CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!

FORMING THE CIRCLE

Welcome & Announcements

Vision: We are a United Church, rooted in the Christian tradition. We seek to distill and exemplify the unifying and nurturing core of that tradition; namely, the life and teaching of Jesus, untouched by hierarchy, patriarchy, politics and the dominant culture. And, we extend from our core to receive and partner with people of diverse faiths, and others, who share in our love of the earth and all beings. Together, we celebrate and learn from each other. We value friendship, support, inclusiveness, and accessibility. Through worship, music, contemplation, visual art, social justice and environmental activism, we help build a more resilient and sustainable community.

Land Acknowledgement: We acknowledge, with respect, the history, spirituality, and culture of the K’omoks First Nations and the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional and unceded territory we meet. We also honour the heritage of all indigenous peoples, as we recognise the need to seek healing and reconciliation between the descendants of the settlers and those who were here before colonisation. Wherever we are, we are on land where other peoples have lived and moved and rested -for generations, centuries and even eons before us. As we give thanks for our own grounded-ness on this land, we recognise the stories that have gone before us and new chapters that need to be written.

Lighting a Candle for Christ (adapted from Joy Mead in Living Letters of the Word © 2012)

The candle we light… is more than itself.

This moment of shining in a tiny bit of the darkness is hope, prayer, blessing.

It will burn itself out but never die…

Resurrection…comes quietly in moments of light, 

where love is strong to bear regrets and banish fears. 

And for now, that is enough.

A moment of silence for Centering and Grounding Let’s take a moment to breathe deeply in silence, to centre ourselves in the Spirit that calls us together, to ground ourselves in Creation. 

The singing bowl is rung.

Greetings to the Elements and the Four Directions

North: Earth my Body

West: Water my Blood

East: Air my Breath

South: And Fire my Spirit

Invitation 

Praise the One

Who brings life out of death and hope out of despair.

Praise the One

Who raised Jesus from the dead.

Praise the One

Who gathers up the fragments left by human destruction

and creates new possibilities.

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!

Christ is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

Opening in Song VU # 166 – “Joy Comes With the Dawn” (Words and Music: Gordon Light)

         CHORUS: Joy comes with the dawn; joy comes with the morning sun;

Joy springs from the tomb and scatters the night with her song, 

Joy comes with the dawn.

Weeping may come; weeping may come in the night

When dark shadows cloud our sight.  CHORUS

Sorrow will turn, sorrow will turn into song,

And God’s laughter make us strong.   CHORUS

We will rejoice, we will rejoice and give praise,

To the One who brings us grace.   CHORUS

HEARING WITH NEW EARS, SEEING WITH NEW EYES

Good News: Luke 24: 1-12

On the first day of the week, at the first sign of dawn, the women came to the tomb bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled back; but when they entered the tomb, they didn’t find the body of Jesus.

While they were still at a loss over what to think of this, two figures in dazzling garments stood beside them. Terrified, the women bowed to the ground. The two said to them, “Why do you search for the Living One among the dead? Jesus is not here; Christ has risen. Remember what Jesus said to you in Galilee – that the Chosen One must be delivered into the hands of sinners and be crucified, and on the third day would rise again.” At this, the words of Jesus came back to them. 

When they returned from the tomb, the women told all these things to the Eleven and the others. The women were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them also told the same story, but it seemed like nonsense to the disciples and they refused to believe them. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. He stooped down, but he could see nothing but the wrappings. So he went away, full of amazement at what had occurred. 

Reading:  Joy Mead, member of the Iona Community  

The question is not: Did it happen? It happens every time we tell the Jesus story and when we share our own stories. It’s in the remembering, the letting go and the moving on. It happens every time the green bursts out of the winter dark, buds open and daffodils yellow the earth. It happens in the excitement of ordinary meetings and the conversations of home. It happens every time someone forgives, and heals another, every time bread is shared. It happens every time I’m surprised by a rainbow, feel new life in the air or that unexplainable warming in my heart. It happens when I light a candle and let go my dreams into the dark spaces. The flame stays when I have gone, connecting me with others, kindling hope in their hearts. It burns itself out but does not die. 

I know resurrection happens. The question might be: What is it? I don’t know what resurrection is, and I don’t need to know. I believe it is something like coming through on the far side of a day; that it comes quietly in moments of light where love is strong to bear regrets and banish fears. 

Hope is resurrection in waiting. 

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the people. May our hearts be open to the Living Word.

