Words of Welcome

Luke 7:11-17 John the Baptist was sitting in jail waiting to be executed. As he sat there in that cell, he wondered if he had fulfilled his calling. Had he prepared the way for the one would bring God’s salvation to the world? Was this Jesus, whom he baptized, the one they were waiting for? (Lk 3:1-6). With all of these questions running through his mind, he decided to send a few disciples to check things out. These disciples asked Jesus: “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for someone else?” ( Lk 7:18-19 CEB). Jesus told them to tell John how he healed people of their diseases, gave sight to the blind, raised the dead, and brought good news to the poor. Look around you: What do you see? What do you hear? Go back to John and report what you’ve seen and heard.  This question comes after the Centurion’s slave was healed, from a distance, on the basis of the Centurion’s faith ( Lk 7:1-10 ). It comes after Jesus travels from Capernaum to the village of Nai...

John 20:19-31 Last Sunday the sanctuary was filled with color and the music was stirring. We declared: “Christ the Lord is Risen Today. ” And who can forget the powerful strains of the “Hallelujah Chorus” on the organ as the service concluded. Most of the tulips are gone, but there are still signs of Easter’s glory in the sanctuary. That’s good news, because the season of Easter has just gotten started. There are still Easter hymns like “Thine Is the Glory” to sing, and encounters with the risen Christ yet to be explored. In the Gospel of John, Easter morning begins with Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen Christ. This makes her the first witness to the resurrection. After her encounter with Jesus, she went and shared the good news with the rest of the community. Despite Mary’s good news, fear still reigned among the disciples as evening rolled around. They locked themselves in a room somewhere in Jerusalem out of fear of the religious authorities. They’ve heard goo...

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 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...

Luke 24:1-12 Are you looking for the Lord?  Then, “why do you look for the living among the dead?”  Does the story of Jesus end with Good Friday, or is there another chapter to the story? On that first Easter morning, five women went to the Tomb expecting to find a body.  They brought ointments and spices to finish the burial process, which was interrupted by the coming of the Sabbath.  It would seem that for the disciples hope died with Jesus.  The women weren’t looking for the living among the dead.  They were looking for their now dead teacher.  Hope had given way to despair.  All that remained to do was finish the burial process.   Resurrection wasn’t on their mind when they arrived at the Empty Tomb. The message delivered by the two men who greeted them at the Tomb jogged their memory, but I don’t think they were prepared to truly understand what had occurred.  They may have remembered the words of Jesus, but I ...