Nancy Ferree-Clark - Easter Sunrise Service 6:30 am (March 30, 1986)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (tranquil music) | 0:03 | |
| (playful music) | 1:31 | |
| (playful music) | 3:17 | |
| (lively music) | 4:24 | |
| (lively band music) | 7:33 | |
| - | Please rise. | 9:38 |
| Oh, sing to God a new song. | 9:45 | |
| - | For God has done marvelous things. | 9:48 |
| - | Because of God's steadfast love to Israel. | 9:51 |
| - | All the ends of the Earth have seen the victory | 9:54 |
| of our God. | 9:57 | |
| - | For now Christ is risen from the dead. | 9:58 |
| - | Make a joyful noise unto God, all the Earth. | 10:02 |
| - | Break forth into joyous songs and praises. | 10:05 |
| - | For God will move the Earth with righteousness. | 10:09 |
| - | Nothing in all creation separate us from the love of God, | 10:12 |
| in Jesus our risen Christ, amen. | 10:16 | |
| (lively music) | 10:23 | |
| ♪ Christ the Lord is risen today ♪ | 10:43 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 10:47 | |
| ♪ Daughters, sons and angels say ♪ | 10:52 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 10:56 | |
| ♪ Raise your joys and triumphs high ♪ | 11:01 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 11:06 | |
| ♪ Sing, ye heavens, and Earth, reply ♪ | 11:10 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 11:15 | |
| ♪ Lives again our glorious King ♪ | 11:21 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 11:25 | |
| ♪ Where, O death, is now thy sting ♪ | 11:30 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 11:35 | |
| ♪ Once He ♪ | 11:40 | |
| ♪ Where's thy victory, bursting grave ♪ | 11:49 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 11:54 | |
| ♪ Love's redeeming work is done ♪ | 12:00 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 12:04 | |
| ♪ Fought the fight, the battle won ♪ | 12:09 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 12:14 | |
| ♪ Death in vain forbids him rise ♪ | 12:19 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 12:24 | |
| ♪ Christ hath opened paradise ♪ | 12:28 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 12:33 | |
| ♪ Soar we now where Christ has led ♪ | 12:39 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 12:44 | |
| ♪ Following our exalted head ♪ | 12:48 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 12:53 | |
| ♪ Made like Him, like Him we rise ♪ | 12:58 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 13:02 | |
| ♪ Ours the cross, the grave, the skies ♪ | 13:07 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 13:12 | |
| - | You may be seated. | 13:22 |
| The Lord is with you. | 13:29 | |
| - | And also with you. | 13:32 |
| - | Let us pray. | 13:33 |
| God of our birth, | 13:36 | |
| God of joy, | 13:38 | |
| God of life, | 13:40 | |
| we come to you as a people hungry for good news. | 13:41 | |
| We have been so dead to miracles | 13:45 | |
| that we have missed the world's rebirth. | 13:48 | |
| We have preoccupied ourselves with pleasures | 13:51 | |
| and have overlooked the joy you offer us. | 13:54 | |
| We have been so concerned with making a living | 13:57 | |
| that we have missed the life you sent among us. | 14:00 | |
| Forgive us, gracious God, | 14:03 | |
| open our eyes and our hearts to receive your gift, | 14:05 | |
| open our lips and our hands to share it | 14:10 | |
| with all humanity, | 14:12 | |
| in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. | 14:14 | |
| - | The first lesson is from Isaiah. | 14:29 |
| "For behold, I create new Heavens and a new Earth | 14:33 | |
| "and the former things shall not be remembered | 14:38 | |
| "or come into mind | 14:42 | |
| "but be glad and rejoice forever | 14:44 | |
| "in that which I create | 14:47 | |
| "for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing | 14:50 | |
| "and her people a joy. | 14:55 | |
| "I will rejoice in Jerusalem | 14:58 | |
| "and be glad in my people. | 15:00 | |
| "No more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping | 15:03 | |
