![]() By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector Earlier this year, I promised to offer a teaching sermon on the Lord’s Prayer. Today we’ll focus on: how this prayer was introduced; its use within the service of Holy Eucharist; the evolution of the English translation; and finally, how the wider Church interprets this prayer today. And yes, there is a handout (see below), especially designed for the English geeks amongst us. Introducing the Lord’s Prayer Right out of the gate, there was no ‘original’ version of the Lord’s Prayer.* The prayer is presented in two different gospels: Matthew and Luke. The text of the prayer, as preserved in the gospels, is in Greek, and are themselves translations from Aramaic or Hebrew. The versions presented in Mathew and Luke are similar, but quite different. Luke’s version omits any reference to heaven or God’s will being done, and both versions omit the doxology we are familiar with. Liturgically, the Church has generally drawn upon Matthew's version. Fairly early in his gospel, as part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he tells the disciples: “Pray like this” (CEB6:9). After teaching the Lord’s Prayer, he adds: “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins” (CEB 6:14-15). This might lead us to speculate - is God’s forgiveness conditional? If we want to think in binary terms, sure, that’s one way to read it. But we know God is the original expansive thinker, always nudging us to open our hearts, minds, and souls to see a bigger vision; a deeper understanding of meaning. Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry once preached: “Mutual forgiveness and repentance, healing and reconciliation are hard work and they often take time. Healing and reconciliation do not happen quickly. But it happens, if we are willing, to allow God’s grace to work in us, for God’s grace is sufficient. God is able.”** I think what Jesus was flagging for us is that the very act of seeking to engage in a process of forgiveness, repentance, healing, and reconciliation requires us to keep ourselves open and willing to receive God’s grace. To trust God is at work within us and within those we seek to forgive; that God’s grace is sufficient and able. Especially given forgiveness is often not a one time thing; it can be hard to give and sometimes, even harder to receive. Forgiveness is an ongoing journey of trust in God’s grace. If our hearts remain hardened, we end up closing ourselves off from God’s grace and forgiveness. Not because God is unwilling to forgive us, but because we have put up a ‘do not enter’ sign, closing ourselves off from God’s grace, of the possibility of giving and receiving forgiveness. Luke offers his version towards the middle of his gospel. “Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’” (CEB 11:1). You might even say, they wanted a formula, and so he gave them one. But after teaching them to pray, he goes on to indicate God is always there. Jesus says: “And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. To everyone who knocks, the door is opened.” (CEB 11:9-10). I think it’s fair to say, Jesus offers them a liturgical prayer, but also makes a point to emphasize, God answers whenever we seek God out. This may explain why so many of the phrases within the Lord’s Prayer are also found in Jewish liturgy, including prayers like, “Our Father, Our King”, the “Amidah”, and “Morning Blessings”.*** And this was quite possibly my favorite part. It means our beloved Jesus, was also a liturgist, drawing upon sacred prayers from his religious tradition and creating a new prayer with fresh language to help his followers expand and deepen their prayer life. Jesus modeled liturgical renewal from the beginning of his ministry, recognizing we can appreciate the beauty of tradition while also enlivening our prayer life with fresh language. The Lord’s Prayer within the Service of Holy Eucharist In the early Church, it was common for members to bring home eucharistic elements from the Sunday celebration. Much like today, when Kathryn Aubry-McAvoy will bring the eucharistic elements to one of our parishioners, except at this point in time, everyone could bring home the bread and wine to consume during the week. Before consuming the elements during the week, they would say the Lord’s Prayer to prepare their hearts and minds for receiving the eucharist. Which is one reason why early Church fathers believed that when the Lord’s Prayer references ‘our daily bread’ the prayer was not referencing basic daily nutrition.**** Rather they believed these words referred to the sacred meal of the eucharist. Around the time Constantine adopted Christianity, the act of saying the Lord’s Prayers as a form of personal piety was incorporated into the eucharistic service. The Lord’s Prayer has remained at this place in the Eucharistic service ever since, though the people’s involvement in saying the prayer was quite an evolution. More on that in a moment. The Evolution of the English Translation In the late fourth century, the Roman Empire split, and this led the Roman Church to transition from using Greek to Latin. While initially plenty of folks spoke Latin, the language died out around the seventh century, though it remained the required liturgical language in the Roman Church until the mid-1960s. ***** This means the early Church began using the language of the people, and slowly evolved into a language that most people did not understand. It invited and exasperated clericalism, insisting the priest was a required intermediary between God and the people. Which doesn’t exactly line up with Jesus' mission and ministry. But alas. On the very distant edges of the Roman Empire, in the Kingdom of Northumbria, which consisted of what we now think of as Northern England and the Scottish Lowlands, the Lord’s Prayer was first translated into English around 650 A.D.