Easter Monday

Hallelujah, Christ is risen!

Today is still Easter - in fact, it's going to be Easter for 40 days. We are in a seaon of celebration, a festival season, and we celebrate the new life that we have in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The traditional Gospel reading for Easter Monday is Luke 24:13-35, the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Resurrected One Himself teaches them on the way out of the Scriptures. Their hearts burn at His proclamation. Everything in the Scriptures points to Christ.

Every word of proclamation is the proclamation of Christ. He is the center of the Scriptures, and the key to their understanding. But, when Moses and the Prophets have spoken about Christ, and how He will suffer and be glorified, will yet someone dare to call themselves a Christian, who has not searched what the Scriptures have to say about Christ...? (Paraphrased from the Venerable Bede)

As Christians we must search the Scriptures, we must live in the proclamation of Christ.

And yet, it was in the breaking of the bread that they knew Him. The proclamation is essential to Christianity, and so are the Sacraments. One without the other is only half of what God has in store for us. He has promised to work through His means: Word proclaimed, Baptism, the Lord's Supper. These three are how Christ is with us now, and how we experience being in Christ.

May we then seek Him where He is to be found, and rejoice in the finding.

Grant, O Lord who bestows restoration upon the world in the Paschal Feast, a continuation of Your heavenly gift to Your people, for perfect freedom and life eternal. Bless, that we might put into good effect the desires You grant us; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Spy Wednesday

Surprise, I'm not writing about April Fools' Day! It's the Wednesday of Holy Week, and there's actually a name for today.

Those reading the traditional lectionary will get Luke's account of the Passion today. Tomorrow, we celebrate the institution of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday...so what happens right before that? Judas decides to betray Jesus.

That's the name, at least in English: Judas spied an opportunity, and took it. He was out for gain, out to force Jesus into doing what he thought should be done, out for every chance he could get. An opportunitst par excellence. We're like that too, looking for every angle, every benefit, every chance we get - thanks be to God that we have One who saves us from this.

Thanks be to the One who saves us from the rightful punishment of our sins, to the One who is resurrected and in Whom we live!

A couple of traditional collects (prayers) for today:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God: that we, who for our evil deeds are continually afflicted, may mercifully be relieved by the Passion of Thine only-begotten Son; who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.

O God, who willed Thy Son to submit for our sake to the yoke of the Cross, so that Thou mightst drive from us the power of the enemy: grant us, Thy servants, to attain the grace of the resurrection. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord,  who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost: ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Tuesday of Holy Week

The historic lectionary reads Mark's account of the Last Supper, the Garden, and the Crucifixion for today. The passion narratives are read, over and over. This whole week, we hear from all of the Evangelists about the Passion. Different views of the same event, with different things pointed out.

Sometimes, we might think, "just be dead already, so we can get to the Resurrection."

The thing about that is, though, is that there's no Resurrection without the Crucifixion. There's no Easter without the Passion. There's no Easter Sunday without Good Friday - in fact, no Sunday at all, as we remember the events of Easter in a smaller form every Sunday.

We are fast approaching the Paschal Triduum - the Holy Three Days, from the Vigil of Good Friday to the Evening Prayer of Easter Sunday. The three days around which the entire Christian calendar, the entire Christian experience, turns. All of what we hold dear as Christians, all that we are in Christ, is in the tension of death and Resurrection.

Christ is risen, yes. We are not awaiting His death and Resurrection, but remembering. Remembering what He has done for us, and what that means. Remembering His promise. Remembering that we die with Him in Baptism, that we have died to our old selves, and have been made new.

This is why we read the Passion narratives over and over. To remind us that we, too, are dead, just as we remember that we too are made alive by God in Christ. We are Christ-ians, little Christs. We live in that tension, where we are both dead and made alive. Where we remain sinner and saint. Where we live in Christ.

Monday of Holy Week

A traditional reading fro the Monday of Holy Week is John 12:1-36. This includes several pericopes, but there's a really interesting one from verse 20 on. This is something we don't hear much about, so it is also striking. I will reproduce here vs 20-33:

Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast:

these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.

Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: Andrew cometh, and Philip, and they tell Jesus.

And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.

He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor.

Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.

Father, glorify thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him.

Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes.

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.

But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die.

So there's material here for pages and pages, but I want to focus on two things: one, the Greeks, and two the voice from heaven.

These Greeks are not Greek-speaking Jews, but actual Gentiles. In contrast to the Jews who are encountering Jesus after the triumphal entry, these Gentiles are not the ones Jesus has spent most of His time dealing with. The crowd that just welcomed Jesus will turn on him, this we know already. They are looking for a political Messiah, and when He disappoints, they will kill Him for it. And these Gentiles, these God-fearers who aren't even allowed to worship as the Jews, say "Sir, we would see Jesus." 

And look at this response! Jesus responds with His death. He tells them, and His disciples present, that He is here to die. For the whole world! Those Gentiles, those non-Jews! Those that the people of Jerusalem want Jesus to lead them against! Jesus is already letting them down as a political figure, and pointing to His sacrifice for the whole of creation. 