| "and the cry of distress. | 15:07 | |
| "No more shall there be in it an infant that lives | 15:10 | |
| "but a few days | 15:13 | |
| "or an old man who does not fill out his days | 15:15 | |
| "for this child shall die 100 years old | 15:19 | |
| "and the sinner 100 years old shall be accursed. | 15:24 | |
| "They shall build houses and inhabit them. | 15:29 | |
| "They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. | 15:33 | |
| "They shall not build and another inhabit, | 15:37 | |
| "they shall not plant and another eat | 15:40 | |
| "for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be | 15:43 | |
| "and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. | 15:48 | |
| "They shall not labor in vain | 15:53 | |
| "or bear children for calamity | 15:55 | |
| "for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord | 15:58 | |
| "and their children with them. | 16:03 | |
| "Before they call, I will answer. | 16:06 | |
| "While they are yet speaking, I will hear. | 16:10 | |
| "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, | 16:14 | |
| "the lion shall eat straw like the ox | 16:17 | |
| "and dust shall be the serpent's food. | 16:22 | |
| "They shall not hurt or destroy | 16:26 | |
| "in all my holy mountain, says the Lord." | 16:28 | |
| - | Please rise. | 16:40 |
| (lively music) | 16:51 | |
| ♪ Listen to the Lord ♪ | 17:05 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 17:07 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 17:09 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 17:11 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 17:16 | |
| ♪ For God has done marvelous things ♪ | 17:20 | |
| ♪ Through God's right hand and holy arm salvation comes ♪ | 17:24 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 17:33 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 17:37 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 17:39 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 17:41 | |
| ♪ The Lord has made known the victory ♪ | 17:46 | |
| ♪ God's justice has come to all ♪ | 17:50 | |
| ♪ Oh Israel, shout your praise ♪ | 17:54 | |
| ♪ Remember God's love and power ♪ | 17:58 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 18:02 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 18:07 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 18:09 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 18:11 | |
| ♪ Sing to the Lord with joy ♪ | 18:16 | |
| ♪ Break forth into songs of praise ♪ | 18:19 | |
| ♪ With trumpet and with sound of the horn ♪ | 18:24 | |
| ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ | 18:28 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 18:33 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 18:36 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song ♪ | 18:38 | |
| ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord ♪ | 18:40 | |
| - | The epistle lesson is from Paul's first letter | 18:58 |
| to the Corinthians. | 19:01 | |
| "If, for this day, we have hoped in Christ, | 19:04 | |
| "we are all men most to be pitied | 19:08 | |
| "but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, | 19:11 | |
| "the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. | 19:15 | |
| "For as a man came death, | 19:20 | |
| "by man has also come the resurrection of the dead. | 19:23 | |
| "For as in Adam all die, | 19:27 | |
| "so also in Christ shall all be made alive | 19:30 | |
| "but each in his own order. | 19:36 | |
| "Christ, the first fruits, | 19:38 | |
| "then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. | 19:40 | |
| "Then comes the end. | 19:43 | |
| "When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father | 19:46 | |
| "after destroying every rule | 19:49 | |
| "and every authority and power | 19:51 | |
| "for he must reign | 19:54 | |
| "until he has put all his enemies under his feet. | 19:55 | |
| "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." | 19:59 | |