****** We didn’t really see other English translations, until the Protestant Reformation when the King of England, Henry VIII, left the Roman Church to found the Church of England. We know Henry’s motivations were mixed, and his decision caused a lot of political and religious upheaval. I had always been taught that this change more or less immediately led to the worship being spoken in the language of the people. But no - not the case. While Henry instigated the change, the liturgy kept being prayed in Latin for another fifteen years! Yet when the first Book of Common Prayer was published in 1549, all of that changed. A sidebar about prayer books: It’s interesting to note that the Church of England produced four different prayer books between 1549 and 1662. Because the Anglican Church is the state religion in England, prayer book revisions required government involvement, which quickly became challenging. (I mean, could you imagine trying to get prayer book revision through the American congress???) This resulted in the Church of England shying away from any further prayer book revisions, and instead creating a great deal of supplemental materials. The Episcopal Church in the United States has essentially done the same thing, producing four different prayer books between 1789 and 1979. At our 2022 General Convention, we memorialized the 1979 prayer book, and have opted to move in England’s direction of approving many supplemental materials that they expect churches will incorporate. When the Church of England first produced a prayer book in the vernacular, they also did a wild thing, they slowly began to include the laity in the prayers. Now during the service, when the Lord’s Prayer was spoken by the priest, the people concluded: ‘But deliver us from evil. Amen.’ In the 1552 revision, people were given a bit more empowerment in the liturgy and were invited to repeat each line after the priest. This remained the pattern in the two other prayer book revisions in England, and the first two prayer books for the Episcopal Church. It was not until the publication of the 1928 prayer book that the priest and the people began to say the Lord’s Prayer together. I found this to be particularly wild, that we’ve only been praying this prayer together for a little less than 100 years! While the English language and spelling norms evolved, there were relatively minor changes to the substance of the Lord’s Prayer. In 1662, England followed the Scotts in incorporating the doxology into the end of the Lord’s Prayer and it has been around ever since. The 1789 prayer book substituted minor changes like ‘which art in heaven’ to ‘who art in heaven’; and ‘in earth’ to ‘on earth’; and ‘them that trespass’ to ‘those who trespass’. The most significant change to the Lord’s Prayer took place in the 1970s when the contemporary language for the Lord’s Prayer was introduced. In many ways, the change was a long time coming. There had been a lot of change in how people spoke to one another in general. Marion Hatchett observes in his Commentary on the American Prayer Book: “In the sixteenth century ‘thou’ in English was equivalent to ‘tu’ in French or ‘du’ in German - the familiar second person singular form used to address one person, intimates, children, servants and God. It was appropriately used by those who knew themselves to be children in intimate relation to God…. The use of ‘you’ as a form of address in the rites and collects in contemporary language is the modern expression of intimacy linguistically equivalent to the usage of ‘thou’ in the earlier editions of the Prayer Book.” In other words, the shift was, in part, to ensure the prayer retained that sense of intimacy between God, our heavenly mother and father; and God’s beloved children. The second reason prompting a change, was the decision of the Roman Catholic Church to no longer require Latin in their services.******* This meant they needed English translations. Up until this point, when other Protestant churches were looking for an English translation of common prayers, such as the Lord’s Prayer, they looked to the Anglican prayer book. You can imagine why the Roman Catholic leadership would not have wanted to use one of the breakaway church’s English translations for their liturgy. So they created their own International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Meanwhile, many Protestant denominations who had long used the Anglican versions, were eager to modernize the prayers. This led to the creation of the International Consultation on English Texts, an ecumenical group charged with crafting English translations of the prayers our denominations have in common. In the early 1970s, they published Prayers We Have in Common: Agreed Liturgical Texts, which included what we think of as the ‘contemporary’ Lord’s Prayer. When the Episcopal Church revised the prayer book in 1979, they made a pastorally sensitive decision to include both the traditional and the contemporary version used by many other denominations. Today, the Episcopal Church belongs to the North American Consultation on Common Texts, which is a member of the English Language Liturgical Consultation, groups that continue the important work of giving us a common language in our core Christian prayers across denominations.