The Easter Surprise: The Rhesus Paschalis

The Risen Christ was the punch line of God’s Great Surprise.  
The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest surprise in the history of humanity. 
Until then, once people died and were buried, they stayed put.  
There is no doubt in my mind that these disciples happy people when they encountered the Risen Christ.  
They must have been laughing and carrying on. 
There must have been high-fivin’ and back-slappin’.
They knew the joke was on them, because they hadn’t believed what they had been told. 
And now the joke is on all those who refuse to believe.

Jesus must have been grinning from ear to ear! – grabbing his friends by the neck, hugging and rustling hair.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
John 20:19-20

OK, now you’ve heard it said, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
Well, looking around, I’d say that there must be a lot of folks that really, really, love our church.

Maybe we should do what this other church I know did. 
They had what they called a “No Excuses Sunday”!
They put the word out that on this one particular Sunday, “No Excuses Sunday:

●  Pillows will be placed in the pews for those who say  "Sunday is my only day to sleep in".

●  Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.

●  We will have hard hats for those who say, "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church."

●  Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.

●  We’ll open the windows for those who like to seek God in nature.

●  Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.

●  Finally we’ll try to find a Christmas poinsettias and an Easter lily for those who have never seen the church without them.

Not at this church, but at another church I used to serve, almost every Sunday I would be up here going through my sermon and I would hear a mumbling from a man in the choir. 
I never could make it out. 
But it became regular like clock work – right in the middle of my sermon, I would hear: “mble mble mble. “ 
After this went on for a while, I figured out who was doing it, and one day, I just confronted him about it. 
He was duly embarrassed, but ‘fessed up. 
He said it was a little prayer ditty he learned long ago at his father’s knee.  

It went:
     I’m sitting here, trying not to sleep.
     But, the preacher’s dull, and the sermon weak.
     If he should stop before I wake
     Give me a poke, for goodness sake. 

One of my sources of jokes is the doctor’s office.  

During one of my latest visits I overheard this women come in all distraught, I heard her say:
“Doctor, doctor, please help me, I seem to be shrinking – my feet don’t seem to be reaching as far as they used to, I find myself trying to stand on tip toe to see what I used to see just fine,
I’m walking on the hems of my pants,
I just don’t know what to do.”
The doctor said, “Now, now, just settle down, and just be a little patient.”

Another person came in and said:
“Doctor, doctor, I haven’t slept in six days!”
The doctor said, “Whoa, you must be really tired.”
The patient said, “No, I’m sleeping at night now.”

Another patient came in and said:
“Doctor, doctor, Please help me!  I’m losing my memory!”
The doctor said, “Mmmm, this could be serious.  When did you first notice the problem?”
And the patient said: “What problem?”

This patient came in to the doctor and said:
“Doctor, doctor, help me please.  It hurts when I do this (lift arm).
And the doctor said, “Well, Don’t do that.”

This man came in to the doctor and said:
“Doctor, doctor, help me, help me.  My arm hurts – my elbow hurts, my wrist hurts, my knuckle hurts.”  (Touch each place and flinch)
The doctor said, “let me see.  Yes, you have a broken finger.”


I know I have mentioned before about the new  program of exercises I am doing pretty consistently now. 
I think we all agree that exercise has many health benefits, and you may be interested in what I am doing.
Suzanne has been pushing me do something so for the last few months or so, 

I have been doing a lot more
beating around the bush
and jumping to conclusions,
and climbing the walls.
I even try to pass the buck every once and a while,
and sometimes try to throw my weight around.
But mostly, I  get a lot of exercise by making mountains out of molehills,
pushing my luck,
bending over backwards,
running around in circles,
eating crow,
tooting my own horn,
adding fuel to the fire,
opening a can of worms,
putting my foot in my mouth,
starting the ball rolling,
going over the edge,
and picking up the pieces.
Sometimes I even hit the nail on the head.

I’ll keep you posted on how my exercise routine is doing.

I don’t actually remember if Edith O’Brien actually told me this or if it just something that sounds like she would tell:
You heard about that race between a cabbage, a faucet, an egg and a tomato, didn’t you?
     The cabbage came out ahead.
     The faucet is still running.
     The egg got beat,
     and the tomato is trying to ketchup.

Today, we are trying to dispel that old prevailing notion that we Presbyterians are God’s frozen chosen. 
At least once a year, we try to lighten up.

But, its hard, isn’t it?

It’s not unlike that story about the monks.
This order of monks had a new novice join the order and on his first day he joined all the other monks in the grand dining hall for dinner. 
Now, this particular order took a vow of silence all through the day, but they could talk during the diner hour. 
So, there they were seated at ten or twelve tables eating their stew out wooden bowls with wooden spoons when one of them stood up and called out in a loud and clear baritone voice: “64"
And that struck every single one them as being hilarious. 
They laughed and laughed – and snickered and giggled throughout the meal. 

The next day at the meal, another monk stood up and called “112". 
Again, uncontrolled laughter filled the room and resonated the rafters of the dining hall.

The next night, another monk stood up and called out “83".
And they were rolling in the floor with rollicking laughter.
Tears streamed down their faces. 

The new guy just didn’t get it. 
Oh, he laughed politely, because every one else was laughing. 
But, he didn’t understand. 
Finally, he went to his counselor and said, “I just don’t understand what’s so funny at dinner.”
And his counselor said, “Oh, that, well you see, in our library, there’s this book. 
We have a fine theological library here at the monastery – one of the largest in the world – some of the finest treatises every written are in our library. 
And there is this one book of jokes. 
Well, everyone here has spent so much time in the library, that we have memorized every joke in the book. 
We know the set ups, we know the punch lines,
So we just have to call out the page numbers and we know what it is referring to.

So, wanting to fit in, the new monk goes to the library, finds the joke book, reads through a few pages and finds a good story. 
So he is prepared. 
He is ready. 
He is psyched.
That night at dinner, before anyone else could stand up, he stands up and calls out “191". 
And there is dead silence in the room. 
Not a word. 
Not a muffle. 
Nothing.
He is confused. 
He sits down, devastated.
He said “I don’t know what happened. 
That was one of the funniest jokes in the book.  What’s wrong?”
One of his friends said, “Well, some people just don’t know how to tell a joke.”

Now, we all know who the greatest comedian in the Bible is, don’t we? 
Samson brought the house down.
And the greatest financier in the Bible had to be Noah.  He was floating stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
And the greatest female financier in the Bible was Pharoah’s daughter.  She went to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.

But, some people are intrigued by the automobiles that we find in the Bible:
You remember Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the garden in a Fury.
And, we are told that David’s Triumph was heard throughout the land. 
And, we are told the Apostles were all in one Accord.

    It is good for us to laugh on this day. 

    It didn’t happen here, but I think I mentioned it before: while I was talking with the children one Easter Sunday, they heard the Easter story, and I asked, “Now, when those women got the gravesite and found the door opened, and saw Jesus for the first time, what did they hear him say?”
And one little girl popped up: “Ta-da!”

    Certainly, that’s what he might as well of said, because everyone who saw him was greatly surprised.

 Imagine, if you can, being part of the group of disciples on the evening of that first Easter day.  They had witnessed a disturbing set of events.  Their leader, the one to whom they had sworn their allegiance, the one they thought was going to lead them and the world into a new tomorrow, was tortured, ridiculed, crucified, dead, (for sure,) and buried.  
And then, on this third day, they found the tomb in which he was placed, open,
and his body missing –
taken by whom?, 
removed to where?,
 and why?   
They suspected sadism, I’m sure. 
The authorities or some enemies just wanted to make sure this troublemaker would never be heard from again. 

They were afraid. 
What did all of this mean for them? 
For sure, the authorities would be coming after them now. 
What to do? 
They gathered behind locked doors  – fearing the worst. 
So, there they were, wringing their hands, sighing “Ain’t it awful?”  

When, lo and behold,  the-e-e-e-re was Jesus.  

Can’t you just see and feel what happened?  

“Oh man, you really did it this time! 
You really put one over on us! 
You got us good! 
And what about the others? 
Just wait until they get a load of this!” 

You see, the Risen Christ was the punch line of God’s Great Surprise.  
The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest surprise in the history of humanity. 
Until then, once people died and were buried, they stayed put.  
There is no doubt in my mind that these disciples happy people when they encountered the Risen Christ.  
They must have been laughing and carrying on. 
There must have been high-fivin’ and back-slappin’.
They knew the joke was on them, because they hadn’t believed what they had been told. 
And now the joke is on all those who refuse to believe.  

This is the Easter surprise, the Easter laugh, the Easter joy (the Risus Paschalis). 

    C.K. Chesterton wrote that “surprise is the secret of joy.” 

And, far from being so solemn and placid like he is portrayed in so many pictures, Jesus must have been grinning from ear to ear! – grabbing his friends by the neck, hugging and rustling hair.

Zig Zigler writes that “the most destitute person in the world is the one without a smile.”
This is when the disciples broke out of their situation – no longer were they feeling destitute.

A church historian has pointed out that in days of yore, every Easter sermon began with a joke.  Somehow, we have misguidedly equated somberism with Christianity. 
Clearly, this was not the case in the very beginning. 
Those early Christians were so surprised by their Risen Friend that they must have been ecstatic! – totally joyous –completely joy-filled.  

Today in many parts of the world, many Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox countries celebrate Easter Monday as a day of “joy and laughter” with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection. 
It is called White Monday, Bright Monday, Dyngus Day, and Emmaus Day in various countries. 
It is a time for the faithful to play practical jokes on one another, a time to sing silly songs, a time to dance. 
It is a time for clergy and lay people to tell jokes and to have fun.

The custom of Easter Monday and Holy Hilarity Sunday celebrations are rooted in the musings of early church theologians like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa and John Crysostom that God played a joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. 
You see, Easter is seen as “God’s supreme joke played on that old imposter, death.”

It was the very earliest theologians that called it “risus paschalis” – the Easter laugh. 
This theme has been passed down through the ages.

 
Francis of Assisi advised: “Leave sadness to the devil.  The devil has reason to be sad.” 

Meister Eckhart, a 13th century theologian, wrote: “God laughed and begat the Son. 
Together they laughed and begat the Holy Spirit.  

And from the laughter of the Three, the universe was born.”

Martin Luther wrote: “God is not a God of sadness, but the devil is.
Christ is a God of joy. 
It is pleasing to the dear God whenever one rejoices or laughs from the bottom of your heart.”

Easter is the morning when the Lord laughs out loud, laughs at all the things that snuff out joy,
all the things that pretend to be all-powerful, like cruelty and madness and despair and evil, and most especially, the great pretender, death. 
Jesus sweeps them away with his wonderful resurrection laughter.  

The Bible talks about a resurrection appearance of Jesus before an audience of over 500 people. 
One writer ruminates:
“How would 500-plus people react to an appearance by Jesus, the one who had been crucified and buried? 
Would they applaud politely? (With a proper Presbyterian clap.)  
My guess is that 500-plus folks rose to their feed with a standing ovation. 
This was the most incredible comeback story of all time. 
They would have jumped for joy and hugged their neighbors, don’t you think? 
These 500-plus folks, because of Jesus, had the best belly laugh of their lives. 
Easter had taught the 500-plus how to celebrate.”
We ought to pay attention, don’t you think?

Church historians indicate that there is considerable evidence that during the early centuries of Christianity, Easter celebrations went on for days – even weeks. 
Today, many churches all over the country are trying to lift up the hilaritas of the Easter season -- celebrating the risus paschalis:  the Easter Laugh.  

Michelangelo wrote rather indignantly in 1564 to his fellow artists:
“Why do you keep filing gallery after gallery with endless pictures of the one ever-reiterated theme of Christ in weakness, of Christ upon the cross, Christ dying, Christ hanging dead? 
Why do you stop there as if the curtain is closed upon that horror? 
Keep the curtain open, and with the cross in the foreground, let us see beyond it to the Easter dawn with its beams streaming upon the risen Christ, Christ alive, Christ ruling, Christ triumphant.

“For we should be ringing out over the world that Christ has won, that evil is toppling, that the end is sure, and that death is followed by victory. 
That is the tonic we need to keep us healthy,
the trumpet blast to fire our blood and send us crowding in behind our Master,
swinging happily on our way,
laughing and singing and recklessly unafraid, because the feel of victory is in the air and our hearts thrill to it.” 
Michelangelo!!!

One writer puts it this way:
“While there is much terror and sordid ugliness in the world, there is also a stream of health, cascading like a clear mountain rivulet of melted snow through human experience. 
This stream is the flow of wholesome, spontaneous laughter –  God’s gift for refreshing and renewing our souls. 
A life lived with little laughter is like land devoid of springs, streams, lakes, or ground water;
there are some things such a life cannot grow. 
We cannot take ourselves seriously if we cannot occasionally take ourselves lightly. 
Laughter is an affirmation of God’s final triumph of the worst that can befall us.”

It is right that today we laugh and celebrate the joy of the Risen Christ.
It’s the Easter Laugh – the risus paschalis –
God’s gift for refreshing and renewing our souls.
it’s about deep-felt joy,      
it’s about being extremely happy to be in the presence of the risen Christ,
it’s about celebrating God’s great surprise –
and if the devil doesn’t like it, he can sit on a tack.

Let’s have some fun.

Amen.
      

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon during a worship service celebrating Holy Humor Sunday, April 15, 2012.

The Birthday of A Whole New World

Easter is about transcendence.
It is about creating and choosing new life.
It is about new heavens and a new earth.
It is about a new way of doing religion.
It is about new joy-full living.

Today, along with Christian the world over, we celebrate Easter Sunday –
the single defining event for the faith we hold.

For the fact of the matter is that before Easter there were no Christians!
Before Easter there was no church.
Before Easter there was no Christian theology, no Christian world-view.

Easter is the birthday of a whole new world –
a whole new life –
a whole new way of living –
a whole new way of looking at the world –
a whole new religion!

Easter re-creates our cosmology,
it provides a new perspective on the order of things,
it expands our understanding of things temporal and things eternal.

In Isaiah God announces a re-creation of the
world – new heavens and a new earth,
a new relationship between God and the whole creation,
a new expression of faith,
a new Jerusalem:
a place full of joy and happiness –
"Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create" –
a place where even God will be full of joy.

e.e. cummings has an Easter expression appropriate for each one of us:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of treesand a blue true dream of sky; and for everythingwhich is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birthday of life and of love and wings: and of the gaygreat happening illimitably earth)how should tasting touching hearing seeingbreathing any -- lifted from the noof all nothing -- human merely beingdoubt unimaginable You?
(now the ears of my ears awake andnow the eyes of my eyes are opened)

I thank you God for this most amazing day!
I who have died am alive again today!
Now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened.

Every year now for nearly twenty centuries, Christians have been coming together at this time of year to celebrate the single most important event of their history!

Since Jesus was a Jew, and lived as a Jew,
and preached as Jew,
and spent his entire ministry among Jews,
it was quite natural for his followers to tie this Easter event with the traditional Passover Celebration.

For centuries, the Passover had been celebrated each year to remind people of their unique history and of their unique relationship with their God.
What Passover was to the Jews, Easter became to the followers of Jesus.

For truly, it wasn't until after the Resurrection that the disciple's eyes were opened and they saw for the very first time:
that what they had experienced with this man from Nazareth was indeed a whole new thing.
It wasn't until after the Resurrection that they began to call him the Christ –
and saw him to be the fulfillment of the Passover –
the promise that been made each year over and over again for centuries.

So clear was this to the early Christians, that they began to meet on the first day of each week at dawn to celebrate Easter –
the coming of the new time –
the new creation –
the new week –
remembering the fulfillment of the Passover.

Our story goes that the women went to the tomb that morning concerned about how they were going to move the stone that blocked them from doing their ministerial task with the corpse.

Even though they were concerned and anxious about it, their faith moved them on down the road just knowing that somehow the obstacle would be removed, and they could do what they needed to do.

Of course, we know, when they arrived at the tomb, the obstacle was moved all right,
but they were the first to discover,
and the first to hear,
that something very significant –
something very out of the ordinary –
had happened.

The Jesus they knew so well;
the Jesus they were friends with;
the Jesus they thought they understood;
the Jesus they lived with;
the Jesus they saw defeated and overcome;
the Jesus they watched die;
the Jesus they placed in this tomb --
their friend, Jesus of Nazareth
was much more than they ever thought or understood.

Not only was their religious practice changed significantly;
but now, the known laws of the physical universe were overcome as well.

They came to work on the corpse of Jesus –
and they heard the incredible words:
"Why look for the living here among the dead?"

This made no sense.
They saw him die.
They placed his lifeless body here in this tomb.

And again, the messenger of God spoke:
"Go back where you came from.
Go back to Galilee.
There you will find him.
Alive and well, just as he said you would."

It was the a re-creation of the world –
a new heaven and a new earth –
new definitions of life and religion –
the birthday of a whole new world –
the birthday of life and of love and wings.

Easter announces to all that the presence of Christ cannot be snuffed out.
That God transcends the boundaries of space and time.
New boundaries of our life and faith have been drawn up.
A new heaven and a new earth have been created.

There is a new Jerusalem,
a new religion wherein God and his creation are not so far apart:
Where God no longer dwells above us,
or in ark in the Temple,
or even solely in the confines of a particular person who lived in Galilee some 2000 years ago.
This is something totally new: "a new heaven and a new earth" wherein God is constantly present with us where we live our lives –
defining anew what it is to be human,
what it is to be alive,
what it is to die.

This transcendence of space between God and man,
this transcendence of time between birth and death,
this transcendence of God between heaven and earth is what is behind our celebration of Easter today.
It is what is unique about our Christianity.
It is what enables us to live fully and abundantly.
There is tremendous power at work here:
power largely unrecognized and largely untapped;
but power that can give each one of us a new lease on life.

Some of you may be familiar with the work of Bernie Siegel.
Dr. Siegel is a surgeon and works primarily with cancer patients.
For several years now, an important part of Dr. Siegel's practice and research is with what he calls "exceptional" cancer patients –
patients diagnosed with terminal illnesses –
most given a very short time to live.

Dr. Siegel sees patients sometimes individually, and most times in groups,
and helps them to choose to really live in the limited time they have left.

Time and time again, Bernie Siegel, and other doctors who are doing this now, observe something that is almost beyond belief.
Given just months or weeks to live,
facing their inevitable death, and coming to terms with their mortality,
patients, more often than not, consciously change their way of living.

Time and time again, these doctors see from that day on, these patients do only what they really want to do.
They don't let something go unsaid, because they know there may not be a tomorrow.
They became quick with hugs,
quick with "I love yous",
quick with "thank yous",
quick to show appreciation and quick with "I am truly sorry."

Once having made that choice,
and, this is the totally unbelievable part,
and until you have been there, it is so hard to understand, but we need to learn from it:
100% of his patients say that their lives are infinitely better than it was before they were diagnosed with their terminal illness.

They reported things went better for them.

Relationships with other people were more positive.

Life was more fuller, richer.

Days and time had meaning.

Each day was greeted with thanksgiving.

They had new enthusiasm for living – even though they knew their days were numbered.

And, do you know what?

Truly remarkable things happen among the patients.

Once they choose to live each day to the fullest, they actually stop dying!

Oh, they all do die.
We all do.

But, these patients all live well past the expected time limits of their disease, and they live healthier – even with their terminal illness,
and they are freer of pain during their illness.

Through Dr. Siegel and his faith in what they can do and can be, these terminally ill patients come to know what Jesus called an abundant life.

Bernie Siegel writes:
We must all confront the reality that no one lives forever.
Illness and death are not signs of failure;
what is a failure is not living.
Our goal is learning to live – joyously and lovingly.

And, you know, that is exactly what we are about here at Christ Church in Drexel Hill!
Helping people connect with these timeless truths of our faith.
Helping people live more fully, more abundantly, like Jesus said.

I have spoken of my interest in some of the findings of recent comprehensive studies of peoples' health.

One of the findings of one of the studies, hidden among many findings, and virtually ignored by the press, was this:
They found that people who go to church regularly were healthier over all than people who did not go to church regularly.

And hidden among the findings of another large study was this:
People who go to church regularly live longer than those who do not go to church regularly.

Do you hear this?
It's a fact:
People who go to church are healthier, and
people who go to church live longer, than those who don't.

Why do you suppose that is?

Because of some other studies and reading I have done, I found some clues, and I have compiled several reasons why folks who go to church live longer and are healthier than those who do not.

Scientific studies from several fields of inquiry provide evidence that there is real healing power in many of the things that we practice, and teach, and experience here in church.
In the past, I have told you about studies that prove that there is healing power in prayer,
that there is healing power in laughter,
that there is healing power in attitude,
that there is healing power in forgiveness,
that there is healing power in ritual,
that there is healing power in coming together as community,
and, today’s message is that there is healing power in transcendence.

Easter is about transcendence.
It is about creating and choosing new life.
It is about new heavens and a new earth.
It is about a new way of doing religion.
It is about new joy-full living.

Indeed, the chief characteristic of this new world ushered in at Easter is joy and happiness.

Our Scripture describes a God full of joy,
and a joy-full people living in thanksgiving for a full and abundant life.

And that's what we are about here at this church.

Christ Presbyterian Church is "A Center of Faith for Living Abundantly."

Jesus said, "I have come that you might have a fuller, more abundant life."

There are people in this room who know exactly what I am saying, and have experiences to prove it.

And the promise is made to each one of us:
You can live a better, fuller, healthier, longer, more abundant life.
God intends this for you.
And we know how.
Join us, or put another way, let us join you.

This Easter Sunday, when facing the choices all of us make every day, choose life.

Choose to live each day to the fullest.

Choose to be a part of the most powerful force in the universe: the presence of Christ in the world today.

I thank you God for this most amazing day!
I who have died am alive again today!

Amen.

The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard this sermon during the Easter celebration April 24, 2011.

A Message for Good Friday: Giving Up the Ghost and Tearing of the Veil

We are all familiar with the creation stories in Genesis.
The familiar story with its rhythmical structure of seven days occurs in chapter 1.
And chapter 2 of Genesis begins another story of creation.

Now, really, both of these accounts were actually written fairly late in Jewish history –
most probably at the time of King David, when for the first time people had the leisure to sit down and write the stories that had been handed down by word of mouth for centuries.

Verse 7 of the second chapter of Genesis appears to express one of the earliest, most primitive concepts of  the Jew's relationship to God.
Here, God is pictured as     a potter:
Then the Lord God formed (molded) a man from the dust of the ground,
and breathed (a loud breath) into his nostrils the breath of life.  Thus man became alive!  (Gen2:v7)

It seems that from the beginning,
they understood every person's breath is God-given –  life itself –
for the human is critically related to Yahweh,
the God that shared his breath –
the symbol for life itself.

You see, the thing that made the body alive was God.
God was intimately related to your life experience. [Therefore, a life without God was an absurd proposition.]

    Actually, by the time these stories were written down (at King David's court) the understandings of God had changed somewhat.
I’ve talked about this before.
Through the years a concept of God developed that they could put in a box.

At a risk of over-simplifying it:
you may recall that they were a nomadic people, they traveled a lot –
they traveled through lands occupied by people with other religions.
They saw that these religions had their holy places:
they had holy mountains,
there were holy caves,
and there were even holy wells.
Well, having no geographical references for themselves these wandering Jews knew that their God could not be confined to geography.
Their God was not to found in a particular place.

Their God was a traveling God –
but they came to feel that their God did need a home –
God needed a place to be,
a place to rest.
So they built God an ark, a throne, so he could be comfortable.
And they carried this ark wherever they went.
It became a symbol of assurance:
that God was with them as long as they had the box for him.
(We have a lot of stories about people stealing the ark.
So history began to be recorded in terms of who has the box –  who had God on their side.
God was wherever the ark was.)

This, then, became a real issue with David as he set out to bring together two nations of people  –  each with their own traditions and history.
David thought: The way to unite the country is to unite their religion.
So, let's build a house to put the ark in.
It will be a temple and will stand in the capital city as a symbol of God's presence in our new nation and people will always know where they can come to meet the Lord.
We'll put his box there and everyone will come to know that's where he sits!


    And the temple was built, and became the house of God.
His box was placed in one end of the building and a curtain was put in front of it – the reredos.
It was called the “Holy of Holies”.
[The curtain was loaded with symbolism –
it protected the people from perishing should they see the Lord face-to-face.
It served the function of keeping God's presence shielded from the people.]

Now, all of this had become quite institutionalized by the time of Jesus.
The temple with its curtain, and the ark, was an important part of the religion.
For the Jew, there was no question what one had to do in order to be religious, to fulfill the law.
Leaders, Rabbis, spent their entire lives studying the law –
and as new situations and questions came up, they wrote new rules to amplify the old law.
The Rabbis were the authority and it was unquestioned  (except maybe for a few splinter groups from time to time.).

    Of particular significance is that Jesus came preaching and teaching  on his own authority –
far outside the established authority of his tradition.
They would say to him:
you totally disregard our tradition.
How can you go around preaching such
contemporariness?

    And he would say:
It seems to me that I don't come to put an end to your traditional ways, so much as I come to fulfill the promises of our tradition.
For instance, look at me.
I live in the same relation with my Father (your God) as described in the ancient poem of our tradition.
I live and breath because God lives and breathes in me.
God is in me as long as I'm alive.
As long as I breathe, God dwells in me and I live in God – so, in this sense, my body is more of a temple in the traditional sense,
than that building is where you go to worship and hope to find God.
This is what I preach.
And whenever the religious law encourages this understanding – it is valid – and whenever it hinders it, it is invalid.
You think you know how to be religious?
You don't!
Your organization gets in the way of your faith!

The New Testament writers took great pains to point  out to us that Jesus came to fulfill the scripture –
he quotes the Old Testament and interprets the tradition anew.
His respect for tradition and history is not questioned.

Neither is his authority,
and his authority is unquestionably contemporary to his time.

Now today, ironically, most of us Christians have the same concepts and attitudes about our Church and our  religion as the Jews did about their  temple and their  religion at the time of Jesus, don’t we?

We have fostered the concept that the church building is God's House –
we should come here hoping to find God –
and we should enter, then,  with appropriate reverence
and appreciate the use of music, prayers and ceremony that will uplift our hearts and inspire our souls so our faith may grow.

There are things we expect from our religion, aren’t there? –
and there are things we are comfortable with –
and we identify those things as "traditional" when the tradition may be not really be very old.

In a real sense,  my call as a laborer among God's people is to seriously come to grips with tradition (religion) that goes back beyond the past 50 or 60 years, even beyond the past 400 years, and beyond the past 2000 years –
attempting to see the contemporary situation our fathers and mothers in the faith faced,
and how they expressed themselves the way they did (and why they did it that way).
And then, facing the situation today, [the world around us in the year 2012],
attempt to react in the same manner and express the same faith –
the same hope for life –
that was expressed in those old situations.
(This manner informs the things we do here in our worship service on Sunday mornings.)

The Easter story is one of encouragement,
of hope,
of enabling dreams and visions of what could be –
if only....

For the story is that Jesus lived as a Son of God –  God lived inside the physical confines of the man Jesus of Nazareth.

And that was the message the disciples were finally beginning to understand –      until Good Friday.

[Now understand that at this point, Jesus was no different than a dozen other God-men in religious history.]

    But, the significant difference comes when Jesus dies.
There, on the cross, we are told, he gives a loud cry –
all that was in his lungs comes out.

He dies.
The presence of God escapes from his body.

Jesus the man, then, is lifeless – 
the body is dead
(and later disappears).

God left the confines of this "body temple."

Not only that, but each Gospel writer carefully records the message that,
when this happened the curtain in the temple was torn in two –
from the top to the bottom.

God came out of the stone temple –
through the curtain.
No more to be separated and encapsulated in a box or a house.
No.  God is not there any more.

God is no longer in the body of the man from Nazareth.
And God is no longer in that box in the temple!

    Where did God go?

    The message was – into Galilee –
back into the world where his followers lived and interacted, as Jesus said he would.
And his disciples were to go there.
That's where they would find him.
Where he said they would:
feeding the hungry,
clothing the poor,
healing the sick,
involved in making the life around them more human,
more hopeful,
more enabling.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  
Because I know the rest of the story . . .

 The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church experienced this message Easter Sunday, 2012. 

Palm Sunday Meme

Top Reasons to Be in Church Palm Sunday

1.    It’s good to just celebrate once in a while.
2.    It’s good to sing out loud in public!
3.    It’s good to join a parade (even if symbolically)!
4.    It’s a way to visibly demonstrate your faith.
5.    Everyone welcomes you.
6.    You will hear a message that could affect your life.
7.    You will be among staunch believers – as well as questioners, sceptics, and seekers.
8.    We, too, like those of old, will be celebrating the presence of Christ in our midst.
9.    Your presence will be noticed by others.
10.    You can come as you are – no matter what.
11.    You will be welcome.
12.    You will be expected.
13.    The more the merrier – and we all need more merry, don’t you think?
14.    You will bring a smile to someone’s face – guaranteed!
15.    Folks banding together can change the world – we see it on TV!
16.    Parades are fun!

