Fourth Sunday of Easter: Guide Us, Good Shepherd

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 4:5-12 (NRSV)

The day after they had arrested Peter and John for teaching about Jesus and the resurrection, the rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is

`the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;

it has become the cornerstone.'

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."

Psalm 23 (BCP., p.612)


1 John 3:16-24 (NRSV)

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

John 10:11-18 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father." 

Blog Reflection

The society and culture in which we live is so full of "doing it my way" that the idea of a shepherd is too remote.  At the same time, our culture is all too vulnerable to being directed by greed, power, prejudice and violence.  Leaving ourselves without the Holy One who can lead us to a greater existence of ourselves and one another, is like traveling through an ice cold climate without warm clothing and food.  It is only a matter of time before the elements cause the deterioration of our overall health.

The readings for this weekend, give us a glimpse of what a shepherd looks like within the Christian Faith.  A shepherd is one who takes great responsibility for the sheep entrusted to them.  A qualified shepherd is one who knows each sheep by name and does what the shepherd can to feed, guide and protect them.  A shepherd is so concerned with the life of the flock, that the shepherd is ready to sacrifice her/his life for them.  

As Christians who follow a Liturgical cycle of readings, the fourth Sunday of the Easter Season is dedicated to the image of Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd.  Why?  Because for Christians, Jesus is the shepherd who has laid down His life for all of God's people.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd in Name, word and deed.  Jesus lived into the life of a shepherd in His death and resurrection.  The center of God's action on our behalf is love.  The love of God for all of us was poured into the Incarnate Word who is Jesus, and from Him we receive the grace to love one another.

The image of Jesus as a Shepherd has been badly tarnished by those who use the Name of Jesus to justify discrimination by way of rhetoric and political maneuvering for the sole purpose of raising up wealthy enterprises.  The Name of Jesus as the true Shepherd is nothing more than an excuse to spread misinformation about women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, the sick and poor.  Such misinformation leads to encouraging violence and oppression that discourages people from believing in Christians as nothing more than a group of irrational religious people.  Such individuals who lead groups like the National Organization for Marriage, The Family Research Council, The American Family Association and others like them, only speak for a specific group of Christians.  They do not represent who Jesus Christ is and what He is about.  They do not speak for all Christians.  The same can be said for those who deny the reality of climate change, workers rights, and affordable health care for every person. 

As Christians who are baptized into a tradition that values the dignity of every human being, we are also responsible for representing the image of Jesus Christ the true Good Shepherd.  We are followers of the Jesus who cared deeply about the marginalized, and sought to include them among all of God's people.  Jesus made room for the sick, lonely, the dead, women, and many more.  Jesus resisted the type of culture that wanted one group of people to dominate another.  In Jesus our Good Shepherd, God valued each person and by the Holy Spirit empowers us to do the same.   As Jesus is our example, so we need to pray for the clarity to follow our Good Shepherd to do as He did.

Amen.


Prayers

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people;
Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who
calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with
you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, The Book of Common Prayer, p.225).

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the
people of this land], that barriers which divide us may
crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for Social Justice, The Book of Common Prayer, p.823).

Third Sunday of Easter: Peace, Resurrection and Breaking Bread

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 3:12-19 (NRSV)

When Peter saw the astonishment of those who had seen the lame man healed, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

"And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out."

Psalm 4 (BCP., p.587)



1 John 3:1-7 (NRSV)

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Luke 24:36b-48 (NRSV)

Jesus himself stood among the disciples and their companions and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look 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." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then 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." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

Blog Reflection

The readings this weekend send a lot of messages.  One could easily be persuaded that "Jesus only" is among them.  The reading from Acts suggests the supercession of Judaism into Christianity with Peter's speech.  One miracle preformed by Peter, the same Peter that denied Jesus three times is suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaiming the resurrection.  The news of the resurrection and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost has changed the landscape, but it is still the same God acting in various people in a variety of ways. 

As Christians, we are welcomed by the Risen Christ with the words, "Peace be with you."  It doesn't matter that we come as individuals who are not sure if the resurrection means the same to each of us.   Maybe we remember that the Prophets said that the Son of Man would suffer and rise again.  Maybe we heard Jesus tell us over and over before the Crucifixion and resurrection that these things would take place.  Perhaps we did not really understand it until now.  Maybe even now we do not know what it is suppose to mean.  Jesus the Risen One, is most concerned that each of us knows that He imparts God's peace to us, and wishes to share a meal with us in community with each other. 

How do we experience the Risen Christ in our lives?

Do Christians know and believe that through Christ every person is a child of God as is written in 1 John?   Do Christians know and celebrate that being children of God through Jesus, and that it is not just for us Christians who follow Christ in "our way"?

One of the major problems we are seeing with the "religious freedom" debate is who gets to define what "religious freedom" is for whom.  As soon as we can use "religious freedom" as a justification for discriminating against one group of people vs. another, it is no longer freedom for anyone.  It becomes an enslavement of one group to be able to bind the freedoms of others and take them hostage.  This is not the freedom that God intended through the Paschal Mystery we are celebrating.  If it is, is it any wonder why Christians look like such fools as the license to discriminate bills are making their way into the law books all over the country?

The Risen Christ continues to come to us in prayer, worship and the Eucharist to wish peace on all of us.  As we break bread and share the cup, the Risen Christ retells the story of His Resurrection through our own stories.  He calls on us to make that story in to a real life event through our own lives and relationships.  We do not have to get it right.  All we are asked is to be faithful to the resurrection event around us, and Christ will continue to raise us up as witnesses Christ's redemption.

Amen.


Prayers

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his
disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith,
that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives
and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.223)

Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it
with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt,
purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is
amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in
want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake
of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen.  (Prayer for the Church.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.816)   

Second Sunday of Easter: Thank You Thomas

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 4:32-35 (NRSV)

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Psalm 133 (BCP., p.787)


1 John 1:1-2:2 (NRSV)

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

John 20:19-31 (NRSV)

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Blog Reflection

Imagine what a great world we would have if all of us lived like those first Christians in Acts 4:32-35.  Everything was truly held in common.  Those who had property sold it and gave the proceeds to those who needed it.  If such a community in the times in which these events occurred was not all that well received by the power structures then; they certainly are not a draw for popularity now.  Every politician and religious based organization would be put to shame.  Such is mostly the case now.  Is it any wonder why many see the Christian religion as a stage act full of soap box speeches?  

A Christian community such as what is described to us in Acts needs witnesses to the redemption of Christ.  It also requires those who profess a belief in the Incarnation and Paschal Mysteries to give evidence of what they believe in how they live.  How can we give evidence of what we believe those first Apostles saw if we ourselves have not seen Jesus alive after the resurrection? 

This is where Thomas comes in.  Speaking to the Soul: Touching Faith an article in The Episcopal Cafe says it well.

Lucky Thomas, he literally got hands-on proof to bolster his faith. We will have to wait a little longer for that awesome experience. Until that time, Jesus tells us we are blessed because we believe in what we do not see. But before we congratulate ourselves on a pious achievement, we should understand that our faith is entirely a gift from God. It is his grace infused in us, not a virtue generated by us. Our job is to cooperate with God’s grace… to nurture, protect and share it. That means our faith cannot be rationed, hoarded or hidden. Jesus did not go to the cross so that closet Christians could slink under the radar of an increasingly cynical, secular world.

In a world in which hospitality, reconciliation and healing are less appreciated unless their is a large sum of money is on the other end of achieving it; the experience of those first Apostles and especially Thomas seems like a long shot.  On the contrary, the opportunity to witness the power of Christ's resurrection and a faith like that of Thomas is in our neighbor next door, our co-worker, the transgender person just beaten when a guy found out his date has different organs that what she/he appears.  The Risen Christ comes and says, "peace be with you" to the communities all around the world wounded by racism, sexism and religious intolerance.  Those who are tired of the Christian religion being used as an excuse for this ridiculous  argument of "religious liberty" to exempt public services from serving LGBTQ people, Muslims, Jewish people and more; the Risen Christ invites you to come and put your hands in the holes in his hands, feet and side.  The Common English Bible for John 20:27b reads that Jesus told Thomas, "No more doubting!  Believe!"  Such is what the Risen Christ tells us know.

