EASTER SUNDAY
22 March 2008
THEME AND SUGGESTED SERMON TITLE: MYSTERY AND
MERCY: RESURRECTION
LECTIONARY TEXTS
Psalm 118; John 20: 1-18
Psalm 118
1O give thanks to God, who is good, whose steadfast love endures
forever!
2Let Israel say, “YAHWEH’s steadfast love endures
forever.”
3Let the house of Aaron say, “YAHWEH’s steadfast love
endures forever.”
4Let those who fear the LORD say, “YAHWEH’s steadfast love
endures forever.”
5Out of my distress I called on the LORD, who answered me and set me in
a broad place.
6With the God of power and might on my side I do not fear. What can
mortals do to me?
7God is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate
me.
8It is better to take refuge in God than to put confidence in
mortals.
9It is better to take refuge in God than to put confidence in
princes.
10All nations surrounded me; in the names of the Holy One I cut them
off!
11They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of YAHWEH
I cut them off!
12They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in
the name of YAHWEH I cut them off! 13I was pushed hard, so that I
was falling, but God helped me. 14The One who is my strength and my
might has become my salvation. 15There are glad songs of victory in the
tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does
valiantly; 16the right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of
the LORD does valiantly.” 17I shall not die, but I shall live, and
recount the deeds of the Sovereign. 18The LORD has punished me severely,
but did not give me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through
them and give thanks to the LORD. 20This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it. 21I thank you that you have
answered me and have become my salvation. 22The stone that the
builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23This is
God’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24This is the day
that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25Save
us, we beseech you, O God! O God, we beseech you, give us success!
26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you
from the house of the LORD.
27The LORD is God, and has given us light. Bind the festal procession
with branches, up to the horns of the altar. 28You are my God, and
I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
29O give thanks to the LORD, who is good, and whose steadfast love
endures forever.
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. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple,
the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken Jesus
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.
4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen
wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came,
following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings laying
there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with
the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other
disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and
believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that Jesus
must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their
homes.
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over
to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where
the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the
feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She
said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know
where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned
around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was
Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? For
whom are you looking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said
to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have
laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her,
“Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
“Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her,
“Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended. But go to
my friends and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father/Mother
and your Father/Mother, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary
Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the
Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.
A CALL TO WORSHIP
ONE
Who is this that has been raised from the dead?
ALL
Jesus Christ is risen, Alleluia and amen.
ONE
Who is this that breaks the power of sin?
ALL
Jesus Christ is risen, alleluia and amen.
ONE
Who is this that brings life to the World?
ALL
Jesus Christ is risen, alleluia and amen.
ONE
God of mystery and mercy
Today we have new life in you
Because you have broken the power of sin and death.
ALL
Our hearts rejoice once again
Because at your name, O Christ
Every knee will bow
And every tongue confess
That you are the risen Lord.
Jesus Christ is risen!
Alleluia and amen!
A CONTEMPORARY LESSON
Easter Sestina. (Poem) by Grace Simpson
in The Christian Century 11 April 2001
Billy Graham's shouting Hallelujah!
on the radio. My sister turns,
groaning, fragile in her tousled sleep.
It's early Easter morning and my bones
resist the chill, though Mama's hot cross
buns leaven the house with yeast. "They've risen,
signifying that the Lord has risen,"
she declares, and Dad says, "Hallelujah!"
I don't share their sunny mood. I'm cross
to be disturbed at dawn, my returns
being so few, so strained. I make no bones
about my touchiness and long to sleep
the clock around. I splash away the sleep
and see my little sister has arisen,
her rumpled gown so skimpy all her bones
stick out. I sing a silent hallelujah
to her elbows, shoulders, knees. She turns
and says, "Good morning!" I'm no longer cross.
We feast on breakfast. Mama smiles across
the kitchen. Dad says, "You look half asleep,"
a friendly phrase. They're clearly taking turns
appeasing me. I say, "The sun has risen;
so have both your daughters--hallelujah."
My irony escapes her as she bones
our Easter ham. I am obsessed with bones--
dem bones, dry bones, connected to the cross.
The radio's a whirlwind: Hallelujah!
chants the choir, the notes of Handel's sleep-
defying music rising as they've risen
yearly for my skeptical returns.
My own bones jitter. The planet turns:
Ezekiel's wheel. His Valley of the Bones
is my address. I half-expect the risen
skeletons of Israel to cross
the sky again, a sign to all who sleep.
The last electrifying Hallelujah!
soars, and Christ returns to mount the cross,
die, shake his bones from dusty sleep,
ascend. He has risen--hallelujah!
MUSIC
Choir:
We Will Rise Again, David Haas
2 part and congregation.
GIA G-3454.
I Will Sing with the Spirit, John Rutter
Two-part, Pepper 1922681
A CONFESSION
Breath of Life, Liberator of the imprisoned, Healer and Hope of the
World, even in this day of victorious celebration, we confess that we
too often live entombed. We find it difficult even to imagine what
freedom or fullness of life would be like.
Open the tombs in which we shroud ourselves; burst open the shroud
with which others have wrapped us; breathe into us that resurrection
breath.
Christ is risen; so may we be, too. Amen.
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