Morning Service for Sunday 26th April

INTRODUCTION

What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.Psalm 116: 12-14

HYMN: Singing the Faith 311

The day of resurrection,
earth, tell it out abroad!
The Passover of gladness,

The Passover of God!
From death to life eternal,
from earth unto the sky,

our Christ has brought us over
with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil,
that we may see aright
the Lord in rays eternal
of resurrection light;
and, listening to his accents,
may hear, so calm and plain,
his own ‘All hail’ and, hearing,
may rise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful,
let earth her song begin,
the round world keep high triumph,
and all that is therein;
let all things seen and unseen
their notes of gladness blend,
for Christ the Lord is risen,
our joy that has no end.St John of Damascus (c. 675-750)
translated by John Mason Neale (1811-1866)

https://youtu.be/MgIx_0jhW1Y

PRAYERS

Adoration

Holy God,
to you alone belong glory, honour and praise.
We join with each other and the hosts of heaven as we worship.
You alone are worthy of adoration from every mouth,
and every tongue shall sing your praise.
You create the earth by your power;
you save the human race in your mercy,
and renew it through your grace.

And we praise you
because you raised Christ to life,
triumphant over death,
and exalted him in glory.
By his victory over death,
the reign of sin is ended,
a new age has dawned,
a broken world is restored
and we are made whole once more.

To you, loving God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be all glory, honour and praise
now and for ever.  Amen.

Confession

Let us confess our sins to God.

For our foolishness
and our thoughtless use of the gifts of your creation,
Lord, have mercy.

For our neglect of you,
and our failure to care for others,
Christ have mercy.

For our selfishness in prayer
and carelessness in worship,
Lord have mercy.

Here is good news for all who put their trust in Christ.
Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Amen.  Thanks be to God.

Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter

God of life and love,
your Son made himself know to his disciples
in the breaking of the bread.
Open our eyes that we may see him
in his redeeming work;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.  Amen.

READING

Luke 24: 13-35

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognising him.  And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”

They stood still, looking sad.  Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him. “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place in these days?”

He asked them, “What things?”

“The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in word and deed before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.  But we had hoped he would be the one to redeem Israel.  Moreover, some women of our group astounded us.  They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.  Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”

Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.  But they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.”

So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at table with them, he took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him; and he vanished from their sight.  They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, whilst he was opening the scriptures to us?”

That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.  They were saying, “The Lord has risen, and he has appeared to Simon!”  The they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.  

HYMN: Jesus is Lord!  Creation’s voice proclaims it,

https://youtu.be/csjkP4X0Veo

REFLECTION

Over the last two Sundays I’ve reflected about how our current circumstances match those of the first disciples after Jesus crucifixion, unable to meet together but shut in at home.

Many of us are allowed to go out for one form of exercise a day, which I am assured isn’t compulsory.  Some are calling this their ‘Boris Walk’ because for the vast majority walking is their exercise of choice.

The two companions on the road to Emmaus were walking, though not from choice but simply to get back to their home village, about 7 miles from Jerusalem.  One of them is Cleopas, a man’s name and though his travelling companion is unidentified I personally think it may have been his wife since they shared a home and the companion is unnamed. 

As they walked along they were talking about Jesus and his death and the story that he’d risen from the dead; something its clear they didn’t really believe.

Then Jesus joined them but, as the passage tells us, “their eyes were kept from recognising him.”  Other translations have: “they were kept from recognising him” or “something kept them from recognising him.”

I have often puzzled over those words.  What was it kept the two travellers from recognising Jesus?  Why didn’t they know him straight away?

Some scholars have suggested that perhaps God prevented them from recognising Jesus because it wasn’t the right time.  You might like that suggestion, but it just doesn’t feel right to me.  Why would God prevent anybody from recognising the risen Jesus?  He is a God of truth!

I think it was the travellers’ own lack of faith prevented them from recognising Jesus.  They had either witnessed the crucifixion or been told that Jesus had been crucified.  Jesus was, as far as they were concerned, dead!  They may have thought that the man walking with them looked a lot like Jesus, but they had no reason, as far as they could see, to suppose that he was Jesus.