We are able to doubt and find faith, because Thomas was a skeptic.  He was not satisfied with just being told that Christ rose, he wanted to see it for himself.  He questioned faith, and he found faith.  Because of Thomas' courage, we who have not seen the Risen Christ as Thomas did are blessed when we believe without seeing.  We are empowered to be witnesses of the Resurrection as we embrace the disenfranchised, the oppressed and  those living with injustice; and respect the dignity of every human being.

Thank you Thomas!

Amen.

Alleluia! Christ is risen.

The Lord in risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery
established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all
who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body
may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday in Easter.  The Book of Common Prayer. p. 224).

 O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior,
the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the
great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away
all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body
and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith,
one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all
of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth
and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and
one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.  (Prayer for the Unity of the Church.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.818).

Easter Day: Christ is Risen! Christians, Live As Easter People!

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 10:34-43 (NRSV)

Peter began to speak to the gentiles: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

Psalm 118 (BCP., p.760)


1 Corinthians 15:1-18 (NRSV)

I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain.

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

John 20:1-18 (NRSV)

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.

Blog Reflection

Alleluia! Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Beloved Christians, today we sing Jesus Christ Is Risen Today and Hail Thee Festival Day!  We gather in large numbers to celebrate what the Scriptures, Tradition and faith have celebrated throughout the Centuries.  The choirs are singing hymns and anthems while the organ and other instruments are being played with brilliance and jubilation.  Easter dinners and parties with family and friends celebrate the arrival of Easter and the long awaited ending of Lent and Holy Week.  What a beautiful and wonderful day.

That first Easter morning must not have been a happy one in the beginning for Mary and the other women.  They came to the tomb to bring spices and fresh linens.  They must not have known that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had already done those things at Jesus' burial.  Imagine the horrified look on their faces when they found the tomb empty.   Imagine the look on their faces when they were met by the angels as is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke who told them, "He is not here.  He is risen!"

What about those disciples?  They were told on any number of occasions that Jesus would be crucified and on three days rise again.  The mighty Peter who said that he would follow Jesus wherever He went, denied Him three times.  Now, Peter is looking into an empty tomb, turned away and went home "for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead." 

As Christians who claim to believe in the Resurrection, where do we find the evidence of such around us?  We celebrated Lent and Holy Week.  Here we are on Easter Day.  It is hard to find evidence of the Resurrection in our politics and news.  Gun violence still runs rapid with no additional legal protections.  Racism is a wild animal that preys upon teenagers, women and men in our police departments, schools, colleges and churches.  Bills are written, debated and fast tracked to give a license to discriminate on the basis of "religious liberty" to deny basic human services to LGBTQ people, Muslims, Jews and others who do not fit the criteria of Christianists.  "Religious Liberty" is worth defending if one agrees with their version.  If one does not, then Christianists and Dominionists are being persecuted by making martyrs of themselves only.   Is it any wonder that Christians are viewed as standing at the empty tomb with the disciples and wondering what really happened?  Is it any wonder that many just cannot believe in the awesome Christian Faith that many of us embrace and love?

Thankfully, the Easter story did not end with the disbelieving disciples.  It took a woman of faith to weep in the garden, symbolizing the cries of Eve.   A woman who still believed in the hope of the Resurrection, finds her faith rewarded in her helplessness and despair as the Risen Christ comes and calls her by name.  The Risen Christ identifies Mary who is given the greatest of contemplative visions.  The Risen Christ didn't blame the woman for not believing, as Adam did.  The Risen Christ affirms the faith of Mary and ends all sexism and doubt that God restored humankind to it's Divine origins with our brokenness exposed, in a perpetual embrace in radical hospitality and reconciliation.  "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1).  As an Episcopalian and a Christian, I believe there is also no condemnation for those who are not in Christ Jesus as we Christians understand it to be so.  The Jesus that I believe in who rose bodily from the grave, embraces every person with dignity and unconditional love.

On this Easter Day, we renew our Baptismal Vows in communion with other Christians around the world.  To the questions, "Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?", and "Will you strive for justice and peace among all persons, and respect the dignity of every human being?" we collectively and individually answer, "I will, with God's help."

Today, as Christians we celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ risen from the dead.  Now, let us celebrate by living as Easter People.  May we be an Easter People calling for an end to violence, prejudice, oppression and become ambassadors for the Risen Christ by doing all we can to make it so.

