Easter Experience - a morning service on the top of Cleeve Hill

We gathered at the Quarry Car Park on Cleeve Hill and then made our way to a vantage point overlooking Bishops Cleeve to find that the whole was shrouded in mist and the town concealed from view.   We used a new translation of the Bible called The Voice for our readings.

It happened on a Friday.   A great darkness came over the land.  Hatred was in the air.  Violence too.  They spat on Him and whipped Him as they led him off to be crucified.  Passers-by shouted cruses and blasphemies at Jesus.  Hatred was in the air.  Violence too.  And in the world at our feet, behind locked doors, in closed rooms,  there’s hatred in the air.  Violence too.   And people listening in to a dark world in Syria, in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Ukraine, in Nigeria, in North Africa, so many place where there is hatred in the air.  Violence too.  In just such a world Jesus felt abandoned by God

Jesus: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani—My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Into that dark world of hatred and violence came something new, something to make a difference, a world of difference.

Jesus: Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing!

Jesus cried out once more, loudly, and then He breathed His last breath.  At that instant the temple curtain was torn in half, from top to bottom.  The earth shook, rocks split in two; tombs burst open, and bodies of many sleeping holy women and men were raised up.  When the Centurion and soldiers who had been charged with guarding Jesus felt 

the earthquake and saw the rocks splitting and the tombs opening, they were, of course, terrified.  And they were touched.  Deep down in their hearts

Soldiers: He really was God’s Son.

There is something terrifying about hatred and violence.  It makes you feel abandoned by God.  Look to the cross and see sorrow and love flow mingled down.  Look to the whole realm of nature and see in the cross of Christ love so amazing, so divine.  And be touched.  Deep down in our hearts.

When I survey the wondrous cross,
on which the prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down;
did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

A number of women, who had been devoted to Jesus and followed Him from Galilee, were present, too, watching from a distance. Mary Magdalene was there, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

At evening time, a rich man from Arimathea arrived. His name was Joseph, and he had become a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked to be given Jesus’ body; Pilate assented and ordered his servants to turn Jesus’ body over to Joseph. So Joseph took the body...

All:  The Eternal is my shepherd, He cares for me always.

He provides me rest in rich, green fields

    beside streams of refreshing water.

    He soothes my fears;

He makes me whole again,

    steering me off worn, hard paths

    to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.

Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness,

    I am not overcome by fear.

Because You are with me in those dark moments,

    near with Your protection and guidance,

    I am comforted.

You spread out a table before me,

    provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies;

You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil,

    filling my cup again and again with Your grace.

Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me

    where I go, always, everywhere.

I will always be with the Eternal,

    in Your house forever.

We made our way into a limestone quarry, limestone very much like the limestone Jerusalem is built on ... at the far end is what looks like the entrance to a cave

So Joseph took the body... wrapped Jesus in a clean sheath of white linen, and laid Jesus in his own new tomb, which he had carved from a rock. Then he rolled a great stone in front of the tomb’s opening, and he went away. Mary Magdalene was there, and so was the other Mary. They sat across from the tomb, watching, remembering.

It was still a world of hatred. It was still a world of violence.  A world of fear

The next day, which is the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went together to Pilate. They reminded him that when Jesus was alive He had claimed that He would be raised from the dead after three days.

Chief Priests and Pharisees: So please order someone to secure the tomb for at least three days. Otherwise His disciples might sneak in and steal His body away, and then claim that He has been raised from the dead. If that happens, then we would have been better off just leaving Him alive.

Pilate: You have a guard. Go and secure the grave.

So they went to the tomb, sealed the stone in its mouth, and left the guard to keep watch.

After the Sabbath, as the light of the next day, the first day of the week, crept over Palestine, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb to keep vigil. Earlier there had been an earthquake. A messenger of the Lord had come down from heaven and had gone to the grave. He rolled away the stone and sat down on top of it. He veritably glowed. He was vibrating with light. His clothes were light, white like transfiguration, like fresh snow. The soldiers

 guarding the tomb were terrified. They froze like stone.

The messenger spoke to the women, to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.