Jesus had repeatedly told his followers that he would be crucified.  He had also told them repeatedly that three days later he would rise from the dead.  Cleopas and his companion obviously had no faith in Jesus’ words.  This is clear from what Cleopas said, “We had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free.”

Had hoped!  Past tense!  In their understanding their hope was gone.  They didn’t have the faith that Jesus would be raised from the dead, just as he said he would.

So, how did Jesus convince them he was alive?  Did he say, “Hey, look!  It’s me, Jesus!  I’m alive!”  No, he didn’t; Jesus pointed them towards the scriptures.  Luke tells us that “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the things about himself in all the scriptures.”  Cleopas and his companion had a Bible study with Jesus!  The best Bible study there has ever been.

Jesus took scripture seriously and saw it as a means to convince people of the truth about himself.  He recognised the authority of the scriptures.  We are told that when two listened to Jesus explaining the scriptures it was like a fire burning inside them.

The scriptures the author of Luke was referring to were the books of the Old Testament.  We have those scriptures too; but we also have the books of the New Testament.  Do we treat the scriptures as seriously as Jesus did?  Do we recognise the God inspired nature of our Christian Scripture that makes it unique, or do we just see it as the work of men?  Do we look through the scriptures and try to understand them; praying that God will give us understanding through the power of the Holy Spirit?

Still, they didn’t quite get it.

When they arrived at the village of Emmaus the travellers invited Jesus to stay with them for the night.  Jesus sat down to supper with Cleopas and his companion and broke the bread.  As he did this, Cleopas and his companion suddenly realised who Jesus was, and as they realised, he vanished from their sight.  On the brink of understanding, it is the breaking of bread by Jesus that brings the final certainty of faith; they know that Jesus is their travelling companion and that he has indeed been raised from the dead, just as they had been told.

Commenting on this, Biblical commentator William Barclay wrote, “This always sounds a little as if it meant the sacrament, but it doesn’t.  It was at an ordinary meal, in an ordinary house, when an ordinary loaf was being divided, that these men recognised Jesus.”

This is important, especially in the present circumstances, because at the moment we cannot share together in Holy Communion as sisters and brothers in Christ.  Both the Church of England and the Methodist Church have made it clear that online Holy Communion, where we each have a bit of bread and wine at home, cannot take place.

Many people wish it was otherwise but, as Rev Dr Jonathan Hustler, the Secretary of the Methodist Conference said, “We are conscious at this time that many people are not only isolated at home but are also excluded from accessing services online.  Many of our sisters and brothers in Christ are deprived of the opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, so we stand with them at this difficult time.  Many Christians around the world have no opportunity to worship or practice their faith freely and again we are mindful of their struggle while we navigate our own ways through this crisis.  A recognition of what we are missing is itself a reminder of the privilege of being members of Christ’s body.”

The fact that it wasn’t Holy Communion Jesus shared with Cleopas and his companion is a comfort to us at this present time.  It reminds us that Jesus isn’t just present with us in the Lord’s Supper, he is at the table with us every time we sit down to eat.  Jesus isn’t just the host at his supper table in church, he is the guest at every meal in every home where he is welcome.

  

May we meet and know the risen Lord Jesus again and again throughout our lives; and may we meet him in our homes today as we share in a meal with him as the guest at our table.

PRAYERS

Loving God, who raised Jesus from the grave to glorious resurrection life we pray to you now, in his name, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We pray for those who are feeling lonely because they are shut in at home and for our sisters and brothers who are missing gathering together in our church buildings to worship you and share in Holy Communion.

We pray for those who are caring for victims of the coronavirus; for doctors a nurses and carers and for all others bringing aid to those who are sick.

We pray for those who are suffering from the coronavirus, especially for those who ae seriously ill and those in intensive care.  We pray too for those suffering in any other way in body, mind or spirit.

We give you thanks for the lives of those who have passed into glory and offer our prayers for those who grieve them.

We bring all our prayers to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who taught us when we pray to say the Lord’s Prayer….

HYMN: Singing the Faith 443

Come, let us sing of a wonderful love,

tender and true;

out of the heart of the Father above,
streaming to me and to you:
wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above.

Jesus, the Saviour, this gospel to tell,
joyfully came;
came with the helpless and hopeless to dwell,
sharing their sorrow and shame;
seeking the lost,
saving, redeeming at measureless cost.

Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
home, weary wanderer, home!

Wonderful love
dwells in the heart of the Father above

Come to my heart, O thou wonderful love,
come and abide,
lifting my life, till it rises above
envy and falsehood and pride;
seeking to be
lowly and humble, a learner of thee.
Robert Walmsley (1831-1905)

https://youtu.be/3BZfXTCUbr8

BLESSING

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
And the deep, deep peace of Jesus,
the Prince of Peace, to you,
this day and forever more.
Amen.

Service for Low Sunday 18th April 2020

HYMN: This joyful Eastertide,
https://youtu.be/5tipsbcfuB4



PRAYERS

Gracious and Loving God,
we come before you this day as a people whose lives are disrupted,
as those who cannot physically meet
with our sister and brothers in Christ
to worship you.
Yet we do come before you now,
in our own homes, alone or with family,
to offer to you our worship, praise and adoration.
We come as your people,
united by our faith in Jesus, our risen Saviour and Lord.
We come as disciples, following by faith,
worshipping by the power of the Spirit,
in the name of Jesus.
Amen.



READING

John 20: 19-29

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.  Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me so I send you.  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any they are retained.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the marks of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.  Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood amongst them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it in my side.  Do not doubt but believe.”

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”



HYMN: When Easter to the dark world came,
https://youtu.be/xLuvrDNsM9U


SERMON

It could almost be today.  A group of people in insolation, keeping themselves separate from society and in fear of their lives.  One of their number missing, perhaps out getting essential supplies like bread, vegetables and fruit.

This Easter has been an Easter quite unlike any we’ve collectively known before with most of is spending it behind closed doors rather than meeting together to sing those glorious Easter hymns and sharing in the sacrament of Holy Communion.

It could almost be today, but it wasn’t.  it was just over two thousand years ago and Jesus’ frightened disciples were hiding in lockdown from their religious leaders, just as are hiding from the Covid-19 virus.  Mary Magdalene had already told them “I have seen the Lord” but the impression you get is that they hadn’t really believed her.  Here was frightened, defeated group of people for whom the future looked bleak and hopeless.  They were so afraid about their immediate future that they had forgotten to look to God and for the hope that the promises of God would transcend their immediate circumstances.

Some of us are so fearful of the present and immediate future.  We fear catching the Coronavirus and being amongst those who will die; or we fear that somebody close to us will be a victim of this disease.  We are, perhaps, fearful of what will happen when the Coronavirus has passed and restrictions eased.  Many lives will have been lost, jobs will have disappeared, companies will have folded, churches will have closed and some plans for the future will have come to nothing.

Jesus’ disciples would have had similar fears, fears about what the future would bring.  Then Jesus came and stood amongst them, gloriously alive, proving who he was by showing them his hands and his side, still bearing the marks of crucifixion.

Jesus had been raised from the dead.  He was standing before them, leaving them in no doubt.

Even Thomas, who was not with them the first time Jesus appeared to them, did not doubt when he saw Jesus standing before them, falling on his knees and crying out, “My Lord and my God.”

Sometimes people ask me how I can be so sure that Jesus physically rose from the dead to glorious resurrection life.  I always point to the change in the disciples, who were more or less overnight transformed from men crippled by fear of death to men who went out onto the streets of Jerusalem, risking their lives to proclaim that Jesus had risen.  These were men who bravely went to their own deaths as martyrs, convinced that even death itself was no barrier to the promises and love of God.

On the evening of that first Easter Day a situation of apparent hopelessness was turned into one of immense hope as fear was replaced by joy and confidence.

Like those first disciples “we have a hope that is steadfast and certain” (Jesus is King & I Will Extol Him by Wendy Churchill).  We have a hope in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eventually the Coronavirus crisis will be over and life will return to a new state of normal.  The challenge for us as Christians right now is to see beyond our present worries and concerns about coronavirus and what happens immediately when the crisis is over and to focus on the infinite, to see in the resurrection of Jesus a hope that transcends our current situation and rejoice in the ultimate victory of hope over despair, light over darkness and life over death which Easter brought.

