Saturday, March 31, 2018

Paralysed by Fear, Liberated by Love: Reflections on Mark 16.1-8 (RCL Easter B, 1 April 2018)

Paralysed by Fear, Liberated by Love
Reflections on Mark 16.1-8

RCL Easter B
1 April 2018

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Mark 16.1-8

            16.1 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.  2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.  3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”  4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.  5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has been raised; he is not here.  Look, there is the place they laid him.  7 But 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.”  8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

(1)  Have you ever been paralysed by fear?  I have.

(a)  I find it quite easy to write a difficult e-mail or a letter when the situation presents itself.

(b)  I can even give a public talk on a controversial topic to a large group of people and handle all the difficult questions that may come my way at the end.

(c)  But I become almost frozen into inaction if I have to talk to an individual, whether on the telephone or in person, about matters of a more personal and possibly confrontational nature.

(i)  I’m sure that my discomfort comes from the personal immediacy of the encounter.

(ii)  Will the person become confrontational?  Will they become emotional?  Will I fail to speak the truth in love?  Will I open a can of worms that will expose my own inadequacies and my own failures in the relationship?

(2)  But I also know the consequences of allowing my fears to control me.

(a)  In some cases a delay may cause more harm to a relationship than intervening sooner.

(b)  In other cases my delay can cause a situation to move from being ‘fixable’ to becoming so ‘toxic’ that there is little chance for any positive or constructive outcome.

(c)  And in all cases I become more controlled by my fears and I can slip into an unhelpful passive attitude or even a kind of despair.

(3)  Knowing the real and concrete power of fear in my life, I can understand how Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome felt on that Sunday morning so long ago.

(a)  During the past week they have experienced the excitement of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and his dramatic confrontations with the religious authorities.

(b)  They have borne the sorrow of Jesus’ arrest, trial, torture and execution at the hands of the religious and civil authorities as well as their own terror of being ‘found out’ and arrested themselves.

(c)  But they overcome their fears and come to the tomb to offer Jesus’ body all the loving dignity that their rabbi, their master, deserves.

(d)  But is it any wonder that they cannot do what the young man dressed in white asks them to do?

(i)  Who is going to believe three women that the tomb is empty?  Women, after all, were considered ‘incompetent’ witnesses who could not be called to give evidence in a religious or civil court.

(ii)  Who is going to believe that a Jewish rabbi from small-town Judea, publicly executed by the Romans, entombed behind a massive stone door on a Friday afternoon, has been raised from the dead?

(iii)  And most importantly, who wants to be the messenger who tells the world that the old order is about to be shaken to its very foundations?

(1)  The religious authorities wanted Jesus dead because they considered him a blasphemer who threatened the religious establishment.  How are they going to take the news that the heretic has been raised from dead?

(2)  The civil authorities wanted Jesus dead because they considered him a rabble-rouser who threatened social order and Roman imperial power.  How are they going to take the news that the Judean troublemaker has been raised from the dead?

(e)  So it’s not so hard to understand the women’s silence.  After all, who was that mysterious young man anyway and why should anyone do what he says?  Better to keep silent.

(4)  But you and I know that someone did talk, otherwise we would not be here today.

(a)  I believe that the fear experienced by the followers of Jesus in those days and weeks after that Sunday morning was eventually overcome

(i)  by the love of God, physically present to them in Jesus

(ii)  and the courage of faith, poured into their hearts, souls, minds and strength by the Holy Spirit.

(b)  They came to know

(i)  that goodness is stronger than evil;

(ii)  that love is stronger than hate;

(iii)  that light is stronger than darkness;

(iv)  that life is stronger than death.

(c)  And they knew this, just as we know this, because of ‘ . . . what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands’ (1 John 1.1b).

(5)  My friends, I sometimes think that many of us, myself included, are like the two Marys and Salome on that early Sunday morning.

(a)  We have heard, we have seen and we have touched the love of God and its power to transform our lives --- but we remain silent.

(b)  Perhaps we remain silent because we are afraid other people might associate us with religious intolerance and intellectual narrow-mindedness --- not unreasonable in today’s world.

(c)  Perhaps we are silent because we are afraid that some people will think we are interfering in their lives by bringing a ‘private’ matter into ‘public’ conversation --- ‘no politics, no sex, no religion, thank you, we’re Canadians.’

(d)  Perhaps we are silent because we are afraid that we are not wise enough or spiritual enough or knowledgeable enough to talk about what we believe and why we believe in it.

(e)  I’m sure that there are many other fears that keep us silent.

(f)  Yet we know all too well

(i)  that evil sometimes seems stronger than goodness;

(ii)  that hate sometimes seems stronger than love;

(iii)  that darkness sometimes seems stronger than light;

(iv)  that death sometimes seems stronger than life.

