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Scripture and Message?Bishop Deborah Kiesey?John 20:19-22?When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”???After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.???Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.???Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”??When he had said?this?he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”???Sermon: “And Now It’s Monday”?This has been a very strange couple of months.? Strange.? Unprecedented.? Surreal.? Frightening.? Uncertain.?Whatever word you use to describe it – these past several months are unlike any I have ever experienced. I would guess that is true for you, as well.?This has been a time filled with incredible loss.???We have lost the ability to:?work?normally?…?or even work at?all;?spend time with friends and?family;?go to?school;?go to the store to buy?groceries;?celebrate graduations or prom or?birthdays;?attend athletic events or even watch sports on?television;?weddings, funerals, anniversaries have been disrupted or postponed?…;?for many it has meant?serious worries?about finances – paying the mortgage, buying food, caring for children at home …?Even church – that place where we find?balance?in life - and?fellowship?and?hope?– even that has been taken away from us by the COVID-19 virus.?And what is even more unsettling is that we have no idea how long this quarantine will last or what our new ‘normal’ will be like when this crisis is over.?It is a time of deep loss.???Great uncertainty.???And we are all coping as best we can.?For me, personally, our family has been unable to celebrate our Dad’s 98th?and our Mom’s 96th?birthdays.? And just last week – the day after her birthday - Mom was admitted to the hospital.???But no one could be with her – not even her husband of 76 years.???Strange and unsettling times we are living in.??++++++++++++++++++++++?It was also a very different experience because I felt as though I almost completely missed the season of Lent.? For me, the Lenten journey is one of the holiest times of the entire Christian year, so I felt that loss keenly.??As you know, Lent begins with ashes … and the call to repentance … and the invitation to walk with Jesus through his final acts of ministry:??We read of …??the cleansing of the temple??the lament over Jerusalem??the parable of the talents??sharing of the Greatest Commandment??the Triumphal Entry?the Garden of Gethsemane?the abandonment & betrayal by?his friends and followers?the crucifixion?and, finally, his death.??That journey through Lent is what helps?prepare?me for the joy and celebration of Easter Sunday … the most glorious Sunday of the entire year.???But even the fullness of?that?experience was taken away from us all this year.??Now, yes, I was privileged to participate in?wonderful?online?worship?– and it was?beautiful and?moving?and?inspirational?as we sang along with the hymns and responded to the liturgy.???But I still struggled with feeling distanced from it all.?Because?I love Easter Sunday!??I love the?people?& the?“Alleluias” & the?lilies?& the?children?& the?music?& the?full to capacity?pews!???I love Easter Sunday!?But the truth is … much as I love it …?I most?need?Easter on Monday.??You see, Easter isn’t just about the “high” we get on that Sunday.???It’s really about what?happens afterwards?… on Monday … and Tuesday … and Wednesday … and the rest of the year.? Because Monday is when we?have to?get back?to this real world??back to paying bills??back to heartaches and frustrations??back to worries and uncertainties??back to quarantine … and social distancing … and masks?back to a very real and very uncertain life.??The message of Easter –?is for?those?times?– the times we?need it?the most.?Like today.?We NEED Easter on Monday …?as did those first disciples.??Think about it …??Those first followers?had seen something they could?never forget?- the lonely?crucifixion?of their beloved friend?- the man they'd?hoped?would?change the world.???And to?compound their misery, not only had they left him to be tortured and crucified alone, but they had?denied?ever?even?knowing him.???Imagine having to live with that memory?– and that?guilt.?Since last Easter?I’m sure?we have?all?confessed to hundreds of?misdeeds?and?misthoughts?and?mistakes?…but imagine if you?had done what the disciples had done.???Because the truth was, they had?saved their own hides?at?Jesus' expense.? No matter how they tried, I'm sure that image of those three crosses was?indelibly?imprinted?in their minds and souls.??How do you get past that memory????So that was Friday - the day he died.?Then came Saturday.???Saturday must have been one of those strange days that feels kind of?'out of kilter'?with the?rest of the world.? My guess is?there had been?little, if any sleep?the night before, and so Saturday was?a long, dazed day?after a?sleepless night.???We have?experienced days such as that.??when we've stayed up all night with a sick child??when we've sat at the bedside of someone who was?critically ill or?dying?And the next day is one of those days when you walk around?in a fog – doing, almost automatically, what you?have to?do.???I think their Saturday must have been like that.??And?Saturday was also the day they went to church.???It was their?Sabbath.???In Luke we read:?"On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandments."? That was their?habit?for that holy day, and I would expect they followed that commandment - to spend the day in?meditation & prayer & worship.?But this Sabbath was?different.? This was a?sad, broken, unreal kind of day.??So …?Friday he died.???Saturday,?they went to church.???And the next day?