John’s gospel ends with these words, “there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”  Jesus story continues this day, through our lives and the lives of our sisters and brothers in Christ.  Jesus resurrection is an absolute assurance that his story will continue for eternity and that, as his disciples, our stories too will go on forever.



PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Loving God,
we come before you now rejoicing in the hope of that first Easter Day.

Like the first disciples we are fearful because of the situation we find ourselves in, but like them we rejoice because Jesus was raised from death to glorious resurrection life, bringing hope for the future.

Like Thomas we fall on our knees and cry out “My Lord and my God”, confident that is who you are, confident that our future is in the safest hands.

And so we come to you in confidence, by the power of the Holy Spirit breathed by Jesus on those first disciples; and in the name of Christ to bring you our prayers.

Lord hear us.  Lord graciously hear us.

We pray for our world and for our land, suffering in the grip of Covid-19.  We ask you to give wisdom to our leaders, to scientists and medical professionals as they seek to give the best advice, to make the best decisions and to bring us safely through this crisis.

Lord hear us.  Lord graciously hear us.

We pray for doctors, nurses and others who work to care for those who are suffering, not only with the Coronavirus but also any other disease, illness or infirmity.  Strengthen them when they are tired, give them courage when they are fearful and let the feel your presence and love.

Lord hear us.  Lord graciously hear us.

We pray for those in our congregation who are suffering in body, mind or spirit….  We pray for those who are grieving.  We lift them to you now with love ad pray that you would heal them, hold them and love them.

Lord hear us.  Lord graciously hear us.

We bring all our prayers in the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ, who taght us when we pray to say…

The Lord’s Prayer



HYMN: All I once held dear, built my life upon,
https://youtu.be/pTTlSx6zXio



BLESSING
Heavenly Father,
this day may we have faith in our Risen Lord Jesus
who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit:
and may the blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with us always.
Amen

A Sermon for Easter Day 2020

In church on Easter Day for the first seven years of my ministry as a Presbyter I have always preached from John’s account of the Resurrection, found in John 20: 1-18.  It is always the set account in the Lectionary.

This year, for reasons that I hope will become clear, I have felt strongly led to preach from Mark’s account of the Resurrection.

Mark’s is almost universally agreed by Biblical scholars to be the earliest written account of that first Easter Day.  Scholars would also agree that the author of Mark originally ended his gospel at verse 8, and that the rest is a later addition: indeed there exist two separate additional endings that are both printed in some translations. 

Mark’s account of the Resurrection is simple and quite stark.  The women arrive at the tomb finding the heavy entrance stone rolled away, the body of Jesus gone and a young man dressed in white sitting there, apparently waiting for them.  He tells them Jesus has been raised from death and they run away, afraid.  That’s it!  No resurrection appearances from Jesus; just mystery and wonder and fear at what is to come next. 

Many have said that with the restrictions quite correctly imposed by the government it feels like Lent, with its theme of self-denial, has somehow been extended.  Somebody posted on Facebook that “this is the Lentiest Lent I’ve ever Lented” and whilst the English is dodgy, we all know exactly what they mean.

In the church calendar Lent has ended, but for many of us it feels like it is still going on; especially today of all days when we must celebrate Easter Day, the day of Resurrection, at home instead of physically together in church. 

I think I’ve come across a better analogy. 

There is a tradition in church, only implied in Scripture, of the harrowing of hell.  The tradition is that on Holy Saturday, the day Jesus body lay cold in his tomb, he himself stormed the gates of hell and rescued all the souls who were there, emptying the realm of the devil. 

So, although it appeared that Jesus was inactive that day, waiting for Resurrection, he was in fact very active demonstrating the love that motivated everything he said and did. 

To some in our society at the moment it may appear that the “church” is doing very little.  Our buildings are closed and our regular services and activities suspended.  It could appear that our churches are silent and dark and inactive, dead, cold in the grave. 

And yet this is not the case.  You may have seen the picture I posted on our Churches Facebook pages of the interior of an empty church with the caption “The Church isn’t empty, the Church is deployed.” 