Messenger of the Lord: Don’t be afraid.

Those words speak into our world of violence and hatred.  They speak into our hearts.  They speak to us.

Messenger of the Lord:  Don’t be afraid.  I know you are here keeping watch for Jesus who was crucified. But Jesus is not here. He was raised, just as He said He would be. Come over to the grave, and see for yourself. And then go straight to His disciples, and tell them He’s been raised from the dead and has gone on to Galilee. You’ll find Him there. Listen carefully to what I am telling you.

The women were both terrified and thrilled, and they quickly left the tomb and went to find the disciples and give them this outstandingly good news. But while they were on their way, they saw Jesus Himself.

Jesus (greeting the women): Rejoice.

The women fell down before Him, kissing His feet and worshiping Him.

Led like a lamb to the slaughter

In silence and shame,

There on Your back You carried a world

Of violence and pain.

Bleeding, dying, bleeding, dying.

You're alive, You're alive,

            You have risen, Alleluia!

            And the power and the glory is given,

                        Alleluia, Jesus, to You.

           

At break of dawn, poor Mary,

Still weeping she came,

When through her grief she heard Your voice

Now speaking her name.

Mary, Master, Mary, Master!

            Refrain

At the right hand of the Father

Now seated on high

You have begun Your eternal reign

Of justice and joy.

Glory, glory, glory, glory. 

            Refrain

Graham Kendrick (born 1950) ccl 3540

Jesus: Don’t be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. Tell them I will meet them there.

As the women were making their way to the disciples, some of the soldiers who had been standing guard by Jesus’ tomb recovered themselves, went to the city, and told the chief priests everything that had happened—the earthquake just after dawn, the heavenly messenger, and his commission to the Marys. The chief priests gathered together all the elders, an emergency conference of sorts. They needed a plan. They decided the simplest course was bribery: they would pay off the guards and order them to say that the disciples had come in the middle of the night and had stolen Jesus’ corpse while they slept. The chief priests promised the soldiers they would run interference with the governor so that the soldiers wouldn’t be punished for falling asleep when they were supposed to be keeping watch. 15 The guards took the bribe and spread the story around town—and indeed, you can still find people today who will tell you that Jesus did not really rise from the dead, that it was a trick, some sort of sleight of hand.

Still, a time of violence.  Still a time of hatred.  Still a time of fear.  Still a time to hear those words of the Messenger of the Lord.  Still a time to hear those words of Jesus.  Don’t be afraid.

The eleven disciples, having spoken to the Marys, headed to Galilee, to the mountain where they were to meet Jesus.

 We made our way to the top of the hill

When the disciples saw Jesus there, many of them fell down and worshiped, as Mary and the other Mary had done. But a few hung back. They were not sure (and who can blame them?). Jesus came forward and addressed His beloved disciples.

Jesus: I am here speaking with all the authority of God, who has commanded Me to give you this commission: Go out and make disciples in all the nations. Ceremonially wash them through baptism in the name of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then disciple them. Form them in the practices and postures that I have taught you, and show them how to follow the commands I have laid down for you. And I will be with you, day after day, to the end of the age.

In a world of violence … In a world of hatred … we have a task to undertake, good news to share, a message to change people’s hearts and change people’s lives.  we are called to make disciples of all nations to teach the way of love for God, love for neighbour, love for enemy too.  In such a world as this who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death?

No matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us.

For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers,  height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord

Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son;

endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won.

Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,

kept the folded grave clothes where thy body lay.

Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son:

Endless is the victory,

thou o'er death hast won.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;

lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.

Let his church with gladness,

hymns of triumph sing;

for her Lord now liveth,

death hath lost its sting.

No more we doubt thee, glorious prince of life!

Life is nought without thee; aid us in our strife;

make us more than conquerors,

 through thy deathless love:

Bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.

In a world of hatred and a world of violence

Jesus says

I am with you always

to the end of the world

In a world of fear and anxiety

Jesus says

I am with you always

to the end of the world

In our world, whatever may befall

Jesus is with us always

Now and forever more    Amen

And then we made our way back down to Highbury for breakfast and an Easter Experience