*** How the Wider Church Interprets the Lord’s Prayer Today Let’s walk through how the wider Church understands the Lord’s Prayer today - briefly. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” Scholars believe this part of the prayer could mean a couple of different things, and generally recommend leaving enough space for both interpretations. One thought is that this petition is urgently seeking the action of God - something along the lines of “...[Creator] show yourself to be the Holy One; bring in your kingdom; establish your will, on earth as in heaven.”* Another thought, is when this prayer is compared to Jewish prayers, it makes a solid case that the petition is praying for human action so God’s name may be sanctioned, God’s kingdom established, and God’s will done.* “Give us this day our daily bread;” Similarly, scholars suggest there are a couple of ways to interpret this petition, and again, recommend keeping enough space for both meanings.* The Greek word that is translated into ‘daily’ is actually a bit vague.* It may mean ‘bread for tomorrow’, as in ‘the great tomorrow’, referring to a heavenly banquet.* It also can be understood as ‘the bread which is necessary’, and given the amount of hunger in our world, there is a solid argument for this perspective too.* “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” We’ve already touched on this a bit. In essence: we are committed to the practice of forgiveness, we forgive others when they wrong us, and we ask God to forgive us when we wrong God. “Save us from the time of trial.” Scholars note two potential misconceptions that often arise. The first is that God would “tempt” or entice people to evil, and the second is to think that the original Greek word that means “temptation” means something different than simply being tempted to not sin.* The original meaning is more akin to not denying or renouncing our faith when tempted, either in the here or now, but especially in that biblical sense of the trials Christians will face during the challenges of end times written about in apocalyptic literature.* “and deliver us from evil.” This alludes to the evil powers of this world; the selfishness, fear, anger, and hate that can separate us from God and care of God’s world. “For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever.” This doxology, which is a later addition, reflects the normal Jewish practice of concluding prayers of petition with a doxology of praise.* I hope our exploration of the Lord’s Prayer today, and its evolution in the Christian tradition, helps us to have a better sense of why we use the contemporary version in our primary worship service, while each individual always has the choice to pray the one they hold dear either in worship or in private prayer. As we prepare to head back out into the world today, I would invite each of us to keep reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer: How do the words of the prayer inform our understanding of God? How does this prayer bind us with other Christians across the world? Amen. * https://www.englishtexts.org/the-lords-prayer ** https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2017/05/23/presiding-bishop-preaches-on-forgiveness-repentance-healing-and-reconciliation-in-haiti/ *** https://weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/lords-prayer-jewish-liturgy and https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/text-of-avinu-malkeinu/ **** Marion Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book, p. 378, 90, 29. ***** https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL07383020/ ****** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Prayer ******* https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/international-consultation-english-texts-icet The Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6:9-13 Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. (taken from the Revised Standard Version, as found on English Language Liturgical Consultation) Luke 11:2-4 Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread; And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us; And lead us not into temptation. (taken from the Revised Standard Version, as found on English Language Liturgical Consultation) 650 A.D. - Old English FADER USÆR ðu arð in heofnu Sie gehalgad NOMA ÐIN. Tocymeð RÍC ÐIN. Sie WILLO ÐIN suæ is in heofne and in eorðo. HLAF USERNE of'wistlic sel ús todæg, and f'gef us SCYLDA USRA, suæ uoe f'gefon SCYLDGUM USUM. And ne inlæd usih in costunge, ah gefrig usich from yfle. (Bell, Laird D T. Northumbrian Culture and Language) 1549 Prayer Book - England The priest Our father, whyche art in heaven, halowed be thy name. Thy Kyngdome come. Thy wyll be doen in yearth, as it is in heaven. Geve us this daye our dayly breade. And forgeve us our trespaces, as wee forgeve them that trespasse agaynst us. And leade us not into temptacion. The aunswere But deliver us from evill. Amen. (taken from 1549 prayer book) 1552 Prayer Book - England Changed how the prayer was offered. The people would repeat each line after the priest. Spelling evolved, but same words. 