Robert T. Young - "Christ Appeared...Also to Me" Easter Service 9:00 am (April 15, 1979)
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Transcript
Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.
| (intricate organ music) | 0:03 | |
| (murmuring) | 9:16 | |
| (horn music) | 9:39 | |
| (echoing choral music) | 11:19 | |
| - | The Lord is risen. | 13:16 |
| The Lord is risen, indeed. | 13:19 | |
| Hallelujah. | 13:20 | |
| And a voice from the throne said: | 13:22 | |
| behold, I make all things new. | 13:25 | |
| Hallelujah, the Lord our God almighty, reigns. | 13:29 | |
| Let us rejoice and exalt and give God the glory. | 13:35 | |
| Amen and amen. | 13:39 | |
| (reverent organ music) | 13:43 | |
| (reverberating choral music) | 14:24 | |
| The Lord is risen. | 21:08 | |
| Congregation | The Lord is risen, indeed. | 21:11 |
| - | All praise to God who creates, redeems, and sustains us. | 21:23 |
| And who came in Jesus, the Christ, | 21:30 | |
| not to place heavy burdens of guilt on us, | 21:34 | |
| but to set free those who are imprisoned, | 21:38 | |
| whose hearts accuse us. | 21:43 | |
| We have been promised that God's forgiveness | 21:46 | |
| is always waiting for us. | 21:50 | |
| With this assurance, let us make our corporate confession. | 21:53 | |
| Let us pray. | 21:58 | |
| O holy God, on this joyous Easter Sunday, | 22:01 | |
| it is difficult for us to confess our sin. | 22:05 | |
| We give thanks, we rejoice, we are exhilarated. | 22:09 | |
| But we pray, O God, that our rejoicing | 22:15 | |
| will not blind us to the needs of the world. | 22:19 | |
| That our affirmation of the resurrection will not dim | 22:23 | |
| the continuing reality of the crucifixion. | 22:28 | |
| Break our apathy and our arrogance with the judgment | 22:32 | |
| of your law, and the assurance of the resurrection faith. | 22:37 | |
| Then in mercy, heal us, O Holy Sprit, | 22:42 | |
| causing us as a community to be born anew, | 22:47 | |
| in Jesus Christ, our Lord. | 22:52 | |
| And now, O Lord, hear us as we make our personal confession. | 22:55 | |
| Amen. | 23:12 | |
| Our resurrection faith offers to us | 23:14 | |
| the assurance that we do not have to be bound to the past, | 23:17 | |
| to our sin, our future is open to us. | 23:22 | |
| God forgives us, accepts us, and offers us the possibility | 23:26 | |
| to become the new people, the new creation, | 23:32 | |
| believe this, live this, amen. | 23:36 | |
| Let us give thanks, for God is good, | 23:40 | |
| and God's love is everlasting. | 23:44 | |
| Thanks be to God, who comes to us a servant. | 23:48 | |
| Thanks be to God, who suffers with us and for us. | 23:53 | |
| Thanks be to God, whose love and mercy sustains us. | 23:58 | |
| Amen. | 24:04 | |
| - | Let us pray. | 24:15 |
| Prepare our hearts, O Lord, to accept your word. | 24:18 | |
| Silence in us any voice but your own. | 24:22 | |
| That hearing, we may also obey your will, | 24:26 | |
| through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 24:31 | |
| The epistle lesson this morning is from the 15th chapter | 24:36 | |
| of First Corinthians, verses three through 22. | 24:40 | |
| And here, we hear Paul speaking. | 24:45 | |
| For I delivered to you as a first importance | 24:50 | |
| what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, | 24:53 | |
| in accordance with the scriptures. | 24:58 | |
| That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, | 25:00 | |
| in accordance with the scriptures, | 25:05 | |
| and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the 12, | 25:07 | |
| then he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, | 25:12 | |
| most of whom are still alive, | 25:17 | |
| though some have fallen asleep. | 25:19 | |
| Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. | 25:22 | |
| Last of all, as to one untimely born, | 25:27 | |
| he appeared also to me. | 25:32 | |
| For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called | 25:35 | |
| an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. | 25:38 | |
| But by the grace of God, I am what I am, | 25:44 | |
| and his grace toward me was not in vain. | 25:48 | |
| On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, | 25:51 | |
| though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me. | 25:56 | |
| Whether then it was I or they, | 26:00 | |