Reflection “All My Relations”

I am the feather on the bright sky

I am the blue horse that runs on the plain

I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water

I am the shadow that follows a child

I am the evening light, the lustre of meadows

I am an eagle playing with the wind

I am a cluster of bright beads

I am the farthest star

I am the cold of the dawn

I am the roaring of the rain

I am the glitter on the crust of the snow

I am the long track of the moon in a lake

I am a flame of four colours

I am a deer standing away in the dusk

I am a field of sumac and the ripening blackberry

I am an angle of geese in the winter sky

I am the hunger of the young wolf

I am the whole dream of these things

You see, I am alive, I am alive

I stand in good relation to the earth

I stand in good relation to the Creator

I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful

you see, I am alive, I am alive

• N Scott Momaday, Kiowa poet (adapted)

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The gladsome Easter greeting rings out as Christians everywhere celebrate the mystery of resurrection and affirm together that death does not have the last word. 

Two weeks ago, Elaine brought to life the final pieces of the story leading up to the crucifixion, the presence and participation of the women who accompanied Jesus, not only at the end of his journey, but throughout his ministry and his life. Now, as she said at the end of her message – it is the first day of the week. The women have come early, while it is still dark, to the tomb and find the stone has been rolled away… We, like them, come to this place and time with our very human hopes, joys, fears and desires – wondering once again what we will encounter here.

In three short years, we have seen this man Jesus rise from obscure Jewish peasant in Galilee to itinerant preacher, healer and wisdom teacher in the Jewish tradition, to enemy of the state, cruelly executed and hastily buried in a borrowed grave.  

What then, gives rise to this story of an empty tomb, what mysterious encounter, what mythical certainty sustains the conviction that Jesus lives, that he has returned, calling us by name, urging us to follow him back to Galilee, to the real world, where the work and the world go on? 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran minister and martyr who died in a Nazi death camp, wrote in his Letters from Prison: “The difference between the Christian hope of resurrection and a mythological hope is that the Christian hope sends a [person] back to [their] life on earth in a wholly new way.” (Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, pp. 112-113.)

We see evidence of this new way of being in the communities that formed after the death of Jesus. Newly inspired to come together to share the good news of Jesus’ life and teachings, his followers (not Christians, but Jews) began to meet together in a new way – sharing authentic community – food, leadership (both women and men took leadership roles in these early communities), and possessions. Like the Buddhist concept of Sangha, gathering together was a necessary part of a faithful life; a way to reaffirm their sense of community and purpose by remembering their teachings and their responsibility to one another and the world. While over time these communities inevitably experienced squabbles and divisions, the model of a changed life and changed community persists.

We have all had experiences that changed us. A birth, a death, an illness or recovery, a numinous encounter with compelling beauty or devastating horror, a significant achievement, a stunning success or failure. Each of these encounters has the potential to make us more compassionate, more acutely aware of the fragility and preciousness of life and the remarkable mystery of existence, or to close us off, making us fearful and isolated. It is up to us, as it was for the early followers of Jesus in the days after his death, to decide which way we will choose. 

Karen Armstrong, former nun and renowned religious scholar, says: 

“Faith [is] not about belief but about practice. Religion is not about accepting twenty impossible propositions before breakfast, but about doing things that change you. It is a moral aesthetic, an ethical alchemy. If you behave in a certain way, you will be transformed.” If transformation is what we and Easter are about, it is action, not faith that we are need of.

My friend Bob Wear and I used to lead a group in our transitional housing unit at Our Place, where people who had often spent years on the street, suffering from trauma, violence and oftentimes addictions re-learned, or learned for the first time, how to function in healthy and positive ways. One of the ways people really responded and reconnected with their own wisdom and ability to change was on our weekly nature outings. As men and women whose bodies and imaginations had been too long confined to a few dirty and uninspiring blocks in downtown Victoria renewed their connection to the natural world, to trees and plants and water and earth, they would begin to open up. Layers peeled off as people talked about their early encounters with nature, childhood memories, about a parent or relative who had introduced them to traditional plants and medicines, animals they had known and loved. On the ride back downtown, the mood would be transformative as we listened to music, sang and shared (and got ice cream). Deep and vulnerable relationships were formed, along with glimpses of what could be. As Bob would remind these same men and women in our weekly Cognitive Behavioural Therapy group, feelings follow action. Action ALWAYS comes first. We act our way into new ways of thinking, feeling and being. If we behave in certain ways – with compassion, care, imagination and empathy we, and our world will be transformed. 

The myths and laws of religion are not true because they conform to some metaphysical, scientific, or historical reality but because they are life-enhancing… [ we] will not discover their truth unless [we] apply [them] to [our] own lives and put them into practice… (Karen Armstrong, The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness. NY, Anchor Books ©2004 p. 270)

At their best, mystical (and deeply authentic) encounters make us more compassionate, more willing to see ourselves as one part of a sacred web of being, even if in brief and transient ways. Through the practice of gathering together like the early followers of the Way, we continue to affirm our willingness to be reminded of our interconnectedness, our responsibility to one another and to our planetary home. 