The church is indeed deployed.  We are, for a time, out of our buildings.  The church is deployed as we share in worship together online, whether it be through a service sheet like this or through video or livestream (which I may try at some point).  The church is deployed every time one of us goes shopping for a neighbour who can’t leave their home.  The church is deployed every time we phone somebody to see how they are doing or just to say “hello” so they don’t feel as lonely.  The church is deployed when we pray for others.  The church is deployed in all the acts of kindness and love being undertaken by Christian disciples for each other and for those in their communities. 

To the casual observer the church may appear to be closed and inactive, just as on Holy Saturday Jesus appeared to be dead and inactive, but this is far from the case. 

So rather than being in a very long Lent, the Lentiest Lent ever; perhaps we are instead in the midst of a prolonged Holy Saturday. 

Of course, we can only take that analogy so far because two thousand years ago Jesus was raised from death to new Resurrection life!  As the last verse in the hymn says:

“Death cannot keep his prey,

Jesus, my Saviour;

he tore the bars away,

Jesus, my Lord”: 

Jesus is alive! That is what our Scripture from Mark’s gospel tells us.  That is what all the Resurrection accounts in the four gospels tell us: that somehow by the power of God Jesus who was dead was raised from death in a new way. 

Jesus is alive!  Mark’s gospel leaves what that means as a mystery in many ways.  The fact of the Resurrection is the point, the author of Mark doesn’t think we need to know more. 

Other gospels, written after Mark, do tell us more.  They tell us of a Jesus who was in some way different because people did not recognise him immediately, yet definitely still the same Jesus so that people came to a sudden awareness.  Mary Magdalene recognised Jesus in the garden when he spoke her name, after initially thinking he was a gardener.  The two on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognise the stranger who walked alongside them until he broke bread.  Even they didn’t appreciate the full meaning of the Resurrection and what it would lead to; a worldwide sister and brotherhood of Christian disciples numbered in billions.

If we can go back to the analogy of Holy Saturday, the church is in some ways apparently still and cold, though we know this isn’t the case.  That is the perception many will have, and indeed the perception some had even before the Covid-19 Coronavirus hit. 

Just as Jesus rose from death, changed, renewed and restored; resurrected: so our church will be raised to new life.  We will meet again for corporate worship with a renewed sense of the value of meeting together to praise our Lord.  We will perhaps appreciate all the more our fellowship together. 

But maybe, just as Jesus was transformed by the Resurrection so too may our worship and fellowship be transformed.  We have an opportunity, whilst we are at home, separated yet connected by the same Holy Spirit, to think and pray about what God might be saying to us about how we are church together.  What is God calling on us to continue doing, what is God calling on us to lay aside and what is God calling on us to take up? 

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus God gave us the greatest gift of love that has ever been given: the assurance of forgiveness and the promise of resurrection life.  Let us continually seek to serve God in faithfulness and gratitude, at different times and in different seasons in different ways, always open to the transforming power of Resurrection!

Easter Day Service 2020

Tell me with joy of his rising

up from the grave;
and how he still lives triumphant,
ready to save.
Wonderful story,
Jesus my friend,
living and loving,

right to the end.

Alleluiah!  Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!  Alleluiah!

Hymn: Singing the Faith 298

Christ the Lord is risen today;
Alleluia!
All creation joins to say:
Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high;
Alleluia!
Sing, you heavens; let earth, reply:
Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done,
Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won;
Alleluia!
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal;
Alleluia!
Christ has burst the gates of hell:
Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King;
Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now your sting?
Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save;
Alleluia!
Where’s your victory, boasting grave?
Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led,
Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head;
Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise;
Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies:
Alleluia!

King of Glory!  Soul of bliss!
Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this,
Alleluia!
You to know, your power to prove,
Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love:
Alleluia!

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 298

https://youtu.be/15dmjnB8FZU

Prayer

Let us pray.

Glory to you, O God.
You raised Jesus from the grave,
bringing us victory over death
and giving us eternal life.

Glory to you, O Christ:
for us and for our salvation
you overcame death
and opened the gate to everlasting life.

