April 5 was Easter Sunday. St. Brigid in the Desert held an impromptu gathering of two to share a discussion of the concept of Resurrection, the Christ, and our own lives. We sat at the Communion Table/Altar set up in the sacred space in my (Pastor Suzy's) back yard. After our conversation and a short meditation, we shared Communion. The service recorded below includes that Resurrection Sunday conversation, as well as some continued thoughts on the subject. The Easter season continues until Pentecost. Watch for new services/messages to be posted!
Welcome
Opening Prayer/Call
to Worship/Calling the Quarters/Invocation
Let us pray:
Today we gather to celebrate the Resurrected Christ.
Help us to understand, O Holy One, the meaning of this Mystery.
SONG/CHANT/POEM – The story goes that
when Jesus was first seen after the Resurrection, Mary Magdalene mistook him
for the gardener. Let’s sing a verse of one of my favorite hymns, In the Garden.
I come to the garden
alone, while the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear falling on my
ear, the Son of God discloses; and he walks with me and he talks with me, and
he tells me I am his own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other
has ever known.*
*In The Garden (I
Come to the Garden Alone) by C. Austin Miles, 1913
- United Methodist Hymnal #314
- United Methodist Hymnal #314
SACRED READINGS
Our first reading comes from author Chuck Palahniuk, in Fight Club:
“Only after disaster can we be resurrected.”
Our Second Reading today comes from the Book
of Luke, Chapter 24, verses 13-27
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village
called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other
about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and
discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were
kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to them, ‘What are you
discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking
sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only
stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there
in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about
Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all
the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be
condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to
redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these
things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at
the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they
came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said
that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it
just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ 25Then he
said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should
suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses
and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all
the scriptures
MESSAGE –
So, it is Eastertide! In most Christian churches on
Easter morning, the liturgist or pastor will have said, “He is risen!” and the
congregation will have responded with “He is risen, indeed!” and it will have
been a beautiful, joyous response to the end of a dark week. The week before
Easter Sunday is called “Holy Week” in the Christian tradition. You may be
familiar. The first day of Holy Week was called “Palm Sunday,” and represented
the day that Jesus walked (or rode a young donkey) into Jerusalem, drawing attention
to himself. His followers were waving palms and shouting “Alleluia! Hosanna!” They
would definitely have made a spectacle of themselves.
Jesus came into Jerusalem that day knowing that it was
likely he would be arrested, and he was right. After all, he had challenged the
status quo. If he rode in on a donkey colt, he did it purposefully to fulfill
the prophecy of Zechariah that said, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout
aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and
victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey.” He knew that those who gathered in Jerusalem for Passover would
recognize the statement he was making, that he had come to reveal God’s purpose
for the Jewish people. Just the week before, Jesus had done something that
likely made the powerful Pharisees angry. He had come to the funeral of his
friend Lazarus, and after weeping for the loss of this friend and compatriot,
he called him out of the grave, alive. Personally, I think there’s more to this
story. Jesus and his Apostles had met with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and
Martha before. Perhaps the death of Lazarus had made the Pharisees in power happy.
Certainly, we know from scripture that some of those who were in the house
mourning with Mary slipped out to tell the them what had happened. It was then
that they actively began to plot Jesus’ death.
As his troupe came into the city loud and raucous, Jesus
saw the tax collector Zaccheus, who had climbed up into a tree so he could see
what was happening. Jesus called him
down and invited himself to Zaccheus’ house, where something he said or did
caused the tax collector to change his ways. He was a much hated man, for he
had been taking more than people owed the Romans and pocketing the overage so
that he could become a rich man. By the time Jesus left his house that day,
Zaccheus promised to pay everyone back more than he had stolen from them! That
day, the Romans lost one of their best tax collectors.
Each miracle that Jesus was said to have performed, each
new follower he gained, each act of moral defiance that he encouraged got him a
step closer to death, and he knew it. He may not have known that it would
happen that week. He may not have known how it would occur, but he knew. By
Thursday he had been betrayed. That night, as the sun set and Passover began,
he sat with his Apostles, his closest friends, and some of his other Disciples.
He shared a meal with them, and told them things they did not understand. He
told them to serve one another, and he showed them what he meant by washing
their feet. He broke bread and drank wine with them, and told them to remember
him each time they did that. He gave them a community, connecting them by the
very bread they ate, equating it with his body, and the wine with his blood,
that they might remember that he would live on in them. When he was done, he
went to the garden where he was sold out by his friend Judas.
Jesus was beaten, forced to carry his own cross to the
hill where the Roman executioners would plant it before nailing him by his
wrists and feet to it. It’s important to realize that Jesus was not the only
person who was crucified. The two who were crucified beside him were not the
only ones. The Romans had been using crucifixion as capital punishment for a
long time. Hundreds – thousands were crucified. The road was lined with crosses
with those who had been sentenced to death hanging until they died of
suffocation and exposure so that the rest of the population would see them and
be warned against breaking the law or acting against the authorities. They
nailed Jesus to his cross on Friday, but he didn’t die before sundown, when the
Sabbath would begin, so he was killed by the sword, taken down from the cross,
and carried to the tomb his friend Joseph of Arimathea gave to him.
Some people say that Jesus “died for our sins.” Have you
thought about that idea that “Jesus died for us,” or “for our sins?”
(Discussion)
What do you think that means?
(Discussion)
I don’t believe he died as a scapegoat. Here’s what I
think:
First, I think the phrase “for our sins” is
misinterpreted. I think that Jesus died because
of “our” sins; that is, humanity’s inhumanity to humanity. We are cruel to
one another. When someone commits a crime against us or against our ideals, we
wish the worst for them. Sometimes the worst is imposed on them, even when
their crime is one of conscience. Over the past few years we’ve seen in the
news that people are being arrested for feeding the homeless. While these
arrests have created outcries across the country, there are still people who
complain about the homeless and those who “encourage” them by feeding them.
Sounds a little bit like we’re feeding the bears or something, doesn’t it? This
is a minor thing in comparison to what it means to do the right thing in a
truly oppressive society.
In 2012, a 14 year old girl from Pakistan named Malala Yousafzai spoke out, insisting that young girls deserved an education. For speaking up, this brave young woman was
shot in the face and almost killed by Taliban members. Though Malala has earned
the Nobel Peace Prize for her bravery and her work toward education for all,
there are still Taliban members that would be happy if she had died. She did
not die; in fact, one might say that she was resurrected after her suffering,
for she continues to speak up. Malala was shot because of the hatred some
people feel for women and for Western education. You could say that she was
shot because of those people’s sinfulness. I think you could say she was shot
because of the human sins of misogyny and hatred.
I think this is why Jesus died. Jesus spoke up for the
oppressed; and not just the Jews who were oppressed by the Roman occupiers, but
for those who were oppressed by his own people: women, slaves, foreigners, and
prisoners. Jesus died because his stance for equality and justice caused fear
in those who oppressed others.
So, he died not FOR our (humanity’s) sins, but BECAUSE
of our (humanity’s) sins, and the reason he was killed was that he lived a life
that brought salvation to others even in his lifetime.
And his body lay in that tomb until Sunday. What
happened to Jesus in those three days is a continuous theological debate. But
it is what happened on Sunday morning that matters to us today. On Sunday
morning, the women went to prepare his body for burial, and he was gone. He
left behind the cloth that had covered him. He had risen from the dead!
So what do you think we mean when we say
that Jesus was resurrected?
(Discussion)
I want you to know that I believe that he quite literally
returned from the dead. I am a mystic. I have had enough spiritual experiences
to know that there is something of us all that continues after our bodies have
stopped working. So, I believe in the Resurrection, but I don’t believe Jesus’ body
was the same as the one he died in. I believe that it was transformed into
something new. You see, he spoke with others after his resurrection, but they
didn’t recognize him. Mary thought he was the gardener, and later, as today’s
reading tells us, two of his Disciples walked with him for a long while before
they began to recognize him, not from how he looked, but from what he said.
This new body could do things his physical body could never do. He appeared to
the Apostles in a locked room; he disappeared just as quietly. When Thomas*
insisted on seeing and touching the wounds, Jesus manifested the wounds, though
they had not been apparent when he visited with the others earlier. I believe
that he died as Jesus, and was resurrected as the Christ.
Yes, I happen to believe that Jesus was so close to God
that after his body had been tortured and killed, he was so spiritually
powerful that he could rise out of that body and continue the work that he had to do. He had to teach those who
needed to understand what he had done so they could tell others. Jesus had
died, and rose again, at least temporarily, for Love. I think the Buddhists might
call him a “Bodhisattva.” Like a Bodhisattva, he achieved enlightenment, yet
after shedding his earthly body remained close to those he loved so he could
help them achieve the same awareness of God that he had tried to teach when he
was alive. Then, he let go of the near-physical form, and remains as the
Christ, living on in us in the form of the Holy Spirit. He lives on in those who share his love, and in those who need his love. For did he not say, in Matthew 25, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me?”
Of course, this metaphysical way of thinking of Jesus is
not the only way to understand the resurrection, and I don’t mind if you look
at it differently than I do.
You see, like all people who are loved, Jesus lived on
in the memories of those who loved him, and they continued to teach what he
taught to the best of their abilities. He left behind the knowledge of his Way,
and it is by following his Way, we are “saved.” To quote Rev. Roger Wolsey of
Boulder, Colorado, author of Kissing Fish: Christianity for People Who Don't Like Christianity, “Jesus is our model who shows us how to truly live a Godly
life and thus experience and know salvation wholeness and abundant/eternal life
here and now – and beyond. It is by loving others and receiving their love;
forgiving others and receiving their forgiveness; by treating others justly and
receiving their just treatment; and by being reconciled with others – that we
know and experience salvation.”
In this, there is hope. Hope for the world with all its faults and hope for us. The Risen Christ offers us all the opportunity to be His disciples. When we recognize Him, when we follow Him, He hands us a key to the kind of Love that we can only experience when we know God. The only way to experience this Love is to share it. Here it is: what will you do with it?
Prayer:
O Giver of Life,
Resurrector of Souls, Lover of Creation, give us hope that we might follow the
Way of the Christ. Give us peace that we might share with others, and give them
hope. In our hearts, O Holy One, He is Risen.
He is Risen, indeed! Amen.
GUIDED MEDITATION – (Short introduction: As Jesus modeled the need for silence, so too
did the Buddha model ways of seeking oneness in the moment. Let us take a few moments to be in silence
where we can be fully present to God in us. Please settle into your seats so that you are
comfortable. I will guide you.)
As always, we will begin
with three deep belly breaths; in through the nose and out through the
mouth. Please close your eyes. Now, breathe in steadily, gently
imagining the breath filling your belly……breathe out now, softly. Breathe
in again, as deeply as you can, your belly is a balloon to be filled…..now
release through your mouth gently. One more time, breathe in….and breathe
out.
Now sit in the quiet,
with your eyes closed, and imagine you are in a cave. It’s a very dark cave.
You are sitting in the cave, on a small ledge or a flat rock. As you are
sitting there, you hear the sound of a large rock being rolled in front of the
entrance. You are alone, and now you are trapped. In the darkness, you can hear
a small stream of water flowing. Listen to the sound of the water. Sitting in
the silence, allow your thoughts to come and go naturally. Do not push them
away, yet do not embrace them either. Just sit and be in the utter darkness.
Notice how you feel. Remember those feelings.
Sit
in silence for 5 minutes or more…
Now, imagine you hear the
sound of the stone rolling away. You are still sitting in darkness. Notice if
your feelings change. Remember those feelings and those changes.
Sit
in silence for 1 minute more…
Now, as you hear my
voice, prepare yourself to open your eyes, but don’t open them yet. When I ring the bell, open them. See the
light! Notice what you feel.
(Ring
bell)
Debrief.
BREAKING BREAD
TOGETHER
When Jesus took the
bread and said, “This is my body,” I think perhaps he meant, “This life of mine
is like bread for your spirit; take it, “eat it,” following it, and you will be
sustained.”
When He took the
wine and said, “This is my blood,” I think he meant that like the blood that
flows within and keeps us alive and makes us like all other creatures, like the
water that flows through all living things, the wine we drink together will
flow through us like the River of God; we are One with that River and with one
another.
Sharing of the Bread and Wine
Share in the Bread of Life; that you may
never hunger
Share in the Wine of Community; that you may
never thirst.
BENEDICTION
Let us see the Hope we have in Christ! Let
us know what it is to find salvation.
Let us live the Way that He lived, in Perfect Love, and Perfect Trust. Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again.
*For an excellent new way of looking at Thomas, listen
to this sermon by United Methodist pastor Rev. Jeri Wilkerson.
*For another way of looking at the reason Jesus was not
recognized, listen to this sermon by UMC pastor Rev. Rosemary Anderson.
