04/29/2012 ~ Fourth Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18 ~ 5th Sunday Hymn Sing.

Actions and Words

“My children, our love must not simply be words or pure talk.  It must be true love, which shows itself to be true in action.” — 1 John 3:18

There is a thesis gaining popularity and I think I buy into it.  The thesis says talent is overrated.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Neither I nor this thesis which claims talent is overrated dismisses talent, per se.

So let me try to put what sounds like a dismissal of talent into everyday language.  If I had the talent to hit a golf ball 300 yards, I would not be in the pulpit each Sunday morning.  I’d be teeing up for the final round of a PGA event right?  But I don’t have the talent to hit a golf ball 300 yards.

And as an aside, just so I’m clear about this— Bonnie says my driving may not be good enough for the tour, but it’s not my driving that has kept me off the tour.  It’s my putting.

My personal problems with putting aside, I’m sure you get the point of the golf analogy.  Talent is not just important.  It is necessary.  And no one is dismissing the necessity of talent.

But if no one is dismissing the necessity of talent, how can it be said that talent is overrated?  (Slight pause.)  We now live in a scientific age.  Modern research pierces hocus-pocus ideas.  So, today we realize, for instance, that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was, at an early age, not blessed by the gods with an innate ability to compose.  That is simply a silly idea.

Today we understand the early abilities Mozart displayed were not the product of some supernaturally large gift.  That’s because we realize the early compositions he produced were nothing particularly special but were actually take offs of other people’s work, based on things he had probably heard.

Don’t misunderstand the thrust here: Mozart was very, very good, a very talented musician and that talent could be seen at a very early age.  But today he would be seen as exceptional only when placed among other youngsters who are musically run of the mill.  Given his early work, Mozart would not stand out as superior or extraordinary when considered among today’s top prodigies.

Coming back to golf, what Mozart had was the same thing Tiger Woods had— an ability to acutely focus for long periods of time on one thing, one area, and he had a father intent on improving the skills his son exhibited.  Mozart played a lot of piano at a very young age.  And Mozart also had the ability to synthesize, to analyze, to understand, to internalize, what he learned.

Woods played a lot of golf at a very young age.  And Woods also had the ability to synthesize, to analyze, to understand, to internalize, what he learned.

Further, it’s quite likely both Mozart and Woods got in 10,000 hours of practice early.  Hence, Tiger and Amadeus were able to build from practice and ability to the places they eventually moved.

In short, it is only once he honed the talent that he had that Mozart became an extraordinary composer.  It is only once he honed the talent that he had that Woods became an extraordinary golfer.  I do need to stress that an ability to synthesize, to analyze, to internalize is necessary.  And these cannot be separated from working intensely at a craft for a long period of time.

Indeed, let me come back to that 10,000 hours of practice, because that number is not plucked out of thin air.  The latest research suggests a prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world is in order.

The latest research claims a key factor in separating the accomplished from the run of the mill is not some divine spark.  It is not even a high I.Q.

Indeed, key factor separating geniuses from the accomplished from the run of the mill is deliberate, intentional practice.  But let me offer one additional definition.  Practice is not merely repetition.

In this case the word practice means performance, engagement, working at a craft, until it is synthesized and internalized.  And the research says top performers are the ones who rigorously practice, engage their craft.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as First John: “My children, our love must not simply be words or pure talk.  It must be true love, which shows itself to be true in action.”  (Slight pause.)

In her work Leaving Church, the Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor says this (quote): “The whole purpose of the Bible, it seems to me, is to convince people to set the written word down in order to become living words in the world for God’s sake.  For me, this willing conversion of ink back to blood— of ink back to blood— is the full substance of faith.”  (Slight pause.)

As I hope you saw by the narrative I offered after you start with some talent, even if it’s just a little talent, there are two strains in a discussion about how someone becomes good at something.  One is study.  The second is performance, engagement.  One needs to study.  Knowledge is necessary.  Given study, performance can be empowered when performance, engagement, is what follows.

I have, however, misled you a little by using Mozart and Woods as examples.  Why?  I am not talking about attaining a genius level here.  The claim I’m making is that pretty near anyone can get at least good through study and engagement.

You see, when I started to golf, I was lucky to hit a drive 100 yards.  Sometimes I was lucky to hit a drive 50 yards.

Where am I at now, after some study and practice?  Provided I hit the ball well— not always a given— but provided I hit the ball well, I can get it out to about 200 yards, sometimes more.  And I can hit it fairly straight.  Or as Bonnie likes to say, the squirrels in the woods no longer have to wear hard hats when I’m on the course.

Now, it’s unlikely— no, it’s not unlikely— it’s not possible that I will ever hit the ball 300 yards.  I am not that talented.  But I am happy to be where I am at— not a superstar— just a guy out there playing.  And I am happy to be me, to do what I do on the course.

My mentor in ministry and my friend, the Reverend Dr. Bill Imes, on short notice was once called on to preach at a meeting in place of a preacher with national reputation.  I asked him if he was worried.

He said he was not at all worried.  All he could be was himself in the pulpit.  So, he would be himself and that would be just fine.  He also said he figured that’s what God wanted of each of us.  Be yourself; honesty counts.

Indeed, it has been said God does not call us because of our talent.  God calls us because of our willingness.  So, perhaps the question is this: are we willing to study what Scripture has to offer about the dominion of God and, having studied in an effort to discern the call of God, are we willing to participate in the dominion?

Put in a more colloquial way, are we willing not just to talk the talk?  Are we willing to also walk the walk?  Are we willing to put our words into action?

There are, after all, about 2,500 verses in the Bible about the poor.  And nearly all of them call on us to help the poor.  And absolutely none of them blame the poor for being poor— none of them blame the poor for being poor.

You see, a question for us is this: ‘when we wrestle with Scripture, when we wrestle with the Word, are we, then, in turn, called to action?  Or, in the words of the Biblical scholar Miguel De La Torre (quote): “There are consequences when we truly wrestle with the biblical text, when we struggle to see the face of God.”  (Slight pause.)

There is an old saying which runs this way: “Jacob was a cheater.  Peter had a temper.  David had an affair.  Noah got drunk.  Jonah ran away from God.  Paul committed murder.  Gideon was insecure.  Marian gossiped.  Martha worried.  Thomas doubted.  Sarah was impatient.  Elijah was depressed.  Moses stuttered.  Zaccheus was short.  Abraham was old.  And, of course, Lazarus was dead.    But God does not call the qualified.  God qualifies the called.”  (Slight pause.)

So, what does it mean to live one’s life fully?  I want to suggest that we need to practice, engage.  We need to practice living.  But, most of all, it means we need to be willing to participate in the dominion of God, to practice what we preach.

And I think that’s what the writer of First John is getting at when these words were recorded (quote): “My children, our love must not simply be words or pure talk.  It must be true love, which shows itself to be true in action.”  Amen.

04/29/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: (The pastor holds up a small wooden cross which was used at the Children’s Time and has people painted on the front and says:) “I think this cross, with people on it, can be a reminder that we are not just a community.  We are all one in Christ and we are called by God to act as one in Christ.”

BENEDICTION: We are invited to make God’s house our home.  We are equipped by the grace of God to help others on their journeys.  God leads us beside still waters and restores our soul.  God’s love in Jesus, the Christ, has blessed us and we shall dwell in the house of the true shepherd.  Amen.

SERMON ~ 04/22/2012 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ Repentance and Forgiveness

04/22/2012 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48.

Repentance and Forgiveness

“Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, ‘That is why the Scriptures say the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in the name of the Messiah to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of all this.’” — Luke 24: 45-48.

As most of you know, I have been serving this church since 1996.  Only the Rev. Mr. Samuel Scoville, who served from 1861 to 1879, served a longer stint as pastor here.

I mention the distance from the time I arrived because I want to address something I distinctly remember saying from this pulpit when I first got here.  I said the biggest problem our nation faced is a lack of critical thinking on the part of its citizens.

As I listened to the radio just this morning I heard an interview with the well known African-American Pastor, T. D. Jakes, who was plugging his latest book.  He said (and I quote) “people have stopped thinking.”  So, I am not the only one worried about this.

However, I realize there are other issues.  The problem is both more complex and more subtle than simply a dearth of critical thinking.  Among other problems, our populace is not well served by what has loosely been called the “the media.”  This would include both the so called “main stream media” and even the not so main stream media.

Let me offer one simple example of a media problem: the reporting done on presidential polling.  It feels like a new poll about the approaching presidential election comes out several times a week.

With each new poll one candidate goes up and one candidate goes down.  The numbers seem to change daily.  And new attention is given to the numbers by members of the fourth estate daily.

I probably don’t have to tell you, the vast majority of these polls are taken on a nation-wide basis.  Hence, the key question they ask and try to answer is this: what do a majority of people across the nation, right now— never mind on Election Day in November but right now— what do a majority of the people think when it comes the candidate for whom they might cast a ballot.

Well, you might make the argument that only the real voting in November will mean something, so why even bother taking a poll?  But I would suggest polls do give us information of some value.  For instance, they can detect trends.

However, there is one very, very big caveat which by far too few people seem to talk about.  No one, no news organization, no polling organization, takes the poll which really needs to be taken.

You see, the only polls being run are, as I said, nation-wide.  These are of little or no value.  Why?  That’s not how we elect a president.  We do not elect a president by popular vote— never have.  We do not elect a president on a single national ballot— never have.

We elect a president on fifty separate state ballots, on a state by state by state basis according to the combined number of representatives and senators each state has in congress.  Hence, in order to really take the pulse of the electorate, you need to do 50 separate, individual state by state polls.

What does the nation think, as a whole?  That question does not matter in a presidential election.  The so called “electoral college” renders national numbers for the popular vote meaningless.

To use some real math here, in the 2008 election John McCain garnered just under 46% of the popular vote.  And the final 2008 nation-wide polls were, in fact, fairly accurate, within a percentage point, when it came to predicting the total popular vote.

But McCain won only 32% of the vote in the Electoral College.  So those polls were off by, oh, a mere 14% with the only vote which really counts— the Electoral College vote.  (Slight pause.)  And yet still we listen to these statistics about nation-wide polling and these statistics are constantly publicized, given credence even.  These statistics are totally meaningless.

Why are these statistics gathered?  Why do we pay attention?  Who is wrong here?  Is it the media or is it us?

Is this just a good way for the media to sell advertising space?  Or is the media actually trying to hide the reality from us?

Or do we simply and willfully— willfully— ignore the reality of how the presidential election operates?  Or is the real problem perhaps that we are readily and easily mislead?  Have we stopped thinking?  (Pause.)

And these words are from the work commonly referred to as Luke: “Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (the pastor repeats this phrase for emphasis: understand the Scriptures) and said to them, ‘That is why the Scriptures say the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in the name of the Messiah to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of all this.’”  (Slight pause.)

As I said at the start, I have been serving this church since 1996.  In all that time, I believe I have been pretty consistent with a basic message.

And as I have noted before, Tom Rasely even wrote a song about it: It All Comes Down to This.  Love neighbor; love God.  There’s nothing very tricky; there’s nothing very hard.

Equally, you need to wonder why we pay any attention at all to the polling I outlined earlier.  There is nothing tricky and hard about the Electoral College system, if you pay attention to how it operates, if you think.

And the message in Scripture is not tricky or hard, if you pay attention, if you think.  Loving neighbor and loving God, the eternal covenant with God, should leap off nearly every page of the Bible, if we read carefully, if we think.

That leads to a pair of very simple questions based in the Gospel passage read today.  “What is repentance and what is forgiveness?”

I find many people don’t like the words ‘repentance’ and ‘forgiveness.’  Perhaps they simply don’t know what these words mean.  But the real meanings of these words are not tricky or hard to discern.

You see, many people think repentance means being sorry.  And many think, if you’ve done nothing wrong, why do you need forgiveness.

However, theologically, Biblically, the word ‘repentance’ does not in any way mean being sorry.  Repentance means turning toward God, offering one’s life to God, committing one’s self to be in partnership with God— repentance.  (Slight pause.)

Yeah, but what about this forgiveness stuff?  (Slight pause.)  Tell me, do you know anyone who is perfect?  (The pastor looks at his wife and says: “Put your hand down Bonnie.”)  O.K.  Then, in the human sense, we all need to be forgiven on some level.

Even so, that kind of forgiveness is not what forgiveness is about in the theological or Biblical sense.  Theological forgiveness means God accepts us no matter where we’re at.

Or, to paraphrase the slogan so popular in our denomination, ‘no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey,’ God loves you.  So, theologically, Biblically, forgiveness is not about being forgiven for wrong doing.  Theologically, Biblically, forgiveness is about the love God offers to each of us and to all of us no matter where we are or what we’ve done.

I guess what I am trying to say is we need to use just a smidgeon of critical thinking when it comes to Scripture.  And just like how people follow the polls at election time, when we pay attention to the wrong thing, to poor analysis, we can be mislead.  When we treat repentance or forgiveness as if they meant being sorry or needing mercy for doing something wrong, we are looking at the wrong things.

And there is nothing tricky or hard about this.  Repentance: strive to be in partnership with God.  Forgiveness: God loves us no matter what happens.

And Tom is right in his lyric.  There is nothing very tricky and nothing very hard about understanding Scripture.  Love neighbor; love God.  Amen.

04/22/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “There is one other thing I’ve stressed in my time here.  It’s that the covenant God makes with humanity can be traced throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.  And when this passage says “Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” that’s what it getting at.  The Bible, as a whole, is the story of God’s journey with humanity and it is the story of the unconditional love God has for humanity.”

BENEDICTION: Let us place our trust in God.  Let us go from this place to share the Good News as we are witnesses.  And this is, indeed, the Good News: by God we are blessed; in Jesus, the Christ, the beloved of God, we are made whole.  Let us depart in confidence and joy that the Spirit of God is with us and let us carry Christ in our hearts.  Amen.

04/15/2012 ~ Second Sunday of Easter ~ The Message of the Resurrection

04/15/2012 ~ Second Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 133; 1 John 1:1-2:2 ; John 20:19-31.

The Message of the Resurrection

“This, then, is the message we have heard from Jesus, the Christ, and proclaim to you, that God is light and in God the light is never absent, there is no night at all.” — 1 John 1:5.

What do I believe? (Slight pause.) How should I believe? (Slight pause.) Who am I? (Slight pause.) Diana Butler Bass says these are the three questions organized religion has centered on for hundreds of years. What do I believe? (Slight pause.) How do I believe? (Slight pause.) Who am I? [1] (Slight pause.)

I have, several times before, mentioned Diana Butler Bass. She is a church historian. She is a member of the laity. She is an Episcopalian. She is a best selling author of books about the current state of the church.

I, in fact, used words of Bass as the Thought for Meditation in the Easter Sunday bulletin. (Quote:) “The point isn’t that you believe in the resurrection. Any fool can believe in a resurrection from the dead. The point is that you trust in the resurrection. And that’s much, much harder to do.”

In a recent article Bass said religion always entails the three “Bs” used in those questions I asked at the start— believing, behaving and belonging. [2] However, over the course centuries, the meaning of believing, behaving and belonging has been looked at in different ways.

Bass says for the last 300 years or so these believing, behaving and belonging questions have been translated into something other than what they might seem to ask on the surface. Believing has meant: ‘What does my church say I should think about God?’ Behaving has meant: ‘What are the rules my church asks me to follow?’ Belonging has meant: ‘What does it mean to be a faithful church member?’