| so we preached and so you believed. | 26:03 | |
| Now, if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, | 26:07 | |
| how can some of you say there is | 26:11 | |
| no resurrection of the dead? | 26:13 | |
| But if there is no resurrection of the dead, | 26:15 | |
| then Christ has not been raised. | 26:18 | |
| If Christ has not been raised, | 26:20 | |
| then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. | 26:23 | |
| We are even found to be misrepresenting God, | 26:28 | |
| because we testified of God that he raised Christ, | 26:32 | |
| whom he did not raise, if it is true | 26:36 | |
| that the dead are not raised. | 26:39 | |
| For if the dead are not raised, | 26:41 | |
| then Christ has not been raised. | 26:44 | |
| If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, | 26:46 | |
| and you are still in your sins. | 26:50 | |
| Then those also who have fallen asleep | 26:53 | |
| in Christ have perished. | 26:56 | |
| If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, | 26:58 | |
| we are of all men most to be pitied. | 27:02 | |
| But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. | 27:08 | |
| The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. | 27:12 | |
| For as a man, for as by man came death, | 27:15 | |
| by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. | 27:20 | |
| For as in Adam all die, | 27:24 | |
| so also in Christ shall all be made alive. | 27:26 | |
| Here ends the reading from the epistle, amen. | 27:32 | |
| (organ music) | 27:47 | |
| (overlapping choral music) | 27:49 | |
| ♪ We shall not all sleep when he comes ♪ | 29:07 | |
| ♪ We shall not all sleep when he comes ♪ | 29:24 | |
| ♪ But we shall all be changed ♪ | 29:38 | |
| (echoing choral singing) | 29:46 | |
| ♪ And we shall all be changed ♪ | 29:59 | |
| ♪ Shall all ♪ | 30:08 | |
| ♪ Be ♪ | 30:11 | |
| ♪ Changed ♪ | 30:14 | |
| (echoing, operatic singing) | 30:22 | |
| (overlapping choral music) | 30:38 | |
| (echoing, operatic singing) | 31:44 | |
| (overlapping choral music) | 32:11 | |
| - | Will you rise now for the reading of God's word, | 34:24 |
| from the Gospel of St. John. | 34:27 | |
| Now on the first day of the week, | 34:34 | |
| Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, | 34:36 | |
| while it was still dark, and saw that the stone | 34:39 | |
| had been taken away from the tomb. | 34:42 | |
| So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciples, | 34:45 | |
| the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them: | 34:49 | |
| they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, | 34:53 | |
| and we do not know where they have laid him. | 34:56 | |
| Peter then cam out with the other disciple, | 35:00 | |
| and they went toward the tomb. | 35:03 | |
| They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter, | 35:05 | |
| and reached the tomb first, and stooping to look in, | 35:09 | |
| he saw the linen clothes lying there, but he did not go in. | 35:14 | |
| Then Simon Peter came, following him, | 35:20 | |
| and went into the tomb. | 35:23 | |
| He saw the linen clothes lying, and the napkin, | 35:25 | |
| which had been on his head, not lying with the linen clothes | 35:29 | |
| but rolled up in a place by itself. | 35:33 | |
| Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, | 35:37 | |
| also went in and he saw and believed. | 35:41 | |
| For as yet, they did not know the scripture, | 35:46 | |
| that he must rise from the dead. | 35:48 | |
| Then the disciples went back to their homes. | 35:51 | |
| But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, | 35:56 | |
| and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. | 35:59 | |
| And she saw two angels in white, | 36:03 | |
| sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, | 36:06 | |
| one at the head, and one at the feet. | 36:09 | |
| They said to her: woman, why are you weeping? | 36:12 | |
| She said to them: because they have taken away my Lord, | 36:17 | |
| and I do not know where they have laid him. | 36:22 | |
| Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, | 36:26 | |
| but she did not know that it was Jesus. | 36:31 | |
| Jesus said to her: woman, why are you weeping? | 36:34 | |
| Whom do you seek? | 36:38 | |
| Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him: | 36:41 | |