Palm Sunday Ideas for Childrens' Ministry

1. In the Bible story of Jesus' entry the people called Him
"blessed." 
The children could brainstorm about words they can use
to tell Jesus how special He is. 
You could talk about praise words.
What do people say to thank or praise one another?
What do people say to you to praise you or thank you?
What might we say to God?
These praise words could be printed palm branches which they
make from green construction paper. 
Without doing a big procession, the children could line up on both sides of your
classroom. 
Have them use their imaginations to see Jesus and the donkey. 
Choose a child to lead the donkey who slowly walks down the center, holding a pretend rope over the shoulder. 
As the child leading the donkey walks along, the class will pretend to roll
out blankets and they will say the words which are on their palm
branches. 
These palm branches could then be displayed in the
classroom as a reminder to continually praise Jesus.

2. I have rented or borrowed a donkey before. 
You would not have to lead the procession. 
You can get palm branches for the  triumphant procession or you could have the children put down towels, or jackets down for Jesus on the donkey to pass over.


3.  have also seen the children go around the main sanctuary with the adults putting their jackets and articles of clothing down for Jesus and the donkey to pass over as they march down the aisles of the church while the children are participating in worshiping and
adoring Jesus as they place something for him to ride over and the adults and children are singing praise choruses or Easter hymns. 
This takes no more than five minutes and it is very dramatic and meaningful.

These ideas were found on a website, www.childrensministry.net which is no longer on line. 

Palm Sunday: Join the Parade

Today, we remember the parade -- the longest running parade in history!

This parade was extremely significant to the Gospel writers and the early church.
I can think of no other event in the life of Jesus that occurs in all four gospels.

It is important for us to remember Palm Sunday.

It is up to each new generation of believers to keep the story of this moment alive so that Jesus himself lives on in the church.


Today we remember Palm Sunday --
the beginning of the week that was –
Jesus' entrance into the city of Jerusalem.

According to Mark and Matthew this was the first time Jesus ever went to the big city.
Up until now, his entire ministry, his entire life,
had been spent out in the hinterlands, in Jabip,
in little rural communities within walking distance of one another in the countryside known as Galilee.
But, now he went to Jerusalem --
the capital city --
the only big city --
the center of commerce for the whole region --
but, more importantly, the sacred city,
the home of the Temple,
the Holy See of the Jewish faith,
the center of all Judaism.

And here comes Jesus – the country-boy,
the itinerant preacher,
a man on a mission –
and a small rag tag band of his followers,
all simple county-folk,
all probably approaching the big city for the first time in their lives.

No doubt there was excitement in the air –
and a lot of fear and apprehension.
They all had heard stories about the city.
How you had to watch yourself at every turn.
They did things differently in the city.
They knew not about city ways, city customs, about city life.

His closest followers tried to talk Jesus out of going:
We've been fairly successful getting the word out around the country-side.
There is still much to be done among our kind of people.
Why rock the boat?
Why move into Jerusalem now?
Why not stay where we are a little longer?

But, Jesus was on a mission.
It was like he was obsessed –
he was drawn to the city –
he had to go.
In spite of the warnings, Jesus approached the city.

Today, we come here and we remember the parade.

It is right for us take time each year to remember, and to be reminded of, the parade.

One preacher asserts that it is the longest running parade in history!

Our parade is older, and far more meaningful, than the Mummer’s parade.

Our parade is older, and far more meaningful than Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

Our parade is older, and far more meaningful than the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the Columbus Day parade, and any “other-Day” parade you can think of.

Our parade could be the original “ticker-tape” parade –
the original million man march –
the original demonstration march.

Parades seem to have a way of stirring up emotions and releasing us from inhibitions, don’t they?
(I believe that is one of the main motivating factors for those who participate in the Mummers Day Parade each year.)
It's what we see in Marti Gras parades.
And it's what we see happening in our scripture reading today.

Contrary to some of the movies you have seen,
not every one in Jerusalem participated in the parade that day.
To be sure, most people didn't know anything was going on – or hadn't a clue what it was about if they did see it happening.
It would have been not unlike a demonstration on Broad Street that ties up traffic during rush hour some times.
Unless you were there, and encountered the crowds, you wouldn't even have known what had happened.
And even if you were there, chances are you wouldn't have had a clue as what they were protesting, or celebrating.

But, the parade into Jerusalem turned into one of the most significant events in the lives of the first century Christians.

This parade was extremely significant to the Gospel writers and the early church.
It is one of very few events all four gospels describe.
In fact, I can think of no other event in the life of Jesus that occurs in all four gospels –
all four gospels speak of Jesus entering into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey
and being ushered through the streets by a parade of folks dancing and singing and carrying on.

It was an important event.
It was a significant event.
It was a meaningful event.
It was an event worth remembering for those early Christians.
I believe that it is an event worth remembering for us, as well.

I think it is important for us to remember Palm Sunday for three reasons:

As they did in Jerusalem that day, it is right and important for us to recognize the Christ that comes in to our busy lives, (even – and maybe especially – when we are not expecting it);
and
As they did in Jerusalem that day, it is right and important for us to take a public stand and give public witness to our faith;
and
As they did in Jerusalem that day, it is right and important for us to party – to celebrate the presence of Christ.

It was Palm Sunday, and the mother’s 3-year old son had to stay home from church because of strep throat. When the rest of the family came back from church carrying the palm branches, the little boy asked what they were for.
His mother explained, “Well, People held them over their heads and waved as Jesus walked by.”
The boy fumed:
“Wouldn’t you know it. The one Sunday I don’t go, and Jesus shows up.”

The city was crowded on that day.
It was the high holy festival of Passover.
In those days there were no Synagogues in the towns around Galilee – so everyone had to go to the Temple in Jerusalem to for proper observance of the holy day.

Jerusalem was the largest city for hundreds of miles – it was a cosmopolitan place populated by people from all corners of the world –
from all walks of life –
and filled to overflowing with tourists –
visitors – pilgrims –
there for the festival.

The narrow streets were crowded with the hustle and bustle of people going from here to there and back again.
And, every once in a while, someone important would come through.
Horses and chariots were used to make a hole in the crowd and move VIPs through the throngs. Oftentimes the VIPs would have entourages moving through the crowds with them and people would have to stand back and make a way for them go through.
So, there were many mini-parades like this through the streets of the city every day of the year – and even more so this day.

And, so the Gospel writers tell us that Jesus entered the city that day with his entourage –
in many ways mocking the VIP parades.

Now, when I think about this story, I think if I were writing the script it would be somewhat different.
I would have Jesus coming in riding on a blazing white stallion, (you know?), kicking up a cloud of dust as He rode along.
The people he passed would be in awe of such a beautiful animal –
but they would be even more awestruck by the man who was riding it.
As Jesus passed by, you could hear the people say,
"Who was that masked man?"

You see, there were bad guys on the loose and Jesus had a job to do.
As he rode into Jerusalem he would quickly size up the situation and form a plan to capture the ring leader of the trouble makers:
Diablo, the Evil One.
There would be a short fight, (like at the OK Corral) but the outcome would never be in doubt.
Jesus easily defeats Diablo.
He handcuffs the devil and throws him in jail.

As a large crowd of people gathers to see what the commotion was all about, Jesus mounts his horse and pulls on the reins.
His pure white stallion stands on its hind legs, neighing loudly, and pawing the air with its
front legs.
When it stands as tall as it could stand, Jesus leans forward in the saddle.
Holding the reins with one hand while lifting his white hat in the air with the other,
he shouts with a loud voice, "Hi Ho Silver, the Lone Savior."
As Jesus road off into the sunset, the music begins to play softly and gets louder and louder.
(The William Tell Overture).
{Adapted from "Not the Lone Ranger, But the Lone Savior," by Roger Griffith}

Well, you know, it really must have seemed rather comic-like to some, when the long-awaited Messiah entered the city –
even though it was all happening according to what the Hebrew Scriptures had said –
the Messiah would come lowly and humble, on the back of a donkey.

While the image should have brought people's minds to the teachings, which one would expect them to recall,
just like us –
in the midst of things happening around us –
they probably did not make the connection,
at least not immediately.
The disciples of Jesus seem to be somewhat confused in the whole thing themselves.

It was, however, a well thought out, pre-planned event, at least on the part of Jesus.
It was in no way a haphazard plan, was it?
It was meant to be an exact representation, which would convey a precise message to all who would see it – hear about it.
We are reminded, nevertheless, that it really did not make all that much sense,
nor was it understood, until after Easter!

While the hosannas and hoopla that accompanied Jesus as he made his way into Jerusalem on the spindly donkey colt may have seemed spontaneous, today’s text from Matthew suggests that he knew exactly what he was doing,
and his entourage even knew exactly what was expected of them.

* Jesus set the stage by calling for the scripturally prescribed animal.

* The disciples acted with complete and immediate obedience – a sure sign that they knew something was up.

* And, apparently, at least some in the City that day seeing Jesus approach, already accompanied by his own disciples and by those he had previously healed and taught, knew what they were seeing.

* Observant Jews, pious travelers on their way into Jerusalem for Passover, had also heard stories of this man Jesus.

Now, as he appeared mounted on the donkey colt, some of the people brought their long-established traditions, their long-held hopes, to life.

They joyfully joined in the moment,
celebrating the symbolic arrival of a messianic figure,
a prophet as foretold,
with the cries and obeisance deserved by such a dignitary.
They recognized and celebrated the presence of Christ in their midst –
even as they had pressing business at hand to attend to.

As we remember and attempt to recreate the moment Jesus processed into Jerusalem,
we reveal a vital truth about ourselves to our friends and neighbors.
This truth is, we are Christians.
Our faith has feet.
This parade is part of a vital heritage,
a history of sacrifice and service,
of triumph and love.
It is up to each new generation of believers to keep the story of this moment alive so that Jesus himself lives on in the church.

So, today, we celebrate and remember.

But where does it go from there?
Does our marching have a destination?

If all we do at the conclusion of Palm Sunday is hunker down and hide our identity, then like those folks that welcomed him with shouts in Jerusalem, we too are abandoning Jesus the moment he gets off the donkey.

How can we justify going back to life as usual when we have just shouted in the arrival of our king,
our messiah, our Savior?
How can we become true participants in the longest running parade in history — the Jesus parade?

It seems to me that the essence of a parade is a party atmosphere and party spirit.
And the faith question for each of us today is:
Can your spirit party even when everything around you is falling down and coming apart?

Can you trust and obey Jesus enough to party through the jeers as well as the cheers?

Can you wave palm branches and sing hosannas in good times – and in bad times,
in the midst of sorrows as well as celebrations,
on Good Friday as well as No-Name Saturday and Easter morning.

Today, we need to remember there really should be one membership requirement for all those who would join the Jesus parade:
Do you promise to party and celebrate the God who became one of us in good times and bad, for better and for worse?

Any church that parades around its block or its neighborhood singing, waving tree parts, and carrying on should also require all its congregation, as part of their membership vows, to sign a party agreement form: you get kicked out if you can’t/won’t party.

What is making us a hardened-heart, stiff-necked people?
What is making us closed-eared, stone-faced, frostbitten?
What is sapping our joy?
What is shutting down our parade?
What is sending us scuttling home to hide?

I think the message for us is that we need to keep the party going
and to keep the parade moving – in good times and bad.

It’s a matter of faith.
It’s a matter of faith affirmation.
It’s a matter of affirming in the face of the whole world around us that Christ is head of our life – come what may, no matter what.

You can’t join the Jesus parade and not celebrate.
When you join the Jesus parade, you party.
You wave your hands and dance for joy –
not just when life is going your way –
but even when that Perfect Storm called Good Friday hits with all its might.

Palm Sunday reminds us to party on people –
in good times and in bad.
Christ is here.
Celebrate!
Hozanna!
Amen!

This sermon was delivered to the congregation at The Connecting Place: Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, March 28, 2010

A Lenten Awe-robic Exercise: Sing!

Something significant happens when people sing together.


In singing together, we engage in corporate worship – it takes what each of us does here and moves it from a personal experience to a group experience.

Singing together is an awesome experience.

Singing together increases an awareness of other-ness.

That you are a part of a much larger whole –
an awareness that inspires awe.

