Small Steps 4/26/20 Easter 3A

Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser

4/26/20   Facebook Live  Easter 3A

Small Steps -----Luke 24:13-35; 36-49

            This has been a very difficult week for me, and I imagine for many of you as well.  The urgency of the initial weeks to get something going for us online, keeping us together, then redoing all the plans for Holy Week and Easter - this focused me and took a lot of energy for all of us to move to the more virtual world of learning what were for many of us, the new skills of Facebook and Zoom.  We’ve worked hard together to switch our church fellowship to this other way of being; we’ve all pitched in and learned together, and been really good sports about it all. 

            This week I’ve been exhausted, tired of having to be at home and alone so much; wondering how we will handle the Transition we were working on as an Interim time - or if that’s too much while this other national crisis and transition is ongoing.  I’ve heard all the rhetoric about reopening businesses so the economic impact of this will be less; and then the other voice warning of consequences in more deaths if we do.  I’ve wondered what our congregation should do, if our governor does start to reopen things - which I don’t think he’ll do anytime soon, actually.  We are fortunate to have a governor who is stepping up to the plate as a real leader in the midst of so many other voices.  Pray for him.

            I’ve wondered and feared how long this will go on and what the long-term consequences will be.  It’s really impossible to know - I am overwhelmed by information, and long to know the answers - at least to know what to do in the short term, what might be the smartest things to do now to prepare ourselves.  Those of us alive now have never faced something like this. 

            I am proud of you all here, that your ability to empathise with the struggles going on in other places, and stay home.  This virus hasn’t touched us hard in our county so far,  and our local hospitals are not in the same crisis as those in major cities.  We’ve had deaths, yet not of the proportion of, say, NYC.   Yet we have been able to realize the connection of the country, and the world - so that we are willing to do our part.  Just because we are currently okay doesn’t blind us to the suffering of so many. 

            Into this current crisis comes the words of the gospel of Luke, two stories really, linked together because they are about the risen Christ.  I often quote from the first part of this text when we celebrate communion, about how Christ is recognized in the breaking of the bread, which is now a required part of observing this sacrament.  The second part has the risen Christ again with the group of disciples and followers, where he again says “Peace be with you,” and again refers to the coming of the Spirit.  I will read for us now. 

     ¹³Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶but 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. ¹⁸Then 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?” ¹⁹He 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, ²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But 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. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and 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. ²⁴Some 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! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. ²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

            ³⁶While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ³⁷They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate in their presence. ⁴⁴Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

           

            A commentator on this passage this week reminded me of a phrase I learned just last year - Solvitur Ambulando.  It comes from St. Augustine, who would walk and wrestle with his pondering of Scripture, and talk with God while walking.  The phrase means, “It is solved by walking.”   Many people have found that taking a break from pouring over a book or a project seems to refresh the mind, open us to thoughts popping up from our unconscious - or we might say, letting us become aware of what the spirit is whispering.  I do that myself - looking at the world, the trees and sky, the animal life around, feeling the breeze, letting go of the tension.  Often I can then come back to what I’m working on with a different spirit.  It is solved by walking. 

            The two followers of Jesus have left Jerusalem where all the drama of crucifixion has taken place, and are returning to their own village called Emmaus.  They’ve evidently heard the story of the women who found the tomb empty and heard an angel say Jesus is alive.  They don’t seem to know what to make of that.  Or of any of what has gone on.  They are just walking home, their hopes in Jesus dashed.  One step in front of the other, returning to their village to see what comes next.  When a fellow traveler falls in step with them, they talk about what’s on their hearts. And they find that their fellow walker has a lot to say, helping them to see the truths of their scriptures that obviously they hadn’t seen before. He changed their frame of reference, reframed the events of the past days in terms of Scripture and God, which is a lot how the Spirit does for us when we pray, too.   As good hospitable people, they invite him to stay for a meal together before he goes on.  Then, in a special moment as he breaks the bread and blesses it, something they’ve seen Jesus do before, actually an everyday kind of motion, they suddenly recognize Jesus.  Just a regular action at a meal, but it’s enough - Mission accomplished, Jesus disappears.  When we have communion, I like to say “may Christ be known for us, too, as we break this bread and pour this cup.” These two tired disciples realize they need to be back together with the others - they get up and walk BACK to Jerusalem so they can tell the others, and find other revelations are happening as well. 