| sir, if you have carried him away, | 36:44 | |
| tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. | 36:47 | |
| Jesus said to her: Mary. | 36:53 | |
| She turned and said to him, in Hebrew: Rabbouni. | 36:59 | |
| Which means: Teacher. | 37:02 | |
| Jesus said to her: do not hold me, | 37:04 | |
| for I have not yet ascended to the Father, | 37:07 | |
| but go to my brethren and say to them, | 37:10 | |
| I am ascending to my Father and your Father, | 37:13 | |
| to my God and your God. | 37:16 | |
| Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples: | 37:19 | |
| I have seen the Lord. | 37:22 | |
| And she told them that he had said these things to her. | 37:24 | |
| Here ends the reading from the gospel. | 37:30 | |
| All praise and glory be to God, amen. | 37:32 | |
| (organ music) | 37:37 | |
| (echoing choral music) | 37:55 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 38:32 | |
| (muttering) | 38:40 | |
| - | In the name of the Lord our God, creator, redeemer, | 38:50 |
| and sustainer, amen. | 38:54 | |
| If, as a friend of mind told me recently, | 38:58 | |
| Easter is a time of ultimate love, | 39:03 | |
| then it is no wonder that the carillon | 39:10 | |
| on this chapel magnificently peeled | 39:15 | |
| the dawning of this Easter morn. | 39:18 | |
| It is no wonder that we gather here to sing | 39:22 | |
| Christ the Lord is Risen Today. | 39:24 | |
| No wonder that we rejoice in one voice | 39:29 | |
| and exclaim the Lord is risen, | 39:31 | |
| the Lord is risen, indeed; hallelujah. | 39:34 | |
| Now wonder Handel's music and Edmond L. Budry's words | 39:39 | |
| thrill and move us: Thine is the glory, | 39:43 | |
| risen, conquering Son. | 39:48 | |
| Endless is the victory thou, o'er death, hast won. | 39:50 | |
| Lo, Jesus meets thee, risen from the tomb. | 39:55 | |
| Lovingly, he greets thee, scatters fear and gloom. | 39:59 | |
| Let his church with gladness hymns of triumph sing, | 40:04 | |
| for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting. | 40:08 | |
| Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son, | 40:14 | |
| endless is the victory thou, o'er death, hast won. | 40:17 | |
| Something there is in Easter that does warm our hearts, | 40:23 | |
| that thrills our instincts, that stirs our imagination, | 40:27 | |
| that fills our intuitions, that touches us to the very | 40:31 | |
| depths of our souls, that reassures us about life and death, | 40:35 | |
| about now and about forever, that perplexes us with mystery | 40:39 | |
| and yet overwhelms us with a presence. | 40:43 | |
| For Easter is a story of resurrection, new life, now. | 40:46 | |
| It is about goodness, now. | 40:52 | |
| Hope, now. | 40:55 | |
| Acceptance, now. | 40:57 | |
| Support, strength, grace, sustenance, now. | 40:59 | |
| It is love, now. | 41:03 | |
| Indeed, Easter is that time of ultimate love. | 41:05 | |
| Christ is risen, Christ is risen, indeed. | 41:10 | |
| Hallelujah. | 41:14 | |
| In one of his classic poems, | 41:16 | |
| Timesweep, Carl Sandburg writes: | 41:17 | |
| tell me about any strong, beautiful wanting, | 41:21 | |
| and there is your morning, | 41:28 | |
| my morning, everybody's morning. | 41:31 | |
| Easter, a time when we feel and are allowed to express | 41:36 | |
| and experience a strong, beautiful wanting. | 41:39 | |
| Sandburg has some other words that speak to me | 41:45 | |
| on this magnificent Easter day. | 41:47 | |
| Remembering high loveliness hovers in time, | 41:51 | |
| and is made of passing moments, | 41:56 | |
| I have kept high moments, they go round and round in me. | 41:59 | |
| Easter indeed is one of those high moments, | 42:06 | |
| that by the grace of God we are privileged to know | 42:10 | |
| and share and celebrate not only on Easter day, | 42:13 | |
| but any moment and in any experience | 42:16 | |
| where the spirit of the risen Christ is alive | 42:18 | |
| and among us, and indeed, such high moments | 42:21 | |
| do go round and round, in us all. | 42:24 | |
| Thus, for almost 2,000 years now, | 42:28 | |
| Christians have gathered to remember and to celebrate. | 42:31 | |
| For there was something about this high moment of Jesus. | 42:35 | |
| About his life, death, his resurrection, | 42:40 | |
| that would not be killed, | 42:43 | |
| for you cannot kill a holy presence, | 42:46 | |
