We are still holding worship in virtual space only for another couple of weeks at least (Council will re-evaluate at our meeting on April 19). You can join us on our You Tube Channel.
This year, as Easter Sunday is also the first Sunday of the month, we will be celebrating Communion as part of the service. You are invited to have bread and juice (or something similar) available so we can eat and drink together.
The Scripture Readings for this Easter Sunday are:
- Isaiah 25:6-9
- John 20:1-18
The Sermon title is Why Are You Weeping?
Early Thoughts: At first glance it seems like a ridiculous question. A woman is standing by a tomb and weeping -- why do think she is weeping!?! But just maybe it is in fact the question we really need to open our souls for the Good News of resurrection.
Maybe, in fact, Jesus is simply meeting Mary where she is at, opening the door for here to express her grief. Maybe until she does that she will not be able to see the reality of Resurrection -- even though it is standing right in front of her. [As a side note maybe this also explains the strange question Jesus asks of the travelers along the Emmaus Road in Luke 24:17] And maybe that is true for us as well. Maybe we can not see the transformation happening in front of us until we have been given the chance to name our grief and our trauma and our fear. New life means death. Resurrection means death first and life after. When we want to jump right to the new life, to new hope without naming the reality of death we might never fully live into the transformation.
So why are you weeping this Easter? What grief and trauma has the world brought you? Can you name that for yourself? Can you give room for others to name their griefs and traumas even as we look for the joy that comes with the dawn, with the rising of the Son?
Once Mary has named her grief and her fear Jesus, the Risen Christ, calls her by name. Only then does Mary see what has happened. Only then can she recognize the New Life of Resurrection. In many of our Ester stories people have trouble recognizing the Risen Christ for who he is. But when they are made ready their eyes (and souls) are opened and transformation occurs. What will be our moment of being called by name? What will lead us to recognize the Resurrected One in our midst?
Maybe when we do that, when we recognize the Resurrected One, when we too have been transformed, we enter into the time of celebration described in this passage from Isaiah. The shroud will be torn. Death will be destroyed. The tears will be wiped from the faces. And the feast will begin.
But first we may need to weep, and name why we are weeping.
--Gord
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