easter3-4-30-winnsboro.md

Sun, Apr 30, 2017 (St. John’s, Winnsboro)

lectionary

Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”

• that day about three thousand persons were added
• Now on that same day two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village called Emmaus …

We’re still connected by the narrative of the gospel with Easter time … with the time still being around Easter

Taking a fork in the road

Walking along a road, two companions. They didn’t really know where they were headed because where they were from was so astonishing.

Frost: 2 roads … I took the one less traveled

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

An oh-so-familiar-journey

made by two disciples shortly after Crucifixion. Rumors are circulating that He is risen. “Haven’t you heard about it?” they ask Jesus.

Jesus: Road to Emmaus

Wikipedia

The circumstances are intensely dynamic. Jesus acted as if he would just be going on his way. The 2 disciples, Cleopas and the other, would have to choose which road they went down. Encountering the Risen Lord is not like bumping into some larger-than-life reality TV star. It is absolutely ordinary. It is in the ordinary that we encounter the most important events of our lives.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us,

They could have just gone on. But they didn’t. They chose this way. They weren’t necessarily excited about it. They were leaving the excitement that seemed to be just now brewing in Jerusalem. Rumors swirling. “They say that he has risen!”

Jesus chastises them for not paying attention. And he goes on to reveal himself to them in the breaking of the bread.

Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

bestseller: road less traveled

• video review – Peck: a somewhat sympathetic review

M. Scott Peck wrote a best seller some 40 years ago. It was titled: The Road less traveled: a new psychology of love, traditional values and spiritual growth. It began with the striking sentence: Life is difficult.

Growth in life, maturing to be a “fully alive human being” as Irenaeus put it in the 2^no century. It consists of: discipline (spiritual & emotional), love, and grace. he wrote.

It’s a powerful synthesis and I could spend a lot of time now talking about that. But I’m not. What captures my attention at the moment is his use of Frost’s poem in the title of his book. Life consists of choices, choosing one road for our journey over another that presents itself to us as a fork in the road. That is where all the important stuff happens.

When the two disciples headed down the road to Emmaus they had no notion that they were going to have an encounter that would change their lives.

I am convinced that all of our lives are filled with the ordinary events that offer us the extra-ordinary revelation of God at work.

Pilgrimage is whatever happens (Northumbria 4/27)

Earlier this week my own spiritual readings offered me a perspective on this road we are on. A road which is a pilgrimage and it makes of each of us a pilgrim. It turns out the Celtic understanding of travel of any sort is that it is a pilgrimage. It means that at any moment, this road we have taken, may reveal a stranger who is a messenger from God.

On the eve of a walking pilgrimage, Kathy Berry spoke about travel as spirituality and as essentially pilgrimage. She reflected that in her study of the Celtic Christian way of pilgrimage, the Celts did not see their travel as achieving a previously understood goal but rather that pilgrimage is whatever happens’. That is, they so trusted their spiritual processes into the hands of God that they could relinquish unholy control of their lives and take the posture of holy abandonment in preparation for whatever God had planned. (Northumbrian Prayer)

The Celtic church understood that to be a pilgrim – no longer in Jerusalem but on the road – is to be in between, neither in the place we have been but not yet arrived at where we are going. That is the circumstance of Cleopas and the other disciple. It is our circumstance. We are not yet what we shall be. We are no longer what we were.

*The pilgrim church is itself a liminal reality, occupying the border between heaven and earth. The term peregrinus from which ‘pilgrim’ is derived recognises liminal status; the meaning of the term in Latin includes foreigner, wanderer, exile, alien, traveller, newcomer and stranger. Like the Israelites whose care for the alien and poor was motivated by remembrance of their own slavery and wandering. William Cavanaugh

The promise of Easter

We all have made that journey. Decisions that make all the difference.

• my calculus class
• the principles of morals class
• library work + piano repair & tuning
• call to Hawai’i

This Easter-tide we are offered the assurance that what seems an ordinary dusty road – whatever your road looks like. With companions that look like – well that look exactly like you and me.

