Sunday, March 27, 2016

Why do you look for the living among the dead?



A Sermon preached on March 27th, Easter Day, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden
Isaiah 65: 17-25, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, Luke 24:1-12

Before I start, will all the women please stand up and say loudly and clearly: “The Lord is risen!” Thank you. Now would all the men please shake your heads and look skeptical. That is what it was like on the first day according to all four Gospels. Women, Jesus’ female followers and disciples, dared go the tomb despite the danger involved: Women were first to witness to Jesus’ resurrection and the men did not believe them. Makes you wonder why we excluded women from church leadership for so long – perhaps a feeling of guilt and embarrassment on the men’s part? 

But that is not my main topic today. Instead I want to focus on the question the two “men in dazzling clothes” ask: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

The most obvious reason for this question is that it is the first indication that the one whom the women have come to anoint with spices, in accordance with the Jewish burial rituals, that this Jesus is not or no longer dead, but alive. In cemeteries, you tend to find dead people, not the living. So put simply: you are in the wrong place. It is a first pointer to the resurrection we celebrate today and every Sunday. 
 
But I think there is more to this question. Human beings can be very ambivalent about death. Popular culture sometimes seems to glorify death. This is from a recent article in the Church Times: “In our film entertainment we absorb the deaths of thousands (The Avengers 2012 movie alone had 974); and death — the result of human choices and cruelty — fills the news. The reality of death, however, is not a popular artistic subject: a real individual’s death is generally something to be hidden, and not spoken of.”[1]  That is very true. We do avoid talking about death if it affects our family and friends, if it is too close to home. We almost hide the dying, few people die at home any more. When we recently held a series of conversations on death and dying here at church many participants said that one reason for coming was to have an opportunity to talk about death, to break this taboo. 

Then we have those who worship death, whose god is terror, pain, suffering, death. The IS terrorists who killed and maimed in Brussels this week clearly belong to this group. They do not believe in God – or in Allah – only in death. But I would include others in this category of death worshippers. Politicians who advocate carpet-bombing, politicians who advocate torture, politicians who think it is right to target the families of terrorists, politicians who want us to shoot at refugees on the borders of our little nation states. Politicians who sell fear and hate. They worship death. And in my opinion, worshipping guns and believing that the ownership of these instruments of death is some kind of fundamental right comes pretty close too, I’m afraid. 

Don’t look for the living among the dead, don’t look for the living, loving God in death and killing. We worship a living God and a God of life, abundant, joyful, renewed, blessed life. Paul tells the Corinthians that death is the enemy and that Jesus will destroy all the forces hostile to humanity. All the rulers, powers, and authorities that deface, oppress and spoil God’s magnificent world and all God’s creatures. Death is the unmaking of God’s creation, resurrection is the beginning of the remaking, the recreation. 

Christ has been raised from the dead. In his resurrection death has already been defeated, not only for him but for us all. That is what Paul means when he uses the image of the first fruits. Christ is risen, Christ is alive, God is a living God, God loves life, God gives life, God restores life. After this sermon, and the Creed in which we affirm our belief in this fundamental Christian truth, we will decorate that plain wooden cross, that instrument of torture and death with Spring flowers as a symbol of the new life that we are promised and to which the resurrection points.

This Easter, open your whole self — heart, soul, mind, and strength — to God’s inspiring call to new and renewed life. Practice resurrection! Tell the world that we worship a living God. Tell the world that our God is with the living.  Tell the world that our God is wherever there is life. Tell the world that our God promises us not only life after death, but also new life in this life if we only allow ourselves to “be made alive in Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Show and tell the world, especially those who are spiritually dead, those who are full of hate and fear, those who worship a god of death, what this new life of love is like.  Ask this question: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” And give this answer: “The Lord is not here, but has risen,” risen to bring new life. All we have to is embrace it.
Amen.


[1]   Justin Lewis-Anthony in “Church Times” of 18.3.16

Saturday, March 26, 2016

A Transforming Night



A Sermon preached on March 26th, Great Vigil of Easter, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden


I am taking a leaf out of Douglas’ book tonight as I am going to preach two sermons. But don’t worry, both are short and one is borrowed! I really do not want to detract or distract from either the wonderful readings we have just heard or the rituals of this most holy night. 

In the early Church, this was the traditional service for Baptisms. Baptism was the culmination of a long period of preparation during the season of Lent. Until Christianity became the official religion of the Empire, and membership almost the default option, a catechumenate, that is the technical term for someone being prepared for Baptism, would have had to leave the church after the service of the Word and before Communion. We’ve never forced you to leave the service, Simon, but that is why the Sacrament of Baptism is still placed between the Service of the Word and the Eucharist, as it is the ritual by which you will become a full member of the church, with all rights and duties!

Tonight’s service is also a little like a mini catechumenate. We have just heard six lessons about God’s mighty acts, starting with the story of creation, and through many acts of salvation. After your Baptism, Simon, we will hear – in the Gospel – of the mighty act of Christ’s resurrection – our new creation.

One thing appears in almost all of the readings is water. In the creation story, God orders the water, a sign of chaos, into the earth and into dry land. In the story of Noah water, the flood, brings death – and yet in the sign of the rainbow God water (with light) is a sign of new life in the covenant between God and every living creature. For the Israelites trying to escape from Egypt, water is first a barrier and then thanks to God’s intervention an escape route. For Isaiah, God’s word is like life giving rain as God’s word is life giving. For Ezekiel, water is a means of cleansing from sin.

Again and again, we hear how God uses water as a means of transformation. That is what we will do in just a moment in Simon’s Baptism. – using water as an external sign of the transformation that has already begun in you. Just pouring a little water on you from the Font hardly seems enough, Simon. Perhaps we should pop across the road to the park and dunk you in the lake instead? But tonight’s service is not only about your transformation Simon, but ours too. The promises you make are ones we made. The Baptismal Covenant, we might call it the blueprint for our transformation, is a joint declaration.  Together we all ask God to help us grow and become the fully human beings we are intended to be. Tonight is the best night of all to begin or recommit to our own transformation. It is night we celebrate God’s mightiest work, the beginning of a new creation in the resurrection of Christ Jesus.  

My second sermon is all about that celebration. In the Eastern Orthodox churches it is the tradition to read the Easter sermon of John Chrysostom (circa 400 AD) on this night. He wasn’t called golden mouth for nothing! 

Are there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!
Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!