Amen.

Alleluia!  Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Prayers

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus
Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of
everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the
day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death
of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Collect for Easter Day.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.222).

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the
people of this land], that barriers which divide us may
crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.823).

Good Friday: God's Loving Arms Forever Outstretched

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (NRSV)

See, my servant shall prosper;
he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high.

Just as there were many who were astonished at him
--so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals--
so he shall startle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the LORD shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22 (BCP., p. 610)


Hebrews 4: 14-15 5: 7-9 (NRSV)

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

John 19: 16b-36 (NRSV)

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."

Blog Reflection

This Christ is a man who himself lived with tension and contradiction and inner conflict.
He is a man surrounded by friends who yet withdraws to be apart in the desert.

He is a son and yet he separates himself from his family and asks “who is my mother and who are my brothers?”

He stays alone with himself through long nights of prayer but still journeys on on a road that he knows will bring him to suffering and to death.

He is the redeemer who on the Cross holds together the vertical, pointing towards God, and the horizontal, arms outstretched to the world.

In Christ all things will be brought together.

In Christ all things will be well.  (Living with Contradiction: An Introduction to Benedictine Spirituality, Esther de Waal p.39,40).

I once did Lectio Divina on the following words from Thomas A Kempis' The Imitation of Christ.  "The Cross is always ready and waits everywhere, for you" (p. 93).

What is it like to look back on life and discover instances when we may have found the Cross waiting for us, and the arms of our loving Savior with His arms outstretched?

When I was a Church Music major at Eastern Nazarene College between 1988 to 1994, I saw the health of my Church Music Professor decline very rapidly.  It declined due to Lu Gehrig's Disease.  In February of 1994, he lost his battle with the disease and died.  When I began attending college in the Fall of 1988, he was a healthy man.  He had a Master's Degree in trombone, and a magnificent tenor voice.  When he conducted the Messiah every December, performed by the Choral Union, he was masterful, full of gesture and life.  By the time he died, he was lucky if he could raise his arms off his electric wheelchair to scratch his nose.

One summer while I was there, I needed help to pass my sight singing proficiency exam that was to be taken at the beginning of the next school year.  I had failed it four times.  The exam to be given me was my last chance, or I would not get my degree.  One day, I woke up really late for my on campus summer job.  I did not have time to take a shower.  I was miserable all day.  After work, I went to work with him on my sight singing practice.  I was just about in tears. Prof. Howard heard my story compassionately.   After I finished, he just about laughed himself to death.  He told me that if he had told his wife over the phone that he was about devastated because he woke up late, did not take a shower and all that, his wife would laugh for about 15 minutes.  He said that his wife would eventually say: "So what!!" My professor continued: "You were able to wake up and live another day.  You got to go to work without getting fired.  You were able to do what you could. You did what you were suppose to do."  Before I forget, I did pass the exam in the Fall.

I was thinking about this today as I was meditating on what Good Friday is all about. Here was a man, who was literally losing all the ability to move the muscles in his body voluntarily, yet he was telling me to cheer up and get on with life. He told me with no bitterness or sorrow for himself.  His main concern was encouraging me. 

On Good Friday, Jesus Christ is God's remedy for our sins.  God knowing that we could not accomplish our salvation unless God intervened on our behalf, did more than that.  God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, became the punishment our sins deserved.  He suffered a most agonizing death to restore us to friendship with God.  All that Jesus suffered on this most holy of days, was God acting in our place, so that God can look upon us all through the blood of God's Son and see us forgiven and liberated to live our lives in friendship with God and one another.  We are the one's who sinned by being so immature.  But, God through life and death of Christ showed us the Way (See John 14:6) back to God's Self.

It is not enough to come to this day after five weeks of fasting, prayer and alms giving to go back to the way we were.  As people baptized into Christ Jesus, we have shared in His death and resurrection.  By the power of the Holy Spirit that came on Pentecost because of Christ's resurrection, we are enabled by God's grace to grow in holiness through our relationships with others.  Including, but not limited to the marginalized, poor, oppressed, and the physically/psychologically challenged.  

