EASTER DAY SERVICE 4TH APRIL 2021
OPENING SENTENCE
He is not here: He is RISEN!’
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
HYMN
GREETING
Alleluia Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
He has given us new life and hope
by raising Jesus from the dead.
COLLECT FOR PURITY
Almighty God
to whom all hearts be open
all desires known
and from whom no secrets are hidden;
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you
and worthily magnify your holy name
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
SUMMARY OF THE LAW
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.
CONFESSION
Jesus Christ, risen Master and triumphant Lord,
we come to you in sorrow for our sins,
and confess to you our weakness and unbelief.
Like Mary at the empty tomb
We fail to grasp the wonder of your presence
Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
Like the disciples behind locked doors
We are afraid to be seen as your followers.
Christ have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Like Thomas in the upper room
We are slow to believe.
Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
ABSOLUTION
May the God of love and power
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by his Spirit
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
GLORIA sung by Billy Dewar Riddick
COLLECT
Almighty God, who through Son, Jesus Christ,
have overcome death
and opened the gates of eternal life:
grant that we,
who celebrate with joy the day of his resurrection
may be raised from the death of sin
by your life- giving Spirit;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, world without end. Amen
FIRST READING ACTS 10: 34- 43 read by Simon Lidwell
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts people from every nation who fear him and do what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
SECOND READING 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11 read by Alicen Byers
The Resurrection of Christ
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.
HYMN
GOSPEL READING John 20:1-18 read by Rev Janice Aiton
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John chapter 20 beginning at verse1
Glory to Christ our Saviour.
The Resurrection of Jesus
Early 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. So, 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.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and 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. They 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but
she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus 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.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious gospel.
Praise to Christ our Lord
SERMON
Earlier this year it was announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would “step back” from the British Royal Family on January 8. You will be well aware of all the media hype and attention that this royal couple have attracted, particularly following a controversial interview with Oprah. Royalty hits the news big time…the palace issued a statement. Only years ago, this royal couple had a lavish wedding with all the pomp and ceremony you could imagine, and the streets were lined with people cheering and celebrating with them. It was a great fanfare.
Today we look at royalty, at the King of Kings, who stepped back in a manner of speaking from his physical earthly presence on earth, to be with his Father. When this royal king, Jesus rose from the dead. No fanfares! No media hype! Indeed, his resurrection was a rather quieter affair. You might say that the resurrection was God’s understatement. First, there were no witnesses at all; no-one was there when Jesus rose again. It even happened in the dark, before dawn. We are simply told the stone was moved away.
Then, second, the first people at the scene were women. Well, that was a mistake; you can’t trust the women. The testimony of women was, I’m afraid, pretty well down the pecking order in terms of credibility in those days. Third, the women went and got Peter and John out of bed.
Interesting that Mary searches out Peter, the one who had denied Jesus three times. He must have had some strong leadership qualities to hold such a position after what was regarded as a great denial. We are told that Peter and John ran, almost raced to the garden and saw the empty tomb. We are told that John outran Peter and on seeing the empty tomb he saw and believed. Yet the gospel says that they went home for breakfast. Maybe allowing time to process what to do and how! No great stirrings there!
Which just left one woman, Mary Magdalene, crying at the tomb. Another mistake you might say. She’s got what you might call a rather colourful past and has a clear dependency on Jesus, so she’s not exactly a winner as a witness. And in any case, the risen Jesus is so unremarkable Mary thinks he’s the gardener. God still isn’t going for maximum exposure in this resurrection event.
But maybe we’ll still get the big climax; Mary lunges forward to hold on to her risen Lord. It’s a great finale. Jesus the conquering hero, triumphant over death, holding his most devoted follower, sharing the final credits. But no, they’ve missed the moment again. Jesus tells Mary to keep her distance; he isn’t available to her in the old way of friendship. ‘Don’t hold on to me. Sorry.’
God’s understatement; you see what I mean? And it went on like that. The risen Jesus came and went; sometimes he was there, sometimes he wasn’t. In John’s gospel, after the story we’ve heard, Jesus appeared in the upper room that evening but then didn’t appear again for a week, when Thomas was back. If we’d been planning this reappearance of the Risen Son of God today, I guess we might have arranged a bit more of a media strategy and a series of personal appearances, interviews and autograph signings.
And yet, and yet. How wrong we’d have been; how out of step with the way God wooed his people through the life of his Son. It’s all of a piece. The anonymity of his birth, in the poorest of surroundings, and again in the night. The first thirty years of his life; in a backwater, invisible to all but his family and a few hundred inhabitants of Nazareth. His commissioning – submitting to a sinner’s baptism in a muddy river. His early ministry – no fanfare here, just shanks’ pony as he wanders and ministers in the hill country of Galilee.
What about a bit of royal authority? No, the greatest among you must become like the least; you’re here to serve. Jesus himself said that I have come to serve not to be served It’s relentless; he enters Jerusalem on a donkey, not on a stallion; in Gethsemane he begs for another way but there’s no release; “thy will be done” and on the cross he still won’t yield to the easy escape route of calling on legions of angels. God’s understatement runs all through his earthly journey.
That’s the heavenly approach- it’s the way you win a world. Not by lording it over people but by serving, not by dominating and having the upper hand but by bottom- up leadership. Leading with a heart of love and not a heart of power, not seeking to manipulate and control but to inspire and encourage.
Whilst the resurrection was a quiet affair, it was without doubt a watershed moment. There is no question about the explosive force and impact of the resurrection. The resurrection has changed history- it is about healing, liberation, restoration, hope and new life. Resurrection makes all things new.
Stones are still being moved away and resurrection happens, new lives are born. Frank Morrison some years ago was convinced that the resurrection story was not true. Frank was a newsman, and he had set out to prove that the story of Christ’s Resurrection was only a myth. His probing, however, led him to discover the validity of the biblical record in a moving, personal way. He encountered the Lord Jesus.
Today many are encountering Jesus as stones are moved away. These stones vary in their nature and size. For some, there is the stone of doubt – honest doubt. Many would sympathise with them for after all for who can believe that a dead man could rise again? When Lord Chief Justice Darling examined the evidence, he said of the resurrection: ‘In its favour as a living truth there exists such overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in the verdict that the resurrection story is true.’
There is the stone of pain and suffering that needs to be rolled away. Elie Wiesel in his book “Night”, writes about the death of God and his own increasing disgust with humanity, reflected in the inversion of the parent–child relationship as his father deteriorates to a helpless state and Wiesel becomes his resentful, teenage caregiver. “If only I could get rid of this dead weight … Immediately I felt ashamed of myself, ashamed forever.”
In “Night” everything is inverted, every value destroyed. “Here there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends”, a prisoner tells him. “Everyone lives and dies for himself alone.” When Elie Wiesel saw a child hanged in Auschwitz he wrote: ‘I shall never forget the moments which murdered my God and my soul. I shall never forget the flames which consumed my faith for ever.’ And yet he also wrote: ‘We cannot understand it with God. And we cannot understand without him.’ Suffering keeps us locked away from the touch of Christ – or it causes us to turn at last to that irresistible grace and so be enfolded in love.
Then there’s the stone of low hope which lies heavily across the tomb. Many have experienced this low hope this past year, with all its isolation, loneliness desperation, and fear. “Why are you downcast O my soul-yet I will trust in God.” Jesus met countless people who felt this sense of hopelessness from the rich young ruler, Nicodemus to lepers, the blind and the lame. An encounter with the living Lord changed their lives forever. They found new life and purpose. If the stone of low hope is moved away, then an encounter with the Risen Lord is possible and life changing.
Then there’s the stone of underestimation. We tend to underestimate the significance of the resurrection and reduce it to manageable religious proportions. As Professor David Ford said: ‘There is no ready- made worldview into which the resurrection fits. If we think we have a framework that contains it, then we haven’t grasped the sort of event it is.’ This stone of underestimation keeps us imprisoned in a tomb of low expectations and safe religion. The resurrection simply isn’t safe. It’s explosive.
![500+ Explosion Pictures [HD] | Download Free Images on Unsplash](https://www.stjohnsdumfries.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/500-explosion-pictures-hd-or-download-free-image.jpeg)
So there are many stones lying across the tomb, holding back the risen Christ from touching our lives. And yet, if we allow that stone to shift even a bit, the resurrection can touch our lives and make us Easter people. For some of us this rolling of the stone away will be a rather quiet affair, for some of us it might be a more dramatic affair – either way our lives will be transformed and what matters is that we, like John, see and believe and like Mary we can say “I have seen the Lord”. Amen
NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYERS
In joy and hope
we pray to the Father
Hear our prayer.
That our risen Saviour may fill us with the joy
of his glorious and life-giving resurrection.
We pray to the Father
Hear our prayer.
That isolated and persecuted churches
my find fresh strength in the good news of Easter.
We pray to the Father
Hear our prayer.
That God may grant us humility
to reach out to one another in Christian love.
We pray to the Father
Hear our prayer.
That we may provide for those
who lack food, work or shelter
We pray to the Father
Hear our prayer.
That by his power, war and famine
may cease through all the world
We pray to the Father
Hear our prayer.
That he may reveal the light of his presence
to the sick, the weak and the dying,
to comfort and strengthen them.
We pray to the Father
Hear our prayer.
That he may send the fire of the Holy Spirit
upon his people,
so that we may bear faithful witness
to his resurrection
We pray to the Father.
Hear our prayer
That we might be known
as disciples of the Risen Lord
by our love.
We pray to the Father.
Hear our prayer
as we say the words your Son taught us
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
HYMN
BLESSING
God the Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
strengthen you to walk with him in his risen life;
and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be among you and remain with you always. Amen
DISMISSAL
Go or stay in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
In the name of Christ,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