| - | Please stand for the reading of the Gospel. | 20:10 |
| A reading from the Gospel according to Saint John. | 20:19 | |
| "Now, on the first day of the week, | 20:23 | |
| "Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early | 20:25 | |
| "while it was still dark | 20:28 | |
| "and saw that the stone had been taken away | 20:30 | |
| "from the tomb. | 20:32 | |
| "So she ran and went to tell Simon Peter | 20:34 | |
| "and the other disciple, the whom Jesus loved | 20:36 | |
| "and said to him, | 20:39 | |
| "they have taken the Lord out of the tomb | 20:41 | |
| "and we do not know where they have laid him. | 20:43 | |
| "Peter them came out with the other disciple | 20:46 | |
| "and they went toward the tomb. | 20:48 | |
| "They both ran but the other disciple out ran Peter | 20:50 | |
| "and reached the tomb first | 20:53 | |
| "and stooping to look in, | 20:56 | |
| "he saw the linen cloths lying there | 20:58 | |
| "but he did not go in. | 21:00 | |
| "Then Simon Peter came following him | 21:02 | |
| "and went into the tomb. | 21:05 | |
| "He saw the linen cloths lying | 21:06 | |
| "and the napkin which had been on his head | 21:09 | |
| "not lying with the linen cloths | 21:11 | |
| "but rolled up in a place by itself. | 21:13 | |
| "Then the other disciple who reached the tomb first | 21:16 | |
| "also went in and he saw and believed | 21:19 | |
| "for as yet they did not know the scripture | 21:23 | |
| "that he must rise from the dead. | 21:26 | |
| "Then the disciples went back to their homes | 21:28 | |
| "but Mary stood weeping outside the tomb | 21:31 | |
| "and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb | 21:35 | |
| "and she saw two angels in white sitting | 21:39 | |
| "where the body of Jesus had lain, | 21:41 | |
| "one at the head and one at the feet. | 21:44 | |
| "They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? | 21:47 | |
| "She said to them, because they have taken away my Lord | 21:51 | |
| "and I do not know where they have laid him. | 21:54 | |
| "Saying this she turned around and saw Jesus standing | 21:57 | |
| "but she did not know that it was Jesus. | 22:01 | |
| "Jesus said to her, woman, | 22:04 | |
| "why are you weeping? | 22:06 | |
| "Whom do you seek? | 22:08 | |
| "Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, | 22:10 | |
| "sir, if you have carried him away, | 22:13 | |
| "tell me where you have laid him | 22:15 | |
| "and I will take him away. | 22:16 | |
| "And Jesus said to her, Mary. | 22:19 | |
| "She turned and said to him in Hebrew, | 22:22 | |
| "Rabboni!" | 22:25 | |
| "which means teacher. | 22:25 | |
| "Jesus said to her, do not hold me | 22:27 | |
| "for I have not yet ascended to the Father | 22:30 | |
| "but go to my brethren and say to them, | 22:33 | |
| "I am ascending to my Father | 22:36 | |
| "and your Father, to my God and your God. | 22:37 | |
| "Mary Magdalene went | 22:42 | |
| "and said to the disciples, I have seen the Lord | 22:44 | |
| "and she told them that he had said these things to her." | 22:47 | |
| Here ends the reading of the lesson. | 22:52 | |
| You may be seated. | 22:54 | |
| As tradition would have it, | 23:06 | |
| we've once again gathered ourselves | 23:07 | |
| along these well-groomed terraces at Duke Garden | 23:09 | |
| to celebrate this glorious Easter morning. | 23:12 | |
| The bells of the carol ring out, | 23:16 | |
| Christ the Lord is risen today | 23:18 | |
| lest any bleary-eyed residents of West Campus try | 23:20 | |
| to forget what occasion the church celebrates. | 23:23 | |
| The brass choir leads us in triumphant singing | 23:27 | |
| of hymns while nature affirms its own belief | 23:30 | |
| in resurrection through the signs of spring | 23:34 | |
| which abound all around us. | 23:36 | |
| Let us not hesitate in proclaiming Christ is arisen. | 23:39 | |
| All that separates and injures | 23:43 | |
| and destroys has been overcome by what unites | 23:47 | |
| and heals and creates. | 23:51 | |
| Death has been swallowed up by life. | 23:54 | |
| What a magnificently compelling vision. | 23:58 | |
| Obviously powerful enough to motivate all of us | 24:01 | |
| to be at worship by 6:30 a.m. | 24:04 | |
| We feel fully alive, | 24:06 | |
| all is right with the world but how long | 24:08 | |
| will this resurrection vision sustain itself within us? | 24:11 | |
| Perhaps for some, it lasts all the time | 24:16 | |
| and they are the true saints in our midst. | 24:19 | |
| Others get a high from singing the Easter hymns | 24:23 | |
| but soon afterwards pick up the morning paper | 24:26 | |
| to find that they're the same people as before | 24:29 | |
| and life is as treacherous as ever. | 24:32 | |
| Others find an Easter celebration | 24:36 | |
| a sort of ecclesiastical enthusiasm | 24:38 | |
| in which they think they ought to join | 24:40 | |
| but while remaining basically unmoved by it. | 24:43 | |
| While for others, Easter means nothing more | 24:47 | |
| than a public holiday. | 24:49 | |
| They may have heard of resurrection | 24:51 | |
| but assume that it lies completely outside | 24:54 | |
| their experience, their interest or concern. | 24:56 | |
| If the vision of Easter is soon lost | 25:01 | |
| or by most people has never been found, | 25:04 | |
| that may be because resurrection | 25:06 | |
| has always seemed like something in the distance | 25:09 | |
| or out there on the horizon. | 25:11 | |
| We can be told about it | 25:13 | |
| but we have no personal experience of it. | 25:15 | |
| When it is therefore proclaimed | 25:18 | |
| that all that injures and separates | 25:21 | |
| and destroys has been overcome | 25:23 | |
| by what units and heals and creates, | 25:26 | |
| it may sound a little like a dream, | 25:30 | |
| some distant tale of a place | 25:33 | |
| where once upon a time, | 25:35 | |
| good overcame evil | 25:37 | |
| but we know in the midst of our chaotic lives | 25:40 | |
| and problematic relationships, | 25:43 | |
| that we are fallible creatures | 25:45 | |
| who are just as likely | 25:46 | |
| to have an evil thought as a good one, | 25:48 | |
| just as apt to injure as to heal. | 25:51 | |
| What could such a vision of wholeness | 25:55 | |
| ever have to do with mortal creatures like us? | 25:56 | |
| Consider for a moment the person | 26:01 | |
| to whom Jesus first revealed himself | 26:02 | |
| after the resurrection, Mary Magdalene. | 26:05 | |
| Perhaps the most misunderstood | 26:08 | |
| of any New Testament character. | 26:10 | |
| Claiming to know little else about her, | 26:13 | |
| people are quick to identify Mary Magdalene | 26:14 | |
| as a prostitute. | 26:17 | |
| In the Middle Ages, she became the patron saint | 26:19 | |
| of the cosmetic industry, | 26:21 | |
| that makers of perfume and blenders | 26:23 | |
| of unguents might count themselves under her protection. | 26:25 | |
| This tradition is not supported by evidence, however, | 26:29 | |
| so much as by the confusion | 26:32 | |
| that surround the identities | 26:34 | |
| of the various Marys in scripture. | 26:35 | |
| Biblical references indicate | 26:39 | |
| that Mary Magdalene was one of several women | 26:40 | |
| who accompanied Jesus | 26:43 | |
| as he went preaching throughout the villages and cities. | 26:44 | |
| She first became known to Jesus | 26:48 | |
| when he healed her of a mental illness | 26:50 | |
| by driving seven demons out of her. | 26:54 | |
| As one who formally lived under black veils, | 26:57 | |
| suffering from mental disturbances, | 27:00 | |
| attacks and depressions, | 27:02 | |
| Mary Magdalene soon became a leader among Jesus's followers | 27:05 | |
| and according to Luke, | 27:08 | |
| she contributed wealth to Jesus's ministry. | 27:10 | |
| We hear nothing of her between her healing | 27:13 | |
| and the crucifixion of Jesus. | 27:15 | |
| Perhaps her weakened body gained strength | 27:18 | |
| during her travels. | 27:21 | |
| Certainly she must have grown in her conviction | 27:22 | |
| that the time of salvation had begun, | 27:24 | |