You probably noticed the meanings of the questions have to do not with the individual and with the community and even with the church. These questions are about authority. More importantly, they are about who wields authority.

And that’s the rub. In our era, in the modern era, in the 21st Century, questions about believing, behaving and belonging as these relate to authority have become meaningless. This is especially true with young people.

Why is the data suggesting young people attend church less and less? Believing, behaving and belonging questions have been and often are being asked in ways which are alien to them. These questions are being asked as if they are about authority.

Today, states Bass, believing, behaving and belonging questions are less about authority and who wields it and have become more personal. Bass suggests these alternatives. How do I believe? What should I believe? [3] Whose am I?

Put this way, the underlying questions, the real questions being asked, become: ‘How do I understand faith, especially when it seems to conflict with science and pluralism?’ ‘How do my actions make a difference in the world?’ ‘How do my relationships shape me and shape my understanding of self?’

Please notice, believing, behaving, and belonging still matter. Those are there in the questions. But the ways in which people engage each area have undergone a revolution. The questions I just recited are 21st Century questions. (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as First John: “This, then, is the message we have heard from Jesus, the Christ, and proclaim to you, that God is light and in God the light is never absent, there is no night at all.” (Slight pause.)

There is a television commercial currently running about how computers can empower and connect people. The commercial features a landscaping company in Minnesota. Except the commercial takes place in the Winter and you don’t do landscaping in Minnesota in the Winter— at least not garden landscaping. You do snow plowing.

So, the commercial explains how computers help the people of this company, who do snow plowing in the winter, react to the quick changing mid-winter weather conditions in Minnesota. And how do computers help?

Everyone in the chain of command can communicate instantaneously with everyone else and anyone in the chain of command, people out in the field at midnight, can make a determination about a change in how a job is being done, about sending a plow to a different location. Power is decentralized and placed in the hands of the people.

Everyone is empowered to react to conditions. Everyone is empowered to make changes. Everyone is an equal part of the command structure. Or, at least, that’s what the commercial is selling— individual empowerment. No they are not selling computers. They are selling individual empowerment.

And that, individual empowerment, is actually the really big discussion we are having in society today. Is each person going to be both empowered and empowering? Or, as we move forward, will we live in a society that is top down, much as it has been, frankly, for centuries, where all decisions are made for us and we are told what to do. (Slight pause.)

Earlier I quoted that Easter Thought for Meditation written by Bass. Let me do it again. “The point isn’t that you believe in the resurrection. Any fool can believe in a resurrection from the dead. The point is that you trust in the resurrection. And that’s much, much harder to do.” (Slight pause. The next phrase is whispered:) It’s about you!

In the course of the service on Easter Sunday I make sure I remind people about two things. First, resurrection is a Jewish premise. It predates Christianity.

I also remind people we need to understand a very basic theological aspect about resurrection. Resurrection is not and never was considered resuscitation or reanimation. It is not about a body coming back to life in the same way it had been living.

Resurrection is what it says it is: resurrection. It is, therefore, unlike any other human experience. (Slight pause.)

So, what is the message of resurrection? What does it mean? What do we, you and I, think it means? (Slight pause.)

The statement made by the writer of First John (quote:) “...God is light and in God the light is never absent, there is no night at all.” That is beautifully, wonderfully, magnificently poetic and absolutely ambiguous. It is meant to be so.

Equally, that kind of statement means discerning what the resurrection means is up to me. It is my individual responsibility to decide what the resurrection means for me.

Now, since I am called to the ministry of sharing the Word, that’s what I do. I try to share the Word. I try to share what the message of Jesus, what the message of Christianity means to me.

Equally, however, I do not try or I hope I do not try impose what I believe on anyone else. Why?

You see, the point of all of us gathering as the church is not what the resurrection or Christianity or the reality of God means to me, Pastor Joe. The point is what the resurrection, Christianity, the reality of God means to means to you, each and every one of you.

And, in the words of Diana Butler Bass, “Any fool can believe in a resurrection from the dead. The point is that you trust in the resurrection.” (Slight pause.)

For me at least, trusting in the resurrection— trusting God— is the point. And I cannot trust God for you. I can be a guide, a mentor, a coach, a pastor. But you need to trust God for yourself.

And that, my friends, is not just the challenge of life in the 21st Century. That is, I think, the challenge of Christianity.

So, the question to be asked is not ‘do you believe in God?’ Any fool can do that. Can you, can we, come to a point in the relationship with God where trusting God becomes central to that relationship?

So, what does the resurrection mean? Trust God. Amen.

04/22/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have said this here before. The theologian Nicholas Thomas Wright states that New Testament times were not unlike today, the 21st Century. In New Testament times nearly everybody believed in the gods or in a God. Very few took it seriously. And today nearly everybody believed in the gods or in a God. Very few take it seriously. And what do we need to do to take God seriously? Trust God.”

BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing: we go into the world carrying forth God’s love. Let us go from this place and offer the peace of God which surpasses all understanding to all we meet, and may the Peace of Christ keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and companionship of the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sanctifier, this day and forever more. Amen.

[1] It does need to be noted that the pastor mis-spoke in attempting to quote Bass at this point. The second question should have been “How do I behave?”

[2] This is where that article can be found:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-butler-bass/a-resurrected-christianit_b_1410143.html

[3] To give Bass her due the pastor once again misquoted her. Here it should have read: “What should I do?”

04/08/2012 ~ Sermon ~ Easter Sunday ~ “Speaking to the Silence”

04/08/2012 ~ Resurrection of the Lord ~ Easter Day ~ Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8 ~ Used Isaiah 25:6-9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7; John 20:1-18 ~ Used: John 19:31-34, 38-42 [ILV]; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 [ILV]; Mark 16:1-8 [ILV].

Speaking to the Silence

“So they went out and fled from the tomb, bewildered, trembling and amazed;....” — Mark 16:8.

It was still early in the morning. The sun had barely come up over the Judean hills. And yet, the three women had been running for quite a while. They were exhausted.

Magdala, always the most astute of the three, noticed a cave off to the left of the dusty road, pointed and said, “There. Let’s get in there.”

She fell in behind Mary and Salome. It seemed as if it was by a shear act of her will, by her physical presence, rather than by any use of brut force, that she prodded to the other two women toward the craggy opening.

Once they had moved into the shadows, beyond the mouth of the crevice, she said: “Go. And keep going. Don’t stop.”

And go they did. Deeper and deeper into the cavern they went until they were enveloped by a darkness comparable to a moonless night.

Once the light had become that dim, Magdala gave another command. “Good. Stop. Sit.” And sit they did. (Slight pause.)

As deep as they were inside the cave, they could no longer hear any sounds from the world beyond the opening. Since they had been running, it was not totally silent. Indeed, at first, all that could be heard was the sound of heavy breathing, as each of them recuperated from running. Still, a sense of real silence— that being disconnected from the reality of noise— enveloped them as they sat with their thoughts.

Once they had recovered, once their breathing had become less labored, it was not long before Salome started to weep loudly. Tears had actually been streaming from her eyes for quite some time, but now she was sobbing.

Mags— all Magdala’s friends called her by that nickname— Mags slid over to where Salome was and hugged her friend. “It’s all right, Sal. It’s all right.”

Salome seemed to calm down a little. Between sobs she finally said, “I’m frightened.”

Mags said nothing. She just squeezed her a little tighter.

“I’m frightened too,” offered Mary, trying to reassure Salome.

In the midst of her crying, Salome tried to ask a question. “Was... was... was that an angel in the tomb?”

Magdala was compassionate but rarely tactful. “I don’t know if it was an angel,” she said. “I don’t know what an angel looks like. I’ve never seen one.”