| or you cannot kill a holy idea. | 42:49 | |
| And the spirit of Christ thus would not be defeated | 42:53 | |
| even by that last enemy, death. | 42:55 | |
| It's truly like Harry Emerson Fosdick preached once. | 42:59 | |
| They crucified Jesus, he said, but one thing they could | 43:03 | |
| not do, they could not injure his idea. | 43:07 | |
| Not a nail they drove pierced it, not a stone they rolled | 43:10 | |
| before the tomb imprisoned it. | 43:13 | |
| Here is the realistic basis of true hope, | 43:15 | |
| that once a great idea is started, no one can stop it. | 43:18 | |
| If you crucify it, you glorify it. | 43:23 | |
| If you postpone its victory, you only make its victory | 43:25 | |
| more overwhelming when it comes. | 43:28 | |
| If you bury it, you give it an Easter day. | 43:30 | |
| And so with the idea of Christ very much alive today, | 43:35 | |
| this Easter, and this same idea very much alive to Paul, | 43:38 | |
| he wrote to the church at Corinth: | 43:42 | |
| I deliver to you what I also received. | 43:44 | |
| That Christ died for our sins in accordance | 43:47 | |
| with the Scriptures, that he was buried, | 43:50 | |
| that he was raised on the third day, | 43:52 | |
| that he appeared to Cephas, that is to Peter, | 43:54 | |
| then to the 12, then he appeared to more than 500 | 43:56 | |
| at one time, then he appeared to James, and then to all | 43:59 | |
| of the apostles, but last of all, as to one untimely born, | 44:02 | |
| he appeared also to me. | 44:07 | |
| Last of all, Paul writes, Christ appeared also to me. | 44:11 | |
| You know, when you think about it, that seems to me | 44:15 | |
| to be a rather arrogant boast, doesn't it? | 44:19 | |
| It seems to be rather pretentious or presumptuous, | 44:24 | |
| a strange posture for Paul, who after all had become | 44:27 | |
| widely known as a real enemy, as one of the chief | 44:31 | |
| persecutors of the first Christians, | 44:34 | |
| and yet he says: last of all, this Christ appeared to me. | 44:36 | |
| There probably were lots of other folks going around | 44:41 | |
| about Jerusalem in the first century that were claiming | 44:44 | |
| that Jesus appeared, quote, last of all to them. | 44:48 | |
| Thomas, who saw Jesus in the upper room. | 44:52 | |
| The two men who met Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus. | 44:56 | |
| Mary, who met Jesus at the tomb. | 45:00 | |
| Peter, who met Jesus on the beach. | 45:03 | |
| All of these as well as Paul and perhaps many others | 45:06 | |
| could and probably did make such a claim that, | 45:09 | |
| last of all, Jesus appeared to me. | 45:12 | |
| I have tried hard to imagine what it must have been like | 45:16 | |
| to have been among the women and the men to whom | 45:20 | |
| Jesus appeared after the resurrection. | 45:24 | |
| I really cannot quite fathom the impact that it must | 45:28 | |
| have had in that first century. | 45:31 | |
| But I read some lines just this week from the movie, | 45:36 | |
| The Last Picture Show, that helped me see the meaning | 45:41 | |
| that Jesus has to us today, | 45:45 | |
| and that he may have had on those who saw him then. | 45:48 | |
| Robert Rains writes in one of his books, | 45:52 | |
| Christ appeared, as he talks about how Christ | 45:55 | |
| has appeared to him recently, he said: | 45:58 | |
| Christ appeared also to me in the movie | 46:00 | |
| The Last Picture Show, a poignant view of life | 46:02 | |
| in a small Texas town. | 46:06 | |
| The town is boring, he says. | 46:07 | |
| People feel as though their options are closing off. | 46:10 | |
| They yearn for something or for someone more. | 46:13 | |
| There is much human un-fulfillment in the movie, | 46:17 | |
| but also little oases of warmth and understanding. | 46:19 | |
| A middle-aged woman talks to a young man | 46:25 | |
| about a man they both loved called Sam the Lion. | 46:28 | |
| Sam had died. | 46:32 | |
| He had been a generous, compassionate and courageous man. | 46:35 | |
| The woman had been married to someone else, | 46:39 | |
| but she loved Sam in a very special way. | 46:41 | |
| She said to this young man, you know, it's a shame | 46:46 | |
| to meet only one man in your life who knows | 46:50 | |
| what you are really worth. | 46:53 | |
| Mary, Thomas, John, Peter, Paul. | 46:58 | |