| having experienced it through her own healing. | 27:28 | |
| Surely we can say that she was constant in her love | 27:31 | |
| and loyalty to Jesus | 27:34 | |
| even to the end, present both at his crucifixion | 27:36 | |
| and his burial and as the first | 27:40 | |
| to go to the tomb on the third day. | 27:42 | |
| And it is here that the miracle is first revealed. | 27:45 | |
| Having endured the trauma of the preceding days' events, | 27:49 | |
| Mary stood all alone in the garden shedding bitter tears | 27:52 | |
| of grief, anger and despair. | 27:57 | |
| Having given her whole life to this man, | 28:01 | |
| what reason was left for living? | 28:02 | |
| There was no longer even a corpse to attend to. | 28:05 | |
| Just then she hears a voice asking | 28:09 | |
| why she is weeping | 28:11 | |
| and believing that it's the gardener, she complains | 28:13 | |
| that the body of her Lord has been taken away. | 28:15 | |
| Then he calls her by name. | 28:18 | |
| Mary. | 28:20 | |
| And only then does she recognize him. | 28:22 | |
| Crying out in disbelief, my master, | 28:25 | |
| she attempts to throw her arms around him, | 28:28 | |
| delirious with joy over such an appearance as this. | 28:30 | |
| But she is stopped short. | 28:34 | |
| Do not touch me. | 28:36 | |
| I have not yet returned to my Father. | 28:38 | |
| This is a troubling turn in the story. | 28:42 | |
| Did Jesus have a change in character? | 28:44 | |
| Many theologians have toned this verse down | 28:47 | |
| or even made references | 28:49 | |
| to the sexual dangers of such an encounter | 28:51 | |
| yet it seems to me that in a flash of recognition, | 28:54 | |
| here, Mary Magdalene, confronts the true nature | 28:58 | |
| of resurrection, where she sought permanence, | 29:01 | |
| there was only death. | 29:04 | |
| Where she was willing to let go, there was life. | 29:06 | |
| Only in submitting to the pain of parting | 29:10 | |
| could Mary's faith grow mature. | 29:12 | |
| Jesus gave her a task | 29:16 | |
| which would not do away with the distance now between them | 29:18 | |
| but would make it comprehensible. | 29:21 | |
| His God is also the God of them all. | 29:23 | |
| Thus the apparently unbearable change becomes bearable. | 29:27 | |
| In what must have been only a few fleeting moments, | 29:32 | |
| Mary Magdalene is transformed forever | 29:35 | |
| by the power of this man. | 29:37 | |
| She must go out and speak of this new distance and nearness. | 29:40 | |
| This new glimpse of reality | 29:44 | |
| which she has seen. | 29:46 | |
| Her pain and her terror, | 29:48 | |
| her joy and her newfound hope go with her. | 29:51 | |
| The tomb which only two days earlier | 29:55 | |
| had represented the death of all that Mary had lived for | 29:57 | |
| had now become a womb giving birth to the true Messiah, | 30:01 | |
| the hope of the world. | 30:05 | |
| A task and a new community now depended on her | 30:07 | |
| to proclaim this good news. | 30:11 | |
| We can all be envious of Mary's encounter | 30:14 | |
| with the risen Christ | 30:17 | |
| in the garden for the glimpse | 30:18 | |
| of the miracle of eternal life | 30:20 | |
| that it offered her | 30:21 | |
| for on this side of paradise, | 30:23 | |
| glimpses of eternal life are very hard to come by. | 30:25 | |
| They are so remote and spotty | 30:29 | |
| in the words of Frederick Buechner | 30:31 | |
| that they are best compared to the experience you get | 30:33 | |
| of a place while approaching it on a fast train at night. | 30:36 | |
| Even the saints like Mary Magdalene herself, | 30:40 | |
| see only an occasional light go whipping by, | 30:44 | |
| hear only a sound or two over the clatter | 30:47 | |
| of the rails. | 30:49 | |
| The rest of us aren't usually awake enough | 30:51 | |
| to see even as much as that | 30:53 | |
| or we're mumbling over our night caps in the club car. | 30:55 | |
| Let these appearances of resurrection of brushes | 31:00 | |