1559 Prayer Book - England The people still repeat each line after the priest. Further evolution of spelling, but same intended words. 1662 Prayer Book - England Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen. (taken from 1662 prayer book; this is still the official prayerbook of England) The people still repeat each line after the priest. Spelling looks more familiar. Added doxology. 1789 Prayer Book - U.S. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen (taken from 1789 prayer book) The people still repeat each line after the priest. Some words are changed to adapt to language norms of the time. 1892 Prayer Book - U.S. The people still repeat each line after the priest. Content stays the same. 1928 Prayer Book - U.S. The priest and the people now say the prayer together. Content stays the same. 1970 Prayers We Have in Common: Agreed Liturgical Texts was produced by the International Consultation on English Texts, and established the ‘contemporary’ Lord’s Prayer used in the wider church. They created translations used across Roman and Protestant churches, such as: Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, the Gloria (Glory to God), the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy), etc. 1979 Prayer Book - U.S. Traditional Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. 1979 Prayer Book - U.S. Contemporary 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. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen. ![]() By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector Today’s gospel lesson from John takes place on the evening of Jesus’ arrest. In the verses that precede our lesson, Jesus modeled for his disciples what it means to love one another by washing their feet. Now he is advising the disciples to abide, and in the verses that come immediately after our lesson, to love. Jesus is hours away from his death. We can imagine the sense of urgency he must have been feeling as he tried to impart these final words to his disciples. We often witness a similar sense of urgency when we sit with loved ones as they make their final journey from life to death.
The point is that the emotional and spiritual process of offering and receiving final words is as essential to a good death as the body’s physical act of shutting down. As Jesus prepared for his own death, he needed his disciples, and all who would come after, to understand that a life of faith is inherently relational. In some ways, this shouldn’t be such urgent news. God has always been relational:
So on the eve of his death, why was it so important for Jesus to convey the intrinsically relational nature of faith? Well, I think Jesus anticipated his followers would need these words. He sensed his disciples would scatter. And in scattering, the disciples would abandon the teacher they loved so dearly, and the core values his Way of Love embodied. Jesus knew that on this side of the resurrection, his followers would be grappling with feelings of shame, regret, embarrassment, and remorse. Shame and embarrassment often leave us questioning our worthiness; doubting the love and forgiveness that is waiting for us if we are willing to accept such grace. This is exacerbated by the fact that self doubt and self-loathing often lead us to cast ourselves apart; removing ourselves from friends and community. Jesus knew there was a possibility these feelings might prevent his disciples from returning to the Way of Love and his community of followers that would eventually become the early Church. All this is to say, Jesus knew his followers, then and now, would need these words: “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit.” (Jn 15:4-5a) Jesus used another beautiful agricultural parable to make his point. God is the vine grower, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. Together, we bear much fruit. As the branches, we depend on the vine, and collectively we count on the vine-grower to prune and care for the entire plant, in order that we may offer an abundant harvest. And it all comes down to this one word that Jesus used eight times in today’s reading: abide. Jesus is telling us: Remain in me. Live in me. Dwell in me. Stay united with me. Stay joined to me. Jesus knew that on this side of the resurrection, his disciples would need to be reminded that a life of faith is inherently relational, and that the community that made up the Jesus Movement needs them and is waiting for them. Because we need one another:
Here we are, centuries later, a people of faith striving to be loyal to God’s dream, of walking Jesus’ Way of Love, of bearing fruit that lasts. Just as the disciples were bogged down by their own shame and shortcomings, we too, can let our insecurities and wounds prevent us from fully engaging in this life. We hold back from building relationships. We let fractured relationships remain broken, journeying onwards, often in pain. At times we let that pain keep us isolated from others. Sometimes we seek to forget the pain, using alcohol, drugs, porn, shopping, gambling, food, social media and screens to distract us. Other times we will remain in constant motion, doing anything to avoid the pain. Yet, eventually, when our life begins to draw to an end, these are the wounds we find ourselves still reckoning with. These are the things we find ourselves wishing we had taken the time to resolve. Jesus' final words to his disciples didn’t necessarily come from pain. Still so often, our final words or the words we long to hear at the hour of our death, do stem from old pain. When I think of approaching our death without doing the work of sorting through our own wounds, I am reminded of a man I walked with as his life drew to a close. The medical professionals knew he would die any day, any moment. His children traveled from all over the world to be with him and say goodbye. I was called in to pray last rites, or rather the prayers we pray at the time of death. In the end, I was called in three different times to offer these prayers over the course of six months. This man, who was full of pain and brokenness, from choices he made during his life, could not face his wounds. Could not bear the thought of what might await him. It didn’t matter what words of forgiveness, grace, or love the hospice chaplain or I offered him, the good news of our God’s unconditional love. He didn’t think he was worthy of it, and therefore, feared what death might mean. His body eventually gave out, and I’ll never know if he eventually did make peace. But watching his emotional and spiritual agony was one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed. We can wish that kind of pain on no one. What if instead we did a wild, inconceivable thing, and lived our lives like tomorrow was our last day.
If a life of faith is inherently relational, Jesus calls us to do just that - fully engage in our relationships, as best we are able. It’s only when we free ourselves of these burdens, of the pains that hold us back from being fully alive, that we can heal and embrace the lifegiving work God has called us into. And this is not a one time thing. We get to do this dance again, and again, and again. As we prepare to head out into the world today, I would invite each of us to do some reflecting:
![]() By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector Luke’s story of the empty tomb begins similarly enough to Mark's version that we heard on Easter Sunday, but he takes the story one step further. The female disciples had approached the burial tomb, found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. This time there were two divine messengers, and they told the women that he was not there, he had risen. Yet the divine messengers make a point in telling them: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again” (Lk 24:6-7). The text goes on to say, “Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told this to the eleven and to all the rest” (Lk 24:8-9). The messengers were making a point to remind the disciples that Jesus had told them - this was going to happen; there would be a resurrection. Yet this time around, the women do not flee in fear; they go and tell the disciples. The disciples seem to think the women are telling a tall tale, except for Peter, who runs to the tomb to see if there might be any truth to the story. He returned, “...amazed at what had happened” (Lk 24:12b). That same day, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to the village of Emmaus. They were feeling pretty downcast and defeated, because the man they thought had been the messiah, had been crucified and buried. While on the road, they encounter a stranger and share their troubling news. The stranger began to teach them the meaning of the scriptures, and when they drew near the village, they stopped and shared a meal together. And it was only then, when the stranger “...was at table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight” (Lk 24:30-31). They immediately returned to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples. When we reach today’s gospel lesson, these two disciples are in the midst of telling the other disciples they had just encountered the resurrected Christ. While they were talking, Jesus appeared before them, wishing them peace. Yet the disciples were scared half to death. He assured them they did not need to be afraid, and encouraged them to touch his hands and feet, in order that they might see this was really Jesus. Even still, it was too much for the disciples; it was too good to be true. Jesus then asked for something to eat, and they handed him a piece of broiled fish. It was only then that Jesus was recognizable to them, in this shared communal meal. Ghosts and angels do not eat, so indeed, Jesus lives. It was only after Jesus had calmed their fears, that he could then impart one final lesson before ascending into heaven. In both of Jesus’ resurrection appearances in Luke’s gospel, the disciples do not recognize him until they share a meal together. It is only then they know Jesus lives. As preacher Laura Holck wrote, “By eating fish with his friends, Jesus also demonstrates the pathway forward: we move into the realm of resurrection every time we eat together. And although resurrected life is always possible when we eat together, it only materializes when we get real with each other. It materializes when we share our wounds.”* In other words, it matters that we gather each week to worship God and share in our eucharistic meal together. It is how we are reminded that Jesus lives in our relationships, in our work, in our communities, and in how we care for ourselves.* In a world with a 24 hour news cycle full of discouraging and fearful stories, we need to remember the hope of the resurrection; of all that is possible when we gather together as the body of Christ and proclaim Jesus lives. Preacher Laura Holck goes on to write: “Too often people live in a privatized transactional religion, offering prayers and devotion hoping God will exchange them for resurrected life. But Christianity is much more than that. Christianity is living a communal life of shared pain, sorrow, and hope, where breaking bread together transforms everything and we experience resurrected life while we still live, where calling upon the name of Jesus in our midst brings healing and new life amid what formerly was only death, despair, and isolation.”* For Christians, the lifecycle of faith is not an individual, private journey. We can certainly try to go about it alone, but it will feel more like a half-life. Because in our faith tradition, we are meant to be in community, to recognize Jesus lives whenever and wherever we gather to be the Church. We experience the resurrection each and every week when we break bread together. We experience the resurrection as we witness our little ones joyfully and boldly singing along with the community, somberly carrying forward the bread and wine, running in circles in our sanctuary to remind us of our call to have a child-like faith, and as they recognize, better than many of us, that something very special is happening during communion. We experience the resurrection each and every time we gather together to witness and celebrate the baptism of a new member into the body of Christ. This means, Jesus lives not just on the day of resurrection, but Jesus lives right now, right here, as we baptize Max and Wendy. In the baptism liturgy, we promise as a community to walk with Max, Wendy, and one another through the highs and lows of this life. We, as the Church, are in this together, and we’ve got you. We may be an imperfect mess, but Gods’ Love is our North Star and we are in this with you, forever and always. The baptismal covenant, the promises we make in baptism and reaffirm again and again throughout our lives, are in a question and answer format. The first three questions ask us about our belief in God the Creator, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Then the questions shift from what we believe to how we will live. The first question of how we will live asks: Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers? This may be the most important question about how we will live, as our answer will inform how we will respond to the rest of the questions. Because the Church recognizes that in order to keep remembering that Jesus lives in us and the world around us, we need to keep gathering in fellowship and worship, we need to keep breaking bread and praying together.
It all relies upon our belief in the story of God’s love in creation and in Christ, our faith in one another, and our shared communal worship and life together. Whether we were baptized as a little one, as Max will be, or as an adult, as Wendy will be, baptism is a choice to put love of God’s creation, love of God’s children, and a belief in a better world before all else. It is making the choice to engage in a life of love, joy, hope, and healing. We all come from a variety of spiritual backgrounds, and maybe you’ve been baptized, and maybe you’ve not made that choice yet. As Jimmy noted last week, as Anglicans we gather around the book, font, and table, which informs how we live our lives out in the world. With that in mind, know that this baptismal font, along with our altar and scriptures, are here to symbolize God’s standing invitation to abundant life. If you would ever like to explore being baptized, let’s make it happen. And for those who have been baptized for decades, may this font always symbolize the life we choose in God, and God’s invitation to commit ourselves, again and again, to a life of love. Whenever we gather around this font, and around this table; as we listen to the scriptures; may we remember that Jesus lives. As we prepare to baptize Max and Wendy today, and to renew our own baptismal vows, I would invite each of us to do some reflecting:
* Laura Holck in Sundays and Seasons: Preaching, 2024, p.139. By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! How did we get here? On Friday we remembered Jesus was crucified by the most powerful empire of his day, and then laid to rest in a tomb for his eventual burial. No burial preparations could happen on the Sabbath, so it was not until the following day that the tomb was found to be empty. The women, who had come to anoint Jesus' body for burial, found a divine figure who commissioned them to go and tell Peter and the disciples that Jesus had gone on ahead of them to Galilee. There they would see Jesus. Yet instead of doing as they were asked, “...they went out and fled the tomb for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Again, I can’t help but wonder, how did we get here? How was the Good News ever shared or heard? In Mark’s gospel, the disciples' unfaithfulness is a recurring theme. It is especially prominent in Mark’s passion narrative.