(6)  The paralysis of fear is real, but the love of God that was made known in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and that is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit can conquer even the greatest fear.

(a)  I know that this love freed the two Marys and Salome from their fear because we are here.

(b)  I know that even in our own affluent and ‘tolerant’ society there are people who need to hear the good news that the tomb is empty and that we are free to become more fully alive in justice, mercy and humility.


(c)  Do not be afraid.  Jesus has been raised from the dead and goes before us into our Galilees, wherever they are.  We have good news to proclaim and there are many who long to hear it.

It Is Finished --- Or Is It? A Good Friday Meditation

Dear Friends,

This Holy Week has been one which has tested my organizational skills.  So, once again, my sermon emerged from notes made in the revery of hope in the Spirit's guidance.  If you want to listen to my reflection on the Passion narrative from John's gospel, then click on the link below:

'It Is Finished --- Or Is It?  A Good Friday Meditation'

I will you all a holy and life-giving celebration of these Three Mighty Days!

Richard +

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

An Ordo for Holy Saturday

One of the more neglected times of prayer during the Three Holy Days is Holy Saturday morning when we remember Christ in the tomb.  Here is the ordo that we will be using at Saint Faith's on Saturday morning, 31 March 2018.

Holy Saturday

31 March 2018


The Gathering of the Community


Introductory Responses


O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Christ became obedient unto death.
O come, let us worship.

Glory to God, Source of all being, eternal Word and Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever.  Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word


The Psalm:  Psalm 31.1-4, 15-16


1 In you, O Lord, I seek refuge;
            do not let me ever be put to shame;
            in your righteousness deliver me.
2 Incline your ear to me;
            rescue me speedily.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
            a strong fortress to save me.
3 You are indeed my rock and my fortress;
            for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,
4 take me out of the net that is hidden for me,
            for you are my refuge.

15 My times are in your hand;
            deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.
16 Let your face shine upon your servant;
            save me in your steadfast love.

Helper of the helpless, comfort of the afflicted, may your servants who stand in the midst of evil find strength in the knowledge of your presence, and praise you for the wonders of your love.  Amen.

The First Reading:  Job 4.1-14


A reading from Job.

            14.1 “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble, 2 comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last.  3 Do you fix your eyes on such a one?  Do you bring me into judgement with you?  4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?  No one can.  5 Since their days are determined, and the number of their months is known to you, and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass, 6 look away from them, and desist, that they may enjoy, like labourers, their days.

            7 “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.  8 Though its root grows old in the earth, and its stump dies in the ground, 9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth branches like a young plant.  10 But mortals die, and are laid low; humans expire, and where are they?  11 As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, 12 so mortals lie down and do not rise again; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake or be roused out of their sleep.  13 O that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!  14 If mortals die, will they live again?  All the days of my service I would wait until my release should come.”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.

The Responsory


We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.
We preach Christ crucified,
the power of God and the wisdom of God.
By your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.
God forbid that we should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.

The Second Reading:  John 19.38-42


A reading from the Gospel according to John.

            19.38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the [Jewish authorities], asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus.  Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body.  39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.  41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.  42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Here what the Spirit is saying to the church.
Thanks be to God.

The Canticle:  A Song of Jonah (Jonah 2.2-7, 9)


I called to the Lord out of my distress,
            and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
            and you heard my voice.
You cast me into the deep,
            into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
            all your waves and your billows passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight;
            how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’
The waters closed in over me;
the deep surrounded me;
            weeds were wrapped around my head
            at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
            yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God.
As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord;
            and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you;
            what I have vowed I will pay.
            Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

The Prayers of the Community


The Litany


Before the Litany particular intercessions, petitions and thanksgivings may be offered.  Then the Litany is said.

Let us offer our prayers saying, ‘God of the deep, hear our prayer.’
God of the deep, hear our prayer.

Have mercy on your people,
for whom your Son laid down his life.
God of the deep, hear our prayer.

Bring healing and wholeness to peoples and nations,
and have pity on those torn apart by division.
God of the deep, hear our prayer.

Strengthen all who are persecuted for your name’s sake,
and deliver them from evil.
God of the deep, hear our prayer.

Look in mercy upon all who suffer,
and hear those who cry out in pain and desolation.
God of the deep, hear our prayer.

Bring comfort to the dying,
and gladden their hearts with the vision of your glory.
God of the deep, hear our prayer.

Give rest to the departed
and bring them, with your saints, to glory everlasting.
God of the deep, hear our prayer.

The Collect of the Day


O God, creator of heaven and earth, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so may we await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer


Standing at the foot of the cross
and gathering our prayers and praises into one,
let us pray as our Saviour 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.
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.

The Sending Forth of the Community


The Dismissal


Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

The Closing Sentence


May Christ, who bore our sins on the cross,

set us free to serve him with joy.  Amen.