| All of them and many, many more met someone | 47:03 | |
| who knew what each of them was really worth. | 47:06 | |
| Seems rather strange, doesn't it? | 47:10 | |
| Only one person who knows what we're really worth. | 47:13 | |
| Paul's claim that last of all, Christ appeared also to me, | 47:18 | |
| boastful, arrogant, presumptuous, even absurd. | 47:21 | |
| That's another word that I thought about | 47:26 | |
| when I read this passage - absurd, isn't it? | 47:28 | |
| And some lines from Camus, the existentialist playwright, | 47:32 | |
| came back to me. At the center of man, he said, | 47:36 | |
| dominating the giant moments of his life, | 47:39 | |
| there is an essential absurdity. | 47:42 | |
| An essential absurdity. | 47:48 | |
| There are the words, sure it is. | 47:52 | |
| Absurd. | 47:55 | |
| An essential absurdity, perhaps. | 47:57 | |
| And then I remembered some words of the great | 47:59 | |
| early church writer, Tertullian, who professed one day: | 48:01 | |
| I believe in Christ because it is absurd. | 48:04 | |
| Sure it is, there you have it. | 48:09 | |
| It was absurd for the risen Christ | 48:13 | |
| to appear to Saul or Paul. | 48:15 | |
| It is absurd for the risen Christ to appear to us. | 48:17 | |
| It does not make sense. | 48:21 | |
| There is no way to understand or comprehend | 48:24 | |
| or make sense out of the living presence of Christ, | 48:26 | |
| except that maybe God in Christ really does know | 48:29 | |
| how much each of us is worth. | 48:34 | |
| And so it is absurd, but I choose to believe | 48:41 | |
| that it is more than that; it is absurdity transformed. | 48:43 | |
| Transformed into experience, transformed into reality, | 48:48 | |
| transformed into a living, ongoing, sustaining relationship. | 48:53 | |
| Belief in Christ is absurd, or as the Greek word puts it | 48:58 | |
| in the New Testament, it is skandalos, | 49:02 | |
| it is a scandal, it is a stumbling block, | 49:04 | |
| but it is absurdity transformed by the grace of God | 49:07 | |
| so that Paul could go on and write, | 49:11 | |
| "By the grace of God, I am what I am. | 49:13 | |
| And his grace toward me was not in vain." | 49:17 | |
| The word proclaiming the resurrection of our Lord, | 49:23 | |
| Jesus Christ, may seem absurd, but according to theologian | 49:25 | |
| Karl Barth, the message is itself evangel. | 49:29 | |
| It is glad tidings, news which uplifts | 49:33 | |
| and comforts and sustains. | 49:37 | |
| Once and for all, he says then, it is a proclamation of joy. | 49:40 | |
| It is not a mixed message of joy and terror, | 49:44 | |
| of salvation and damnation. | 49:48 | |
| It does not proclaim in the same breath | 49:50 | |
| both good and evil, both help and destruction, | 49:52 | |
| both life and death; it is light and not darkness, | 49:55 | |
| the first and the last word is yes and not no. | 49:59 | |
| The word was yes, to Paul. | 50:03 | |
| If I were to ask this morning, | 50:07 | |
| how many of you have ever had an experience | 50:11 | |
| where Jesus Christ has appeared to you, | 50:14 | |
| what would be your response? | 50:21 | |
| Has Christ ever appeared to you? | 50:26 | |
| If so, one might ask, how has he appeared? | 50:31 | |
| If he has not, is there any reason? | 50:36 | |
| Or, would you really want to experience the risen presence | 50:40 | |
| of Jesus the Christ? | 50:45 | |
| If you do want this, what might you expect to happen? | 50:48 | |
| Well, I happen to believe that resurrection appearances | 50:55 | |
| of Christ happened and still happen. | 50:58 | |
| In different ways, to different people, | 51:01 | |
| in different circumstances, for different reasons, | 51:04 | |
| with different expectations and different results. | 51:07 | |
| Such appearances happened differently in New Testament times | 51:10 | |
| and they do today, as well. | 51:14 | |
| So let's look for just a moment at some of the resurrection | 51:16 | |
| appearances of Jesus and see what happened. | 51:19 | |
| On the Emmaus Road, Jesus was walking along with two | 51:22 | |
| strangers who knew him not, and they were unknown to him, | 51:27 | |
| walking, talking, normal conversation | 51:31 | |
| about one who had just been killed. | 51:34 | |
| They stopped and ate. | 51:38 | |
| Who Christ was became known to them | 51:40 | |
