Sermons |
|
|
The Gospel: John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application. Amen The Message: One of the ways that I try to get past my tendency to slip into an automatic response when I hear the Easter story is to ask myself who do I identify with this year? If I can find someone to who I can say "ah yes, I understand that moment, and that reaction" then I can often increase my emotional intensity as I listen to the story." But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. "This year I particularly identify with Mary at this point in the Gospel story for this morning. This is the faithful Mary who has earlier in the day come to the tomb. Other writers tell us that she has come to anoint the body of Jesus. She is faithfully carrying out the necessary ritual processes at the time of death. It is really interesting to me that it is Mary and not Martha. After all, Martha is known as the practical one. I would expect that Martha would have the anointing on her agenda. But it is Mary who comes and desires to carry out this intimate task for her beloved master Jesus. Mary is more than likely processing through her own grief and desolation. She is probably seeking to find a way to normalize the situation. Doing something that will help her to reconnect with the ritual so that she can re-establish the routine of her life. All of that desire and hope is interrupted when she discovers that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb. I am sure that she is thrown into emotional turmoil. So much for trying to get back to normal. She reacts and runs to find help. Peter and the "beloved" disciple respond to the devastating news and they run to the tomb. I could say a whole lot about that event, but that is not what caught my attention today. So, let's just say that they get to the tomb, they go inside, and check what the situation is! Then they go home! Does anyone else find that odd? There is no indication that they said anything to Mary or that they came to any conclusions about what the empty tomb meant. They just went home. Mary is left standing outside the tomb, with no consolation, no reassurance. It is almost as though she has been abandoned, left to work out the situation, completely alone. There is little question why she is weeping. But then, in the midst of her desolation, in her standing alone, overwhelmed by her grief she looks into the tomb for herself and experiences the miraculous. Not only does she see angels, but in the next moment, Jesus himself is standing with her. In going through her grief, her suffering, and the utter desolation of being alone, she experiences something that no one else does. The next thing that happens is she is commissioned, she is sent, to tell the disciples what they missed because they went home. "But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her." Mary, in going through her grief and suffering, finds herself in a place to receive a blessing. Now, please don't hear me saying that we should seek out situations of grief and suffering so that we can be blessed. But I do identify with Mary more this year because there are some circumstances that I would rather avoid if I could. I would rather not find myself alone, desolate, and feeling abandoned. But some experiences are very common to human beings. Death and grief are among the most common. I believe we all can identify with Mary in some area of our life. Sometimes we can find ourselves standing weeping outside the empty tomb of our hopes and dreams, our failed relationships, or difficult health issues. It is only when we bend down to look into the tomb that we make the realization that there is more to this situation than we thought. Going through grief, isolation, desolation and being alone is sometimes necessary for us to discover the wonder of the resurrection. It may also be what is necessary for us to be equipped with genuine empathy for those with whom we get the opportunity to share the good news. Mary can speak out of her experience at the tomb when she speaks to the disciples about the promises Jesus makes. She can speak with confidence when she says "I have seen the Lord." I would like to close this morning with the words of the Collect For the Mission of the Church from the Book of Common Prayer Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. The Gospel: John 18:1-19:42
Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus replied, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they stepped back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go." This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, "I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me." Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?" So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people. Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, "You are not also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself. Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said." When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" Jesus answered, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?" Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, "You are not also one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not." One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?" Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed. Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" They answered, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you." Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law." The Jews replied, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death." (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" They shouted in reply, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a bandit. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and striking him on the face. Pilate went out again and said to them, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him." So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God." Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever. He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore said to him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor." When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!" They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written." When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced." After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. The Message: "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined." Isaiah 9:2 NRSV One of the most important take-aways I gained from the time I spent in A.A. was "that nothing changes until we are ready to admit that there is a problem." Then we have to follow up on that decision by admitting that "more often than not that problem was within us." Blindness is a terrible affliction. As anyone, who has lost their sight, will tell you the loss of vision is devastating. To have the capacity to see taken away can be one of the most debilitating experiences anyone can go through. But I would like to suggest this evening that there is an experience that is even more devastating and debilitating. That is the experience of being blind and not knowing that you are. How can that be possible you ask? Well, I guess I am speaking in more of a spiritual, personal engagement sense rather than in a physical sense. To refer back to my quote from AA earlier in this message. Before anything is going to change for someone affected by an addiction to alcohol they must first admit to themselves that there is a problem. For most people, no effective change is going to happen until they admit, to themselves, that they have a problem with alcohol. I would like to suggest that for most people a very similar condition exists when it comes to their spiritual lives. I think most people would be very surprised if you suggested to them that they had an issue with spiritual blindness. In fact, I would suggest that most people would not be willing to admit that they are living in spiritual darkness or spiritual blindness. They most probably would not be aware of the very issue that is affecting every other aspect of their lives. Most of us are content to live our lives without challenging our current spiritual condition. The reading of the narrative of the events of Jesus' life through his arrest, trial, and conviction is a great example of a variety of people who are spiritually blind. The High Priests, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, Peter, and Judas all exhibit various forms of spiritual blindness. To compound that situation none of them would be willing to admit their blindness. We read or hear this story read, and I think that most of us shake our heads in disbelief as we see and hear what the High Priests, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, Peter, and Judas say and do in their encounters with Jesus. How can they miss what we so easily see and hear from Jesus? They are blind to their own blindness. Lent, Holy Week, and especially Good Friday give us an invaluable opportunity to stop and examine our lives. To use the experience of those involved in all that happens to Jesus as a measure of our own spiritual awareness. Perhaps, we would benefit from asking ourselves how comfortable we are in our walk and relationship with the Lord? Does hearing the events of Holy Week make us uncomfortable? Are we disturbed by what the High Priests, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, Peter, and Judas say and do in their encounters with Jesus? What changes or adjustments might we be willing to make in our spiritual lives because of hearing the story of Jesus through this Holy Week? To encourage us to consider our spiritual condition this Easter I would like to read a poem I heard recently. This poem is attributed to Sir Francis Drake the great sailor navigator of the Elizabethan era. Disturb us, Lord, when We are too pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess We have lost our thirst For the waters of life; Having fallen in love with life, We have ceased to dream of eternity And in our efforts to build a new earth, We have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, To venture on wilder seas Where losing sight of land We shall find the stars. We ask you to push back The horizons of our hopes; And to push back the future In strength, courage, hope, and love. This we ask in the name of our Captain, Who is Jesus Christ! |
Bishops & Father MikeArchives
May 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed
