Anyway, below is my article in the April 2014 Lutheran Church of the Savior Newsletter, which got more than a little sermon-y, so I hope that will tide you over until the next time I'm able to record sermon audio. It will not be this upcoming Sunday March 30th, as guest preacher Asher O'Callaghan will be sharing God's Word with us on that morning. Look for more sermon audio in April, and compare it to the article below.
April 2014 Newsletter
Article
Early hasten to the tomb
where they laid his breathless clay;
all is solitude and gloom.
Who has taken him away?
Christ is ris’n! He meets our eyes.
Savior, teach us so to rise.
- James Montgomery, “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” ELW
347
One of the greatest challenges in
following Jesus is that as we hear these stories year after year, the holy,
miraculous, life-changing power of the stories can begin to feel comfortably mundane.
“Yeah, I know that story,” we say
as the women see that the stone was rolled away, as we hear Jesus’ last words
on the cross. And we do, we do know these stories, many by heart after a
lifetime of faithfulness. So how after all this time can we tap into the
original the-world-is-turning-upside-down, God’s-love-for-us-is-more-powerful-than-we-had-ever-imagined
reality of Jesus’ path through death to resurrection?
For the past few years, our effort
to do this has begun with the Triduum, the ancient celebration of the Three
Days. On Maundy (from the Latin mandatum,
“commandment”) Thursday we remember Jesus’ final meal with his disciples, when
he washed their feet and gave them the new commandment to love one another, a
commandment every bit as fresh and shocking now as it was then. We gather on
Good Friday to walk the Stations of the Cross, reflecting in art and music on
Jesus’ passion, praying that this cup might pass us by but that God’s will be
done.
At the Easter Vigil we gather
around the new fire, burning away the dust that has clouded us these forty
days. We walk the long road of God’s people through the Hebrew Scriptures, reminding
us of who God has always been and who God will always be. At the font this year
we will welcome a new member into Christ’s eternal family in the ancient ritual
of baptism that makes us new every day of our lives. We will proclaim for the
first time the Good News of Christ’s resurrection, and celebrate with the holy
meal in which Christ becomes a part of our very selves.
Sometimes in our Eucharistic
prayer, we proclaim the mystery of faith, “Christ has died. Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.” When you speak these words, let them sink in. What can it mean for us that God’s own divine self
died a human death, and rose in his fully human body to eternal life?
Surely we know the power of death
in our lives. Each of us knows the honest pain of profound loss, the confusion,
the anger, the questioning, the empty place in my heart so recently filled by a
loved one. Make no mistake: Christianity does not tell us that death is not
powerful. Oh no. Our faith tells us that even though death’s power is all too
real, deep, profound, and life-shattering, its power is not ultimate.
Rather than minimizing the pain of
death, our faith in Jesus the risen Christ shows us that God’s love for us is
the most powerful force that ever was or ever could be. Resurrection is
powerful because death is real. The love we know God has for us in Jesus Christ
can move mountains, can roll away the stone, can free us from fear and guilt
and sin to live new lives of love and care for those around us. God’s love shown
in the resurrection of Jesus really is strong enough to turn our lives around,
to move us from lives of comfort to lives of holy passion.
So come to worship during all of
Holy Week. Be surprised by the power of God’s love in your life. Instead of
clinging to what you’ve known, allow God to turn your life toward love once
more. Rise to new life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanks,
Pastor Andrew
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