Glory to you, O Holy Spirit:
you lead us into the truth
and breathe new life into us.

Glory to you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and forever.  Amen.

Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.  Amen.

Hymn: Singing the Faith 303

I know that my Redeemer lives —
what joy the blest assurance gives!
He lives, he lives, who once was dead;
he lives, my everlasting Head!

He lives, to bless me with his love;
he lives, to plead for me above;
he lives, my hungry soul to feed;
he lives, to help in time of need.

He lives, and grants me daily breath;
he lives, and I shall conquer death;
he lives, my mansion to prepare;
he lives, to lead me safely there.

He lives, all glory to his name;
he lives, my Saviour, still the same;
what joy the blest assurance gives,
I know that my Redeemer lives!

Samuel Medley (1738–1799)

Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 303

 https://youtu.be/B4Hy0zqnqbU

Reading

Mark 16: 1-8

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.  Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomband they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Hymn: Singing the Faith 

Low in the grave he lay,
Jesus, my Saviour,
waiting the coming day,

Jesus, my Lord:

Up from the grave he arose,
with a mighty triumph o’er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives for ever with his saints to reign:
He arose!  He arose!
Alleluia!  Christ arose!

Vainly they watch his bed,
Jesus, my Saviour;
vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, my Lord:

Death cannot keep his prey,
Jesus, my Saviour;
he tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord:

Robert Lowry (1826–1899)

Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 305

https://youtu.be/oN77HjfAc8k

Sermon 

In church on Easter Day for the first seven years on my ministry as a Presbyter I have always preached from John’s account of the Resurrection, found in John 20: 1-18.  It is always the set account in the Lectionary.

This year, for reasons that I hope will become clear, I have felt strongly led to preach from Mark’s account of the Resurrection.

Mark’s is almost universally agreed by Biblical scholars to be the earliest written account of that first Easter Day.  Scholars would also agree that the author of Mark originally ended his gospel at verse 8, and that the rest is a later addition: indeed there exist two separate additional endings that are both printed in some translations.

Mark’s account of the Resurrection is simple and quite stark.  The women arrive at the tomb finding the heavy entrance stone rolled away, the body of Jesus gone and a young man dressed in white sitting there, apparently waiting for them.  He tells them Jesus has been raised from death and they run away, afraid.  That’s it!  No resurrection appearances from Jesus; just mystery and wonder and fear at what is to come next.

Many have said that with the restrictions quite correctly imposed by the government it feels like Lent, with its theme of self-denial, has somehow been extended.  Somebody posted on Facebook that “this is the Lentiest Lent I’ve ever Lented” and whilst the English is dodgy, we all know exactly what they mean.

In the church calendar Lent has ended, but for many of us it feels like it is still going on; especially today of all days when we must celebrate Easter Day, the day of Resurrection, at home instead of physically together in church. 

I think I’ve come across a better analogy.

There is a tradition in church, only implied in Scripture, of the harrowing of hell.  The tradition is that on Holy Saturday, the day Jesus body lay cold in his tomb, he himself stormed the gates of hell and rescued all the souls who were there, emptying the realm of the devil.

So, although it appeared that Jesus was inactive that day, waiting for Resurrection, he was in fact very active demonstrating the love that motivated everything he said and did.

To some in our society at the moment it may appear that the “church” is doing very little.  Our buildings are closed and our regular services and activities suspended.  It could appear that our churches are silent and dark and inactive, dead, cold in the grave.

And yet this is not the case.  You may have seen the picture I posted on our Churches Facebook pages of the interior of an empty church with the caption “The Church isn’t empty, the Church is deployed.”

The church is indeed deployed.  We are, for a time, out of our buildings.  The church is deployed as we share in worship together online, whether it be through a service sheet like this or through video or livestream (which I may try at some point).  The church is deployed every time one of us goes shopping for a neighbour who can’t leave their home.  The church is deployed every time we phone somebody to see how they are doing or just to say “hello” so they don’t feel as lonely.  The church is deployed when we pray for others.  The church is deployed in all the acts of kindness and love being undertaken by Christian disciples for each other and for those in their communities.

