Words of Welcome

  John 20:1-18 “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb” (Jn. 20:1). This morning the Gospel of John invites us to join Mary Magdalene at the tomb where, a day before Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid Jesus’ body. What might Mary have expected to find when she arrived at the tomb? Do you think she expected that the stone would have been removed and the body missing? The same would have been true for Peter and the Beloved Disciple after they ran to the tomb to check out Mary’s report.  Nevertheless, that is what John reports. Each of the four gospels tells the Easter story a bit differently. According to John’s account, for some untold reason, Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ followers, decided to visit the tomb that first Easter morning. Maybe she went there to pay her respects to her beloved teacher. John doesn’t say why she went to the tomb, but when she discovere...

  Isaiah 65:17-25, Luke 24:1-12 “Christ is risen! Shout Hosanna! Celebrate this day of days.” [Brian Wren, Glory to God, 248 ].  Death had its say on Friday, but death’s victory was short-lived. We gather this morning to celebrate the good news that life has triumphed over death. We shout “Christ is risen!” because death has lost its sting.    The word we heard from Isaiah 65 was spoken to exiles returning from Babylon. The prophet speaks to their grief at the devastation they found in Jerusalem by telling them that God “is about to create new heavens and a new earth.” So forget about the past and embrace the future. Yes, “be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.” This is a good word, especially the promise that no one will be hurt or destroyed on God’s holy mountain (Is. 65:25). We hear this word from Isaiah, this Easter morning, knowing that there is war in Ukraine that is destroying lives and communities. There is the continued threat of COVID, whi...

  1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 The commercials promise eternal youth. Just buy this product, apply it to your face or other body parts, and you can take years off your appearance. Or maybe it’s a pill. Either way, you can turn back the clock. The truth is, as we’ve already discovered, death is inevitable. Yet, there is the promise of something more.  When it comes to the afterlife, there are quite a few options, even for Christians. While reincarnation has become quite popular, it’s not one of the options that Christian tradition has embraced. So, if we leave that option off the table, what are the options?  There are those who look forward to leaving behind their bodies so they can enjoy life as a disembodied immortal soul. Of course, there are still others, even within the Christian community, who believe that when we die, that’s it. Death is the end of the road. The majority of us, however, live somewhere between the two extremes of disembodied soul and death be...

  1 Corinthians 15:1-11 When did you first hear about Jesus? Who shared the message of Jesus with you? Was it a parent? A Sunday school teacher? A pastor? A friend? Do you remember what you heard? What was the message you first heard?   Depending on how old we were when we first hear about Jesus, the message could have been fairly simple. It might have been as simple as “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” While this children’s song is a good start, it’s only the beginning of a lifelong process of growing in spiritual maturity.  I don’t remember when I first heard about Jesus, but I’m guessing I was fairly young. Since I grew up in the Episcopal Church, I was accustomed to regularly reciting either the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed . Even if I didn’t fully understand the words, I heard the message. While the first creed is relatively simple, the second is a bit more detailed. Those two ancient creeds gave birth to many other statement...

  Mark 16:1-8; Isaiah 25:6-9 On the morning of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome made their way to Jesus’ tomb. They brought spices with them to complete the burial process that was interrupted because the Sabbath arrived before they could finish their work. As they walked to the tomb, they remembered the stone that covered the entrance. While they had the spices, who as going to reopen the tomb? That question was quickly answered when they arrived at the tomb. It was already open and where they expected to find the body sat a young man dressed in a white robe. He spoke gently to the women who surely were in shock, telling them: “Don’t be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.” Then he instructed them to “tell [Jesus’] disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” When they heard all of this, Mark tells us that the women fled in “t...

1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Today’s hymns, scripture reading, and the sermon title might suggest that Easter came really early this year. Don’t worry.  You didn’t sleep through Lent. While the service has the feel of Easter, it is good to remember that the resurrection is itself an epiphany. It’s a manifestation of God’s presence in the world. Besides, as the song puts it: “Ev'ry morning is Easter morning from now on!  Ev'ry day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone!"  In the spirit of Easter, we have already sung: “Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son, endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won.” Death did its best to keep Jesus in the Tomb, but by raising Jesus from the dead, God put Death on notice. God declared that life, not death, will emerge victorious, and we can join in serving the risen savior who is in the world today. We can “see his hand of mercy” and “hear his voice of cheer” (“He Lives,” Chalice Hymnal , 226). Paul’s fou...

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 You may remember the Roots miniseries from the 1970s that told the story of Alex Haley’s ancestors, beginning with Kunta Kinte, who was ripped away from his home in Africa and sold into slavery. One of the key elements of the series is the family story that is passed on from generation to generation. In telling his own family story, as it moved through slavery, emancipation, and Jim Crow, he invited others to remember and retell their own family stories. While watching that mini-series as a white college student, I can tell you that it was not a comfortable experience. It was, however, a powerful one. This increased interest in genealogy and family history has only increased in recent years, with the dawn of DNA testing. Whether its “23 and Me” or “Ancestry,” we can now discover our genetic roots. People are exploring their roots as a way of discovering a sense of identity. People want to know where they come from.  Although I haven’t taken t...

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 What makes Easter Sunday memorable? I invite you to take a moment to picture in your mind something that stands out about Easter. Maybe it was something recent or something you remember from childhood . . .   What came to my mind was picking up a pansy from the parish hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church after the Easter service. I don’t know why I remember those trays of pansies laid out on the table for the children to take home, but I do. I don’t even remember what I did with it when I got it home. Still, I remember those colorful trays beckoning me. Your memory might be similar or very different, but we all have memories of Easter past.  One of those memories might involve singing “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.” For many of us, Easter is not Easter without singing this very old Charles Wesley hymn, which boldly proclaims:  Lives again our Glorious King, Alleluia!  Where, O death is now your sting? Alleluia! Eas...

Mark 16:1-8 Easter has finally arrived in all its glory, and we’ve come here this morning to lift our voices to God in praise.  We come to celebrate the good news that the tomb is empty and that Jesus is risen from the dead.  Death has lost its sting.  Upon hearing this good news we get to sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” and “Crown him with Many Crowns.”  We’ve heard the trumpet sound and we’ve shouted in response: “Alleluia! Christ is Risen!” This is indeed good news!  Or as Paul tells the Corinthians, this is a message of first importance to be passed on from one generation to the next (1 Cor. 15).   And so, in the words of an ancient hymn penned by St. John of Damascus: Now let the heavens be joyful! Let the earth its song begin!   The world resound in triumph, and all that is therein; let all things seen and unseen, their notes of gladness blend; for Christ the Lord has risen, our joy that has no end. ( Chalice...