            A friend posted a poem that spoke deeply to me, a truth I’ve learned at other times of grief and loss and confusion, and really needed to hear again this week.  Let me read it for us -

Limping to Jerusalem       April 18 at 2:00 PM ·    ~~Elena Mikhalkova~

"My grandma once told me:

In hard times, you move forward in small steps.

Do what you have to do, but little by little.

Don't think about the future or what can happen tomorrow.

Wash the dishes.

Remove the dust.

Write a letter.

Make some soup.

"Do you see?

You are moving forward step by step.

Take a step and stop.

Get some rest.

Praise yourself.

Take another step.

Then another one.

You won't notice, but your steps will grow more and more.

And the time will come when you will be able to think of the future without crying."

            Beautiful simple words, and a simple thought for surviving awful events.  Step by step.  Small steps, when we can’t imagine the future, doing the daily things.  Take one step.  Then take another.  We will be moving forward, we will get there.  Simple trust. Simple small steps. 

            Now I like to know how things are going to end...sometimes I’ve jumped to the end of a novel instead of reading it straight through, because the tension of not knowing gets to me.  (Are you like that?)  Our country is in this tension - there are cries for the economy to be restarted despite the human consequences - and in a way they have a point, because economic consequences will be a human consequence, too - - there are cries to stay shut down longer until there are adequate tests available, which makes a lot of sense to me.  There are the cries of people tired of being in their homes, lives stalled.  Then there are cries of the healthcare people in the overwhelmed hospitals.  What is the best thing to do?  What will history say was the best thing we did or should have done?

 The wisdom of moving forward in small steps is the wisdom of a people who have survived other hard times.  It is a trust in God, and in Life, to unfold.  Not panic, not desperation- - but small steps - steps of hope. Love one another.  Call one another.  Shop for those who can’t.  Take what measures for safety that we can.  Buy take out from the local restaurants if we can. Start the car periodically.  Plant gardens.  Do lesson plans.  Prepare sermons week by week.  Participate in a book study if you have time.  Love your children.  Love your spouse.  Check on your neighbors and friends.  Go to work if you're not laid off.  If you have the income, give to the food bank, the church, and other charities for those not as fortunate.  If you don’t need your stimulus payment, look for a way to make it work for good.   Cultivate your prayer life.  Walk and exercise.  Get up and get dressed, face the day; look for small steps.  That’s how we get through when we can't imagine the future. 

I think we may be like those two folks walking from Jerusalem and then back - as we are walking, Jesus will walk with us and reframe things for us, help us see the bigger picture.  And hopefully, like those 2, we will see Jesus in our midst even in that small, everyday action of breaking bread.  Because God is with us always.  It’s OUR  eyes that need to be opened.  AMEN. 

New Life Starts in the Dark 4/19/20 Easter 2A

Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser
4/19/ Easter 2A

New Life Starts in the Dark

            Well, we’re going on to about a month of this new way of staying inside, not traveling, defining essential workers, limiting grocery runs, wearing  masks and new communicating and worshiping with media and technology.  This is our 4th Sunday of FB Live….

            I imagine that, like me, we’re all getting tired of the changes - although we are also adapting, and on some level perhaps getting more used to it - getting our routines down, learning to teach from home and have our children around  more.  I’ve seen many jokes on FB about having to be the mean mommy or daddy & make kids do lessons that the teachers send.  Children are learning, perhaps, to be more self-guided in their studies….  There have also been a lot of jokes about wearing pjs all day, especially the pants part, as Zoom and other platforms mainly see the top halves of people!  And jokes about eating everything in sight, drinking more...

      We joke about it so we don’t explode in frustration, I expect.  It’s not easy, all these changes - if we couldn’t poke fun, we might be crying.  We encourage ourselves that we are making these changes because of love and care for the more vulnerable among us, and want our medical persons and resources to be able to cope. 

