Sunday, April 16, 2017, Easter (full size gallery)
Easter Sunday, the culmination of Holy Week!
Easter celebrates the reality of Jesus’ resurrection in all its many aspects. Hope, Transformation, Evangelism and a new life.
We started out at the Sunrise Service at the Long’s House at 6:30am. It was a half an hour later than last year. The weather was both warmer and clearer with a gentle warm breeze in contrast to the overcast 40 degree weather of a year ago.
St. Peter’s had some key roles. Bill Wick, president of the Ruritans opened the service, Helmut led the hymns, Alex led the creed and Nancy introduced the soloist. Shiloh brought their band as they have in former years.
The reception had as many egg dishes as you can imagine, donuts, and beverages. A wonderful time
After the service, bulletins had to be printed and we had some "Holy Folders" – Edgar and Johnny. That was a big help!
Easter is a time of new growth. Walking through Port Royal there were plenty of examples – cherry trees, forsythia, dogwood, and new leaves on trees. Bill Wick’s Viburnum was amazing for its growth
Easter is a time of celebration and that included music. The choir had worked hard on John Rutter’s "Glory to God" with trumpeter Andy Cortez playing the descant. Andy also had accompaniments written for the opening hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and the closing "The Day of Resurrection. The bulletin is here. The readings for year A are here.
Celebration was apparent in the number of Easter bonnets that were worn.
We had 70 in attendance, an overflow helped by several families. Cookie outdid herself on the flowers – dogwood and Easter lilies – on the altar as well as arrangements for the front stoop and near the street.
The service opened with the lighting of the Paschal fire outside and procession inside. We will have the paschal candle until Pentecost. Marilyn played meditative music while Edgar lit the fire.
Matthew’s Gospel for this Easter follows Marks example in Holy Week but there are some major differences – some dramatic events (the earthquake, the curtain of the temple) as well as a different in emphasis – particularly in the role of women
On Friday, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (“the other Mary”) have seen Jesus’ body laid in the tomb, the stone door sealed, and a guard mounted. Now, soon after dawn on Sunday morning (“the first day of the week”) they return to “see” and probably to mourn.
Matthew highlights important milestones with displays of cosmic power, God’s power: here, and when Jesus died, an “earthquake”
David Lose wrote this week. "First, it struck me that one of Matthew’s additions is that the women, when confronted by the divine messenger and the news that Christ has been raised, do not just flee the tomb in fear and silence, as in Mark (1:8), but “left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy” (28:8). Isn’t that a wonderful reminder that fear and joy are not opposites but, as with doubt and faith, can be experienced at the same time and, indeed, might be inseparable? Fear, as we have noted before, seems quite frequently “in the air” these days and for all kinds of reasons. Jesus’ resurrection does not spell an end to fear for those who follow him, but rather makes it possible to experience joy amid what might otherwise be crippling fear.
"Resurrection, that is, doesn’t simply answer or end problems, but rather creates something new, and Christian faith does not remove us from the hardships, limitations, and challenges of this life, but creates for us possibilities that simply would not be available had God not intervened, first in the raising of Jesus and again by entering into our own lives. "Second, it struck me that after the note of comfort – “do not be afraid” – there is invitation, even command – “come and see… go and tell.” Comfort we associate with the Gospel, but command? Note, however, that this command is not a burden to be accomplished but a gift to be opened and delighted in. The resurrection of Christ creates the possibility to do spontaneously and joyfully what otherwise would be impossible.
"Might we therefore also recognize, Dear Partner, that the Christian answer to fear is not simply comfort but also invitation to a life of courage? That participation and purpose are some of the gifts of the resurrection? That our people are not simply longing to hear “it will be okay,” but “here is the life and work God is giving you”? Perhaps in this spirit, we can not only bless people at the end of the service, but also send them forth to meet the challenges before them with confidence and to address the problems they will encounter with courage and joy, knowing that the God who raised Jesus from the dead is not done yet. Not done with the world God loves so much, and not done with them, the children of God, who God also loves so much."
The sermon was based on Matthew’s Gospel and delved into the disappointments of that first Easter, April 5, AD 33 but then the hope of the resurrection.
“And the disciples must have also been deeply disappointed in themselves. After all, the disciples were total losers! They hadn’t even been able to support Jesus, who had been there for them through all sorts of storms, in their times of greatest need. “One of them had betrayed him. Three of them couldn’t stay awake with him as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter denied him, not once, but three times. All of them had fled. In the gospel according to Matthew, only the women had been at the scene of the crucifixion, looking on from a distance.
“And us—we all have personal disappointments. The people we love suffer and die. Our own bodies betray us. Even when we try to hide the fact that we fail at things, we all do fail, come up short, and disappoint God and ourselves sooner or later.
Then Mary encounters Jesus on the way home. “Go tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. “Galilee is where they all came from, where they had first experienced the nearness of the kingdom of God. They had traveled to Jerusalem with Jesus, had seen death do its worst, and believed that their hopes and dreams had been destroyed for good.
“But now Jesus is alive. Death turns out to be only a dream. When we go back home today, when we walk through our doors, back to where we came from, back to all that is familiar, back to the things that distress us, back to the things that disappoint us, Jesus will be there waiting for us.
"Jesus has already beat us home! "Right here, right now, we can lay down the fear of failure, the fear of death dealing disappointments, the fear of pain, suffering, the fear of what is ahead—we can leave all that behind, because along with the angels, Jesus tells us not to fear, because he is going ahead of us to make our way straight. We might even meet him along the way!"
Brad Volland, our organist, celebrated his birthday today. We sang happy birthday to him.
After the service, the "Easter Bunny" (Catherine) provided easter eggs for the children.