People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: The Glorious Rising Son ~ Easter Day WLWC* ‘25 Yr C

For Sunday, April 20, 2025; Readings: Isaiah 49:1-13, Psalm 18:2-11, 16-19;

Hebrews 11:1-2, 23-24, 28-39; John 20-18

Sing for joy, you heavens, and exult O earth; let the mountains break forth into singing!! For the Tender-Loving One has comforted God’s people, and will mother-love God’s suffering ones. [Isaiah 49:13]

The snares of Sheol encircled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon She Who Hears; to my God I cried for help. From her temple she heard my voice…She delivered me from my strong enemy…the Sheltering God was my support. [Psalm 18: 5-6, 17a, 18b]

Now faith is the essence of things hoped for, the conviction of that which is not seen. By faith, indeed, were our ancestors approved. [Hebrews 11:1-2]

…Mary Magdalene came, early on while it was still day, to the tomb and saw the stone removed from the tomb…she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know it was Jesus…Thinking that he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him…Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher.) [John 20:1, 14-16]

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Easter Day is here at last! It is, of course, the most joyous day in the Christian year. While Christmas is lovely and inspiring in its own way, it would be no more than a pagan celebration of the winter solstice without the miracle of the Resurrection. Our Liturgical journey has taken us through the 40 somber days of Lent, and in this Holy Week, we walked the Stations of the Cross, re-enacted the Last Supper with the humility of foot-washing, experienced the mournful desolation of Good Friday, and the quietness of Holy Saturday. And now we arrive at the most potent symbol of Christianity—the Resurrection of Christ, our Messiah. We are reveling in the bells and flowers, the alleluias, triumphal music, and soaring voices all proclaiming that Jesus, the Christ, IS Risen.

Before we turn to brightly colored baskets filled with chocolate bunnies, hard-boiled eggs with shells dyed in multiple and vibrant hues, marshmallow chicks, and jelly beans, before the ham or lamb or turkey or roast has finished in the oven and all settle into the feast, let us take a moment to review the brief and shining earthly life of the man for whom the face of the world was changed forever, Jesus of Nazareth.

The infant humbly born was celebrated instantly by angels and shepherds alike. A neighboring group of exotic Kings or Wise Men traveled far to honor and worship the One whose Star was a sign for them of a new King in Jerusalem. The current King, Herod, wasn't pleased and so Joseph, warned in a dream, took Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt and while we aren't specifically told, we are given to believe they returned sometime after Herod's death. We get a glimpse of him at Passover, lost and found in the Temple at about age 12 keeping the Rabbis on their theological toes. The timeline loses him until his cousin John, the Baptizer is prophesying his coming and ultimately baptizes Him. He is about 30 and from his 40 days in the wilderness preparing for his ministry, it is a swift and politically fraught period of about 3 years. His teachings upset the theocratic structure of the ruling Judaic leaders who had compromised their own souls to keep a semblance of power during the Roman occupation. Their devious plots to upend his miraculous healings, his preaching and teaching of compassion, peace, cooperation, justice, and mercy in the hearts of his followers ultimately resulted in their seeming success, a politically manipulated murder of a small-town, would-be prophet. But of course, 2000+ years later, Christ is in still our midst.

For this Easter Day, Dr. Gafney has used slightly different pieces of the reading from Isaiah that she used for her Liturgy of the Word on Palm Sunday. Her explanation is for us to remember that this day started out as a day of sorrow for those who followed Jesus, witnessing or knowing of his death while not yet knowing of his Resurrection. For those Palm Sunday services that do not include the Passion, this makes perfect sense. In our parish, as in many that I know, we did use a Passion narrative in the form of several readers speaking the words of Holy Week at our Liturgies. Certainly the sorrow here is reflected in Mary Magdalene’s arrival and discovery of the empty tomb. To that end I have used only one verse of the Isaiah reading above.

We worship, study, and pray to follow the Christ who teaches us in our own times that our salvation leads us to eternal life if we but follow him. And now, in our time as then, and in all times since, we must also be wary of the false prophets whose shiny exteriors denigrate the very essence of the message of Jesus. Take care to turn away from the person who can tantalize with completely anti-Gospel charm and lead us astray as quickly as those who cheered with waving palms and loud Hosannas for Jesus' arrival on Palm Sunday and shouted in cold blood "CRUCIFY HIM" only a few short days later.

We find the fullness of our souls in the empty tomb. Christ is within us and we are marked as his own forever. Let us shout with unbounded joy to God’s Glorious Rising Son, ALLELUIA, CHRIST IS RISEN! As we begin again, let us stay the course in our own brief sojourns for the truth, life, and love of his Gospel.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Living Christ, Risen in Glory! By rising from human death, You have brought us to the dawn of a new Creation within us each that is alive in You. Remind us to know You in each breath we take, the courage to seek Your face in every person we meet, and the strength to feel Your beating heart within us in all the days and nights of our earthly life, especially on those that are joy-filled or discouraging.