As we gather, we recognize that we
live, work, pray, and play in the traditional,
unceded lands of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People. 
We continue to commit ourselves to
the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.     

Call to Worship:

Christ our Passover
has been sacrificed for us,
therefore,
let us keep the feast.  

1 Corinthians 5.7-8

O, Come.   Let Us Worship.

Gathering:

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

May his grace and peace be with you.
May he fill our hearts with joy.

Collect for Today:

Lord of life and power,
through the mighty resurrection of your Son, you have overcome the old order of sin and death and have made all things new in him. May we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ, reign with him in glory, who with you and the Holy Spirit is alive,one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Proclamation of the Gospel:
John 20.1-18 

Sermon:  The Ven.  Brian Evans

“Christ is Risen!

Greetings in the name of the Risen Christ!

Greetings on this day of days.

Greetings on this richest day of the Christian year.
And the most difficult of days for the world to come to grips with.         

Imagine! Imagine the scene for a moment.

People rush to the tomb this morning expecting it to be just as they had left a day before. They arrive and the stone is rolled away.

According to John’s recollection of this day, not only is the tomb empty—well nearly empty, except for the grave clothes where—are laying there—neatly folded, there intact. They are not in any special mess, or thrown down, as if someone had thrown them off, escaped.         

In other accounts, like from Mark’s gospel, we hear how a person standing there tells the three women, ‘Don’t worry. You will find Jesus in Galilee.’         

In other words, they will find Jesus ‘at home.’         

Last week, I shared the story of the monastery which had fallen on hard times, and when the Abbot went to the local Rabbi, he was advised to return to his small group of followers and tell them, ‘Jesus is among you.’         

One writer, this week, says something similar to us.

For centuries, we believers, have continued to encounter Jesus regularly. Wherever our “Galilee” may be. In other words, wherever we are, we will find Jesus.           

In the Gospel according to John, today, we also read:

^‘Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’’         

For myself, this is all about the changing nature of God, as our image of God changes in our lifetime.         

I think of my late friend and colleague, David Dingwall.

When reading some of my published words over the years, one of his remarks was, “I never thought of you as an Evangelical, Brian. My experience of you in seminary, was a very sort of strict, traditional Anglican.”

On many occasions we see, or experience, Christ saying words like ‘don’t hold onto me.’

Jesus does this to remind us Christianity is not a static faith. Christianity is an ever-evolving truth—an ever-evolving faith.         

In other words, ‘Do not to cling on to your preconceptions of Jesus’.         

Our Lord constantly changes from being dead to alive.         

Jesus is here, in our “Galilee.”         

On the north wall of the Nave of our church are the Stations of the Cross.

Each station tells the story of Christ—going from the home community of Bethelem, where he was on that day, and his life as experienced in the world, and some of the meanings behind it. In each, there is a story of caring for all people, if you look deeply into the words of the “Stations of the Cross”.         

On Thursday evening, I shared ten images of Christ (modern images of the stations of the cross ) and the various themes of those images of Christ caring for the world;

images of caring for the lonely; images of caring for the out-casts of society; images of carrying others in their life; images of children having their feet washed; images of Christ’s love—a love that is not the same, in one sense, as we look at the traditional Stations of the Cross—but a love that takes us in some ways, even deeper into our theology, and calls us to look further into what we are saying at Easter.

The final image that is so demanding of us to think about is not Christ washing feet, but of Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Jesus.         

Whether it is the ‘Stations of the Cross’ or the images in the “Salt and Gold” Series, this day is something far greater than we can ask or imagine.

The last few days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, are designed to assist us in understanding, ‘all God’s people are acceptable in the world.’         

They live out the two great commandments: love your neighbour and love God.         

God has swallowed up death. 

‘O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’

1 Corinthians 15.55-57

This is the very ground of our hope.

What a gift we have been given—a promise which gives us reason to have courage enough to live in a world which (at times) appears to be in chaos, while at the same time, in the reality of the wise and compassionate presence of God.