Peck and others can teach us how to prepare ourselves to be like Cleopas and the other disciple, ready to invite a stranger or alien into our midst, to offer them hospitality, and perhaps, then, through the breaking of bread or some other godly means – to have our lives opened up before and to experience what will make all the difference in the world.

May the road rise up to meet you … (Irish blessing)

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

(traditional gaelic blessing)

easter-morning-2017.md

Easter Sunday

St. Peter’s, Great Falls – Sun, Apr 16, 2017:

Elements of our liturgy

There are some changes in the liturgy today that you can’t have missed.

1. We lit a “Passover” candle – i.e. “paschal”
2. Secondly we have renewed our baptismal covenant
3. We fulfill a part of that covenant as we break bread together

Service of Light

Normally this happens in a service sometime in the dark of Saturday. In the prayer at the lighting of the candle it seemed to me appropriate that we leave some reference to the night time that gives way to the light of the morning. Easter night gives way to Easter morning.
I expanded a little the prayer related to lighting the “paschal” candle

I first experienced an Easter Vigil where this candle lighting normally takes place at seminary. There was tremendous power in the service. We gathered at night outside the doors to the chapel. Someone kindled a fire from a flint as the congregation sat in complete darkness. The fire rose and then the candles lit from the paschal candle filled the whole chapel with light. It was quite awesome.

When I was young Christmas midnight mass was like what I experienced. We didn’t decorate our Christmas tree until we came home from mass at around 1 am. There was a clear sense that there was something special about that time. At that first grand Easter vigil I experienced there was:

1. baptism in a large font, the infant submerged into the water
2. bells ringing til dawn
3. a feast for 100 or more, beginning about 1 am

It is important, here, to observe that by ancient tradition a Jewish day (as also a liturgical day ) begins at night. Easter, therefore, began yesterday evening as the sun set.

If I made some references to “night” in the opening of our service, it’s by way of recalling the darkness from which the new light emerges.

Baptism

When I first experienced the Easter Vigil we had a baptism. Because, as I gradually became aware, Easter is the best time for baptisms. It is the time that the ancient church reserved for baptisms and it was expected that people, old and young, would be on the day of Resurrection.

I used to think when I was a child – like until I was about 27 y/o – that baptism was some kind of magic sort of thing that was intended to convince God not to condemn the little children that were brought to the baptismal font.

It took me way too long to figure out that that was an abominable characteristic to project onto God. I began to figure it out that Baptism was rather:

1. key to how to live a life as a Christian
2. an invitation to share in Jesus’ Resurrection
3. since it is a sharing in Jesus’ Resurrection it is obviously most fitting to observe it on Easter

So we have reaffirmed our baptisms here today.

Breaking bread

This morning, as we do week by week, we “continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?”

1. persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord
2. proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ
3. seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself
4. strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being
5. The “good news” is what we proclaim – the word “gospel” means “good news”

Matthew 28:1-10
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And 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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then 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.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

In the reading from the “good news” – the gospel – we hear about the women coming to the tomb of their teacher, expecting to anoint his body.

They did not find what they expected. In Matthew’s version they are surprised by – of all things – an earthquake. That gets ones attention!

The darkness of the night before had given birth to something that was beyond their imagining.

The women at the tomb were aghast

A year ago the dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education delivered a commencement speech.

It was filmed and shared on YouTube where it came to be viewed by millions of people – going viral I guess it’s called.

Good Questions [^1]

Reviewing the events of our lives, the dean charges us to cultivate within ourselves the art of asking good questions. "Resist the temptation to have good answers, " he says.

I recall the old rabbinic story about the young man running down the main street of his village shouting, “I’ve got the answer! I’ve got the answer! Please, quick, someone tell me the question!”

He proceeds to argue - - suggest, is maybe a better weird - - that being a good teacher is about teaching the art of asking good questions, not so much about passing on the right answers.

Excerpts:

“My final suggestion is that there are five truly essential questions that you should regularly ask yourself and others. My claim is that, if you get in the habit of asking these questions, you have a very good chance of being both successful and happy, and you will be in a good position to answer “I did” to the bonus question at the end.”