| with the eternal be relegated to the past | 31:02 | |
| or the future, we say | 31:05 | |
| thereby ensuring that resurrection will remain | 31:07 | |
| on the margins of our existence. | 31:10 | |
| Such as the making of fairy tales, one might say. | 31:13 | |
| But have you ever thought | 31:16 | |
| about how much truth a fairy tale can reveal? | 31:17 | |
| J.R. Tolkien has written, | 31:23 | |
| "The fairy tale does not deny the existence | 31:25 | |
| "of sorrow and failure." | 31:28 | |
| The possibility of these is necessary | 31:30 | |
| to the joy of the deliverance. | 31:32 | |
| The fairy tale denies universal final defeat | 31:35 | |
| giving a fleeting glimpse of joy, | 31:38 | |
| joy beyond the walls of the world, | 31:41 | |
| poignant as grief. | 31:43 | |
| It is the mark of the good fairy story | 31:45 | |
| that however wild its events, | 31:49 | |
| it can give the one who hears it a catch of the breath, | 31:51 | |
| a beat and lifting of the heart, | 31:54 | |
| near to or indeed, accompanied by tears. | 31:57 | |
| Thus we are willing to allow ourselves to become immersed | 32:01 | |
| in the dark and dangerous quest | 32:04 | |
| of the scarecrow, the tin man and the lion | 32:07 | |
| who search for a wizard to make them whole | 32:10 | |
| figuring that since we're only talking make believe | 32:13 | |
| what can a little imagination hurt? | 32:15 | |
| In every good fairy tale, | 32:18 | |
| we await the moment of transformation | 32:19 | |
| where all creatures are revealed | 32:22 | |
| as they truly are in the end. | 32:24 | |
| The ugly duckling becomes a great, white swan. | 32:27 | |
| The frog is revealed to be a prince | 32:30 | |
| and the beautiful but wicked queen | 32:33 | |
| is unmasked at last in all of her ugliness. | 32:35 | |
| Fantasy for sure | 32:39 | |
| but where did that lump in the throat come from? | 32:41 | |
| In "The Happy Hypocrite," | 32:45 | |
| the story is told of a rake named Lord George Hell, | 32:46 | |
| debauched and pretentious who falls in love | 32:51 | |
| with a saintly girl. | 32:53 | |
| In order to win her love, | 32:55 | |
| he covers his bloated features | 32:57 | |
| with the mask of a saint. | 32:59 | |
| The girl is deceived and becomes his bride | 33:01 | |
| and they live together happily | 33:04 | |
| until a wicked lady | 33:06 | |
| from Lord George Hell's wicked past turns up. | 33:07 | |
| She exposes him for the scoundrel she knows him to be | 33:11 | |
| and challenges him to take off his mask. | 33:14 | |
| So sadly, having no choice, | 33:17 | |
| he takes it off | 33:20 | |
| and behold, beneath the saint's mask | 33:21 | |
| is the face of the saint he has become | 33:24 | |
| by wearing it in love. | 33:28 | |
| To moralize or allegorize these tales | 33:31 | |
| is not so much to go too far with them | 33:34 | |
| as not to go far enough | 33:37 | |
| for beneath theses extraordinary tales | 33:39 | |
| which are entered into by such ordinary means, | 33:42 | |
| what gives them their real power | 33:46 | |
| is the world they evoke | 33:47 | |
| where we somehow allow impossibilities miraculously | 33:49 | |
| to become possibilities. | 33:54 | |
| It is a world where goodness is pitted | 33:57 | |
| against evil, love against hate, | 33:59 | |
| order against chaos | 34:02 | |
| in a great struggle where it's often hard | 34:04 | |
| to be sure who belongs to which side | 34:06 | |
| because appearances are so deceptive. | 34:09 | |
| Yet for all its confusion and wildness, | 34:12 | |
| it is a world where the battle goes ultimately to the good | 34:15 | |
| where transformations are completed | 34:19 | |
| and where in the long run, | 34:21 | |
| everybody becomes known by his or her true name. | 34:23 | |
| One thinks of the angel | 34:28 | |
| in the book of Revelation | 34:30 | |
| who gives to each a white stone | 34:31 | |
| with a new name written on it | 34:34 | |
| which is the true and hidden name | 34:36 | |
| known from the foundations of the world. | 34:38 | |
| It is the mark of the good fairy story | 34:43 | |
| that it can give to the one who hears it, | 34:45 | |
| a lifting of the heart, | 34:47 | |
| near to or accompanied by tears, poignant as grief. | 34:49 | |
| How easily joy might not have happened, we think. | 34:54 | |
| What about the wicked ones | 34:58 | |
| to whom it does not happen | 34:59 | |
| and what about the darkness that persists | 35:01 | |
| even around though to whom it does? | 35:03 | |
| Yet our tears are joyous ones | 35:07 | |
| because we have caught a glimpse of, | 35:09 | |
| however fleeting, it is joy itself, | 35:13 | |
| the triumph of hope | 35:16 | |
| even in the face of darkness | 35:18 | |
| and perhaps it is not entirely fanciful | 35:20 | |
| to say that there are places besides fairy tales | 35:23 | |
| where we can glimpse joy in the world. | 35:27 | |
| We wake up on a winter's morning | 35:31 | |
| to discover that what lay there the evening before | 35:33 | |
| is no longer there. | 35:35 | |
| The sodden gray yard, the dog droppings, | 35:38 | |
| the tire tracks and the frozen mud, | 35:41 | |
| the broken lawn chair left out since last fall. | 35:44 | |
| All the ugliness has been overtaken | 35:49 | |
| by the pristine beauty of a new-fallen snow. | 35:51 | |
| We gaze upon a painting which sensitively depicts | 35:55 | |
| a street corner in a bustling city | 35:58 | |
| with vivid blues and reds and yellows | 36:01 | |
| and suddenly, feel less separated than usual | 36:04 | |
| from the external world. | 36:07 | |
| We even entertain the glorious possibility | 36:09 | |
| of being in communion with total strangers. | 36:11 | |
| Two people fall in love | 36:16 | |
| and discover that rather than being diminished | 36:18 | |
| by what they give away, they increase. | 36:20 | |
| The stars in the sky seem to belong to them | 36:24 | |
| as they reach out to embrace the entire world | 36:27 | |
| trusting that love will sustain them through all things. | 36:31 | |
| Even the death-dealing blows | 36:35 | |
| of suffering afford an opportunity | 36:38 | |
| for hope to spring forth. | 36:40 | |
| Beethoven was only 30 years old when he became deaf. | 36:43 | |
| He wrote to his brother, | 36:47 | |
| "I am compelled to live in exile. | 36:49 | |
| "If I approach near to people, | 36:52 | |
| "a feeling of hot anxiety comes over me | 36:54 | |
| "lest my condition should be noticed." | 36:57 | |
| He seriously considered suicide | 37:00 | |
| yet could eventually write, | 37:03 | |
| "You will see me as happy as my lot can be here below, | 37:04 | |
| "not unhappy, no, that I could never endure, | 37:09 | |
| "how beautiful life is." | 37:13 | |
| And he went on to lay the foundations | 37:15 | |
| for a whole new era in music composition. | 37:17 | |
| Mary Magdalene, through her own life story reveals the truth | 37:21 | |
| about resurrection and the triumph of hope. | 37:25 | |
| In her transformation from a mad women | 37:29 | |
| to the first apostle, | 37:31 | |
| she discovers an enduring hope | 37:33 | |
| that sustains her through pain, grief, despair, | 37:36 | |
| the trials of change and the challenges of ministry. | 37:41 | |
| Her encounter with the risen Christ in the garden | 37:44 | |
| verified once and for all | 37:48 | |
| what she must have already suspected, | 37:50 | |
| that indeed, miracles do happen | 37:52 | |
| for nothing less than a miracle can give life to the dead. | 37:56 | |
| She had already experienced one herself. | 38:01 | |
| The good news for you and for me | 38:05 | |
| is that we don't have to travel to the land of Oz | 38:07 | |
| or even back to the first century | 38:11 | |
| to find a miracle of resurrection. | 38:13 | |
| It is through the sacrament of everyday living | 38:16 | |
| that God's creative hand continues | 38:19 | |
| to fashion us into the people | 38:22 | |
| who would image God's own creative self | 38:24 | |
| when we seek to hear God's voice, | 38:28 | |
