What follows is a summary of a paper written for a class on Liturgy and Ethics several years ago. As we come again to the Third Sunday of Easter and as my denomination struggles with the image of Christ we present to the world, it seemed timely.
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The liturgy of the church shapes the moral life of those who participate in it. This formational aspect is not necessarily something that is included in a conscious way, but is intrinsic in the act of worshiping together day after day, week after week, year after year. The repetitive nature of the ritual action has an effect on those who participate. Worship done rightly properly orients the participants in the way of Christ – participants are brought into right relationship with Christ, worshiping and praising God, and continuing the ministry of Christ in the process. What is it in worship done rightly that brings about this change of heart? In short, it is primarily through the encounter with the body of the risen Christ that we are rightly formed into moral creatures.
As we continue through the Easter season, we know that the Easter story holds place of privilege in our beliefs as Christians. Jesus raised from the dead is not a simple resuscitation – he was not just brought back to life to live out a certain number of additional years only to die again. Nor is the resurrection simply about a ghostly presence, for how can a ghost eat or be touched? That said, the witnesses are not exactly clear on what it does mean. And if in fact this is resurrection into some new reality beyond human experience, it only makes sense that the stories we are left with don’t make sense to the modern, Enlightenment mind (or at least those influenced by such a world view) whether their experiences made sense to the original witnesses or not.
Songs for the Journey - Second Sunday of Easter
Last week's post is a bit late. With apologies to Neil Diamond and The Monkees...
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I thought love was only true in fairy tales/Meant for someone else but not for me/Love was out to get me/That's the way it seemed/Disappointment haunted all of my dreams
The disciples are gathered behind locked doors - scared, demoralized, uncertain. They thought they understood who Jesus was. He was the Messiah. The Messiah was supposed to deliver Israel from slavery. He was going to lead the revolt against the occupying powers. But three days ago, the religious leaders handed him over to the authorities and he was executed.
As if that wasn't enough, Mary Magdalene told them this crazy story earlier today about seeing Jesus in the garden. Surely she was delirious with her grief; they were especially close after all. But John and Peter had run off afterwards and seemed pretty shaken when they came back.
Not Another Easter Post
I wasn't totally sure I would write an Easter post. Usually I try to write something before the weekend, but this week saw a couple of extra Holy days thrown in for good measure. And there is more than one reason I don't pastor a church my self (chiefly not wanting to create a sermon ever single week). And really, what is there to say beyond what is already said today?
Easter is what makes all of this matter, the beginning of the last act of that whole lifedeathandresurrection thing. On Easter, the palms are justified and the alleluias return. Like the rainbow after the flood, the empty tomb shows us the truth of all that God has promised, all that Christ has taught.
Χριστός ἀνέστη!
Easter is what makes all of this matter, the beginning of the last act of that whole lifedeathandresurrection thing. On Easter, the palms are justified and the alleluias return. Like the rainbow after the flood, the empty tomb shows us the truth of all that God has promised, all that Christ has taught.
Χριστός ἀνέστη!
What more can be said?
"Good" Friday
It has always struck me as odd that we celebrate today as "Good" Friday, at least given our present understanding of the word good. If we accept an archaic understanding of good as holy, then I get it. But when is the last time you heard someone talking about Good Friday in this way? Too often we hear that Good Friday is good because Friday is the day Jesus died for our sins and therefore is the culmination of all God was working towards, the high point of God's reconciliation to us. But is that really what Friday is about? Is it our obsession with violence that makes us focus on this day?
Not that Friday isn't a part of the story. As one of my professors in seminary reminded us, we have to think about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as if it is all one word - lifedeathandresurrection. The different aspects of the Jesus story only work in conjunction with others. The death by itself does not accomplish anything. After all, governments execute extremists, nonconformists, and others that do not fit their expected "norms" all the time.
But paired with Jesus' teachings and miracles - his focus on community and love - and his resurrection, his execution takes on a different meaning.
Hated by the religious leaders because he challenged their assumptions and taught a different way of loving God, Jesus was executed by the state for disrupting the status quo and leading the city to potential violence, even though it was the potential of violence among those that opposed Jesus that was the problem. It was an execution of expedience, as most state violence is.
As I read the Passion narrative this past week, I got caught up on the fact that even though Pilate washed his hands of the whole thing, it was his soldiers that led Jesus away. It was agents of the government that beat and mocked Jesus. It was these same troops that dressed Jesus in other garments and openly mocked his beliefs. I imagine if they had had cell phones and cameras, they would have snapped pics of themselves beating him and mocking him, pics of him dressed in a loose robe with a reed styled as a scepter and a crown of thorns forced on his head.
We like to style ourselves as followers of Christ, the Prince of Peace, one who taught us to love God and to love each other above all else. We're better than those others over there. They are violent and bloodthirsty. Not like us.
And yet, I know exactly how we would treat a Middle Eastern man that challenges our assumptions about how God should be worshiped.
As we celebrate Good Friday, let us never forget that Jesus died because of our sins. He also taught us a way to live in community with one another and rose from the dead to prove God's forgiveness and undying love for us.
Songs for the Journey - Maundy Thursday
Nine years ago, I did a blog series through Lent called "Songs for the Journey." A few years earlier, my wife's seminary roommate had given her a mix-CD labeled "Happy Advent." It started this tickle in my brain - what would a Lenten mix sound like?
Then about 9 years ago while worship planning, I came across a list of themes for the different weeks of Lent. As I read through them songs started popping into my head that for me spoke to those themes and a series was born.
As I continue this new blog, I draw on the liturgical and lectionary themes each week and consider songs, movies, TV shows, and other contemporary resources to bring out the themes I encounter. I had not intended to necessarily recreate that original blog series, but sometimes my mind wanders back to revisit those themes.
You Can't Skip The Empire Strikes Back
Traditionally, the last Sunday before Easter has been known as Palm Sunday. This Sunday at the end of Lent is a time for celebrating the final entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before his death. As Jesus and his disciples enter town others spread their cloaks and palm branches along the road to welcome them.
For the disciples, things go downhill pretty quickly from here. The story leads next into the Last Supper (Maundy Thursday), Jesus' arrest and crucifixion (Good Friday), and the tomb. Yes, Easter is on the other end of that. But they didn't know that as they walked into town. They didn't know that as they shared a meal. They didn't know that as armed men took Jesus away. They didn't know that as Jesus was questioned by the authorities. They didn't know that as their Messiah/teacher/friend suffered on the cross. They didn't know.
Lazarus in carbonite?
This week as Jesus continues his travel, he receives word that his good friend, Lazarus, has fallen ill. Lazarus is the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. We get the sense that this family is important in the life of Jesus. The sisters are mentioned in both Luke and John, and the Gospel writer here states that Mary is the one who will wipe Jesus' feet with perfume shortly before his final trip to Jerusalem. The message he receives from the sisters now refers to Lazarus as one whom Jesus loves. But rather than heading immediately out, Jesus plays it off as not that serious and stays where he is for a few more days.