And what's the response to this? God the Father speaks from heaven, telling us that it glorifies His name that salvation is for all. It's not just for the folks we like. It's not just for the people who are like us, who have the same tastes, the same skin color, the same practices, or the same culture. It's for everyone, it's for the whole of creation - for God glorifies His Name. That's the same name from the traditional reading yesterday in Philippians 2: the name of Jesus, at which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

Every human is made with a purpose, and that purpose is bound up in God. Every life makes this same statement, and the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the right response to what He has done in us. We say, along with the world:

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus, lifted up on the cross, drawing all to Himself.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus, in the proclaimed Word.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Jesus, in us, working in our lives, and through us to others.

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday – the day we proclaim the triumph of the Lord. The day that the crowds celebrate a coming Messiah, who isn’t quite what they expect. The day that we can’t quite decide if we are celebrating a triumph, or nodding smugly, knowing that this One is come to die.

Well, it’s actually both. Jesus’ triumphal entry is a proclamation of His Lordship as Prince of Peace. He didn’t come to be a political leader, to draw Israel into war with Rome or create a new, strong nation. He didn’t stand up for His rights, or talk about being a citizen of a country with pride. As an earthly king, He failed – but as the Lord of creation, He redeems it to Himself.

As someone recently pointed out to me, all of the events of Holy Week are carefully orchestrated to make sure the crucifixion happens. Jesus isn’t an accidental victim, but an intentional one. He’s out to get killed, because it’s that death and resurrection that redeems.

But this is Palm Sunday – it isn’t time for the Passion, it isn’t time to talk about death. Not yet. Right now, we see celebration. An acknowledgement of the Lordship. Not the political Lordship, because this One comes to die – but rather the cosmic Lordship, the Lord of creation. It is for this reason that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The celebration of the triumphal entry is something we can take part in because we know it is a proclamation of who Jesus really is. He is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord, and He is the Lord of creation. It’s true, He is come to die, and it’s also true that it is the Lord of creation who comes to die.

Sing hosanna, then, to the Lord of Hosts, who gave Himself for us. The Gift is the Giver Himself. Let us proclaim His majesty!

Meditations: Invocavit

The past Sunday was the first Sunday in Lent. Not of Lent, as the Sundays don't count toward the forty days, but in Lent. It's known as Invocavit,  from the Latin antiphon, which comes from Psalm 91: Invocavit me, et ego exaudium eum.

Historically for Lutherans, Invocavit is a big deal, due to a series of sermons Luther preached in 1522, with the result of calming the Reformation into a nonviolent movement. More on that another time, though.

What I'd like to point out about this week and the readings from this Sunday is about temptation. Traditionally, we read about Jesus being tempted on Invocavit - if you follow the revised common lectionary, you are in year B, so there's only one verse about it in Mark, you kind of got the Baptism of Christ again. In any case, we remember the temptation of Jesus on this Sunday as we remember His sufferings throughout Lent. He went through what we do - and we fail at it.

As a colleague of mine has remarked, any chance we get, we want to turn stones into bread, we want to get something for nothing. Jesus doesn't live from the sweat of others, He's not interested in what He can get at someone else's expense. We sure are, though.

And in the same way, anything that gives us the least advantage, a bit of wealth or power, a better reputation, some pleasure - we are right there to worship that, every chance we get. Jesus succeeds where we fail - He that kept the Law for us became a curse for us, that we might be redeemed.

It strikes me, when I look at these temptations, how thoroughly I, we all, fall prey to the same thing, even if it looks different today. We remember in Lent why we need a Saviour, and that we have one.

Meditations: Septuagesima

This last Sunday actually began the pre-lent period (the "gesimas"). This is the three weeks before Ash Wednesday in which we prepare for the time of repentance that is Lent. Many places do away with this, after all, Lent is hard enough, right? These are rough Sundays, too - it was Septuagesima, or Circumdederunt Sunday. That's "wrapped around" or "entangled", coming from Psalm 18:5 in Latin: The ropes of the grave entangled me. Not a very nice thought, but it does serve to remind us that we need to repent, and we are in need of a Saviour!

Historically, the Gospel for the past Sunday is Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. And what a Gospel it is! The Lord of creation hasn't decided to pay us according to our works, but to dispense with what is His own as He chooses. He has chosen us, apart from what we may have done or may not have done. Perhaps we are even decent people - not perfect, but decent. There's no way to be good enough, and there's no need to be good enough. We are taken as sinners, declared righteous, and then we are united to Christ. He becomes sin for us, that we might become righteous.

In this busy mid-week, after the last vestige of Epiphany is gone with Candlemas, after a groundhog prognisticates the weather, and before our thoughts even begin to turn to Lent and Easter, let us remember the insufficiency of our "good enough", of our "do this", of our "achieve that", and the great sufficiency of His "it is done." He has claimed us as His own, away from the powers of death, sin, and the grave, though they encircled us. We are His - and He may do what He chooses with what belongs to Him. May it be so.

VDMA