| only after they had walked together, | 51:42 | |
| and only after they had eaten together. | 51:44 | |
| Thomas, in the upper room, gathered in a house | 51:48 | |
| in Jerusalem, talking with the other disciples. | 51:51 | |
| Friend with friend, familiar people, | 51:54 | |
| familiar places, one who was skeptical, | 51:57 | |
| unbelieving, doubting, not sure until Jesus said, | 52:00 | |
| "Put your hand here, Thomas." | 52:04 | |
| And then he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" | 52:06 | |
| Mary before the tomb, going to the tomb to show her love. | 52:11 | |
| A genuine act of both sorrow and love to express her grief, | 52:15 | |
| to remember the good times, to do all that she could | 52:20 | |
| to express her feelings. | 52:23 | |
| It may be that there was nothing more that Jesus | 52:25 | |
| could do for her, but she was going to be faithful | 52:27 | |
| and caring and loving toward Jesus, | 52:30 | |
| both to death and beyond. | 52:33 | |
| What an amazing act of utter, total, free devotion, | 52:37 | |
| and reaching out to one who had been very special to her. | 52:41 | |
| And Jesus spoke, "Mary." | 52:44 | |
| And she knew immediately who he was. | 52:47 | |
| Peter on the beach, gathered with the other disciples | 52:50 | |
| to resume their work of fishing, we would assume, | 52:53 | |
| stopping to eat fish. | 52:56 | |
| The physical presence must have been very real, | 52:58 | |
| because even Jesus himself ate some fish. | 53:01 | |
| Jesus had a concern for his continuing relationship | 53:04 | |
| with Peter, and for Peter's relationship with others. | 53:07 | |
| "Peter," he said, "do you love me?" | 53:11 | |
| Three times, he asked him, and three times when Peter | 53:13 | |
| responded yes, he said, "Feed my sheep." | 53:16 | |
| This is the kind of communion, the kind of questioning | 53:20 | |
| and sharing of words and spirits that can take place | 53:23 | |
| where there has been and where there is still a feeling | 53:26 | |
| of intimacy; Peter knew Jesus immediately. | 53:29 | |
| Saul, on the road, one might assume that he was just | 53:34 | |
| walking casually down the road to the town of Damascus. | 53:37 | |
| An enemy of Christ and of the early Christians, | 53:41 | |
| surely one who was not expecting Christ to appear to him. | 53:44 | |
| And then personal, through the call, Saul, Saul, | 53:48 | |
| and my friends, you really don't get much more personal | 53:52 | |
| or closer or more intimate than to have someone | 53:54 | |
| call you by your first name. | 53:57 | |
| Saul. | 53:59 | |
| And he responded, "Yes, Lord?" | 54:00 | |
| Looking at these experiences of various people | 54:04 | |
| as they had them with the risen Christ | 54:07 | |
| convinces me that there is not one way or one place | 54:10 | |
| or one time or one event or one experience or one need, | 54:14 | |
| one way in which one might experience the Christ. | 54:18 | |
| We may be up or down, happy or sad, believing or doubting, | 54:21 | |
| we may be critic or enemy, we may be friend or stranger. | 54:25 | |
| We may be ready or not ready, but the word is clear. | 54:28 | |
| Serendipity, that is unexpected, renewing, | 54:32 | |
| and memorable experiences with the risen Christ | 54:36 | |
| can and do happen. | 54:39 | |
| Will you note three other things? | 54:46 | |
| All of those to whom Christ appeared were doing routine, | 54:48 | |
| simple, day to day things: walking, eating, fishing. | 54:51 | |
| Visiting the tomb. | 54:56 | |
| Secondly, not one of them expected Christ to appear. | 54:58 | |
| Every one of them was surprised when he came. | 55:00 | |
| Third, the appearances were not spectacular or overwhelming. | 55:05 | |
| As a matter of fact, it seems to me that Jesus | 55:09 | |
| really tried to downplay what was happening. | 55:12 | |
| Kept calm, spoke to them and said, "Peace be with you." | 55:16 | |
| It's too bad, I believe, that we have romanticized | 55:21 | |
| and glamorized the appearances of the risen Christ, | 55:25 | |
| for this is our loss and a great loss it is, I believe, | 55:29 | |
| for now somehow or other we think that in order to know | 55:33 | |
| and meet and experience the presence of Christ, | 55:36 | |
| something dramatic or overpowering or miraculous | 55:39 | |
| or stupendous must occur, and this, I believe, is not so. | 55:42 | |