The Cross is not the Christianists excuse for targeting women, LGBT people, Muslims, Jews, Native Americans, African Americans, Liberals, etc.  The Cross is not a progressives excuse to not forgive and pray for Christianists who chose to hate in the Name of Christ.  The Cross is not a reason for the conviction to justify the closing down of planned parenthood offices nation wide, or targeting abortion doctors to murder.  The Cross is not our emblem to deny health care to the sick and vulnerable.  Nor is it the justification for drone missiles killing whole families in Pakistan, or targeting Americans suspected of being terrorists.  The need for a Savior who died on the Cross, is not our scapegoat for not being good stewards of the environment, our possessions, our sexuality, our families and children.  The Cross on which Jesus died, does not mean the Judaism has been superseded by Christianity and therefore is no longer a valid bulwark of faith. 

The Cross is our reference point for "the path of God's commandments" so that "our hearts may overflow with the inexpressible delight of love" (vs. 49, Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict, p.165).   The love by which the loving arms of God are forever outstretched to embrace all who long for God's mercy and salvation, is our reason and text book for embracing one another in charity and hope.  

As we pray throughout the day, let us all take time to ask God to recreate new hearts in us by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 51:11).   That we may love God, others and ourselves with a holy and life-giving love.   The kind that welcomes all, offers reconciliation and recreates the face of the earth.

Amen.

Prayers

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your
family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be
betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer
death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer, p.221).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, p.99).


Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen.  (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p.101).

Maundy Thursday: Who Would Jesus Refuse to Serve?

Today's Scripture Readings

Exodus 12:1-14 (NRSV)

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the LORD. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

Psalm 116:1, 10-17  (BCP., p.759)



1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NRSV)

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (NRSV)

Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 

Blog Reflection

There has been a lot of news these days about "religious liberty" and who business owners should be able to serve or refuse to serve.  Legislative bills are being introduced, fast tracked, passed and signed into law to give individuals the "right of their religious beliefs" to service those whom they believe most conform to their ideology.  While we can speculate about what is and what is not the best approach to these bills, they do give Christians a lot to think about.

The words Maundy Thursday get their meaning from the Latin word mandatum, which contains the English root word, mandate or commandment.  The focus of Maundy Thursday in addition to the institution of the Holy Eucharist is the new commandment of Jesus to love others as He has loved all of us.  Jesus, in His Paschal Mystery loved all of us without distinction or exception.  As John records for us, Jesus took the form of a servant and washed the feet of His Disciples.  Jesus gave us an example of what it means to love and serve others in total self sacrifice.  Jesus held nothing back.   Jesus gave Himself to us in His Body and Blood, and stooped down in humility to wash our feet and commanded us to love one another in His Name.

What Jesus did seems to be a stark contrast to what those license to discriminate on the basis of "religious liberty" bills are about.  I have a hard time believing that Jesus would put up a sign to the window of the upper room that says "We do not serve gays" or "Muslims" or "Jews"  or "Athiests" or "only Baptized Christians".  While the sexism given to us in the Scriptures suggests that the only Disciples of Jesus were men, I tend to believe that women must have been present in that upper room moment, and that Jesus washed their feet too.  In the very act of serving by the washing of feet, Jesus assumes a very feminine role.  Jesus really does lay down His life, by giving over even the appearance of what His gender stereotypes would be, to serve the least among us with the greatest of humility.

In The Rule of St. Benedict Chapter 53 On the Reception of Guests, he instructs the community to wash the feet of His guests.  St. Benedict wanted his monks to remember what he wrote in Chapter 7 On Humility.  Humility means "being earthed".  St. Benedict wanted those who observe his Rule to live into the Christian life with authenticity and transparency.

On this Maundy Thursday, Jesus commands us to love one another as we are loved by Him.  Jesus gave us this commandment while living into what it means.  As Jesus lived into the greatest acts of love, humility and service of everyone without distinction, so He commands each of us to do for others.  Including and especially those who are different from us.   Lord, have mercy on us all.

Who would Jesus refuse to serve?

Who will we serve or refuse to serve in the Name of Jesus today?


Prayers

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he
suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood:
Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in
remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy
mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Maundy Thursday.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 221).

God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a
wonderful Sacrament has left us a memorial of his passion:
Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and
Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit
of his redemption; who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect on the Holy Eucharist.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.252).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.815).