Immediate Word

Easter is a time of hope and rebirth: not only in the Church's celebration of Christ's victory over death, but also in secular culture's emphasis on the emerging signs of spring and rebirth in nature. So the happy news of reporter Jill Carroll's recent release from nearly three months of captivity, as well as the dramatic rescue of three members of the Christian Peacemakers Teams, seems to have an element of cosmic timing -- as it provides a glimmer of hope that at least on a few occasions, death will not always triumph in Iraq. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Carlos Wilton uses John's account of the resurrection as a platform for discussing how the marvelous news of Christ's resurrection sets us free to experience new life -- and offers us hope of finding freedom from some of the things that keep us captive.

You are surely aware of the announcement this week of the discovery of yet another Gnostic gospel: the "Gospel of Judas." Given his featured role in the events of Holy Week, this document will certainly be a hot topic of conversation for many of the people in our pews. This installment also includes two pieces reflecting on Judas' motivations: a brief meditation from Thom Shuman on the uncomfortable truth that we may share more in common with Judas than we may want to admit, and a dramatic monologue in which Judas attempts to defend himself.

The installment is completed with additional thoughts by Steve McCutchan based on the day's reading from Acts, along with other aids -- several illustrations, worship resources, and a children's sermon. We wish you a most blessed Easter!


Alive Again!
by Carlos Wilton
John 20:1-18

THE WORLD

"I finally feel like I am alive again," said Jill Carroll after her March 30 release from captivity in Iraq. Carroll is, of course, the freelance correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor who was freed after 82 days as a hostage. She had been held by a shadowy Islamic radical organization that calls itself the Revenge Brigade, who had also murdered Allan Enwiya, her Iraqi translator. It's hard to imagine the mental anguish, the monotony, and at times the sheer terror of Carroll's ordeal. It's not surprising after all she has been through, that she would describe the feeling of sunshine on her face as akin to rebirth.

For more Jill Carroll's release, visit:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0331/p01s01-woiq.html

For more on Jill Carroll's reunion with her family, visit:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0404/p12s01-woiq.html

For a timeline on Jill Carroll's captivity, visit:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0331/p10s02-woiq.html

"Alive again!" could have been the cry of Mary Magdalene as well, as she encountered the risen Jesus that first Easter. This day, the greatest in the Christian year, is our celebration of new life in Christ. What are the things in life that hold us captive? God's greatest wish for us is that we would be free, and fully alive!


THE WORD

Mary Magdalene did not so much see it as feel it. She'd been stumbling along the half-remembered path in the pre-dawn darkness. Mary knew she must be getting close, so she reached out her hand.

Stone. Rough, unforgiving stone -- but not where she expected it to be. Had she wandered off the path? No, she was still on the path. This stone didn't belong here. It was the stone that had sealed his tomb, rolled away. Now she could discern a circle of blackness, darker even than the waning night -- like an open mouth, howling in terror. His tomb was open!

Could they not accord to him a measure of peace, even in death? She felt too bruised emotionally to feel anger; she felt only a terrible weariness. Insult added to injury. She did not want to stay in that place, with its monstrous, gaping tomb-mouth, darkness added to darkness. Mary ran back down the path.

It was getting lighter now. She could see her way. In the tumble-down confusion of her thoughts, she could remember nothing of the trip back -- not until she was standing outside the door, pounding on it with her fists.

Simon Peter himself opened the door. Mary grabbed him by the upper arms -- not the typical greeting of a Jewish woman to a man -- and shook him, even as she herself shook with her sobbing. "The Master, Simon -- they have taken him away. I don't know where..."

It was full daylight by the time Mary made it back to the tomb. Simon Peter and John were nowhere to be found. Later they would tell her how they had bent low and crawled into the tomb, inspecting it. They would tell her how they'd found the linen wrappings and the head-covering: not strewn everywhere, as you'd expect grave-robbers to leave them, but folded up neatly and set off to the side. It was as if he had taken them off himself, John would say, a strange tightness in his voice. But for now, Mary could only think of how devastating it was for her to see the open mouth of the tomb.