            A friend from my former congregation in rura SC called this week - their local towns have maybe 1 or 2 cases; our Onondaga cnty has what, 462 cases and 11 deaths (as of Friday) - The crises going on in the big cities, like our own NYC, Detroit, Atlanta and New Orleans are not our experience, although we read first-hand accounts about the terrible insufficiencies of personal protections and equipment, and suffering and deaths, and the toll on health care workers in those places.  In world-wide charts, virtually every country in the world has infections now - our United States now leads the rest.  We are all competing for supplies.  This is what a pandemic is - an epidemic that pans the whole world.  What the future holds as far as prevention, treatments, vaccines, and the economic impact and recovery, no one knows. 

Although we might long for it all to be over, this is going to be a major change in the world, even if the impact is not yet felt in every cnty equally.  Even when the curve flattens & begins to go down, doesn’t mean it’s over, despite what some folks say. Right now we’re all guessing when we try and predict the changes.

Again, the Scripture texts chosen for the Sundays following Easter are wonderfully appropriate.  In the time of Jesus, those who followed Jesus and had their hopes pinned in him, they are suffering a HUGE letdown; grief over their loss of dreams and hopes is intense as they are gathered behind locked doors in fear of repercussions.  No, it’s not a pandemic - however, I do hope that we can feel their fear and their very real loss of hope, direction and normalcy.  And I hope we can anticipate, with our knowledge of what happens historically after this,  the magnitude of the change that has just begun. 

Today’s text is based on the very Sunday of the resurrection, when the news is brand new and brought by the few women who have gone to Jesus’ tomb to do burial rites, who instead find an angel announcing the good news that Christ is risen.  A few disciples have run to the tomb and also found it empty except for discarded grave clothes.  Nobody knows what it means.  It must be overwhelming and confusing, like huge changes and traumas always are. 

In the trauma of severe loss and change, like Jesus’ followers then were in, and we are in now, too --- parts of our brain seem to shut down, because we can’t take it all in at once.  Anxiety is high; our coping skills and our resilience are tested.  We may react in different ways- from depression to acting out anger. We aren’t able to process everything. Children and adults as well will ALL need time to process, come to grips with things.  Think of the variety of ways people grieve a loved one -  Some close down, others act out in anger and frustration, some refuse to think about it, some go on auto-pilot to keep small things done.  Some begin to function in a can-do mode, and end up overfunctioning and then being exhausted. 

“We had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel,” is a deeply moving expression of the loss of hope.  On top of this comes the news from the Mary’s that they’ve talked to an angel who says Jesus is risen, whatever that means! We can imagine the FURTHER shock and lack of comprehension.  We can we’ll imagine why they have locked the doors of the room they’re in. 

We can imagine them reeling from shock when the risen Christ just appears out of thin air. Have we totally lost their minds?  Are we hallucinating, all at the same time?  No wonder Thomas, who has hidden himself somewhere else, doesn’t believe it!  Are they able to understand what it means when Jesus breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit?”  They probably need years to understand what that entails - that the whole situation of the entire world has suddenly and profoundly changed. 

We still don’t totally understand the extent, the depth or the breadth of that change.  The change of even God being born in flesh - the Incarnation, we call it in theological terms - we are still learning what that means.  Now the death and resurrection, Christ’s appearance as the first of a new creation - we are still learning what that means.  And again, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the breath of Christ, the breath of God (which REALLY explodes on the day of Pentecost) - we are still learning what that means as well.  It’s that big of a change - 2000 years later humans are still trying to comprehend the change in the world that this means.  The risen Jesus tells those gathered there that they are now sent to the world, just as Jesus was sent - and by God.  That’s a huge thing to take in as well. 