Today we take up another Lenten Practice: Singing !!! – learn a new song.

Apparently from the very beginning, when Christians have come together, they sang songs together.

The very earliest descriptions we have of Christian meeting always include an allusion to the singing of songs together.

God's people have always been a people who sung.
Singing together is biblically commanded –
and edifying to those who participate.

You see, in singing together, we engage in corporate worship – it takes what each of us does here and moves it from a personal experience to a group experience.

Of course, at the very beginning they sang from the Psalm Book –
it contained the songs they knew –
the songs they were familiar with.
They used the Psalm Book as their hymn book –
and as their prayer book
and as their worship book.

What we have found out, and what we are quite sure of, is that something significant happens when people sing together.

One of the most profound encounters with the holy through the power of song I ever encountered was some 40 years ago.
We were living in the San Francisco area when a young man who went by the name of Donovan came to do a concert.
The concert was in the Cow Palace (a large venue like the Spectrum) – a place where the professional basketball team played, a place were large numbers of people could gather to hear a concert.

And Suzanne and I went.

There must have been 20,000 seats that night.
In the center of the room was a small stage with a single microphone on it.
When it was time, the lights went down, a voice intoned: “Ladies and gentlemen, Donovan.”
And this young man walked out alone from somewhere, through the crowd carrying a guitar.
He walked up on to the stage and sat down, cross-legged right there in the middle of the stage – in the middle of 20,000 pairs of eyes staring down at him.
And he started to sing.

And for over two hours this one man with his guitar mesmerized the crowd of 20,000 people with his songs.
The power of his music and song we experienced that night was far more powerful than what is experienced in the loud amplified staged concerts that we expect in a venue as large as the Spectrum today.

It truly was an awesome experience.

Another most profound encounter with the holy through the power of song was experience right here in Philadelphia, just a couple of years ago.
I’ve mentioned before how Suzanne and I were privileged to be among an audience of some 2500 people gathered at the Kimmel Center to hear a concert of some 650 singers from Presbyterian churches all over the Philadelphia area.
I mean, think about it – 650 voices in concert!
There had never been that many singers assembled for a concert in the Kimmel Center – before or since!
A choir of 650 people.
650 Presbyterians lending their voices in concert with the magnificent Kimmel Center mammoth pipe organ.
It was a magnificent experience.

The music of the voices and the organ filled the auditorium and moved the souls of all in attendance that day.
It was truly awesome – awe inspiring.

As I sat there with the music infusing my very being, I was glad I was there,
but I really didn’t want to be where I was.
Our seats were maybe 40 feet from the nearest singers, but I wanted to be closer.
I wanted to be there in the midst of them –
feeling their energy,
hearing their voices,
joining right in – singing for all I was worth.

After the concert I ran in to several of the choir members in the rest room line.
And, I commented that it was an awesome experience for us – and I could only imagine what it must have been like for them
to be in the midst of 649 other singers
all singing at the top of the lungs
being heard as one.

And, to a person, they all said it was the best day of their lives!
It was an awe-inspiring experience –
for the participants and for those present to hear the performance.

We all know that there are some performers that people go to see and to hear –
whose performance commands rapt attention from the those present.
And, at times, we might even feel we are in the presence of greatness when we are there.

And, there are other performers who feel that is their “job” to involve the audience in the performance.
People go to the concerts of these performers knowing the lyrics to all the songs –
and feel like they have to join in.

Suzanne and I had another experience a couple of years ago that struck a chord with me.
We were on an airplane returning to Philadelphia from one of our trips to the midwest.
Our plane had three seats on either side of the isle.
And seated in the window seat of our row, was a little old lady with snow white hair.
Almost as soon as we sat down she started talking with Suzanne.
She had never been to Philadelphia before, was flying in to visit with brother in Newark.
(I thought to myself, yeah but you’re not going to be in Newark when you get to Philadelphia.)

But, Suzanne was game so she asked the question, where are you coming from.
The woman’s face lit up as she allowed that she had just returned from a two week cruise.

Ever the trooper, Suzanne then ventured: “O, where did you go?”
The little old woman scrinched her face a bit, and said, “O I don’t know. We didn’t go anywhere, really.”
She said, “It was an Elvis cruise.”

That’s when she got my attention.

“There were twelve Elvis impersonators on board – and it was non-stop music from dawn to dusk – it was great – we didn’t care where the ship was going.”

An Elvis cruise.

Well, you can be sure that those folks on that cruise did not go on the cruise to hear Elvis impersonators.
They went because they knew all the Elvis songs and relished the opportunity to sing along with the Elvis impersonators.

Something powerful happens when you sing along.
Something powerful happens when you are in the chorus –
when people on either side of you and in front and behind you are joining their voices in song.

Pete Seeger has been on a life-long mission to go wherever he could just to engage people in song.
Like many other performers, he judges the success of his performance by getting the folks to sing along in concert with one another.
Over the years, Pete Seeger has perfected the art of getting folks to join right in singing their song.
When he first started out, Peter Seeger recognized the power of voices in song and on the front of his signature banjo he painted the words: Warning: this instrument conquers hate.

Singing together is an awesome experience.
Singing together increases an awareness of other-ness.
That you are a part of a much larger whole –
an awareness that inspires awe.

I have to believe that corporate singing is vital to what we do when we come together for this awe-robic exercise we call Christian Worship.

Occasionally, I have someone say to me, why do we sing so much at this church?
Other churches don’t sing as much as you do.
And, I think, well, that’s to their detriment.

As the song goes, we sing because we are happy.
We sing because we know we are free –
free from old baggage which tends to weigh us down.
We don’t worry if our song is not good enough for anyone else to hear.
We sing because there is inspiration in voices singing together.
We sing because it inspires awe – and that’s a good thing.
May your life go on in endless song.
May your song last your whole life long.
And let the world sing along.

Sing! Learn a new song!
It is truly an awe-robic exercise.
Amen.

This is a portion of a sermon delivered 03-21-2010 to the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church -- a center of faith in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania