Easter Sunday: ....by name....

4/21

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

 It's a cool but sunny Easter Sunday. Enjoying the gardens in the front yards of the Victorian homes on the walk from the subway to the church. As I near the church,

Beverley Church

I see that the little church's garden needs tending and the grass needs mowing

the garden

but I'm sure Eugene will take care of that. The sanctuary is dressed in white for Easter. And people are arriving. Eugene would like to get coffee for us, but he's reminded we will do that after worship. Geraldine asks what my good word? and I say, "There can be a new beginning for us, if we say, Yes" and she smiles and says "Yes."  I begin the service with "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" and ask the congregation to respond,"Christ is risen indeed!" And soon it is time for my sermon. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen. (Christis risen indeed...)

They thought it was over. The men had all run away. Men do that. they get into big stories, dramas, movements , scenarios. And when it doesn't go well, they're gone. But the women stay. 

Mary goes first. Why? It doesn't matter to her that the dream seems to be over. The movement over. The revolution never came. Doesn't matter. She loved this man. And we need know nothing more than that. Details don't matter. And she will honor the love she felt by going to the grave to take care of business, tend to the body. That's what women do. And she gets there and the stone is gone. So she goes to tell the main men and they go to check it out and see the empty tomb. And what does the scripture tell us they did? That they returned to their homes. Obviously they didn't get it.

So she goes to see for herself. And it's like the ultimate insult. Not only have they killed him, but they won't even allow the body to receive a traditional  burial. She can't even make the right good bye. And so she weeps. (Believe me, I've never really understood that part with the two angels. All I know is they ask her Woman, why are you weeping?)

And just then, Jesus appears. And asks her the same question. And this is my favorite part....she thinks he's the gardener...I mean check this out...he's resurrected for God's sake (Uh, literally...) and he's not shining or glowing or levitating or anything. He's just standing there looking like the most common laborer in the cemetery. Like overalls , or jeans or? Like in those campesino paintings from Solentiname, blue jeans and a guayavera? He looks ordinary.  And she cannot recognize him. 

And then it happens. He says one word, Mary, her name, and she knows it is him in the very deepest part of her heart and soul. He has said her name said as no one else she knows has ever said it. It can only be him. He knows her so intimately, so well, it can only be him. 

Let's think about that a minute. This is not seeing is believing. She doesn't see anything that leads her to believe.....its what she hears and what she hears is her own name. 

So let's stop a minute...when you close your eyes and think about hearing your name called, what does it sound like, who is saying it? When you hear your name called in love, what does it sound like? 

Today is about believing and how does that happen? There are no external verifications. No iphone videos. No facebook, instagram, snapchat. None of that. All we've got are these four stories in this book. And they're all different. And please....don't even try to mash them all together. Each one by themselves is true, it's own complete story. Read them separately. Allow each one to tell its own story in its own voice (that word again) and explore each for its own truth for what you can learn but you know what?  Those stories are not going to cause you to believe or prove anything unless you already believe it.

So what do we do? Do what Mary does.  Listen....and hear your name called...the way no one else can....because Jesus will do that...God  knows you more intimately than anyone else...and loves you anyways....and that's how we know....we come to believe as Mary does when we hear him call our name...

So proof? You want proof? Look to your left, look to your right....we are here. It's two millenia later and we are still here. What we celebrate in communion is this...as Presbyterians, as followers of the reformed tradition, it is not the bread and wine that becomes the living body of the risen Christ, it is us....we become his hands, his feet, his words, his silent touch...

Today is  about resurrection. I don't know many of you that well, but I know any of us at our ages have had our share of deaths. Many of us have risen again over and over again and sometimes we don't want to do it again. But he hears us in our weeping...oh Mary don't you weep don't you moan....and he calls us by name....

If you hear it and know it's him, follow Mary, who in this story becomes the first evangelist. She is the first to say out loud, "I have seen the Lord..."

So if you have heard him, if you have known him, go out from here today and don't be afraid to say it. Don't be afraid to bring good news in a day and time when good news is so badly needed. (Good Lord, sometimes I don't even want to watch  it any more...) Go ahead and say it, "I have seen the Lord!"

Alleluia! Christ is risen! (Christ is risen indeed!) 

And so we share our prayers and make  our communion. Geraldine sings a solo, shares her music.

Bob abd Geraldine

It's a joyous day as her family has come to be with her. Grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

Geraldine's family came

Soon we will go downstairs where Eugene has put white covers on all the chairs and the good china is out. They will share an Easter dinner together. I won't eat much since I'm heading to Bushwick for brunch with my boys, bringing them eggs I colored last night.

Eggs for my boys

I do have to try some of the traditonal mac'n'cheese that seems to be part of most special occasions. It is Easter.

Eggs fro my boys


Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed!






Gospel John 20:1-18

1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.


11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Easter 2016: We each must find our own resurrection

3/27

EASTER 2016

And this is our Easter, 2016…

We enter into our newly remade Chapel and marvel at the work that has been done. It started with Jean and her volunteer crew from Sacramento. Then continued with West-Park volunteers. Don and his last team were here late last night until we were all ready. And Pat and Leila came early this morning to decorate. It has truly been a labor of love. And Leila and I have, as usual, dyed eggs to share with people. 

And so our Easter reflection…

Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed! Alleulia!

And so we begin our Easter in 2016. As Christians have for milennia. I remember when I worked in Pittsburgh, my neighbor Greek Orthodox priest throughout the whole season of Easter would greet me with a handshake and those words..Christ is risen…and I would respond Christ is risen indeed …

What do you remember? Of your childhood Easters? I remember I never enjoyed Easter as much as Christmas. Two many brooding hours in church the week before. Maundy Thursday. An endless 3 hour 7 last words service… But the word Easter brings images of cool spring to my mind. (And even  the day in Pittsburgh it snowed!) Church. Always a glorious choir and special anthems. At home, an Easter egg hunt for the plastic eggs, filled with treats, my parents had hidden around our yard.  A custom my sister has continued.

There would be lunch…a ham, always….and augratin potatoes….we each received an Easter basket with the two largest items a chocolate Easter bunny and  a giant egg, from the famous Sarris candymakers down the road. And in our earliest years at the old house with a half an acre and room for a garden behind the chicken coop, special child sized garden tools so we could participate in the  gardening. So a feeling of warmth….what images come to your mind?  I will confess, the Easter bunny left me long before Santa Claus.

Before I go on…look around…let this be an image for Easter 2016…a restored chapel….do you remember when we first returned? The ruins? A roof with exposed lath? The last two weeks have all but finished the process of bringing this place back to life…

Don at work...

Keep this picture in your mind…as well as thanks for all who have made this happen….and some very long hours…

When Don's crew finished....

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed!

It’s a statement…not a question. In a few short words, the why of our presence here…

These are our witnesses…

Mary Magdalene

Peter

The one Jesus loved…..

Mary goes because of love. She hadn’t run away from the crucifixion scene like the  others, the men had. She finds the stone rolled away. Stop a minute…..why was the stolen rolled away? To let Jesus out?  Or to let the disciples in? She assumes he’s been taken away. (Not an illogical idea…he was only in Simon’s tomb temporarily)

Peter and the other go running…the one gets there first…sees but does not go in..Peter arrives,  pushes him aside and with his typical lack of impulse control, rushes in.  And then the other comes too…and believed…what did he believe? Other than that Jesus was not there?

Then they go home…what? Why?

Mary is there again. Weeping. She sees two angels …why did they not appear to the men? Were they waiting for her?

And then, my favorite scene, where she mistakes  Jesus for the gardener…Note…there is no halo, no shining robes, maybe blue jean (green jean?) overalls…like the simplest humblest of people…

She doesn’t recognize him until she hears his voice. Hears her name in a way only he said it. And then she knows. (When you hear your name being called, whose voice is it?  A parent? A lover?  Whose voice?) It’s a scene almost as intimate as the anointment and the washing of feet with her hair…only John gives us this intimacy…

She wants to hold onto him, but she can’t….

And so she goes. And announces to the disciples, and so she becomes the first witness…

Resurrection….you know 20-40% of people who lose someone very close  report an appearance of the one who has died…maybe it’s  not so remarkable…..

In Latin America, when names of martyrs are read the people respond, Presente!.....present…here with us even now..

In the end, not about evidence, or proof or persuasion…no external verification…no twitter feeds, face book posts, snapchat or instagram…..

But a witness to what we have experienced…and there will be no other poof…

Have you seen the Lord? What can you proclaim? Each of us must find our own resurrection. Standing together in solidarity but  in the end, find our own.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

And this is our Easter, 2016…

Anointing and Betrayal

2/18

Amanda stops in to talk over what’s coming up in the week ahead.....Martin and his mom Luli come in to talk. Both very moved by last night’s memorial for Teddy. Luli says that it was not only a tribute to who Teddy was but to the vision of what this place not only could be but already is. And that it cannot be allowed to die. So she will get on an airplane later this week and make a trip to see if she can find a solution. There is still hope....

Mim comes in to see where we are, to see if there is any help she can offer.

Tonight’s Bible Study focuses on Mark 14:3ff, known as the Anointing in Bethany...the story of the woman anointing Jesus with costly oil. Traditionally connected with Mary Magdalene, and/or a prostitute. But nowhere here is a name given or any indication she was a prostitute. She could have just as easily been a wealthy woman. 

We talk about Mary Magdalene. her intimacy, friendship, with Jesus. How in her own gospel, she is questioned about her special relationship and when she responds, Peter chastises her. And we wonder if it was because of her importance that the official church attempted to delegitmate her by turning her into a prostitute. 

This passage clearly is an  anointing passage. Jesus as a king to be. But, how different this anointing. Taking place at the home of Simon the leper, one who wold be unclean. And in this case, Jesus does not heal him, make him clean. He simply is as he is. And the anointing is done by a woman, not a prophet. And it also seems she knows where his path is headed. 

And of course, the disciples don’t get it. They rebuke her, like they earlier did the children, say the money could have been used for the poor. Always missing who this ministry is for. All those who are outsiders. Jesus’ response to them is twofold: first of all, there will always be poor and therefore opportunities for individual acts of charity. But that is not what this is about. Secondly, relationship always supercedes theology and ideology. Something churches and movement organizations have yet to learn. And for this reason, the story of this unnamed woman will always be told in remembrance of her.....wherever the good news is proclaimed, throughout the whole world...

And for this reason Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza entitled her classic of feminist theology In Remembrance of Her. 

We finish by talking about Judas Iscariot. How his name meant assassin. One of an underground cadre of rebels engaged in  acts of revolutionary violence. We have no story of Jesus’ calling Judas. We have to imagine it. What was his purpose? To convert him? Or did Judas seek him out as a possible leader? Did  he infiltrate the group because Jesus gathered popular attention? Did he decide to turn him in because of disappointment? 

Of the narrative’s complexity given its demands that Jesus be turned over to the authorities. Of Judas' history, connected by the early church with the betrayal of the Jews. Of his portrait in the Prayer Tower at Oral Roberts University, the only one with a beard. Of the attention given hm by Kazantzakis. Or Jesus Christ Superstar, or his own gospel. In which this role is essential to the narrative and he is the only one Jesus can trust with it. And it is with Judas we end our study. And end the day. 

We are all broken

6/15

The day is buzzing from the start. Jamie and Glen and I meet to talk about Glen’s design for a refurbished narthex for our church. A clean, warm, welcoming entrance that would draw people in and be a symbol of what the rest could be. We draw Teddy into the discussion to get his thoughts. Glen’s idea is that we need to make a request of session to authorize a refurbishment committee. To begin with Jamie, Glen and Teddy and me as an advisor. Responsible to session, of course. 

We talk about Jamie’s desire to add a portrait of Mary Magdalene, her patron saint. Glen tells the story of Mary’s washing the feet of Jesus, the alabaster jar, how expensive it would have been. The judgment of the disciples, as so many of us are so often judged. And how Jesus rejected judgment for love and acceptance. That’s what this place is, he says, a place that honors us in our brokenness. We are all broken, but we are loved and accepted by God anyways and brought to love beyond our brokenness. He is right, of course. I tell them that this is basic  Reformed theology. The image will help give that message. 

Jamie talks about how she chose Mary Magdalene. Her parents' raised eyebrows. The research she did. The fact that the Bible does not really portray Mary as a prostitute. That the different women get conflated. That perhaps she even came from royalty, from Sheba. And Glen says, then even more so, if she could give up her royalty to follow Jesus. Teddy is following all of this with rapt attention. 

I tell them tha both are true, the extraBiblical as wellas the Biblical. That the Mary of popular culture now has her own reality. I talk about my friend Ann Hayman and her founding of and 30 years with the Mary Magdalene Project, a ministry of transformation for women who have been prostituted, as Ann always said. 

In the middle of this discussion, Martin comes in. I introduce him to Jamie. They go off for a tour of the building. I join them for a serious discussion in the session room. When Martin thinks about the avariciusness that can come into play regarding the building, his blood boils. Almost enough to dance, he says. If we’re going to make this happen, the time is now. Martin will be coming back later in the day to look around again. Other potential partners will be in for a visit as well. 

Jamie and I go off to work on a report and resolutions for the congregational meeting coming up next week. When we finally finish, it feels like much has been accomplished. 

I have just enough time to stop in the church before heading to Chelsea to see Glen’s directorial debut in the play Mah Jongg: the Musical in the West Village Musical Theatre Festival. I see Chris and tell him I’m off for Glen’s play. When I get back, there’s been an issue with two prospective partners wanting to come in for a visit. Danielle’s out of town for the day. Thankfully, the visitor called Jamie who called Steve who took care of it all. And when I step outside, I see them, they’ve been here for two hours. Taking a very serious look. 

I believe in my heart that this is all going to come together. I can see the new narthex, even now. The message of light, of welcome, of respect, and appreciation. And of course, of beauty and justice.