EASTER SERMON OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God?

Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!

Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?

Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?

Let them now receive their wages!

If any have toiled from the first hour,

let them receive their due reward;

If any have come after the third hour,

let him with gratitude join in the Feast!

And he that arrived after the sixth hour,

let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.

And if any delayed until the ninth hour,

let him not hesitate; but let him come too.

And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,

let him not be afraid by reason of her delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.

He gives rest to those who come at the eleventh hour,

as well as to those that toiled from the first.

To this one God gives, and upon another God bestows.

God accepts the works as God greets the endeavor.

The deed God honors and the intention God commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!

First and last alike receive your reward;

rich and poor, rejoice together!

Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,

rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!

Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.

Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.

Enjoy all the riches of God’s goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,

for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn that se has fallen again and again;

for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.

Christ has destroyed it by enduring it.

Christ destroyed Hades when He descended into it.

Christ put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he said,

"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.

It was in an uproar because it is mocked.

It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.

It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.

It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.

It took earth, and encountered Heaven.

It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting?

O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!

Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!

Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;

for Christ having risen from the dead,

is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

EASTER

Another Lent, Holy Week, and Easter have come to an end, although technically Easter is celebrated for 50 days. It's always a struggle to get everything done in time. I find it difficult to observe the season, especially Holy Week and Easter Day. It's not just that there is a lot to do, but you're always preparing things out of sync with the day. Easter services are planned early in Lent and the Easter Day sermons written during Holy Week. So while everyone is supposed to be contemplating the death of Jesus, my mind has already got to be working on the meaning of the Lord's resurrection. I am never quite in the moment.

The only exception is the early morning Easter Vigil that starts at 7 a.m. and runs for almost 2 hours. Most people who attend the Vigil know what to expect, but one year some people complained that it was "excessive." They never came to another Vigil. The Vigil is the ancient Easter celebration in which people stayed up all night preparing for Easter. It was the occasion also for Baptisms. The heart of the service are the series of lessons including Creation, The Flood, Exodus, Valley of Dry Bones, and the Burning Fiery Furnace. We do a vigil fairly unlike any other. Instead of psalms and canticles between the lessons, we sing hymns and songs. Some are very traditional–"Morning has Broken" after the Creation, "Eternal Father" after the flood. The spiritual "When Israel was in Egypt's Land" follows the Exodus. The strangest one is "Dry Bones" after the "Valley of the Dry Bones" (The head bone's connected to the neck bone.) And we sing "Trees of the Field" while we dance (well, walk) around the church. I wrote a new version of the "Song of the Three Young Men" for the last song. It uses the early American tune, "Holy Manna." I'll try to post a copy of it at the end of this blog. Click it to make it larger. I wrote a musical setting, but don't have a way to post a midi-file for it.

I've long wanted to have pictures projected on a screen during the Creation reading, but we don't have the equipment to do this, and I am not sure I have the technical skills to do it. Besides, I have a certain unease with technology in church. I really have to get beyond this, but some years ago I attended a worship service where the minister read the lessons (rather pompously) from some sort of hand-held electronic device. I loathed it. Then I read the following.

Experience the Passion of Christ — in 140-character bursts.

In a marriage of Christian tradition and digital technology, Wall Street's Trinity Church is using the micro-blogging service Twitter to perform the story of Jesus Christ. The main characters will tweet the Passion play for three hours beginning at noon on Good Friday. The feed also can be delivered to mobile devices or e-mail addresses.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090410/ap_on_hi_te/rel_twitter_passion_play

I don't know. I suppose I would have been against the use of printed Bibles instead of handwritten ones.

Well, whatever means you get the Word, may the Good News of Christ Risen give you joy and peace. May the Lord bless you on your journey and welcome you on your arrival.

Wayne












































3724

WHAT LANGUAGE SHALL I BORROW TO THANK THEE DEAREST FRIEND?

Dear Friends,

As Christians are about to begin the most solemn time of the year, Holy Week, I thought I would post something appropriate. My apology to church members since this article appears in the April Newsletter, although without the pictures. My regular blog will resume Saturday, April 14.

O darkest woe!
Ye tears forth flow!
Has earth so sad a wonder?
God the Father's only Son
Now lies buried yonder.

For years as an adolescent and young adult I attended the three hour Good Friday Service run by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at the Palmer House hotel in downtown Chicago. It would be hard for me to underestimate the impact that ritual had in me. The texts were the seven last words of Christ from the Cross. I remember none of the sermons, but I do remember the hymns, the wonderfully moving passion hymns. Hymn after hymn was sung focusing our attention of the sacrifice of our Lord as words alone never could.

Who was the guilty?
Who brought this upon thee?
Alas my treason,
Jesus hath undone thee.
‘Twas I Lord Jesus,
I it was denied thee.
I crucified thee.

I suppose people would declare these are just too gloomy. At a time when even the church is filled with happy talk, there is an abhorrence on anything that pricks the conscience or dampens the spirit. But the crucifixion was terrible, bloody, and awful. All of Jesus' teachings are pointless if we don't see that he was headed to the cross. For my sake he died. For my sake.

In perfect love he dies;
For me he dies, for me!
O all-atoning Sacrifice,
I cling by faith to thee.

Attendance at Good Friday Services are always rather poor nowadays, a tiny fraction of those who will attend the Easter Services a few days later. But who can understand the glories of the resurrection who has not first understood the grief of the crucifixion. As Luther insisted, we must have a theology of the Cross and not a theology of glory.



What language shall I borrow
To thank thee, dearest friend,
For this thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever,
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to thee.

I heard the Baptist minister Tony Campolo talking about a sort of preaching contest he got into with an elderly African-American preacher. Campolo gave it his best, and the old preacher said, "Pretty good, young man, but I'm going to beat you with only seven words." And so the preacher did. The word's? "Today is Saturday, but tomorrow is Sunday."



Awake my heart, with gladness,
See what today is done;
Now after gloom and sadness,
Comes forth the glorious sun.
My Savior there was laid
Where our bed must be made
When, as on wings in flight,
We soar to realms of light.

Sunday will come. The terrors of Friday and the grief of Saturdayn gone, and we are lifted to new realms of joy.

Tis the spring of souls today:
Christ has burst his prison,
And from three days sleep in death
As a sun has risen.
All the winter of our sins.
Long and dark, is flying,
From the light to whom we give
Laud and praise undying.

It's not just all the people, it's not just the lilies, it's not even the hymns with all their joy. It is the truth that sets us free: Christ who was dead is alive. We who were dead are alive. All who fasted on the bitter tears of sin, have been welcomed to the great heavenly banquet.



At the lambs high feast we sing.
Praise to our victorious king.
Who has washed us in the tide
Flowing from his wounded side.
Praise we Christ whose love divine
Gives his sacred blood for wine;
Gives his body for the feast,
Christ the victim Christ the priest. Alleluia.

Christ has died!
Christ has risen!
Christ will come again!

Amen and amen.

May the Lord bless you on your way and greet you on your arival.

Wayne