So if you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,
for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life is revealed,
then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4
Prayer:
God of grace and glory,
we praise and adore you on this day; the day when we remember how Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and hell for us, setting the whole creation free.
Fill the whole church with faith and hope as we celebrate with joy, the way to new life. Amen
Scripture: John 20:1-18
Funeral services vary, from the packed church seating nearly one thousand, to the private affair with a mere handful of mourners. Until the Covid19 virus struck. Now restrictions mean that only a handful of close family members mourn by the graveside. This pain seems unimaginable, until we go once more to the empty tomb.
The gospel gives no funerary details, just that Jesus was placed in the tomb before the Sabbath, and according to John’s gospel, Mary set out very early in the morning; perhaps to grieve alone over the loss of a very dear friend. So maybe, Mary is perfectly placed to speak to the current predicament.
First of all, note the sense of confusion: How must it have felt to discover that the stone had been removed from the entrance? The only clue we have, is the account she gave to Peter and John:
They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. (20:2)
Having seen the evidence, Mary reached an intelligent conclusion; because quite obviously dead bodies do not get up and move of their own accord. Peter and John look inside, and they concur with Mary, for, as the gospel says, as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. At that moment in time, no one could make the leap of faith.
When Moses struggled with leadership in the Wilderness, he sought a sign of God’s glory as a sign of reassurance (Exodus 33). As all of the characteristic goodness of God’s self, passed before Moses, God reminded him that in his frailty and sin, this glimpse is all that it possible, and that it will be more than enough.
For those who find their life in Christ, reassurance can often be discovered in the cross and in the empty tomb. It is the deserted cross together with the gloom and emptiness of the tomb, which serve to lead us on in faith and belief, in the contemplation that the God who made our salvation possible, is still at work.
Sometimes a grief-journey (and doesn’t separation from our families and church family feel like grief?) needs a divine nudge. For Mary, even the two messengers in white were not enough, it is not until she heard her name spoken by Jesus that recognition dawned.
Where does the sense of calling come when the world has been turned upside down? How on earth can the people of God go and tell the world of the risen Saviour from the confinement of home? This is a brutally important question, which I suspect many
who were already ‘house-bound’ by age or infirmity, feeling a sense of isolation or of being side-lined from church-life, have struggled with for years.
Consequently, we seek for new ways of being in community, using those age-old agencies of forgiveness, peace-making, patience and truth-telling.
‘We learn to look at all human faces with the rather disturbing knowledge that they are faces that God has already looked at … Any divisions in our world, class, race, church loyalty, have to be confronted with the painful truth that apparently, we find it easier than God does to manage without certain bits of the human creation. The resurrection is thus God’s unequivocal ‘Yes’ to all the diverse bits of humanity – it is God’s commitment to a reconciled world.[1]
Now, more than ever, we need each other, and we belong to one another in a community of faith.
Prayers of intercession
When hope lies dead in the tomb with Jesus and we cannot see that things can improve for your world, our country, our church, for loved ones, for ourselves:
God of Life and Love, raise us to new life with Christ.
When joy lies dead in the tomb with Jesus and life seems a dreary, uphill struggle for the needy, the sick, the depressed, for our loved ones, for ourselves:
God of Life and Love, raise us to new life with Christ.
When peace lies dead in the tomb with Jesus and intolerance, conflict and warfare abound between nations, races and religions, between loved ones and within ourselves: God of Life and Love, raise us to new life with Christ.
When love lies dead in the tomb with Jesus and the world is a harsh, uncaring place for the hungry, the homeless, the needy, for our loved ones and for ourselves: God of Life and Love, raise us to new life with Christ.
When faith lies dead in the tomb with Jesus and suffering challenges belief and trust in you for the bereaved, the fearful, the doubters, for our loved ones and for ourselves God of Life and Love, raise us to new life with Christ.
Eternal God, give us the grace to die with Christ – to put behind us the things that come between you and us, and to offer ourselves wholeheartedly in the service of your love. God of Life and Love, raise us to new life with Christ. Amen.[1]
The Lord’s Prayer
The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight;
and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
[1]Christine Odell, Companion to the Revised Common Lectionary (vol 1)(Peterborough: Epworth Press, 1998)
[1]Rowan Williams, quoted by Benjamin Myers in The Politics of Easter [accessed 03.04.17]
http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2013/03/27/3724894.htm
Worship at home 