I Have Seen The Risen Lord
“Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!”
Good morning and Happy Easter! Welcome to St. James’ on this Easter Day! It is good to have you here. Good to see so many faces gathered together to celebrate our Risen Lord.
We began our service by singing, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”…which I always look forward to singing each year. The first verse says, “…who did once upon the cross, suffer to redeem our loss.” He did, “once upon the cross, suffer to redeem our loss.” Christ died upon the cross. He was buried and He rose again and that is why we are here this morning.
We are here because we serve a Risen Lord and this day quite arguably is the most important day on our Christian Church calendar. For if Jesus had not risen from the grave, Christianity is meaningless.
We begin the day with a joy filled proclamation. That Christ is Risen, but our Gospel text begins while it is still dark and Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. This account is different from other accounts because it seems that Mary was alone as she came to the tomb and she saw that the stone had been removed. She runs to tells Simon Peter and John (the one whom Jesus loved), and her first reaction was that the Lord had been taken.
Each of us have different reactions to the empty tomb. Each of us have different reactions to the Risen Lord.
Mary, Peter, & John each have different reactions in this account.
Mary went and got Simon Peter and John and they ran to the tomb. John, outran Peter the text tells us, and arrived first - he looked in but he paused. He waited for Peter to arrive before he went in, and then Peter, in true Peter fashion, went in first.
John, the text tells us, “saw and believed” as soon as he entered the tomb. Until this point, the disciples had not understood what had been told to them–that Jesus must rise from the dead. But at that moment, something clicked for John. He believed.
We don’t know what Peter’s immediate reaction was. They returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.
We don’t know why Mary didn’t go in. In grief, we all respond differently. There is no right or wrong and reactions are widespread and varied. Mary was grieving. Her Lord had been killed. She eventually bent over and looked in and she saw two angels who asked why she was weeping. We don’t know what her reaction was to seeing the two angels, whether this seemed extraordinary or not to her, whether she even realized they were angels - they asked “ Whom are you looking for?”
Do you know whom you are looking for? Often we see what we are looking for we are told. But do you know whom you are looking for when you look to Christ? What sort of Lord do you expect him to be and how might who the Lord portray himself to be, be different than your images of God?
Mary in her grief, turned and saw Jesus standing there and didn’t know that it is was Jesus we are told. Sometimes in our grief, in the freneticness (another word Tom Woolfolk may ask if I made up - yes I did- it fits!) that follows our grief, we don’t see or think clearly. But Jesus spoke. “Mary”. She turned and knew. When she heard him speak her name, she knew who he was. The familiarity with which he spoke. The authority. The kindness and love. Whatever it was in his tone that she heard, she knew.
Each of us have different reactions to things. We process things differently. So be slow in judgment and slow in rushing in to tell someone how to do and be. We are different people and things will come to us at different times and we will handle things differently. There is no right or wrong in our varied responses.
This has been a different Holy Week for me. I lost my voice Thursday evening which is just about the worst time for a Priest or preacher to lose their voice, in the beginning of Holy Week. But you have been gracious as a parish and a community and I thank you. It has been a beautiful Holy Week though; services full of meaning and love and community.
And I want to say to you as a parish, “Alleluia. Christ is Risen”. A resurrected Lord speaks to a new day - a new life. A resurrected Lord speaks to hope for the future. And I stand here today with hope for the future for St. James, for us. I hope you leave here today with hope in your heart as well.
All the answers aren’t known at the resurrection. Questions remain. But the resurrection is testament that joy comes in the morning, even if we wept through the night.
Easter remains. We won’t move quickly through Easter, the time on the church calendar between Easter and Pentecost is called Eastertide. We will move into it slowly and it will speak to different parts of us.
Today we met three disciples - Mary, Peter and John - and saw three different reactions to the risen Lord. Reactions depend on the season of life we are in, our distinct personalities, our experiences of life that brought us to this day. Reactions depend on our time and location and where we are on our Christian journey.
We may be a little bit of Mary this morning, stuck in some grief and unable to see through our tears. Sometimes we all lose the ability to perceive something that is right in front of us, even if that something is the presence of God.
We may be John, who saw and believed after all that time spending with Jesus on earth, he finally understood.
We may be Peter, who may just be contemplating it all, but eager to see, trying to sort it all out in his mind.
Whoever you relate to, and maybe a little of everyone, the good news today is that it is okay. Christ came for us all. He died for us all. And he rose for us all. And conquered death for us all.
So no matter what your reaction is to the Risen Lord today, may we at least pray that like Mary we may at least proclaim, “I have seen the Risen Lord.” And may our sight grow clearer and deeper each day. Amen.
Good morning and Happy Easter! Welcome to St. James’ on this Easter Day! It is good to have you here. Good to see so many faces gathered together to celebrate our Risen Lord.
We began our service by singing, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”…which I always look forward to singing each year. The first verse says, “…who did once upon the cross, suffer to redeem our loss.” He did, “once upon the cross, suffer to redeem our loss.” Christ died upon the cross. He was buried and He rose again and that is why we are here this morning.
We are here because we serve a Risen Lord and this day quite arguably is the most important day on our Christian Church calendar. For if Jesus had not risen from the grave, Christianity is meaningless.
We begin the day with a joy filled proclamation. That Christ is Risen, but our Gospel text begins while it is still dark and Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. This account is different from other accounts because it seems that Mary was alone as she came to the tomb and she saw that the stone had been removed. She runs to tells Simon Peter and John (the one whom Jesus loved), and her first reaction was that the Lord had been taken.
Each of us have different reactions to the empty tomb. Each of us have different reactions to the Risen Lord.
Mary, Peter, & John each have different reactions in this account.
Mary went and got Simon Peter and John and they ran to the tomb. John, outran Peter the text tells us, and arrived first - he looked in but he paused. He waited for Peter to arrive before he went in, and then Peter, in true Peter fashion, went in first.
John, the text tells us, “saw and believed” as soon as he entered the tomb. Until this point, the disciples had not understood what had been told to them–that Jesus must rise from the dead. But at that moment, something clicked for John. He believed.
We don’t know what Peter’s immediate reaction was. They returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.
We don’t know why Mary didn’t go in. In grief, we all respond differently. There is no right or wrong and reactions are widespread and varied. Mary was grieving. Her Lord had been killed. She eventually bent over and looked in and she saw two angels who asked why she was weeping. We don’t know what her reaction was to seeing the two angels, whether this seemed extraordinary or not to her, whether she even realized they were angels - they asked “ Whom are you looking for?”
Do you know whom you are looking for? Often we see what we are looking for we are told. But do you know whom you are looking for when you look to Christ? What sort of Lord do you expect him to be and how might who the Lord portray himself to be, be different than your images of God?
Mary in her grief, turned and saw Jesus standing there and didn’t know that it is was Jesus we are told. Sometimes in our grief, in the freneticness (another word Tom Woolfolk may ask if I made up - yes I did- it fits!) that follows our grief, we don’t see or think clearly. But Jesus spoke. “Mary”. She turned and knew. When she heard him speak her name, she knew who he was. The familiarity with which he spoke. The authority. The kindness and love. Whatever it was in his tone that she heard, she knew.
Each of us have different reactions to things. We process things differently. So be slow in judgment and slow in rushing in to tell someone how to do and be. We are different people and things will come to us at different times and we will handle things differently. There is no right or wrong in our varied responses.
This has been a different Holy Week for me. I lost my voice Thursday evening which is just about the worst time for a Priest or preacher to lose their voice, in the beginning of Holy Week. But you have been gracious as a parish and a community and I thank you. It has been a beautiful Holy Week though; services full of meaning and love and community.
And I want to say to you as a parish, “Alleluia. Christ is Risen”. A resurrected Lord speaks to a new day - a new life. A resurrected Lord speaks to hope for the future. And I stand here today with hope for the future for St. James, for us. I hope you leave here today with hope in your heart as well.
All the answers aren’t known at the resurrection. Questions remain. But the resurrection is testament that joy comes in the morning, even if we wept through the night.
Easter remains. We won’t move quickly through Easter, the time on the church calendar between Easter and Pentecost is called Eastertide. We will move into it slowly and it will speak to different parts of us.
Today we met three disciples - Mary, Peter and John - and saw three different reactions to the risen Lord. Reactions depend on the season of life we are in, our distinct personalities, our experiences of life that brought us to this day. Reactions depend on our time and location and where we are on our Christian journey.
We may be a little bit of Mary this morning, stuck in some grief and unable to see through our tears. Sometimes we all lose the ability to perceive something that is right in front of us, even if that something is the presence of God.
We may be John, who saw and believed after all that time spending with Jesus on earth, he finally understood.
We may be Peter, who may just be contemplating it all, but eager to see, trying to sort it all out in his mind.
Whoever you relate to, and maybe a little of everyone, the good news today is that it is okay. Christ came for us all. He died for us all. And he rose for us all. And conquered death for us all.
So no matter what your reaction is to the Risen Lord today, may we at least pray that like Mary we may at least proclaim, “I have seen the Risen Lord.” And may our sight grow clearer and deeper each day. Amen.