| The real miracle of the coming of Jesus, in his birth, | 55:48 | |
| life, death, resurrection and risen appearances, | 55:51 | |
| is that he came to live with us, in us, among us, | 55:54 | |
| right where we are, just as we are, | 55:58 | |
| and not in some idealized or glorified time or space | 56:01 | |
| or place, but to be with us in the simple beauties, | 56:05 | |
| the hard realities of life as it is. | 56:08 | |
| I was teaching a study of the Book of Revelation recently. | 56:13 | |
| And some persons were surprised when I remarked to the group | 56:18 | |
| that I do not consider myself to be really a, quote, | 56:21 | |
| spiritual person, unquote. | 56:24 | |
| That is spiritual in the sense of one who is something | 56:27 | |
| of a mystic, or one who spends a great deal of time | 56:31 | |
| in prayer or meditation or reflection, | 56:34 | |
| or to put it in other words, I do not feel, | 56:36 | |
| quote/unquote, the presence of Christ, | 56:40 | |
| or the presence and the spirit of God very often. | 56:42 | |
| I have had some moments and some experience | 56:45 | |
| that I would call spiritual, as most people would. | 56:48 | |
| But I feel somewhat like a woman I was talking with | 56:52 | |
| recently who said to me, "I have a hard time | 56:55 | |
| believing in a God up there or out there somewhere. | 56:59 | |
| A sense of the presence of God, outside me | 57:04 | |
| and outside other persons, I find hard to understand. | 57:07 | |
| "But," she said, "I do know what it is to experience | 57:11 | |
| the love of God, the presence of Christ in other people. | 57:14 | |
| The love of God in friend to friend or person | 57:18 | |
| to person experiences, as they love, | 57:21 | |
| care, walk with, support and listen. | 57:25 | |
| Yes, she said, I feel I can know God this way." | 57:28 | |
| And so do I. | 57:35 | |
| I wish this morning so very, very much, | 57:36 | |
| that we had not, over the years, overdramatized, | 57:40 | |
| overplayed and exaggerated the resurrection appearances | 57:43 | |
| of Jesus; he really did come to be with people. | 57:46 | |
| Very common, ordinary, plain folk in their everyday, | 57:49 | |
| routine, familiar places. | 57:54 | |
| So perhaps again, if we could read again | 57:56 | |
| the stories of the resurrection appearances | 57:59 | |
| and clear away all of the trappings and all of the excess | 58:02 | |
| dramatics that we've grown accustomed to, | 58:05 | |
| then we could know and be ready for and anticipate | 58:08 | |
| and then experience the presence of Christ more, | 58:13 | |
| day by day, as we know it and live it. | 58:18 | |
| A tear, a sigh, a hug, a word, a prayer, | 58:22 | |
| a touch of one's hand, a song. | 58:28 | |
| A look that goes right into your very soul. | 58:32 | |
| A feeling that someone loves, a feeling | 58:36 | |
| of knowing someone cares, a caring for someone else. | 58:38 | |
| Yes, my friends, this morning the word is | 58:44 | |
| that there surely is someone who knows | 58:47 | |
| what each of us is worth. | 58:51 | |
| And then, last of all, as to one untimely born, | 58:56 | |
| Christ appeared also to me. | 59:02 | |
| And to you. | 59:06 | |
| (swelling symphonic music) | 59:43 | |
| (echoing choral music) | 1:00:08 | |
| - | Let us unite in this historic confession | 1:03:08 |
| of the Christian faith. | 1:03:12 | |
| I believe in God, the Father almighty, | 1:03:14 | |
| maker of heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, | 1:03:18 | |
| his only son, our Lord, who was conceived | 1:03:22 | |
| by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, | 1:03:26 | |
| suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, | 1:03:30 | |
| dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead, | 1:03:34 | |
| he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand | 1:03:40 | |
| of God the Father almighty. | 1:03:44 | |
| From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. | 1:03:46 | |
| I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, | 1:03:51 | |
| the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, | 1:03:56 | |
| the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. | 1:04:01 | |
| Amen. | 1:04:06 | |
| Congregation, be seated. | 1:04:09 | |
| The Lord be with you. | 1:04:17 | |
| Congregation | And also with you. | 1:04:20 |
