Recently I was on a Ravelry chat board that was talking not about over-protective parents, but over-protective schools that want to take words such disease, divorce and birthday banned from standardized test because the words might offend or bring up painful memories. This lead to various people discussing how either disease and death has been hidden from children by parents and the various repercussions.
And it is easy to knock parents who want to hid death from their kids - the ones who tell them that their dog ran away or that grandpa has gone away for awhile. But really these parents hid death out of love. They fear that their children won't completely understand or that they will ask questions that they are not able to answer. And because they love their children, they don't want them to hurt, and so they tell lies and half-truths.
But we can't knock these parents and not see it also in ourselves. This is Holy Week, the week when we walk with Jesus towards the cross. Yesterday in worship we heard not just of the day when Jesus was celebrated as he came into Jerusalem but also we heard the entire passion narrative as Jesus was anointed before his death, had his last meal with his friends, was betrayed, arrested, put on trial, denied, sentenced to death, died and was buried. We read the entire passion because many people do not come to the other worship services this week and therefore go straight from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to his resurrection and they miss hearing about his death, which is where the gospel really lies.
I love Maundy Thursday and Good Friday worship services. I have often thought that you really can't celebrate Easter unless you have first shared in Jesus' last meal and witness his death. Yes they are full of sorrow, yes sometimes there are tears. These are emotions that we may not want to bear witness to, but they are part of the human story, they are part of the emotion spectrum that we as human have been given. And yet I don't know of a single congregation that has double, triple or quadruple the attendance on Palm Sunday or Easter than they will have on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday combined. Because we want to hid from death, just like those parents who do not tell their children about death.
We can't live Sunday to Sunday - the parade to the empty tomb. We would be missing an important part to the story.
The story is not that Jesus was loved by the people of Jerusalem and a week later something miraculous happen as a tomb was empty.
The story is that Jesus was loved by the people of Jerusalem, who quickly changed their ways as even one of Jesus' closest friends betrayed him and handed him over to authorities. Once arrested Jesus was put on trial and the crowds who just a few days before hailed him as king were now shouting for his death. Jesus then was put to death on a cross and his body was buried as those friends and family were left to celebrate one of the holiest days of the year without the one they loved.
But that is not were the story ends. Jesus overcame death. Jesus rose from the death. His body was not there where they had laid him. He was alive again.
We try to hid death, but we can't. Eventually children will learn the truth about their dog or grandpa and they might feel betrayed. Or ideas of zombies or the un-dead develop, but we know those are just stories. We can however celebrate death, and more importantly celebrate that death has no power over Jesus. We can realize that death does happen, that regardless of who we are, someday we will die, along with our loved ones and our pets. Even Jesus died!
But that is not the end of the story, it is just the beginning.
Showing posts with label Holy Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Week. Show all posts
Monday, April 2, 2012
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Jesus Died
Good Friday has always had special meaning to me. The texts are so powerful that not a lot needs be said by the preacher. So here is one of the shortest sermons I have ever written. And like Maundy Thursday I preached more on the day then on the text, but the two are so intertwined that it is hard to separate them. The gospel for the day is John 18:1-19:42.
Enjoy
Enjoy
Jesus died. In one of the cruelest forms of capital punishment ever thought of, Jesus was put to death. But first he was whipped, he was beaten almost to death, he was given one less lash than the number that was considered to be inhuman. They publicly humiliated him by pushing a crown on his head, one made of thorns that pierced his skin. They then forced him to carry his cross, a heavy burden upon his back that was raw and bloody from the all the lashing he had received. Just this process was so exhausting that in the other gospels we hear that Jesus collapsed under weight and the Romans had to get a bystander to carry the cross for him.
And then after the Romans had humiliated him, beaten him and physically exhausted him, they then nailed Jesus to a cross. Stabbing him through the wrist and feet with nails in order to place him up on the cross, so that he would surely die of suffocation if he did not first die from blood loss.
But not being satisfied that Jesus had been humiliated enough, they continued to mock him while they waited for Jesus to die. They placed bets for his clothes, maybe whoever most accurately guessed how long it would take him to die got his best tunic. They placed a sign over his head saying “here is the king of the Jews.” They mocked and teased him from the ground, commanding him to come down from the cross. Even when they gave him wine, something that we often think of one moment of mercy and dignity, it was actually just another moment of humility as a sponge on a stick was commonly used as toilet paper in the ancient world. And when it was over, to make sure that he had died, they then pierced Jesus’ side. The Romans and the crowds did everything in their power not just to make sure that Jesus had died, but to make sure he would not have wanted to continue to live.
And it is this body, this lifeless, bloody body, full of wounds on his head, hands, feet, back and sides that was give to Joseph of Arimathea. It was this body, that was humiliated, mocked, cursed and spat at, that Nicodemus helped place in the tomb for burial. It was this body, one broken and weak, not strong and with a perfect physique, that Mary and the other woman helped wrap in linen cloth with spices and aloes.
It was this body that has been given to us. Jesus body, bless and broken. It is this body who’s footsteps we are called to walk in. It is this body who carries us and supports us when we are not able to support ourselves.
And it is this body who in a few days will be resurrected from the grave. No longer bloody, no longer broken, no longer humiliated. And it is that body who give us life.
Power in Blood
Maunday (commandment) Thursday is the night in which we celebrate and remember the night Jesus was betrayed but first when he sat with his disciples during his Seder meal and afterwards broke bread and shared a cup of wine and gave the disciple new commandments, that we partake of this meal often in remembrance of him and to love one another just as Jesus has loved us.
While the gospel for the evening is John 13:1-17, 31b-35, Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, I actually preached on the second lesson 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 but more about the overall meaning of the day.
Enjoy
While the gospel for the evening is John 13:1-17, 31b-35, Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, I actually preached on the second lesson 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 but more about the overall meaning of the day.
Enjoy
The body of Christ given to you! The blood of Christ shed for you!
Those words or something similar are spoken to you each week as you receive communion. And they remind us as we receive the bread and wine the words that are recalled just a few minutes before, the words Jesus said “This is my body given for you, eat of it in remembrance of me. This is my blood shed for you, drink of it in remembrance of me.”
Each week we receive Christ’s body and blood, the ultimate sacrifice.
And there is power in blood. Blood means life. Through blood new life is given in birth and life is saved through transfusions. A small amount of blood contains our DNA, can be tested for a variety of diseases, and can tell someone about our diet or possible drug use. There is power in blood.
And yet blood is unclean. We avoid touching any but our own for fear of diseases including hepatitis and AIDS. We often don’t want to know about our own blood because we associate the sight of it with pain. Some people even faint at the sight of blood. Many become squeamish when there is too much of it in movies, especially ones like Saving Private Ryan or The Passion of Christ.
And yet Jesus gave us his blood!
Blood! The blood of a lamb had kept the Israelite’s alive during the Passover. And now here the blood of Jesus the Lamb of God was given to the disciples during the Passover, in order to keep them from death. And it is still given to us, to keep us from death. Through the blood of the lamb, God saved the Israelites from physical death and through the blood of the Lamb of God, God saves us from spiritual death, from eternal death.
And when we drink the blood of the Lamb of God we are doing something radical. The early Christians were persecuted not because they were worshiping Jesus, not because there was a hope and joy in them that could not be contained, but because they were thought to be cannibals. Rumors spread about this group of people who were eating the body and drinking the blood of the man they worshiped.
And we today are still participating in this metaphorical cannibalism. Jesus is in, with, and under the bread and wine of communion. We are drinking Jesus’ blood, while the wine still remains wine, and receiving new life through Jesus’ gift of life and in doing so we are asking for mercy. “Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.”
Lord have mercy upon us, through your life giving blood.
Monday, April 18, 2011
My Favorite Worship
Really it is hard to pick a favorite worship service of the year, but easily in the top 5 of my all time most meaningful worship services is Palm Sunday at Bethlehem. And it doesn't even involve a live donkey!
My History with Palm Sunday
In years past I was always ambivalent to Palm Sunday.
As a young child I remember making palm leaves from green construction paper and going around to the various Sunday School classes singing "Hosanna, Hosanna Christ the Lord be King" and waving this big green palm branch only to then go into worship and get a little dinky spear shaped leaf that was perfect for tickling (or stabbing) my siblings with from 2 feet away.
In high school I remember the live donkey that one year and one year only came into the sanctuary where it then took a big donkey poo near the altar. After that the donkey remained outside.
In college and seminary Palm Sunday meant having a great outdoor festive party at the beginning of worship to only come inside to be bored by a 20 plus minute long gospel reading, that even read in a dramatic style is too long. There was also the year a pastor rode a hobby horse into the sanctuary on Palm Sunday, but that is a different story.
So last year, when approaching my first Holy Week as a pastor, I was hesitant about Palm Sunday because I remember the joy I had as a child, but have seen the ways congregations have tried to make it "entertaining" and have faced the boredom that can happen with such a long gospel when you celebrate Passion Sunday instead.
