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.