| - | Let us pray. | 1:04:21 |
| O holy God, loving God, God of justice and mercy, | 1:04:24 | |
| we rejoice that you came to us in human form. | 1:04:32 | |
| That you know our temptations, our pain, suffering, hopes. | 1:04:37 | |
| We give you thanks that Jesus lived and died as one of us. | 1:04:44 | |
| We rejoice in the assurance of our Easter faith. | 1:04:50 | |
| That nothing can separate us from your love. | 1:04:55 | |
| That death did not destroy or conquer Jesus our Lord | 1:04:59 | |
| and redeemer, yet in our joy we find sadness and darkness, | 1:05:05 | |
| for we are still struggling. | 1:05:12 | |
| Our memories are short, so send your spirit to remind us | 1:05:15 | |
| of Jesus's presence with us, to sustain us. | 1:05:23 | |
| Open our eyes and give us hope that we may live | 1:05:29 | |
| in love with you and our neighbor. | 1:05:34 | |
| Sensitive and caring for those who are poor, | 1:05:38 | |
| broken-hearted, imprisoned, blind, | 1:05:43 | |
| bruised, caught in graves of their own making, | 1:05:48 | |
| or pushed into graves of our selfishness and pride. | 1:05:54 | |
| So hear our prayers, O God, for ourselves | 1:06:00 | |
| and our brothers and sisters. | 1:06:04 | |
| Some oppressed, some caught in a web | 1:06:07 | |
| of injustice and apathy, some cut off from each other | 1:06:11 | |
| by mistrust and hate; we pray, O God, that we will be | 1:06:16 | |
| your servants in leading the powerless to freedom, | 1:06:22 | |
| the despised to new dignity and respect. | 1:06:26 | |
| And those caught in chains of mistrust and fear and anger | 1:06:30 | |
| to release, and healing, and freedom. | 1:06:36 | |
| Give to your church, O God, a vision of the total liberation | 1:06:40 | |
| of all of your people. | 1:06:44 | |
| Grand us the wisdom to hear the voice of the foolish | 1:06:46 | |
| of the world, to listen to the weak, the crucified. | 1:06:49 | |
| Be with us when we shrink from responsibility of commitment, | 1:06:54 | |
| the uncertainty of the dessert, | 1:07:00 | |
| and the conflict of the cross. | 1:07:02 | |
| So that we too may be raised. | 1:07:06 | |
| O God, we do feel crucifixion and rejection, | 1:07:09 | |
| and so remain locked in our bonds of fear, | 1:07:13 | |
| rather than to move with you in covenant | 1:07:16 | |
| into the promised land. | 1:07:20 | |
| Teach us to share with all people the healing | 1:07:22 | |
| and forgiveness you shared with us. | 1:07:25 | |
| And hear us as we pray the prayer Jesus taught us. | 1:07:30 | |
| Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. | 1:07:35 | |
| They kingdom come, they will be done, | 1:07:41 | |
| on Earth as it is in heaven. | 1:07:45 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 1:07:48 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses, | 1:07:51 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 1:07:54 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 1:07:58 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 1:08:00 | |
| For thine is the kingdom and the power | 1:08:03 | |
| and the glory forever. | 1:08:07 | |
| Amen. | 1:08:09 | |
| (operatic choral music) | 1:08:25 | |
| (dramatic horn music) | 1:08:59 | |
| (operatic singing) | 1:09:37 | |
| (overlapping choral music) | 1:10:23 | |
| (reverent organ music) | 1:17:10 | |
| (choral music) | 1:17:31 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, ♪ | 1:17:43 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, ♪ | 1:17:46 | |
| (choral music) | 1:17:50 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, ♪ | 1:18:03 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, ♪ | 1:18:06 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, ♪ | 1:18:09 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah, ♪ | 1:18:12 | |
| ♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 1:18:16 | |
| ♪ Amen ♪ | 1:18:24 | |
| (organ music) | 1:19:12 | |
| (dramatic symphonic music) | 1:19:45 | |
| If you are in Christ, you become a new creature. | 1:23:09 | |
| All things pass away, all things become new. | 1:23:14 | |
| Go now, and may this knowledge and hope sustain you | 1:23:20 | |
| tomorrow and all the days to come. | 1:23:24 | |
| (overlapping choral music) | 1:23:30 | |
| (intricate organ music) | 1:23:49 |
Item Info
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