“I do know an angel is a messenger from God. And I do know what we heard certainly sounded like a message from God.”

Mags paused and then said, “You know, there did seem to be— I, I don’t know what to call it— a haze of light all around us as we heard those words.” She hesitated slightly. “And, well, now that you’ve said it out loud— yes, perhaps it was an angel. Perhaps it was a message from God.”

With that Mary began to sob too. “Mary— what’s wrong?” asked Mags.

“Now I’m really frightened. I’m not sure I want to hear a message from God.” Mags slid over to Mary and hugged her even harder than she had hugged Salome.

Ever practical, Mags was blunt: “Being frightened is not going to help. We need to try to figure out what is happening, what has happened.”

Whether it was the directness of the statement or the logic of the statement or simply the fact that Mags had reached out to her friends and given them both a bear hug did not matter. The result was Mary and Salome suddenly became calm.

“O.K.” said Mags. “What did happen?”

“Well, when we got to the tomb,” offered Salome, “it was open. The stone was rolled away.”

“Who was there?” asked Mags.

Mary jumped in. “I think it was an angel.”

“Why?”

“We heard a message. We are all in agreement about that, right?”

“Yes,” said Mags, but persisted in her questioning. “And what was that message?”

Salome repeated what they had all heard. “Do not be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the One who was crucified. He has been raised and is not here.”

“That’s what we heard.”said Mags. “That’s what was said. What was the message? There is always more in a message than what is said. What were we supposed to understand?”

“Even though we are afraid, I think we are not supposed to be,” said Salome.

“Yes. What else.”

“We need to go tell Peter and the others?”

“Yes. But all that is still only what we heard. What is it we need to know? What is it we need to understand?”

“Somehow Jesus is alive?” offered Mary. “Somehow Jesus has been raised?”

“I think there must be more to it,” Mags said. “But I can’t figure it out. Maybe... maybe we do need to go tell the others. That might help. Let’s head back.”

Mags stood. The others followed her lead. Together, they moved toward the light at the opening of the cave.

They had nearly come to the entrance when Mary said, “Wait! Wait! I know! I have it. If Jesus was not there, then somehow God acted. God raised Jesus. Is that not what Jesus said would happen?”

“Yes!” said Salome. “Yes! But that means more than Jesus is alive. That also means, somehow, Jesus predicted what came to pass.”

“Yes!” said Mary. “It means we can trust in the promises God makes.”

“Yes!” said Mags. “But it means even more than that. It means we can place our whole lives in God’s care. It means we can trust God.” (Slight pause.)

They moved out into a bright morning light at the entrance to the cave. Having been in the dark for so long, at first they needed to shield their eyes and feel their way along the path.

Once they had become accustomed to the light Mags took charge again and pointed down the road toward town. The three of them set off in silence. A couple of minutes later, separately, each of them realized they were all weeping. Silently, without a word being spoken, they reached out and held hands.

“Who should we tell first?” asked Mary.

“Peter,” said Mags.

“And who after that?” asked Salome.

“Everyone,” said Mags.

Hand in hand in hand, the three of them walked down the road together. And they knew what they would say. Hold on to each other. Trust God. Jesus has been raised. Amen.

04/08/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I am sure the well known American composer Irving Berlin was a nice fellow. I hold nothing against him. Among other works, he wrote the songs Easter Parade and It’s a Lovely Day, Happy Easter. But these are not Christian sentiments. These are secular sentiments. If someone walks up to you today and says, ‘Happy Easter’ shake their hand and say, ‘Christ is risen.’”

BENEDICTION AND UNISON PRAYER — PASTOR: Hear now this blessing and then please join with me in the responsive Easter acclamation found in the bulletin;
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the love of Christ, Jesus, and in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit this day and forever.
ONE: Rejoice, people of God! Christ is risen from the dead! Go in peace to love and serve God. Christ is with you always. Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
ALL: Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia!