us to the Last Supper and we then celebrated communion. Afterward we heard of Jesus providing for his disciples and we gave our offering as Jesus has provided for us.

We prayed for all people after hearing of Jesus praying in the garden, and confessed our faith after Peter denied knowing Jesus. Then towards the end of our worship as we heard of Jesus' trial, sentencing, crucifixion, death and burial we sang verses of the spiritual Were you There.

I was a little nervous about worship since it was something so different - what we are having communion before the prayers?! And there were a few snafus, like the ushers disappearing during communion, luckily the sanctuary is not that big so I don't think anyone got lost on their way to the altar railing. But overall things went very smoothly. And the speakers did a FANTASTIC job!

Are we doing it again next year? Probably or at least something like it. Next year the reading will be from Matthew so it will be a bit different.
Would I change anything? I think I would have some longer pauses between when a reading stopped and when our liturgy began. Also I forgot to give Lyudmila, our organist, a copy of the script so I had to nod to her whenever it was time for her to play.
Was it a great start to Holy Week? You betcha! Many people told me they thought it was great and very meaningful. It was a great teaching tool to help people connect portions of our liturgy (worship elements) to scripture, plus it allowed those not able to make it on Thursday, Friday or Saturday (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil) to hear important parts of the Holy Week story which you miss if you go from the triumphant entry into Jerusalem to Jesus' resurrection with no betrayal and death in between.

So what did I do this last week without having to write a sermon? Well I actually wrote two sermons: Maundy Thursday and Good Friday - Easter Vigil and Easter morning are still left to write. But those will be posted later this week along with my exciting Saturday! (Okay it wasn't that exciting but it was dusty, fun, and well needed.)

Happy Holy Week!