I’d like to point out a few things about the whole story of Jesus’ resurrection that may help us in our current crisis: 

New life starts in the dark.  Lots of our resurrection illustrations have the empty tomb with a bright light shining from it, and maybe even a glowing Jesus standing there… that isn’t how it happened.  The women arrived at first light, as it now wasn’t the sabbath any more, and they could give Jesus’ body the right rituals.... and that body was already gone.  It had happened in the dark, and no one noticed it until it was day again.  Like seeds that fall into the ground and die, the apostle Paul later says, there in the darkness of the soil, they sprout.  Like all kinds of new starts and new ideas, they come without a lot of fanfare, unremarked at first.  Like our human infants, who we don’t even know have started growing inside our bodies until they begin to cause changes in us.  We don’t remark the turning point of new life until it’s further along, and beginning to manifest. The roots go down BEFORE the stem comes up.  New promises of hope may well already be started in our hearts and our world.

Whatever God is doing in the world has probably already started, without fanfare and notice.  Whatever God is doing in our congregation and all congregations, the seeds may well already be planted.  God is always working.

We can’t take it in yet.  We will be working out what this means in our history and in our children for a long time yet.  We will need time and space to process, intentionally to talk about it. While the new life is started by God without our help, we need to comprehend what it means.  We need to process the trauma.

We need to lean on the Holy Spirit, the breath of God and Christ, for our future.  What if the disciples had said, “Well, that’s over, so let’s get back to the way we were….”???  Actually, they did go back to fishing - we’ll see that in another text - and the risen Jesus finds them there and recharges them with ministry.  We also find ourselves saying, “when things get back to normal…”  Friends, we might try to deny that this happened and try to recreate the way things were, but it’s not gonna ever be the same - especially for the next generation.  This is an opportunity for us to rethink, reimagine, look at what wasn’t working, look for where God is bringing new life - be ready to be adaptable, to respond to what’s new.  It’s the Spirit that will lead us, guide us, show us the way - we need to be open and ready for God’s guidance, actively seek out the voice of God’s Spirit, praying for our sensitivity to the Spirit, listening for the Spirit. 

We need to be prayerfully prepared for seeing, recognizing and following the new life God is bringing.  We need to pray that this be so.  One of the interfaith clergy groups I follow online is actively pondering what changes in worship, ministry and service may emerge because of this virus and the consciousness it’s raised.  We now know more about the world’s interconnection, the value of the really essential workers, the importance of the wisdom of science, the importance of preparedness, the need for good leaders.   Our congregations are learning  - well, maybe more like “coping with”-  the ways that technology may be harnessed and used for the gospel.  Our hearts may well be more sensitive to the mission needs in the parts of the world that we think of least. 

I think we’re still in the confusing part of grief and loss, and just beginning to imagine the future - maybe a lot like those Christ-followers who gathered over the next weeks as the news of the risen Christ spread.  Confused, perhaps, feeling vulnerable, stressing over the changes, wondering what is going to happen.  Trying to still be alive and hopeful, our indomitable spirits caring for others worse off than we are, trying to maintain the goodness of life despite the current restrictions.  unfortunately, we may at some point be among the actively grieving - we’re going to be dealing with this virus for quite a while.  Predictions as to a vaccine say maybe in 2021….

We tell our Easter story in a week, but really, you know, things take a long time.  The gospels weren’t written down until some 60 years later - it took a while to process and understand.  Later, our history books may talk about this first real major pandemic on one page….those of us who live through it will know it took a lot longer.  Our  Easter message is a message of hope, and a message of God recreating life while it’s still dark - let’s hold on to that hope, and trust in God.  AMEN.

Easter online April 12

JAMESVILLE COMMUNITY CHURCH

EASTER-A   4/12/2020

     Preparation:

       Have read the Passion Scriptures in MAtthew

       Have your Alleluia butterflies all ready, and post pictures on our Facebook

  group!  Jamesville Community Church Network – ask to join if you aren’t

   on, so we can see each other’s Alleluia Butterflies!

         Have flowers & other Easter decorations.

         Have your bread and juice/wine ready for each person

         Have your candle to light at the start of worship.

EASTER CALL TO WORSHIP   (Please read aloud the parts in bold print)

Christ is risen.      Christ is risen, indeed.

God is alive..       New birth is given.

Hope is alive…    A new age is dawning.

Joy is alive…       Redemption is here.

Love is alive        Death cannot harm us.

We are alive…    New life is within us.

The church is alive…            God’s spirit is within us.

God of life, we worship you.  God of creation, we praise you.

God of revelation, we learn from you.    God of resurrection, we come to celebrate you.

SCRIPTURE       Matthew 28: 1-10    (Pastor Becky reads)

28After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” ⁸So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

CENTERING PRAYER       (Read in unison at home)

God of the resurrection, we gather this morning as a community of believers. We come with joy to greet one another and to tell again and again the amazing news: Christ is risen! Love is victorious over death! You have given us new life in the name of your Son! May our singing, praying, listening, and proclaiming be a testimony to the power of your love to make us a new creation as a community of faith. We pray in the name of the risen Christ. Amen.

CHILDREN’S TIME     

        When I was in school, I didn’t much get into science - I liked things like math & music & reading stories. Of course I had to learn about science anyway, some, but it wasn’t my fave.  When I was older, I watched a TV show about how the world came to be, & for some reason I totally got into it. & have been intrigued by it ever since. I guess people can change! Or get interested in different things along the way,

     So I got interested in how things like old orange peels and banana skins and coffee grounds and eggshells and things like that, can turn into compost. All dead things, peelings, sticks, leaves, all kinds of things we’d throw out - like their life is over and they’re no good anymore!  BUT...  But….    But little teeny tiny things in the air and soil go to work on them, and break down into little teeniest bits...and gradually, with some water and sunlight and heat, their little teeny elements become something new - compost. The stuff in compost becomes great food for the new plants around it - new plants get energy and food from the composted old dead stuff. It enriches the soil, It feeds the new life that’s growing. The energy that was in the banana peel, after changing form, becomes food and energy for new life. 

     In this world that God created, death is never the end of the story. I looked up some pictures of a volcano that erupted some years ago (July, 2008), called Mount Saint Helens, which is in our country. There haven’t been to many live volcanoes in my lifetime! The volcano spewed up hot lava, hot enough to burn anything it ran into and ran over, and totally wiped out all life forms that it touched in a range of miles. Then the lava hardened into rock, and even made the whole landscape a different shape. Yet if you look at pictures of Mount Saint Helens now, in 2020, grass is growing, trees have started, and the wiped out area is coming back. It won’t be the same shape as it was, yet even the destruction of the volcano is not the last word in God‘s world.

     Part of the message of Easter is to tell us that in God‘s world, death is not the end of things. On Easter Sunday, God gave Jesus new life, too - evidently people could recognize him, but he could do new things, too.  Because in this giant universe that God created, death is never the last word, God is life, and life always wins.

SCRIPTURE       Colossians 3: 1-11

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). ⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. ⁷These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.

⁸But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices ¹⁰and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. ¹¹In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

SERMON

          So - how many Easter services have we been to in our lives?  Type in a number… let’s see what we get…..  I was brought to church when I was 1, so, unless I was sick one Easter, this makes 66 Easters for me...and for 30 or so of them, I’ve preached an Easter message! 

    Have we ever had an Easter like this one?  Anyone here over 80?  Do you remember an Easter in the Great Depression?  Do you remember Easter during World War 2?  Those are some times in our history when Easter was celebrated during a fearful time...I'd bet some of us remember that.  We’re all probably going to all remember this Easter of 2020, the year we celebrated in our homes and by ourselves - the year of the covid 19 pandemic. 

      Several weeks ago, many clergy thought that we’d wait to celebrate Easter until we were all back in our church buildings and could gather together….maybe a couple weeks late, that’s all…. Gradually we realized this social isolation was going to go on awhile, and that the Easter message was needed at the right date, even if we observed it online. 

    It feels kind of odd to celebrate resurrection and new creation while we’re in the midst of a crisis that, while many are recovering, many are also dying, and families grieving.  So far there’s been no miracle vaccine or miracle test or miracle treatment to come to the rescue - it looks like we’re going to be slogging through a long wait, and a long economic recovery time.  And while we are seeing noble acts and sacrificial acts by our human neighbors, we’re also seeing humans plotting to come out of this richer than ever….. like humans have done in every crisis there’s ever been.  How can we proclaim new life and renewal and resurrection at this time? 