1. “The first is a question my own kids are fond of asking, and it’s one you may have heard other teenagers pose — or maybe you still pose it yourself. The question is “Wait, what?” My kids typically pose this question when I get to the point in a conversation where I’m asking them to do a chore or two. From their perspective, they hear me saying something like: “blah, blah, blah, blah, and then I’d like you to clean your room.” And at that precise moment, the question inevitably comes: “Wait, what? Clean what?””
2. The second question he gave is “I wonder” which can be followed by “why” or “if.”
3. The third question is: “Couldn’t we at least…?”
4. The fourth question is: “How can I help?”
5. The fifth question is this: “What truly matters?”

I and many others think that his advice applies to many more people than just teachers. I suggest to you that they fit remarkably well as we seek to live into our baptismal life as Christians.

He asks the The Bonus question which is really a profoundly Christian question. :

“And did you get what you wanted out of life, even so?”

The even so part of that question is the real kicker. It imagines that at the end of our days, looking back at how we have done, managing the first 5 questions, realizing that we have won some and lost some, and yet even so can turn to God and say, “Thank you”?

Easter morning

If this night and day is like no other, if this Easter morning is the day on which our true Christian vocation is based, if this is the day we all to live into our baptismal covenant, these questions can powerfully guide our response.

We remember the time that the women entered the tomb and discovered the first inkling of our ultimate deliverance. The women looked at the empty tomb and they went, “Wait! What?” This is not at all what they expected.

We remember and make present before our very eyes, the wonder and innocence of children, seeing not just a bright shining star but the promise of the approaching day.

Easter gives us permission to wonder if the impossible is not just possible but present before our very eyes.

Today turn to look at our neighbor, no matter the color, no matter the financial standing, whether they are responsible or not, the fallen, the vulnerable, even the rich and the successful – it allows us to look at our neighbor and ask: How can I help?

The answers we give to the question What truly matters? - - perhaps our answer might be pleasing to God. It might not be to our liking. But it’s vital for our Christian vocation that we ask the question.

But however our answers go, the Easter response provides all the evidence we need to end our days, saying – in response to the question, “Did you get what you wanted out of life, even so?” – Yes! The Lord is Risen! Indeed!

[^1] By James Ryan on May 26, 2016 3:50 PM Dean James Ryan’s prepared remarks at the 2016 HGSE Presentation of Diplomas and Certificates.

easter-vigil-2017.md

Easter vigil: 2017

Our Savior, Rock Hill, SC

This is the night

Some of you may have heard me, at the beginning of our service tonight, repeat the refrain: “This is the night …”

Most of the time over the last 40 years or so, as I have heard the words of the exsultet proclaimed, I have heard 2 voices. Sometimes 1 is stronger. Sometimes the other. One of them is the person doing the singing or the saying. The other voice is from somewhere else. It is a heavenly sort of voice. In fact, trying to think about it, I’m pretty sure it has been an angel of some sort.

This is the night

This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.

This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness of life.

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.

How holy is this night, when wickedness is put to flight, and sin is washed away. It restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to those who mourn. It casts out pride and hatred, and brings peace and concord.

How blessed is this night, when earth and heaven are joined and man is reconciled to God.

---

Wow! Really? All that happened tonight?

I look around me, and I know there’s something else going on in these words. In this night.

Wait! What? I thought I was just quietly following the “service” you say?

For 40 years I’ve been trying to pay attention to my own perception that something extraordinary is, in fact, going on when we proclaim these words.

Later connection

It was some years after I first heard the refrain “This is the night” that I realized it must be connected in some way to a key element in a passover meal, called “The 4 questions” – or rather “1 questions with 4 answers.” The question is ``Why is this night different from all other nights? These are questions that are asked by the youngest child at the meal.

The questions in the Seder have to do with particulars of a Passover meal: bread/matza, bitter herbs, dipping vegetables in salt water, eating upright or eating reclining.