The catalyst for doing something different was a bit of luck when between a new pastor, a new Sunday School coordinator and a small Sunday school with overworked moms, decided not to do a children's pageant on Christmas (Praise Jesus!). One thought was the kids could do the dramatic reading on Palm Sunday instead, something that adults at Bethlehem had been leading for years. But the reading, which is often too long for adults, is way too long for kids. So with some creative thinking between the Sunday School coordinator and myself, we thought, what if we restructure the worship service so we walk with Jesus during the passion? And that is exactly what we've done these past two years now.
Basic Structure of the Worship
We started outside with some announcements and palms.
Worship itself began with the call and response of:
Blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the Highest
The congregation then sang that song that I learned as a young child "Hosanna, Hosanna Christ the Lord be King" and then the children and youth of Bethlehem take over. We heard of Jesus's entry into Jerusalem, join together for the prayer of the day, then with All Glory, Laud and Honor processed into the sanctuary with some of the youngest kids leading us carrying the cross, ribbon poles and the bible.
The children and youth then told us of Mary anointing Jesus' feet with perfume and Jesus announcing that we will always have the poor but we will not always have him with us. So in response, we, like Mary, gave our offering to God.
Then we heard of Jesus' last supper, so we then celebrated the meal which Jesus instituted.
Afterwards the reading of the gospel continued with Peter's denial foretold and Jesus praying in Gethsemane so we responded by offering up our prayers to God.
The gospel then tells of Jesus' betrayal and arrest and how Peter sat in the courtyard and denied knowing Jesus 3 times. We as a congregation responded by admitting our faith using the Apostle's creed.
And then as the reading unfolded with Jesus' trial, his crucifixion, his death and his burial, we responded to each part with a verse from Were You There? Ending with a brief moment of silence and the simple words "depart in peace".
Why This is My Favorite Worship
I am amazed at the comments that are given about this service . It is wonderful to have the kids lead us in worship, especially when in that famous Palm Sunday hymn of All Glory, Laud and Honor we sing the words "from whom the lips of children, the sweet hosannas sing." This worship has been so meaningful as we walk with Jesus because it reminds us that our prayers, confession, offering and communion are things that Jesus taught us or commanded us to do. And it is wonderful to hear the full passion but to give the congregation opportunity to reflect and respond after each section of the story.
I personally love this service because it allows the kids to be in charge. Not only were they the readers but they were the greets, ushers, and communion assistants as well, they have such a sense of pride about not just assisting in worship (which happens most weeks) but as a group being in charge of it. This worship service also allows them to lead us in pure, plain scripture. So many Christmas pageants end up being about what the symbols on the tree mean and in turn scripture is not read, in some cases not even referred to. And as a dramatic reading there were no costumes, no lines to memorize, no acting to rehearse, and since most of the kids just stand up in their pew to read their lines, less chance of stage fright. Just scripture, which we have read over a few times together so that the kids can hear the whole story and practice the harder words like prophecy, Golgotha, Nazareth or blasphemy.
Due to this being a small congregation all the kids are able to participate without having to try and give 80 different kids speaking parts. The youngest were part of the crowd with a few individual lines and I'll admit to purposely having the haunting lines of "He must be calling for Elijah" and "Truly this man was the son of God" said by two of our youngest members. The older kids had larger parts such as Pilate, Judas or Peter. One high school student has even been willing to be the narrator for the entire worship the last two years, but even that portion could be broken by section to multiple kids if need be. Jesus has been played by my husband, Bob, the last two years, as no other child has volunteered to play such a large part (and in the words of the Sunday School kids last year "Bob has a beard so he should be Jesus.") I'm hoping that by next year one of the high school students will be willing to step up and read Jesus' lines.
Truly I love this worship and it is amazing to see the impact the entire congregation from all generations.
My History with Palm Sunday
In years past I was always ambivalent to Palm Sunday.
As a young child I remember making palm leaves from green construction paper and going around to the various Sunday School classes singing "Hosanna, Hosanna Christ the Lord be King" and waving this big green palm branch only to then go into worship and get a little dinky spear shaped leaf that was perfect for tickling (or stabbing) my siblings with from 2 feet away.
In high school I remember the live donkey that one year and one year only came into the sanctuary where it then took a big donkey poo near the altar. After that the donkey remained outside.
In college and seminary Palm Sunday meant having a great outdoor festive party at the beginning of worship to only come inside to be bored by a 20 plus minute long gospel reading, that even read in a dramatic style is too long. There was also the year a pastor rode a hobby horse into the sanctuary on Palm Sunday, but that is a different story.