“Christ’s resurrection was a universal, communal event. It was not for the sake of stunning us with his divine glory, it was so we — … created in God’s image — can rise and live fully in the light of [the] divine goodness.” (https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/eastern-icons-challenge-western-notion-resurrection Melissa Jones is an adjunct professor of liberal studies at Brandman University in Irvine, California.)

As progressive Christian scholar John Dominic Crossan says: “The kin-dom of God is here, but only if you enter into it. Only if you take it upon you. It’s not like an empty building that’s there whether you or I are in it. It’s a community.” (https://broadview.org/john-dominic-crossan-interview/ )

 It’s up to us what we make of the invitation. 

Keep your proclamations of grandeur.

Give me an easter as small as a seed.

One that can be planted while it’s still cold outside.

One that can be watered with tears, 

and demands time and patience to grow.

I don’t need to know how large it will become, 

how long until it blossoms, 

or even if it will be pretty.

I only want it to grow roots that dig deep down, 

striving for the underbelly of the world.

Spare me the cosmic promises of other-worldly escape 

and point me to the Sacred possibilities within reach.

Tell me again about how the nutrients born from decay 

keep even the saddest places brimming with potential for life.

• Rev. M. Barclay, www.enfleshed.com   

Christ is risen. We are risen indeed!

Responding in Song VU # 186 – “Now the Green Blade Rises” (Words: John M.C. Crum, Music: Medieval French)

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,

Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:

Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

In the grave they laid him, love by hatred slain,

Thinking that he would never wake again,

Laid in the earth, like grain that sleeps unseen;

Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

Forth he comes at Easter, like the risen grain,

He that for three days in the grave has lain,

Raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen,

Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,

Your touch can call us back to life again,

Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been,

Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

RESPONDING AND RE-MEMBERING

A Time for Silent Reflection You are invited to a time of quiet to reflect on the readings and thoughts shared today, followed by a time of sharing in our sacred circle. 

Sharing Circle Please pass the talking piece around the circle. The one who is holding the talking piece is invited to speak, or to pass it on. Please respect each other as speakers and listeners, so that everyone is heard and everyone has the opportunity to speak.

Offering  We rely on your generous donations to support our ministry in the Denman Island Community. We are so grateful for all your contributions of time, talent and treasure. This link will also take you to instructions for donating. https://denmanislandunitedchurch.ca/donate/  

MV # 213 – “Take Up His Song” (Words and Music: Laura A Herman, 2005)

Take up his song of love, and go into the world, 

Take up his song of love in every moment.

In every moment of the journey, we’re laying down our lives;

Lay them down, in love, lay them down, and take up his song.

Prayers of the People

In this time of silence, we bring our joy and gratitude for all Creator’s gifts, our lament for the ways in which Creation has been damaged by our actions or lack of action, and our concerns for ourselves, for others, and for the beautiful, hurting world. You are invited, if you wish, to light candles representing your specific gratitude, concerns, and commitments for the future. What needs transforming by Spirit working in us and the world? What needs to be made whole? 

Lighting our Candles of Concern and Intention

The Disciples Prayer

Our Father 

Our Mother 

Who art in heaven 

Who are in all the earth 

Hallowed be thy name 

Holy is your truth 

Thy kingdom come 

May your wisdom come 

Thy will be done, on earth 

Your circle be one uniting as it is in heaven and earth 

Give us this day our daily bread 

Give us today a nurturing spirit 

And forgive us our trespasses 

Heal through us those who trespass against us

as when we forgive, we ourselves are healed

Lead us not into temptation 

Lead us into Fullness of life 

But deliver us from evil 

And liberate all that is good 

For thine is the Kingdom, 

For the Wisdom, the power and the glory, 

Presence and the Goodness are Yours 

Now and forever.  AMEN 

SPIRALLING OUT INTO THE WORLD

Celebrating in Song MV # 185 – “Every Day is a Day of Thanksgiving” (Words and Music: Leonard Burks)

Every day is a day of thanksgiving. 

God, you’ve been so good to me. Every day you’re blessing me.

Every day is a day of thanksgiving. 

I will glorify you, O my God, today!

 

You keep blessing me, blessing me, blessing me.

You opened the door that I might see, you’re blessing me.

And you keep blessing me, blessing me, blessing me,

I will glorify you, O my God, today!

Blessing and Sending   (Bruce Sanguin)

Let us go forth walking more lightly on the earth

More humbly with all creatures,

More faithfully caring for the air and water,

And for all creation.

And may the blessings of the Creator,

Who knows the universe to be one,

The blessing of Christ,

Who is our assurance of Creation’s fulfillment,

And the blessing of the Spirit,

Who lures us toward Mystery,

Stir in us and nurture us,

This day and always.

Elemental Closing  

Closing Chant VU # 167 “Christ is Risen from the Dead” (Hasidic folk melody – Words: Anonymous)

Christ is risen from the dead, glory, hallelujah!

Jesus Christ is risen, glory, hallelujah!