To the casual observer the church may appear to be closed and inactive, just as on Holy Saturday Jesus appeared to be dead and inactive, but this is far from the case.

So rather than being in a very long Lent, the Lentiest Lent ever; perhaps we are instead in the midst of a prolonged Holy Saturday.

Of course, we can only take that analogy so far because two thousand years ago Jesus was raised from death to new Resurrection life!  As the last verse in the hymn says:

“Death cannot keep his prey,
Jesus, my Saviour;
he tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord”

Jesus is alive! That is what our Scripture from Mark’s gospel tells us.  That is what all the Resurrection accounts in the four gospels tell us: that somehow by the power of God Jesus who was dead was raised from death in a new way.

Jesus is alive!  Mark’s gospel leaves what that means as a mystery in many ways.  The fact of the Resurrection is the point, the author of Mark doesn’t think we need to know more.

Other gospels, written after Mark, do tell us more.  They tell us of a Jesus who was in some way different because people did not recognise him immediately, yet definitely still the same Jesus so that people came to a sudden awareness.  Mary Magdalene recognised Jesus in the garden when he spoke her name, after initially thinking he was a gardener.  The two on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognise the stranger who walked alongside them until he broke bread.  Even they didn’t appreciate the full meaning of the Resurrection and what it would lead to; a worldwide sister and brotherhood of Christian disciples numbered in billions.

If we can go back to the analogy of Holy Saturday, the church is in some ways apparently still and cold, though we know this isn’t the case.  That is the perception many will have, and indeed the perception some had even before the Covid-19 Coronavirus hit.

Just as Jesus rose from death, changed, renewed and restored; resurrected: so our church will be raised to new life.  We will meet again for corporate worship with a renewed sense of the value of meeting together to praise our Lord.  We will perhaps appreciate all the more our fellowship together. 

But maybe, just as Jesus was transformed by the Resurrection so too may our worship and fellowship be transformed.  We have an opportunity, whilst we are at home, separated yet connected by the same Holy Spirit, to think and pray about what God might be saying to us about how we are church together.  What is God calling on us to continue doing, what is God calling on us to lay aside and what is God calling on us to take up?

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus God gave us the greatest gift of love that has ever been given: the assurance of forgiveness and the promise of resurrection life.  Let us continually seek to serve God in faithfulness and gratitude, at different times and in different seasons in different ways, always open to the transforming power of Resurrection!

  

Hymn: Singing the Faith 311 

The day of resurrection,
earth, tell it out abroad!
The passover of gladness,
the passover of God!
From death to life eternal,
from earth unto the sky,
our Christ has brought us over
with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil,
that we may see aright
the Lord in rays eternal
of resurrection light;
and, listening to his accents,
may hear, so calm and plain,
his own ‘All hail!’ and, hearing,
may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful,
let earth her song begin,
the round world keep high triumph,
and all that is therein;
let all things seen and unseen
their notes of gladness blend,
for Christ the Lord is risen,
our joy that has no end.

St John of Damascus (c. 675–c. 750)translated by John Mason Neale (1811–1866)

Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 311

https://youtu.be/MgIx_0jhW1Y

  

Prayer 

Lord our God, we give you thanks
because you have delivered us from the power of
darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of your Son.
Grant that, as by his resurrection
we are brought to new life,
so by his continued reign in us
we may be brought to eternal joy;
through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

  

Hymn: Singing the Faith 

Thine be the glory,
risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory
thou o’er death hast won;
angels in bright raiment
rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes
where thy body lay:

Thine be the glory,
risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory
thou o’er death hast won.

Lo, Jesus meets us,
risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us,
scatters fear and gloom;
let the Church with gladness
hymns of triumph sing,
for her Lord now liveth,
death hath lost its sting:

No more we doubt thee,
glorious Prince of Life;
life is naught without thee:
aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors
through thy deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan
to thy home above:

Edmond Budry (1854–1932)translated by Richard Birch Hoyle (1875–1939)

Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 313

https://youtu.be/lXzmjNE-yLA

  

Blessing 

God the Father,

by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,

strengthen you

to walk with him in his risen life;

and may almighty God bless you

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.