| and to have faith enough to recognize her eternal presence, | 38:30 | |
| even when we only get a glimpse of it. | 38:35 | |
| Like a fairy tale, the Gospel represents the meeting | 38:38 | |
| of darkness and light, | 38:41 | |
| proclaiming light the winner | 38:42 | |
| but with one crucial difference, | 38:45 | |
| the Gospel is true. | 38:48 | |
| It not only happened once upon a time | 38:51 | |
| but has kept on happening ever since | 38:55 | |
| and is happening still. | 38:58 | |
| All that separates and injures and destroys | 39:01 | |
| is still being overcome by what unites | 39:05 | |
| and heals and creates. | 39:09 | |
| Some people say it's too good to be believed. | 39:12 | |
| Wouldn't you say it's too good not to be believed? | 39:16 | |
| Thanks be to God. | 39:22 | |
| (lively music) | 39:35 | |
| (choir singing) | 39:54 | |
| - | Let us affirm our faith together. | 41:37 |
| - | We worship you, God | 41:41 |
| because you have shown your power in Jesus Christ, | 41:43 | |
| raising him from the dead, | 41:46 | |
| exalting him above all powers | 41:48 | |
| and giving him a name which is above every name. | 41:51 | |
| We ask you that we who believe in him | 41:55 | |
| may be of his mind as well | 41:58 | |
| that we may be a sign of his life today | 42:00 | |
| and every day of our lives, | 42:04 | |
| acknowledging the power of the risen Lord | 42:06 | |
| in our lives, let us tell the world these things. | 42:09 | |
| There is a name beyond our names, | 42:13 | |
| there is a strength beyond our power, | 42:15 | |
| there is a love beyond our patience, | 42:18 | |
| there is a hope beyond our dreams. | 42:21 | |
| We have seen the Lord. | 42:24 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 42:27 |
| - | Our Father, who art in Heaven, | 42:28 |
| hallowed be thy name, | 42:31 | |
| they kingdom come, thy will be done | 42:33 | |
| on Earth as it is in Heaven, | 42:36 | |
| give us this day our daily bread | 42:39 | |
| and forgive our trespasses | 42:41 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us | 42:44 | |
| and lead us not into temptation | 42:47 | |
| but deliver us from evil | 42:49 | |
| for thine is the kingdom, and the power | 42:51 | |
| and the glory forever. | 42:54 | |
| Amen. | 42:56 | |
| (lively music) | 43:00 | |
| ♪ Thine is the glory ♪ | 43:18 | |
| ♪ Risen, conquering Son ♪ | 43:21 | |
| ♪ Endless is the victory Thou over death hast won ♪ | 43:25 | |
| ♪ Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away ♪ | 43:33 | |
| ♪ Kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay ♪ | 43:42 | |
| ♪ Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son ♪ | 43:51 | |
| ♪ Endless is the victory Thou over death hast won ♪ | 43:59 | |
| ♪ Lo, Jesus meets thee, risen from the tomb ♪ | 44:08 | |
| ♪ Lovingly He greets thee, scatters fear and gloom ♪ | 44:17 | |
| ♪ Let His church with gladness ♪ | 44:25 | |
| ♪ Hymns of triumph sing ♪ | 44:29 | |
| ♪ For the Lord now liveth ♪ | 44:34 | |
| ♪ Death hath lost its sting ♪ | 44:38 | |
| ♪ Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son ♪ | 44:42 | |
| ♪ Endless is the victory Thou over death hast won ♪ | 44:51 | |
| ♪ No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life ♪ | 44:59 | |
| ♪ Life is nought without Thee, aid us in our strife ♪ | 45:08 | |
| ♪ Make us more than conquerors ♪ | 45:17 | |
| ♪ Through Thy deathless love ♪ | 45:21 | |
| ♪ Bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above ♪ | 45:25 | |
| ♪ Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son ♪ | 45:33 | |
| ♪ Endless is the victory Thou over death hast won ♪ | 45:42 | |
| - | Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. | 45:52 |
| - | We are sent in the power of Christ's resurrection. | 45:55 |
| Hallelujah. | 45:59 | |
| - | And the blessing of God Almighty, | 46:00 |
| creator, Son and Holy Spirit | 46:02 | |
| is with you always. | 46:05 | |
| Amen. | 46:07 | |
| - | Amen, hallelujah, hallelujah. | 46:09 |
Item Info
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