So last year, when approaching my first Holy Week as a pastor, I was hesitant about Palm Sunday because I remember the joy I had as a child, but have seen the ways congregations have tried to make it "entertaining" and have faced the boredom that can happen with such a long gospel when you celebrate Passion Sunday instead.
The catalyst for doing something different was a bit of luck when between a new pastor, a new Sunday School coordinator and a small Sunday school with overworked moms, decided not to do a children's pageant on Christmas (Praise Jesus!). One thought was the kids could do the dramatic reading on Palm Sunday instead, something that adults at Bethlehem had been leading for years. But the reading, which is often too long for adults, is way too long for kids. So with some creative thinking between the Sunday School coordinator and myself, we thought, what if we restructure the worship service so we walk with Jesus during the passion? And that is exactly what we've done these past two years now.
Basic Structure of the Worship
We started outside with some announcements and palms.
Worship itself began with the call and response of:
Blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord
Hosanna in the Highest
The congregation then sang that song that I learned as a young child "Hosanna, Hosanna Christ the Lord be King" and then the children and youth of Bethlehem take over. We heard of Jesus's entry into Jerusalem, join together for the prayer of the day, then with All Glory, Laud and Honor processed into the sanctuary with some of the youngest kids leading us carrying the cross, ribbon poles and the bible.
The children and youth then told us of Mary anointing Jesus' feet with perfume and Jesus announcing that we will always have the poor but we will not always have him with us. So in response, we, like Mary, gave our offering to God.
Then we heard of Jesus' last supper, so we then celebrated the meal which Jesus instituted.
Afterwards the reading of the gospel continued with Peter's denial foretold and Jesus praying in Gethsemane so we responded by offering up our prayers to God.
The gospel then tells of Jesus' betrayal and arrest and how Peter sat in the courtyard and denied knowing Jesus 3 times. We as a congregation responded by admitting our faith using the Apostle's creed.
And then as the reading unfolded with Jesus' trial, his crucifixion, his death and his burial, we responded to each part with a verse from Were You There? Ending with a brief moment of silence and the simple words "depart in peace".
Why This is My Favorite Worship
I am amazed at the comments that are given about this service . It is wonderful to have the kids lead us in worship, especially when in that famous Palm Sunday hymn of All Glory, Laud and Honor we sing the words "from whom the lips of children, the sweet hosannas sing." This worship has been so meaningful as we walk with Jesus because it reminds us that our prayers, confession, offering and communion are things that Jesus taught us or commanded us to do. And it is wonderful to hear the full passion but to give the congregation opportunity to reflect and respond after each section of the story.
I personally love this service because it allows the kids to be in charge. Not only were they the readers but they were the greets, ushers, and communion assistants as well, they have such a sense of pride about not just assisting in worship (which happens most weeks) but as a group being in charge of it. This worship service also allows them to lead us in pure, plain scripture. So many Christmas pageants end up being about what the symbols on the tree mean and in turn scripture is not read, in some cases not even referred to. And as a dramatic reading there were no costumes, no lines to memorize, no acting to rehearse, and since most of the kids just stand up in their pew to read their lines, less chance of stage fright. Just scripture, which we have read over a few times together so that the kids can hear the whole story and practice the harder words like prophecy, Golgotha, Nazareth or blasphemy.
Due to this being a small congregation all the kids are able to participate without having to try and give 80 different kids speaking parts. The youngest were part of the crowd with a few individual lines and I'll admit to purposely having the haunting lines of "He must be calling for Elijah" and "Truly this man was the son of God" said by two of our youngest members. The older kids had larger parts such as Pilate, Judas or Peter. One high school student has even been willing to be the narrator for the entire worship the last two years, but even that portion could be broken by section to multiple kids if need be. Jesus has been played by my husband, Bob, the last two years, as no other child has volunteered to play such a large part (and in the words of the Sunday School kids last year "Bob has a beard so he should be Jesus.") I'm hoping that by next year one of the high school students will be willing to step up and read Jesus' lines.
Truly I love this worship and it is amazing to see the impact the entire congregation from all generations.
Monday, April 11, 2011
MMC: Palm Sunday
Good Morning Bethlehem!
This week's puzzler is: Beside Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, there is another person named Lazarus in the gospel, who is it? A) the person who died and went to heaven. B) tax collector who wished to see Jesus. C) a disciple of John the Baptist. D) the father of the demon possessed boy. If you know the answer or even if you have to google it, email me the answer by noon on Wednesday to be entered into this week's drawing.
What joy and excitement is in the air as we journey towards Easter. But first we must go through Holy Week and celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, participate in the last supper and witness his death on the cross.
Holy Week Schedule
Sunday April 17 - Palm Sunday
10am the children and youth of Bethlehem will lead us in worship through a dramatic reading of Matthew's passion narrative.Worship will be slightly different as we will walk with Jesus through the passion and have parts of our worship (offering, communion, prayers) as they appear in the text.
After Worship - stick around for an Easter Festival. Our high school students will be leading some crafts for all ages and bring a dish to share for the potluck
Thursday April 21 - Maundy Thursday - Worship with communion at 7:30pm with a blessing of the feet (no need to take off your shoes)
Friday April 22 - Good Friday - Worship at 7:30pm
Saturday April 23 - Easter Vigil - Worship at 8pm at Christ Episcopal on Redding Ridge
Sunday April 24 - Easter
8:30am - pancake breakfast tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids or $20 for a household.
10am - festival worship including the celebration choir, bells, a lot of flowers and the spoken refrain "Alleluia Christ is risen!"
Announcements
- The tag sale date has been changed to May 14
- Items for the tag sale can be dropped off on Sunday mornings, Thursdays from 6-8pm and Saturdays from 10:30-noon
- Senior lunch is meeting this Wednesday at noon at Ritz Asia on route 7. Please let me or Lillian J. know if you are planning to attend.
- We are participating in Buck-a-cluck throughout April. Every dollar donated will go to the world hunger fund to provide chickens to needy families throughout the world which then provide the families with eggs for food and sale.
Where have you seen God?
As I mentioned on Sunday, I have been so amazed at how you have overwhelming responded to this question. People have told me how they have been upset if they are running late to worship for fear that they will miss hearing other stories or being able to tell their own. I also wanted to pass on two videos that people have sent to me this week of how they have seen God. The first is from Carl R. - a video of street musicians from around the world sing Stand by Me. The second is the video Mark H. talked about yesterday during worship of Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring played on a wooden xylophone.
Book of Faith Puzzler
Last week's puzzler was: What is the name of the blind man that Jesus heals in the gospel of Mark? A) Barabbas B) Legion C) Jarus D) Bartimaeus In Mark 10:46-52 Jesus heals a blind man named Bartimaeus. Congratulations to Carl R. for winning this week's puzzler.
This week's puzzler is: Beside Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, there is another person named Lazarus in the gospel, who is it? A) the person who died and went to heaven. B) tax collector who wished to see Jesus. C) a disciple of John the Baptist. D) the father of the demon possessed boy. If you know the answer or even if you have to google it, email me the answer by noon on Wednesday to be entered into this week's drawing.
Yesterday's Sermon
Missed it? What to read it again? Find it here. What was a misconception that you had as a child or maybe that your child had? What is a way that you don't get it today? Is it hard to put your faith in Jesus? At what point do you need to stop explaining to yourself that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and what point do you need to just believe it?
Sunday's worship
As mentioned above the children and you with lead us in worship through reading, they will also be the communion assistants, ushers and other worship leaders.
Coffee hour will be a pot luck, so please bring a dish to share
Sunday's text
We will be traveling through the passion text is Matthew which is 21:1-11 and 26:1-27:66. What is your favorite part of the passion narrative? What is the hardest part for you to hear? Has there been a particular holy week worship that made this story come to life for you? What made that worship so special?
Have a blessed week and may you see God everywhere you go!
Pastor Becca
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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!
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!
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!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Hard Working Hands
Today is Good Friday. It may seem weird to call the day that we remember Jesus Christ's death good, but it is a good day, for if it wasn't for Jesus' death, Easter would not happen.
A pastor I knew growing up would often say: "It may be Friday now, but Sunday is coming." He meant that good follows bad, and often when we look back on the bad we realize how much we grew as a result of that experiences, and really those bad things were good for us in terms of growth.
And it was a Good Friday here is Connecticut. The weather was gorgeous - high 60s/low 70's. The sun was shining, bird singing and flowers that have been peaking out of the ground for weeks have come into full bloom.
But yet among all the sunshine, today is also a day of mourning. Now I personally have never felt that mid-day Good Friday services are all that meaningful, especially on days like today. So luckily we only have an evening service. Now I can't tell you if everything went smoothly since I'm writing this before worship, but to mean there is something about hearing of Jesus' trial, crucifixion, death and burial in a sanctuary that is slowly getting darker and darker that is extremely meaningful and powerful to the senses. Today I will read John 18:1-19:42 in five parts with verses from Ah Holy Jesus in between each section.
Then I will preach, we will have a long time for prayer and then the cross will be brought forward so that people can light a votive candle and have a moment of silent personal prayer at the foot of the cross. We will also be able to have our hands blessed, much like yesterday we had our feet blessed.
Here is my sermon for tonight. I hope it captures even half of the emotions that will be part of tonight's worship.
Hands are important. They are very important features of our body. We do a lot with our hands. Type, write, brush our teeth and hair, sew, eat, button, open doors, drive.
Hands are important. One small cut can make any of the thousand of things that we do with our hands every day difficult to do.
Hands are important. We shake hands. We communicate through hand gestures. We know people like the back of our hands. We hold hands, we wear rings to symbolize our love.
Hands are important, even God’s hands. Many of us grew up learning the words to the song: He’s got the whole world in his hands. The ELCA’s tagline is “God’s work, our hands.” We are God’s hands in this world, we do God’s work.
But our hands do not always do good. With our hands we can hit, slap, beat, give inappropriate hand gestures, cut, stab, let go and hand over. Five times in today’s gospel it talks about Jesus being handed over to various authorities. Five times Jesus is delivered from one group who wants to kill him but feels powerless to do so to another group who has the power to kill him but does not want to do so. We so often want to say that it was the Romans or the Jews who killed Jesus and not us, followers of Christ. But our hands were involved in Jesus’ death.
We unfairly villain-ize Jews and Romans saying that we would not have been in that crowd crying for Jesus to be crucified. But yet Jesus died for our sins. Jesus died for us. It doesn’t matter if we were in that crowd or not, if we would have yelled “crucify him, crucify him,” or have silently stood on the sidelines watching the entire spectacle take place. Our hands were involved. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus even if we were not physically there, even if we think that we would never have joined in with the crowd.
We are part of the crowd that killed Jesus because Jesus died for us. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus because God gave his only son for us. Our hands are bloody, our hands are covered in Jesus’ blood because we killed Jesus.
But our hands are washed clean. They are washed clean because of God. They are washed clean because Jesus died for us, for our sins. They are washed clean because God gave his only son for us.
God’s work was done through our hands and God’s work continues to be done through our hands. Through the joy that comes in this congregation, through the work that we do in this community, through the support that we give to missionaries and relief agencies throughout the world.
Our hands our important. They do both good and bad. On this Good Friday, we can sit here and think only about the bad things, the sins that we have committed, the despair and sorrow that we have caused, the reasons why Jesus had to die for us. Or we can realize that this is Good Friday, and through Jesus’ death, through this overwhelming act of love, through this ultimate display of passion and grace, God has allowed us to do God’s work with our hands. And our hands are important and do important things.
A pastor I knew growing up would often say: "It may be Friday now, but Sunday is coming." He meant that good follows bad, and often when we look back on the bad we realize how much we grew as a result of that experiences, and really those bad things were good for us in terms of growth.
And it was a Good Friday here is Connecticut. The weather was gorgeous - high 60s/low 70's. The sun was shining, bird singing and flowers that have been peaking out of the ground for weeks have come into full bloom.
But yet among all the sunshine, today is also a day of mourning. Now I personally have never felt that mid-day Good Friday services are all that meaningful, especially on days like today. So luckily we only have an evening service. Now I can't tell you if everything went smoothly since I'm writing this before worship, but to mean there is something about hearing of Jesus' trial, crucifixion, death and burial in a sanctuary that is slowly getting darker and darker that is extremely meaningful and powerful to the senses. Today I will read John 18:1-19:42 in five parts with verses from Ah Holy Jesus in between each section.
Then I will preach, we will have a long time for prayer and then the cross will be brought forward so that people can light a votive candle and have a moment of silent personal prayer at the foot of the cross. We will also be able to have our hands blessed, much like yesterday we had our feet blessed.
Here is my sermon for tonight. I hope it captures even half of the emotions that will be part of tonight's worship.
Hands are important. They are very important features of our body. We do a lot with our hands. Type, write, brush our teeth and hair, sew, eat, button, open doors, drive.
Hands are important. One small cut can make any of the thousand of things that we do with our hands every day difficult to do.
Hands are important. We shake hands. We communicate through hand gestures. We know people like the back of our hands. We hold hands, we wear rings to symbolize our love.
Hands are important, even God’s hands. Many of us grew up learning the words to the song: He’s got the whole world in his hands. The ELCA’s tagline is “God’s work, our hands.” We are God’s hands in this world, we do God’s work.
But our hands do not always do good. With our hands we can hit, slap, beat, give inappropriate hand gestures, cut, stab, let go and hand over. Five times in today’s gospel it talks about Jesus being handed over to various authorities. Five times Jesus is delivered from one group who wants to kill him but feels powerless to do so to another group who has the power to kill him but does not want to do so. We so often want to say that it was the Romans or the Jews who killed Jesus and not us, followers of Christ. But our hands were involved in Jesus’ death.
We unfairly villain-ize Jews and Romans saying that we would not have been in that crowd crying for Jesus to be crucified. But yet Jesus died for our sins. Jesus died for us. It doesn’t matter if we were in that crowd or not, if we would have yelled “crucify him, crucify him,” or have silently stood on the sidelines watching the entire spectacle take place. Our hands were involved. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus even if we were not physically there, even if we think that we would never have joined in with the crowd.
We are part of the crowd that killed Jesus because Jesus died for us. We were part of the crowd that killed Jesus because God gave his only son for us. Our hands are bloody, our hands are covered in Jesus’ blood because we killed Jesus.
But our hands are washed clean. They are washed clean because of God. They are washed clean because Jesus died for us, for our sins. They are washed clean because God gave his only son for us.
God’s work was done through our hands and God’s work continues to be done through our hands. Through the joy that comes in this congregation, through the work that we do in this community, through the support that we give to missionaries and relief agencies throughout the world.
Our hands our important. They do both good and bad. On this Good Friday, we can sit here and think only about the bad things, the sins that we have committed, the despair and sorrow that we have caused, the reasons why Jesus had to die for us. Or we can realize that this is Good Friday, and through Jesus’ death, through this overwhelming act of love, through this ultimate display of passion and grace, God has allowed us to do God’s work with our hands. And our hands are important and do important things.
Stinky Feet
Yesterday was the first worship service that consist of the three days of Easter, Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin word for commandment. On Maundy Thursday, we hear John 13:1-17, 31b-35, this is the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet and then giving them a new commandment to love others, hence the word Maundy.
This is also the day that we celebrate the Last Supper, which is where communion come from. And it is the day that we remember that Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, before he was captured, sentenced to death, was crucified and died.
The service begins much like a typical Sunday worship, but after the sermon we had a moment for a blessing of our feet (I was explicitly told that Bethlehem does not do foot washing and I'll respect that choice). And after communion the altar area is stripped to symbolize the betrayal and to prepare us for the second part of the worship service, which is tonight, Good Friday, when we hear of Jesus' trial, crucifixion and death.
Here is my sermon from last night:
Feet. We walk on them, when they hurt it is hard for us to do much of anything. A broken foot can keep us out of commission for weeks if not months. Some of us make them pretty with nail polish and regular pedicures and we can’t wait till the warmer weather because that means we can wear sandals and show them off. Some of us hide our feet, they never come out in public, always hidden behind shoes and socks.
Bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam. Is it any wonder why most of us do not touch other people’s feet.
The most of the people who touch our feet are people who are paid to do so: podiatrists, nail technicians or a masseur. Many of us don’t even like to touch our spouse’s feet.
So when we hear today’s gospel text, the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, the story that we hear every Maundy Thursday, a variety of emotions run through our minds.
Knowing that some churches celebrate Maundy Thursday by doing a foot washing, some of us react in fear thinking that we might have to expose our feet or touch somebody else’s. Well fear not today, there is no foot washing today.
Some of us might even be grateful that in the Gospel of John this story of the foot-washing is not followed by the Last Supper. How unsanitary must it be to wash 12 pairs of stinky, dirty feet and then handle bread that is past around the table.
We also try to explain away Jesus’ actions that maybe it was a cultural thing and it is just our culture that doesn’t like feet. No it was not normal to touch other people’s feet in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. It was considered a sign of hospitality to provide water and a basin so that people could wash their own feet after a long journey, but as the host you would never touch their feet. Maybe if you were rich enough and the guest was special enough you might order a slave to wash their feet but most self respecting free people would never touch someone else’s feet.
That is why Peter reacts in the way that he does. Why we have that exchange between Peter and Jesus: Listen to the conversation again.
When Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean,”
Peter knew that Jesus was doing something extraordinary by washing his disciples’ feet. Peter, the students, the disciples should have been washing Jesus, the teacher, the messiah’s feet, not the other way around. They did not deserve this sign of respect, this sign of submission on Jesus’ part.
But yet Jesus humbles himself, lowers himself to the position of a slave in order to make the disciples realize that they had a place with God, that they were loved and were made clean.
In a few minutes you will be invited to come forward, not to have your feet wash, but to have them blessed. For that is what Jesus did in when he washed the disciples’ feet, he blessed them, he loved them. We will have our feet blessed, receiving the sign of the cross of them so that we might walk in the way of Christ.
But like the disciples we are commanded to go forward and wash, bless, others. We receive this sign of Jesus’ love, a sign that Jesus gave even with a heavy heart for he knew he was about to be betrayed and sentenced to death. He washed his disciples’ feet knowing that soon his feet would be pierced with nails. And as we receive this sign of Jesus’ love, we are commanded to go out and share Jesus’ love with others. We are commanded to go out to tell others that God loves them, even if they are about to betray God, even if they deny God, even if they don’t see the signs of love around them.
God love us, God is willing to touch our feet, our stinky, dirty feet with bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam and all. God loves the purest parts of us, but God also loves the most disgusting parts of us. And God loves us so much that he sent his only son to die for us so that we might have eternal life.
This is also the day that we celebrate the Last Supper, which is where communion come from. And it is the day that we remember that Jesus was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, before he was captured, sentenced to death, was crucified and died.
The service begins much like a typical Sunday worship, but after the sermon we had a moment for a blessing of our feet (I was explicitly told that Bethlehem does not do foot washing and I'll respect that choice). And after communion the altar area is stripped to symbolize the betrayal and to prepare us for the second part of the worship service, which is tonight, Good Friday, when we hear of Jesus' trial, crucifixion and death.
Here is my sermon from last night:
Feet. We walk on them, when they hurt it is hard for us to do much of anything. A broken foot can keep us out of commission for weeks if not months. Some of us make them pretty with nail polish and regular pedicures and we can’t wait till the warmer weather because that means we can wear sandals and show them off. Some of us hide our feet, they never come out in public, always hidden behind shoes and socks.
Bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam. Is it any wonder why most of us do not touch other people’s feet.
The most of the people who touch our feet are people who are paid to do so: podiatrists, nail technicians or a masseur. Many of us don’t even like to touch our spouse’s feet.
So when we hear today’s gospel text, the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, the story that we hear every Maundy Thursday, a variety of emotions run through our minds.
Knowing that some churches celebrate Maundy Thursday by doing a foot washing, some of us react in fear thinking that we might have to expose our feet or touch somebody else’s. Well fear not today, there is no foot washing today.
Some of us might even be grateful that in the Gospel of John this story of the foot-washing is not followed by the Last Supper. How unsanitary must it be to wash 12 pairs of stinky, dirty feet and then handle bread that is past around the table.
We also try to explain away Jesus’ actions that maybe it was a cultural thing and it is just our culture that doesn’t like feet. No it was not normal to touch other people’s feet in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. It was considered a sign of hospitality to provide water and a basin so that people could wash their own feet after a long journey, but as the host you would never touch their feet. Maybe if you were rich enough and the guest was special enough you might order a slave to wash their feet but most self respecting free people would never touch someone else’s feet.
That is why Peter reacts in the way that he does. Why we have that exchange between Peter and Jesus: Listen to the conversation again.
When Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean,”
Peter knew that Jesus was doing something extraordinary by washing his disciples’ feet. Peter, the students, the disciples should have been washing Jesus, the teacher, the messiah’s feet, not the other way around. They did not deserve this sign of respect, this sign of submission on Jesus’ part.
But yet Jesus humbles himself, lowers himself to the position of a slave in order to make the disciples realize that they had a place with God, that they were loved and were made clean.
In a few minutes you will be invited to come forward, not to have your feet wash, but to have them blessed. For that is what Jesus did in when he washed the disciples’ feet, he blessed them, he loved them. We will have our feet blessed, receiving the sign of the cross of them so that we might walk in the way of Christ.
But like the disciples we are commanded to go forward and wash, bless, others. We receive this sign of Jesus’ love, a sign that Jesus gave even with a heavy heart for he knew he was about to be betrayed and sentenced to death. He washed his disciples’ feet knowing that soon his feet would be pierced with nails. And as we receive this sign of Jesus’ love, we are commanded to go out and share Jesus’ love with others. We are commanded to go out to tell others that God loves them, even if they are about to betray God, even if they deny God, even if they don’t see the signs of love around them.
God love us, God is willing to touch our feet, our stinky, dirty feet with bunions, hammer toes, planter warts, athlete’s foot, foot odor, toe jam and all. God loves the purest parts of us, but God also loves the most disgusting parts of us. And God loves us so much that he sent his only son to die for us so that we might have eternal life.
Monday, March 29, 2010
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!
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