Peter's words to her, back at the house before he left with John, kept echoing in her mind: "He's gone, Mary. Let it go." There had been a stunned deadness in his voice, although there was a world of kindness in his eyes. "All they left us was a corpse; now they've taken that too. God only knows why."

"God only knows why," Mary kept repeating to herself as she made her way up the path for the second time that morning. She hardly knew why she was going. There was nothing to see, she was quite sure. Yet some invisible force drew her on.

Mary began to weep as she laid eyes on that black wound in the hillside that was the tomb entrance, for the second time that day. She could not bring herself to go in, as the men had, but she did lean over and peer in. The tomb was not empty -- or did her eyes deceive her? Two people, dressed in white: men, women, she couldn't tell which. Their faces were so... beautiful. And beautiful was the voice of the one who spoke: "Woman, why are you weeping?"

The words poured out of Mary's mouth, all about the grave-robbers and the tomb desecration -- and then she sensed someone standing behind her. Mary straightened up and looked round behind her -- a man -- the caretaker, no doubt. She was about to ask him to look into the tomb, and whether he could tell her who these strange, white-clad people were, when he spoke first: "Woman, why are you weeping?"

She told him, in a great torrent of words. Then she asked him if he had taken Jesus' body away -- hoping against hope that maybe it had been this kind man and not the temple police or the Romans who had done such a thing.

He called out her name, and then she knew -- though still she hardly recognized him, how changed was his appearance. It was as though he was there in the flesh, beside her. He certainly felt solid enough when she squeezed him. But he was different, too. His face seemed to have been washed clean of the agony of two days before, and he had about him that same beauty as the two white-clad visitors who had first addressed her. He was himself, yet not himself -- and at the same time, more perfectly himself. She could not have explained it if she tried: although later on, she did try to explain it to the others as she announced, "I have seen the Lord!"

Of all the accounts of Jesus' resurrection in the New Testament, this one of John's is by far the most dramatic. The drama comes not from special effects, as in Matthew's earthquake account, nor from mystery, as in Mark's empty-tomb narrative, but rather from the psychology of the two principal characters, Mary and Jesus. There is real psychological depth here, as we observe Mary's growing realization that the good news she had not dared to hope for is, in fact, true.

An important theme for John is the relationship of seeing to believing. The first visitors to the empty tomb see, but they do not believe. A few verses later, we will hear how Thomas insists on seeing Jesus' wounds before he will believe the man standing before him is, indeed, his Lord and Master. This theme is particularly significant because John's Gospel -- the latest of the four gospels in composition -- was written primarily for second-generation Christians. The people reading these words were not, by and large, eyewitnesses to the resurrection. They had to rely on the testimony of others. It was undoubtedly some comfort to them to hear this tale of witnesses to the resurrection for whom not even seeing was good enough (at least not at first). So incredible is this tale, even for those who lived it, that faith must play a part.

The time here is "early on the first day of the week." The sabbath had ended at sunset the evening before, but the hours of darkness would have been no time for going down to a tomb. The fact that Mary Magdalene is making this journey in the dim, half-light before the dawn shows how desperate she is to visit the tomb. Perhaps she is going to anoint Jesus' body for burial, as Mark and Luke attest (an action that would not have been possible earlier, given the sabbath regulations) -- but if that is the case, John gives no hint of it. Her first-person plural statement in verse 2 ("we do not know where they have laid him") perhaps suggests the earlier, synoptic tradition of more than one woman coming down to the tomb before dawn.

Whatever the case, by the time Peter and the other disciple (John?) make their cursory inspection and depart, Mary Magdalene is left alone. This sets the stage for her dramatic encounter with Jesus, which makes her the first witness to the resurrection (an experience which leads to her being called, later, apostola apostolorum -- the apostle to the apostles).

Jesus' statement in verse 17 should be translated "do not hold on to me," as in the NRSV. Some earlier translations have mistakenly rendered it "do not touch me." This, along with the cryptic reference in verse 19 about Jesus appearing to the disciples behind locked doors, has led to all sorts of strange speculation about the resurrection-body being qualitatively different from an ordinary human body. In fact, Jesus is saying something like, "Enough with the hugging, already -- we've got things to do," so that speculation is without warrant.