On Saturday last week, upon being invited to give the blessing at the end of our regional gathering, before giving the blessing, I invited all present to think about this question: “Why do you come to church on Sunday?”

I could say to those who  listen to us from a distance, in our recorded services: ‘What brings you back to this weekly contribution to sharing the Gospel of Christ?”

‘How many times has each or us watched shows like “Star Wars” or “Frozen”, or for us older folk, “The Sound of Music”?

We all know the story. We all know the songs—even some of the narrative.

Recently, while ‘channel-flipping’ I happened onto a scene from ‘Bonanza.’ It was like as if it was just yesterday.         

Today, we have all arrived at the church, knowing the “story.” But each time we hear it, we will experience it differently.

We watch these movies, as they come to us. We come to Church again, to hear the memory; to watch; each time coming to a new understanding; we watch each time to get that glimpse of ‘what happens next’, a glimpse of ‘what is coming.’         

Each year, the Christian community comes together at this time to be renewed, to be refreshed, to discover more of ‘the why.’

‘Why did Jesus have to die on a cross?’
‘Why was the stone rolled away?’
‘Why were the grave-clothes so neatly folded?’         

(I think there’s a few sermons in those “whys”. But I will spare you them today.)

I believe each and every part of these last three days was meant to teach us about a faith – a faith which has given us victory through the Risen Christ.         

This is the day that darkness turns to light, in the new dawn.         

This is the day that God’s redemption is for all people.         

(It is what I found so fulfilling in the series of Foot-Washing pictures I discovered from Salt and Gold.)         

Each time we listen to the story; each time we tell the story; or each time we live the story, we discover, and have our faith reinforced once more.

It is the story, being rehearsed again and again, from this book, again and again, as we read the story contained herein (the Bible).

It is the story that is not about me.

It the story of Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

Our work here today, we might think, is nearly ended—as we have our Recessional, our Dismissal, from our Deacon. But in reality, that Dismissal tells us our work here today is not ended. Our work is only beginning.

There is more.

There is much more for our lives.

The ‘much more’ is the scene outside of these doors—where people are living in ‘their Galilee’; people who are looking often for Christ.

Amen.

Let Us Pray

Rejoicing that Jesus is risen, and love has triumphed over fear, let us pray for the Church, the world, and all those in need of good news. 

Holy God, we pray for the body of Christ, the Church.
Where the Church is persecuted, protect it. Where the Church is privileged, grant it humility. Where the Church is fractured, heal it. Guide us all to embody Christ’s love in the world.
God of grace, hear our prayer. 

Life-giving God, we pray for the earth, your good creation.
Join our prayers with branches lifted in praise, and roaring waters of new life, that together we may proclaim Easter hope.
God of grace, hear our prayer. 

Merciful God, we pray for all peoples and nations.
Free oppressed communities from occupation, exploitation, and abuse. Teach leaders your way of justice. Empower peacemakers, and all who work to end violence and strife.
God of grace, hear our prayer.

Liberating God, we pray for people everywhere who long for good news.
Roll away the stones that keep people from living with dignity and wholeness. Breathe new life and hope into people struggling to make it through each day.
We continue to pray for those for whom our prayers have been asked, or desired:
for Gail; Sue; John; Sheila; and all those on our hearts.
We pray particularly today for those who are suffering in war and in oppression from governments demanding power.
God of grace, hear our prayer.

Loving God, we pray for this community at St. John the Baptist, for our Church and for your Spirit in our midst. Feed us at your Easter table and fill us with your wisdom, that we may serve and care for others.
God of grace, hear our prayer.

Eternal God, we remember those who have gone before us in death.
Renew our trust in your promises, that we live with joyful courage and compassion.
God of grace, hear our prayer. 

Into your hands, most merciful God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your abiding love; through Jesus Christ, our resurrected and living Lord.   Amen.

As our saviour taught us to pray, we say:

Our Father,
Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us fom evil.   For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.  Amen.

And may the Peace of the Living Christ be with you and your family wherever you may be on this day.

And may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you, for ever.  Amen. 

God Bless you on this Easter Sunday.