Now you may notice when you’ve heard those questions and their answers that the 1st and most important point of the Passover meal is to re-member the deliverance from slavery in Egypt – to tell the story in such a way that the past flows into the presence and all future generations will remember and know that God has delivered us from bondage.

You may notice, then, that that is where the Easter exsultet “This is the night” begins: This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.

Each of these “songs” about night are a commentary on Our God delivers!

Commencement speech last year

A year ago the dean of Harvard Graduate School of Education delivered a commencement speech. It was filmed and shared on YouTube where it came to be viewed by millions of people – going viral I guess it’s called.¹

Reviewing the events of our lives, he charges his listeners to cultivate asking good questions. “Resist the temptation to have good answers.”

I recall the old rabbinic story about the young man running down the main street of his village shouting, “I’ve got the answer! I’ve got the answer! Please, quick, someone tell me the question!”

He proceeds to argue – or suggest – that being a good teacher is about teaching the art of asking good questions, not so much about passing on the right answers.

These are his words: {#excerpts}

“My final suggestion is that there are five truly essential questions that you should regularly ask yourself and others. My claim is that, if you get in the habit of asking these questions, you have a very good chance of being both successful and happy, and you will be in a good position to answer “I did” to the bonus question at the end.”

The first is a question my own kids are fond of asking, and it’s one you may have heard other teenagers pose — or maybe you still pose it yourself. The question is “Wait, what?” My kids typically pose this question when I get to the point in a conversation where I’m asking them to do a chore or two. From their perspective, they hear me saying something like: “blah, blah, blah, blah, and then I’d like you to clean your room.” And at that precise moment, the question inevitably comes: “Wait, what? Clean what?”

I agree with him that this question is the heart of all questions that amount to anything. Wait! What? It brings an awareness that at any moment we are going to be surprised and our presuppositions will be exposed as barriers to one of God’s fundamental characteristics.

It turns out God loves serendipity.

The second question the dean says is essential is “I wonder” which can be followed by “why” or “if.”

The third question is: “Couldn’t we at least…?”

The fourth question is: “How can I help?”

The fifth question, bringing these 5 nicely to a close, is this: “What truly matters?”

If we have lived our life asking those questions, the dean says, we will have found the path to asking what he called The Bonus question:

“And did you get what you wanted out of life, even so?”

He says:

The “even so” part of this, to me, captures perfectly the recognition of the pain and disappointment that inevitably make up a full life, but also the hope that life, even so, offers the possibility of joy and contentment.

The “even so” points to the fundamental grace and deliverance that is the point of this night.

Why is this night special

We should ask that question with our Jewish brothers and sisters as they ask it at their Passover meals: Why is this night special?

The angels –if we can hear them – give us the answers: If we can hear them over the voices of the people we are paying attention to while the angels sing around us.

This night is special because on it we remember the time that the women entered the tomb and discovered the first inkling of our ultimate deliverance. The women looked at the empty tomb and they went, “Wait! What?” This is not at all what they expected.

This night is blessed because we remember and make present before our very eyes, the wonder and innocence of children, seeing not just a bright shining star but the promise of the approaching day.

This night is holy because it gives us permission to wonder if the impossible is not just possible but present before our very eyes.

This night is like no other because it allows us to look at our neighbor, no matter the color, no matter the financial standing, whether they are responsible or not, the fallen, the vulnerable, even the rich and the successful – it allows us to look at our neighbor and ask: How can I help?

The answers we give to the question about this night are the answer to the question: What truly matters? The answer we give might be pleasing to God. It might not be to our liking. We most certainly will have fallen short even of the expectations we place on ourselves.

But however our answers go, no matter how well we hear the angels sing, what we proclaim tonight provides all the evidence we need to end our days, saying – in response to the question, “Did you get what you wanted out of life, even so?” – Yes! The Lord is Risen! Indeed!

---

1. By James Ryan on May 26, 2016 3:50 PM
   Dean James Ryan’s prepared remarks at the 2016 HGSE Presentation of Diplomas and Certificates ↩