CRAFTING THE SERMON

A sermon on this passage could begin with the account of Jill Carroll's release from captivity and her first contact with her family, which took the rather ordinary form of a telephone call. The Christian Science Monitor article (cited above) tells how Jill's twin sister Katie awoke at 5:45 in the morning to hear the telephone ring. A quick glance at the caller ID indicated the call came from Iraq. Katie eagerly took the call, hoping it might contain some word about her sister. She was astonished to realize the voice on the other end of the line was Jill herself. "Katie, it's me," she said, "I'm free."

The two women immediately burst into tears -- which was probably not unlike the reaction of Mary Magdalene when she realized the "gardener" she had been speaking with was Jesus. Such is the depth of emotion that goes along with matters of life and death.

Jill's statement, "I finally feel like I am alive again" provides an excellent sermon title ("Alive Again!"). Sitting by herself in a dim, nearly windowless room for 81 days, with little to occupy her mind, was undoubtedly an ordeal. This was particularly true for a woman like Jill, who was an active, even risk-taking individual -- as well as a journalist, who lived by words. To cut a person like this off from news of the world for so long, to allow her almost no access to the printed word or to electronic media, must surely have seemed to her like a sort of entombment experience.

And then, abruptly, Jill's captors told her they were going to release her. She had heard that promise before, so she didn't put much trust in it. Yet when they discharged her from a car onto a Baghdad street and pointed her in the direction of an Arabic-language news office, she could hardly believe her good fortune. It had to be one of those "pinch yourself to make sure you're not dreaming" sorts of experiences. Her long-cherished hope of freedom had been fulfilled so suddenly, it was hard to believe.

The good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is likewise hard to believe. Most everything we experience in day-to-day life tells us death has the upper hand. That's certainly the witness of the secular world, which fears death more than anything. Standing beside Peter and the beloved disciple, looking over their shoulders as it were, we see in the darkness of the empty tomb a living hope that death no longer has dominion over us. And that is surprisingly good news.

ME AND JUDAS
by Thom M. Shuman

The media is all agog about the publication of the "Gospel of Judas," wondering what this will mean for Christianity, our beliefs, the world, yada, yada, yada. According to reports on the radio and television, Judas is portrayed as the "hero" of the story, the only one to recognize Jesus for who he really is, and willing to sacrifice himself so that this revelation could be made to the entire world.

Judas intrigues a lot of us. Was he really just a mercenary of money, stealing from the group's common purse and willing to sell his teacher for a few bucks? Was he as callous toward the poor, the oppressed, the outcast, as some of the gospels portray him? Was he the willing, or unwitting, pawn of the religious and political authorities of his day (or even the Evil One) to bring about the death of Jesus?

I'm not sure; I can't figure him out. Yet I know that in John's Gospel, he is included in the Last Supper, and that says something to me about Jesus' inclusion of Judas right up to the last moments of his life. In fact, when Jesus dips the "morsel" and hands it to Judas, it is a traditional way of honoring the person -- and an interesting way to treat the person who is about to betray you!

Of course I can't figure Judas out -- because I can't figure out my own relationship with Jesus.

After all, if Jesus is in the poor of the world, and I refuse to see them as sisters and brothers in Christ, what makes me different from Judas?

And if I think we should spend money on our own "kind," whether they are in my church, my community, my country, before helping anyone else out, is my attitude that different from Judas?

And if Jesus hungers with the children on the garbage dumps of Rio de Janiero, and I am unwilling to share from the abundance I have; if Jesus is with those who have to drink polluted water while the good water is diverted to the resorts in their countries, and I don't say something about it; if Jesus is with the people dying in Darfur, and I am not beating down the doors of my government to get them to stop this genocide -- if I am not willing to do anything and everything I can for the lost, the last, the little, the least in our world, then aren't I betraying the very One who I say I want to live in my heart?