In fact, we hear nothing else about any of Jesus’ followers until he has taken his final breath. Then, Mark tells us that several women were standing off in the distance. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, who had followed him and provided for him while he was in Galilee; along with many other women who did the same for him in Jerusalem. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James watched as Joseph of Arimethea took Jesus' body down and placed him in a tomb for burial. The morning after the Sabbath, these three women from Galilee bought the necessary spices so Jesus might be anointed for his final burial. They were worried about who would move such a heavy stone, and were shocked to find the stone moved, and the tomb empty. And just as they were given an important task, they too, fled. So how did we get here? If the disciples fled in fear? If the women who discovered the empty tomb fled in fear? How did we get here? Well, thanks be to God - the Jesus Movement, the dream of God is bigger than any of us. Bigger than our fear. Bigger than our insecurities. Bigger than the unrealistic expectations that we put upon ourselves and others. Bigger than every mistake we have ever made or yet will make. Better yet, bigger than any nation or empire that has ever been or yet will be. The women found an empty tomb with a divine messenger, not because Jesus successfully died for our sins in some final act of atonement. The God of Love would never demand an innocent man’s death. As Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan write in The Last Week: “God has vindicated Jesus. God has said ‘yes’ to Jesus and ‘no’ to the powers who executed him. Easter is not about an afterlife or about happy endings. Easter is God’s ‘yes’ to Jesus against the powers who killed him…Jesus is Lord. And if Jesus is Lord, the lords of this world are not. Easter affirms that the domination systems of this world are not of God and they do not have the final word.”* They go on to write, “The story of Holy Week as Mark and the other gospels tell it enables us to hear the passion of Jesus - what he was passionate about - that led to his execution. His passion was the kingdom of God, what life would be like on earth if God were king, and the rules, domination systems, and empires of this world were not. It is the world that the prophets dreamed of - a world of distributive justice in which everybody has enough and systems are fair. And it is not simply a political dream. It is God’s dream, a dream that can only be realized by being grounded ever more deeply in the reality of God, whose heart is justice. Jesus’ passion got him killed. But God has vindicated Jesus.”* How did we get here? God got us here. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has proclaimed then, now, and always: Jesus lives.**
Mark’s resurrection account is the earliest story of Easter in the Christian Scriptures.* It is the only story that does not have an explicit resurrection appearance. Instead, the appearance is implied. The divine messenger tells the women, “...go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” There have been times in my life where this ambiguity has made me uneasy. Typically, it has been when I have craved certainty, and when I have yearned for clear cut answers. In a scary world, sometimes we want something straightforward to hold onto. Yet there is something absolutely fantastic about Marks’ gospel ending. It is unfinished. Just like us. Just like the Church. Just like the work of bringing about God’s dream for this world. It is all in process. We are all in process. And while the guarantee may be lost in the overall ambiguity of the ending, Mark’s gospel does offer certainty if we can be patient and look for it. The divine messenger tells the women: You will see him. Yet this message is not just for these three women. They were commissioned to tell Jesus' disciples and Peter.Or as the Common English Bible translates: “Go, tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee.” Especially Peter. Especially the one who thought he could never deny Jesus, but did. He especially needs to hear this message. Just as we do, when we lose our way. That is when we most need to be reminded that we, too, will see him. We will see him - and nothing can separate us from the Love of God.
When we have aligned ourselves with the Kingdoms of the World instead of the Kingdom of God - we will see him. We will see him. And there is nothing we can ever do that will keep us from the Love of God. Jesus is all around us. Because Christ lives in each of us.
So how did we get here? By the life changing love of God, who is turning this world upside down and right side up again. Our call, our invitation, is to commit ourselves to the work of Love made known in God’s dream for this world. And when we flee the empty tomb, or deny seeing Jesus in the eyes of our neighbor, we must remember that God is bigger than our mistake and nothing can ever keep us from the Love of God. We will see him. We will know God’s love. As we prepare to make our way back into the world, I urge us each to not let this day go quietly by without asking ourselves:
Amen. * Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week, p. 205-206, 212-213, 194. ** Theme of Jesus Lives discussed by Borg & Crossan p. 204-205. |
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