     We can, because God is now and always will be, the God of Life itself.  The God who creates, who births, who designs creation, who loves us and seeks us and finds us and walks here with us and in us - this is always true, despite outer circumstances.  Maybe it’s good to proclaim God’s New Life in crisis times especially, because we need the hope that death is not the last word, and that God’s new life emerges, that God makes all things new. 

    When I was young, my faith in God was more centered in what comes after our human life, which we called going to heaven.  Our hopes were very future- oriented; we struggled along here on earth until we finally got to go to heaven.  Yes, we were saved here, and tried to live for God here; but the emphasis was on getting to go to heaven where we would have new life. 

    At some point, reading passages like we just read from the letter to Christians at Colosee, I realized that according to Scripture, we who believe are walking in the realm of God even now; we have stepped into Jesus’ kingdom, we are already beginning our eternal life, and we are already raised to a new life in Christ.  We have begun our new, resurrected life even while we continue to live here.  I’d always assumed that when I got to heaven, obeying and following Christ would be simple - my whole nature would be changed and it wouldn’t be any problem to be perfect. 

    But when we realize that our new resurrected life with Jesus has begun, it’s still a learning and a struggle to change our mindset to that of Christ; we still have to set aside the world-view we’ve had here, and ask the Spirit of God to help us seek that new world-view that Jesus taught.   The writer to the Colossian believers tells them, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. ” And in the next sentence, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”   And a little later, “you have stripped off the old self with its practices ¹⁰and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. ¹¹In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!”

     It sounds to me like we are to work on thinking into this new way of being, learning to live in this new way, even now!  Assume that we are being renewed right now, trust that God is even now clothing us with  new life.  We are being transformed even now, as we open ourselves to God and seek to follow Christ. 

    It takes consciousness of this process, friends, to join in God’s work in ourselves;  it takes walking in prayer; it takes a willingness and an effort to let God’s Spirit move in us and “put on” this new life.  It takes a willingness and a sensitivity to scripture, and the still small voice inside us - to listen and to heed it.  Because the miracle is going on even now.

    It may well be that our area here will see more deaths, and the virus may hit some of our friends and family with its worst aspects.  All the numbers are still going up - the # confirmed cases, the # recoveries and the # deaths.  We may be having some serious thoughts about death and dying, as the stories abound in the news.  We may be praying for God to spare our own loved ones - of course that’s our hope.  We may or may not be spared this virus - we don’t know.  Even as believers, we are still among the human population, and mortal.  Yet as believers, our new life has already started, and we belong to God in life and in death - nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Presbyterians call the funeral service, “A Witness to the Resurrection” of the person.  Not that we expect folks to not grieve the loss and the change in life without the presence of our loved ones - but that we affirm our faith, even in the face of death, that death is not the last word - New life is.  And not that we know what that necessarily looks like - we do, however, know that nothing can separate us from the love and life  of God, and we are in God’s hands eternally. 

   Well, that’s a rather sober Easter message!  It’s a rather deeply faithful teaching of the Easter message, however.  Let’s not be simplistic and trite about the power of God’s life triumphing over the power of death.  Let’s not be sentimental about cute baby bunnies and chicks - and weirdly, baby goats seem to be all over facebook...and baby platypus and baby opossums…. Death is an awful power, and fear of death bothers us at a deep level.  Affirming the power of God and the power of Life is no small affirmation of hope. 

    I hope we hear the challenge of this Easter message in a different way this year, and determine to seek the things that are above,  set our minds on the teachings of Jesus and the call of God, and clothe ourselves with the renewal of life in God.  AMEN.

PRAYER

CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER  (Be ready to partake together when indicated.)

USE  POWER POINT

Invitation

The Resurrection has begun! The Day of Celebration is here!

Alleluia!

We gather at the table to share in the Banquet of Life!

Here we meet all who share with us the hope for a brighter future!

All who wish to follow The Way of Life are welcome to eat and drink at God's table.

Let us eat together.

Thanksgiving

Christ is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

We should give thanks!

Thanks and praise to the One who brings life!

Gracious God, we raise voices hoarse from shouting alleluias,

we sing praises for the wonder of an empty tomb,

we give thanks for the gifts of life, of life that breaks the bonds of death.