-?"the first day of the week"?–?which would be like our?Monday?-?just at?sunrise, Mary went to the tomb, and?that was the day all Heaven broke loose.?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. (John 20:18)?But it wasn’t enough.? For, we read on …??When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were?locked?for?fear?of the Jews,??(Did you get that?? Even after Mary’s announcement, they?were hiding behind locked doors! They?were?still afraid & uncertain.)?and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were?locked?for?fear?of the Jews,?Jesus came and stood among them and?said?“Peace be with you.”? After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.? Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.? Jesus said to them again,?“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”? When he had said?this?he breathed on them and said to them,?“Receive the Holy Spirit.”???“Peace be with you.”?Friends, Easter isn’t just about what happens on?Sunday.???It’s about what happens?on Easter Monday.??It is about?those times we most?desperately?need it.??You see, it was on?“the first day of the week” – Easter Monday – that Christ came to them in the midst of their?fear?… in the midst of their?anxiety?… in the midst of their?uncertainty?… Christ came, offered them his?Peace, and gave them?courage?to?live into their faith?– & into whatever uncertain future was before them.???… and their lives would never be the same.??++++++++++++++++++++++++++++?Bishop?Sharon Zimmerman Rader is a beautiful and delightful woman, full of life and vibrancy.? She has also had to deal with breast cancer.? Several years?ago?she wrote an article for?the?Interpreter?magazine about Easter.??Listen to her words:?"Easter is the time for heralding the?sometimes unanticipated?gifts from God.”??"I was only seven or eight when my Great-Uncle Bill died.? My parents took me to the funeral with them, carefully preparing me for what would take place.? I realized the somberness and sadness of the event.? I worried about my parents' and grandparents' grief at the service.? But then we went to Aunt Mary's house.? And everyone ate.? And told stories.? And laughed.? And some of the sadness went away.???"It was not what I expected!?She goes on to say:??"My fear of this disease that has invaded my body leaves me?anxious,?wondering about the future,?preparing for the worst.? A new grandchild, our first, is born and within two or three months he is smiling.? He smiles in response to his parents' love and care.? He smiles when I look at him and say, "Ethan."? And his smile takes away my anxieties, helps me look to the future with anticipation, and gives me hope.???"It was not what I expected!?"Easter is God's invitation to?laugh at our expectations that are too small.? It?puts God back in charge, in the center of life."?Did you hear that????"Easter puts God back in charge, in the center of life."?“Peace be with you.???Receive the Holy Spirit.”?++++++++++++++++++++++++??Friends, Christ’s invitation is for?us,?as well.?Christ comes to?us.? And he says to?us:?“Peace be with you.” And offers?us?the transforming power of the?Holy Spirit.? And instead of fear, we can begin to live our lives in the power of that promise.??“Peace be with you.”?“Receive the Holy Spirit.”?I believe?Jesus comes to?us?the same way he came to his followers two thousand years ago:?He came to?Mary?the day after the Sabbath as the gardener.??He came to?Thomas and the twelve?on the evening of that same day, as?they?were hiding?in fear.????He cooked breakfast for?Peter, who thought he was just another fisherman.?He came to those on the?road to Emmaus?as another traveler.?Jesus comes as he always?comes;?in?unexpectedly simple and normal ways.???Easter is our reminder that God is?still in control, no matter how ‘out of control’ our lives feel right now.???It is a reminder that?the Risen Christ we celebrated & worshipped on Easter?morning?will go with us?to wherever we are on Monday.?Because I also believe that as sacred as?the time is on a?glorious Easter Sunday, the?truly sacred moments?are?found, more often than not,?in?the?everyday moments?of?real life?- the moments which, if we don't?look with more than our eyes?and?hear with more than our ears, we will miss?altogether.???Moments that happen on?Easter Monday.?We can recognize him in the faces we meet on the street.???We can see him?in the?eyes of the people who come to our food pantries,??We can see him?in the moments shared with our children or grandchildren,??We can see him?in the fellowship of this church, scattered though we are.?In?every facet?of?everyday, ordinary life …?Jesus comes.?++++++++++++++++++++++?This morning I want to close with the words of Albert Schweitzer taken from his?classic?book,?"The Quest of the Historical Jesus."?Hear these?words and?let them prepare you for?the Easter that comes?–?tomorrow?– and tomorrow – and tomorrow.?"Jesus comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old by the?lakeside he?came to those who knew him not.???He speaks to us the same words,?"Follow me"?and sets us to the task?which he?has?to?fulfill for our time.?He commands, and to those who obey, whether they be wise or simple,?he will?reveal himself in the?toils, conflicts, and sufferings?which they shall pass through?in his fellowship,?and in an?ineffable mystery?they shall learn in their own?experience who He is."?Friends, … it’s Easter Monday!?“Receive the Holy Spirit!???And?find?peace.??Amen and amen!? ................
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