The disturbing news of the Passion story is how much I resemble Judas.

The good news is that, like Judas, Jesus will honor me by feeding me at his table on Maundy Thursday, and then, as he did for Judas, he will go out and die for me so that, like Judas, I might be saved.

BETRAYAL AT THE TABLE
by Carter Shelley

The news this week about the gospel of Judas has rekindled debate about what Judas' motivations were. The notion that Judas saw himself as a catalyst for Jesus' move to the next stage in his ministry and Messiahship may be as old as a Coptic Gospel, but it is not unique in its interpretation. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber used the same notion effectively in their portrayal of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. The following monologue will be presented as part of our Maundy Thursday service.

I did it for the money. That's something you capitalist, dollar-worshiping Americans ought to understand. I get a pretty bad rap in the Bible. Most of the time people ignore me until the week before Easter. Why, you'd think from reading any one of the Gospels that I didn't exist until the very end.

You know why, don't you? Because I saw things differently. From the beginning I saw things differently. Jesus was doomed from the start. You can't go around telling everybody God loves them all the same. You can't face off with people like the Scribes and Pharisees who have given their whole life to the study and obedience of God's laws and expect them to thank you for offering a communist form of religion.

We Jews didn't have much to hold onto in Rome-dominated, grimy, little Judea, but we had our religion. And God help the man or Messiah who threatens that one point of pride and superiority. If you invite the Gentiles and the whores and the tax collectors to join our religion, there's nothing left!!

You can't be the chosen people with a special identity and a special sense of purpose if any old scumbag can be included, regardless of race or character. Even now I can't believe Jesus was so stupid. If he had championed the Jewish people and worked with the religious leaders, he could have gone so much farther, but those idealists are all the same -- never known one of them who had any common sense.

So I knew it wouldn't work. I even said so a few times along the way, but no one listened. No one even printed my point of view. Far better to ignore me until the end when things got ugly. They could have been a whole lot uglier, believe you me. If it hadn't been for my singling Jesus out in the garden, they would have arrested the whole gang. I saved them from prison, from interrogation and torture.

"Just take Jesus," I said. "Leave the others alone. Without a leader; they're harmless. Wave a few swords in front of them and they'll scatter like dandelion seeds blown into the wind."

Does anybody ever mention that? No. They remember the money, down to the 30th piece of silver. So I'm remembered as "the betrayer" -- the one who came to the table to share the bread and the cup with Jesus at that Last Supper, and then sold out.

But I ask you, am I the worst betrayer Christ has known?

WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman

Call To Worship
Leader: This is the day:
People: when tears are wiped away;
shattered hearts are mended;
fears are replaced with joy.
Leader: This is the day the Lord:
People: rolls away the stone of fear;
throws off death's clothes;
goes ahead of us into God's future.
Leader: This is the day the Lord has made:
People: death has no fear for us;
sin has lost its power over us;
God opens the tombs of our hearts to fill us with life.
Leader: This is the day -- Easter Day!
People: Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!

Prayer Of The Day
Very early on that first day
you caught chaos unawares,
Astounding God:
planting grace in a garden,
setting love loose on creation,
flinging joy into the air.

Very early on that first day,
Jesus, Sun of Justice:
you staggered sin, throwing its weight off the world;
you confounded death, leaving it alone in the grave;
you opened the gates of the kingdom,
so all could follow you into life.

Very early on this first day of the week,
while we were washing sleep from our eyes
and trying to make sense of our lives,
you sang glad songs to us,
Scarred Spirit:
rolling away fears from our hearts
so we can see the Risen Lord.

God in Community, Holy in One,
very early on this first day of the week,
as we do on every day of our lives,
we lift our prayers as Jesus has taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .

Call To Reconciliation
Very early in the morning,
God created all that is good and beautiful.
Very early in the morning,
a mother placed her newborn in a manger.
Very early in the morning,
the good news was shared with frightened friends,
that Jesus was risen and alive in our midst.
Let us confess the fears and the amazement we bring this morning . . .

(Unison) Prayer Of Confession
On this morning of hallelujahs,
we must confess how human we are, Emptier of tombs.
We haven't done any great evil,
but we have failed to do good when we had the chance.
We have not intentionally hurt anyone,
nor have we offered healing to the broken.
We easily accept the witness of the angel in the tomb,
but find it difficult to share this good news with our friends and neighbors.

Bring us new life, Dazzling God.
Where we are tired and stressed,
give us the energy to serve your creation;
transform our hardened hearts into fountains of grace;
forgive us of all the damage we have done,
and fill us with the joy of your Spirit.
In the name of Jesus Christ, who gives us new life, we pray.

(silent prayers may be offered)

Assurance Of Pardon
Leader: God, our Creator, gives us new life;
Christ, our Redeemer, prepares a Table for us;
Holy Spirit, our Joy, calls us to service.
This is the good news:
the tomb is empty,
sin is powerless,
death is defeated forever.
People: On this very first day, and every day,
we walk as God's people,
forgiven and made whole.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

Great Prayer Of Thanksgiving
Leader: The God of every morning be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: People of Easter morning,
lift up your hearts!
People: We lift them to the One who has raised Jesus from the grave.
Leader: People of Easter's joy,
give thanks to the One who raises us to new life.
People: We sing our hallelujahs to the God of everlasting love.

On this day of joy and hope, Redeemer of the lost,
we sing our praise to you.
Very early in the morning,
your Word shattered the silence of chaos,
and grace flowed forth like a river.
You reached down and gathered up the dust of creation,
forming us into your image,
and breathing life into us.
Yet the day came when we chose to turn from you,
believing our wisdom was superior to your will for us.
You sent us the prophets to speak of your gracious hope,
but we refused to listen.
When you could have let us remain in the clutches of sin and death,
you sent Jesus to be one of us,
so we could come home to you.

Therefore, we join our voices this morning
with those who stood at the empty tomb,
as well as those of every time and place,
singing our Easter joy to you:

Sanctus
Holy are you, God of every day,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, Bright Morning Star.
Creator of all that is good,
he entered the shadows of hell to lead us into hope's light;
Beloved of your Heart,
he embraced our sin so we could be forgiven;
Glory beyond imagination,
he welcomed death so we could enter life eternal.

Even as we believe what we may not understand,
we trust that mystery we call faith:

Memorial Acclamation
It is here at this Table, Resurrecting God,
that we are fed by your love.
As you pour out your Spirit upon the Bread and the Cup,
fill us with the spirit of Jesus,
so we may go forth to be your people.
Feed us with the Bread of Heaven,
so we can fill the hunger of the world.
Touch our lips with salvation's cup,
so we can proclaim the good news of this day to everyone we meet.

And when the morning comes
when we are united with all the saints gathered around heaven's Table,
we will lift our voices to you,
God in Community, Holy in One, forever and ever. Amen.

CHILDREN'S SERMON

Like a butterfly

Object: an encyclopedia with pictures of caterpillars, cocoons, and butterflies

Based on John 20:1-18

Good morning! Today is a very special Sunday. Can anybody tell me why this Sunday is special? (let them answer) Yes, today is Easter Sunday. This is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. They killed him on the cross, but God made him alive again, and he came out of the tomb on that first Easter morning.

Now, we have several things that we use as symbols of Easter. One of the symbols of Easter is the butterfly. Can anybody tell me why the butterfly is used as a symbol of Easter? (let them answer) Let me show you some pictures that will help you understand why the butterfly symbolizes Easter. (show the pictures in the encyclopedia pointing out how the caterpillar goes into the cocoon and emerges as a butterfly) So, just as the caterpillar goes into the dark cocoon and later emerges as a butterfly, Jesus went into the dark grave and emerged from it completely perfect in every way. Do you see why we use the butterfly as an Easter symbol? (let them answer)

Okay, let's thank God for Easter.

Dear Heavenly Father: We thank you for raising Jesus from the dead on that first Easter morning and for promising us that we too will be raised from the dead to live with you forever in heaven. Amen.

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The Immediate Word, April 16, 2006, issue.

Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.

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