We sing songs of praise for the world you have given us, for the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies.

As the spring deepens and the earth thaws, as green breaks through the brown of winter,

we sing songs of hope for new life springing from dead soil, for the promise held in every seed that is sown.

As people of faith we remember all those who have gone before.

People like Moses and Miriam, leading their people to freedom; like Sarah and Abraham, seeking a new life in a strange land; like Peter and Mary, proclaiming an empty tomb and life beyond the cross.

We remember these and many others, named and unnamed, who have embraced Your life, Your hope, and moved into a new age.

And we trust that in remembering and retelling their stories, we too can take the leap into New Life.

Deep among all those memories we remember the life of a Special One.

Jesus, Child of Mary.

Born of a woman, he grew to adulthood among people who struggled daily for life.

Baptized by John, he embraced the life to which You called him.

He taught and preached a vision of a world where all divisions were broken down, where all had what they needed for abundant life, where the Reign of God was as real on earth as in heaven.

And though the powerful in his world fought back, he stood strong.

When offered a chance to take the easy way he overcame his own fear and instead prayed “yet Thy will be done”.

Even though they put him to death you raised him to life, vindicating his vision and bringing hope and healing to the world.

As inheritors of that hope we join together in the cries the welcomed him into Jerusalem, the cries of hope for the world:

Hosanna! Hosanna! Holy One!

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!

Remembering

As we gather at this table we remember a story told mere days ago

and yet also an age ago

We remember that Jesus gathered with his closest friends in an Upper Room to share the feast of liberation

And while sharing the ancient story of freedom, he called them to remember the promised freedom of God's Kingdom.

We remember that at that table he took the bread, gave thanks for it, blessed it, broke it and passed it among them saying:

This is my body, broken by and for the world. Whenever you eat it remember me.

Then later he took the cup of wine, blessed it and passed it among them saying:

This is the cup of the New Covenant, sealed in my blood. Whenever you drink it remember me, and look toward the fulfilment of God's Kingdom.

And so we break the bread and pour the cup and we remember with hope.

On this Easter Day we share in the Banquet of Freedom to celebrate Life Victorious!

Transforming

God of Life, in the beginning your Spirit hovered over the water, calling forth life, creating and inspiring.

Send Your Spirit upon we who gather to share this meal, infuse this bread and this juice with the Spirit's power,

As we eat and drink my we feel the power of Life Triumphant pulse in our veins, the fire of hope blaze in our hearts, and the joy of the Empty tomb dance in our souls.

Christ who died is now alive!

Alleluia! Amen.

And so, as children of a loving Parent, we pray together the words that Jesus, the Risen Christ, taught his friends

Our Father, who art in heaven...

Breaking and Pouring

Here at this table we break the Bread of Life

On this Day of Celebration we pour the Cup of Promise

These are Gifts from God for the People of God

Thanks be to God

Come and eat, for all is now ready.

Closing

We have eaten, we have drunk, we have embraced the beginning of the new age.

Grant, O God, that we who have gathered together on this Day of Resurrection, will move on as people of hope, people of life, people of the Kingdom.

May the meal we have shared today revive us in body and soul and energize us as we go out to share the Good News. Christ is Risen! Death is Defeated! Life Wins! Alleluia and Amen!

LITANY OF BLESSING

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us a little child one of us, flesh and blood to share in our humanity -                   

For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as carpenter and yet in whose creative hands a world was fashioned -           

For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as fisherman and yet pointed to a harvest that was yet to come -                 

 For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as teacher and opened eyes to truths that only the poor could understand –

For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as healer and opened hearts to the reality of wholeness -                            

For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as prophet, priest and king and yet humbled himself to take our place upon the cross –

For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as servant and revealed to us the extent of his Father's love for human kind –

For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

Blest are you, Lord Jesus, who rose from the ignominy of a sinner's death to the triumph of a Savior's resurrection -    

For God so loved the world That all might have eternal life

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son for the sake of me and you and other sinners too -     

God so loved the world. Blest are you Lord Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer.

BLESSING