Nonsense
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For April 20, 2025:
Nonsense
by Katy Stenta
John 20:1-18, Luke 24:1-12
In the Scriptures
In the Bible Jesus trusts women. It begins in John 2:1-11 in Cana, where Jesus’ own mother says it is time for his ministry to begin (and he complies). The woman who touched Jesus’ cloak to be healed, definitely had faith, and Jesus definitely trusted her and understood her as well. The woman who was to be stoned was rescued by Jesus, when he said that those without sin would be able to throw the first stone. The result was that no one was able to throw the first stone. Jesus gave her forgiveness and sent her on her way in John 8:1-11.
According to Luke 8:1-3, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward, and many other women funded Jesus’ ministry out of their own pockets. Then there is the story of Mary, disciple of Jesus who sits at his feet to listen to his teaching and given it as her inheritance in Luke 10:42. And, of course, told to tell the good news of the resurrection in Matthew’s version of the gospel in 28:10, the women were the original apostles. Jesus worked hard to build communication and trust with women in a culture where it was difficult, almost impossible to do so, and yet he did.
In the News
Today, the culture of trust and information being passed between human beings in the United States is fraught. How can we trust any form of communication when disinformation—deliberately misleading information — and misinformation — misleading information that is spread, without perhaps malicious intent — are both rampant? Though the last election was won for many reasons, disinformation was a key strategy. Some examples of false information disseminated by the Trump campaign included: Haitian immigrants eat cats and dogs, Tim Walz abused a young man thirty years ago, and a fake video from Russia of a supposedly Haitian immigrant who had just arrived in the US and voted in two counties. This did nothing but crumble the trust of information and communication between families, friends, and political parties.
Then there is the communication about what the Republicans are doing now. Most of what the party is carrying out now comes as a shock, because their voters did not believe they would actually follow through on any of their plans. Most believed them to be no more than idle tales to ruffle Democrats feathers. Thus, when tariffs are enacted, job cuts happen, or immigrants are wrongfully deported, people are shocked. Trust is broken in new and different ways.
In the Sermon
It is astonishing how people cannot hear the words Jesus said when he promised that he would suffer, die, and rise again. Despite his repeated warnings, his disciples did not have ears to hear or hearts to understand his words. Thus, when the women return with the tale of what they saw with their own eyes, again it is thought to be λῆρος which is defined as “trash, trumpery, of what is showy but useless.”
After all we have been through this year, perhaps it is easier for us to believe how hard it was for the disciples to believe what they heard, or even saw. Trust is fractured and fragile. The good news is that the resurrection is not depending on faith. Jesus Christ lives with or without our belief. Instead, the rebuilding of our relationships helps to heal our “good news” telling so that it can be better heard. Maybe this is why Jesus spends so much time healing, feeding, and giving time to the marginal. Good works always speak louder than words. Living out the resurrection is not dependent on our good works — Christ is alive! However, the good news can be lived out in ways louder than words.
SECOND THOUGHTS
News That Travels at the Speed of God
by Mary Austin
Luke 24:1-12
The story doesn’t say: Did Jesus wake up from death slowly, or was the resurrection instant? However it happened for him, the good news takes time to sink in for the people who love him. When the women find the tomb empty, resurrection is not the first thing they imagine. Grave robbers? Soldiers? Cruel guards, who have taken Jesus’ body away? Believing in any of those things would have been easier than taking in the idea that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
Keeping quiet about the empty tomb would have been easier than enduring the ridicule of the other disciples, who call their story “an idle tale.” (Ahem, ok, complete b.s.) We can picture their skeptical reaction. There are unknown figures in white who announce this news, okay, sure, right. In Luke’s telling, only Peter thinks there’s enough substance to the story to jump up and see for himself.
Good news travels slowly, even on the first Easter.
Good news travels slowly in our world, too. As we go to press, US pension funds have lost $169 billion since the President announced his tariffs. Investors have lost substantial sums since the tariff announcement began “triggering a global financial shock that included the steepest stock market declines since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and wiped away trillions of dollars from investors’ portfolios.” Retirement dreams are ever more distant for people near retirement age.
Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration has “cut thousands of jobs, closed offices and enacted new policy — including more stringent identity checks that could require in-person office visits. Advocates warn these sweeping moves could lead to seniors and people with disabilities having a harder time getting help with their crucial benefits. Already, getting assistance can be burdensome. “My first phone call that I made to Social Security, I was on hold for 3 hours and 15 minutes before I spoke to somebody,” Aaron Woods, who’s been trying for months to help his mother sort out her Social Security and Medicare benefits, told NPR.” Benefits could become even harder to access “as the agency plans to cut 7,000 jobs — though its current staffing of about 57,000 is already at a 50-year low.”
Anti-abortion laws in Texas mean that more women are dying of complications related to pregnancy loss. “After the state banned abortion, dozens more pregnant and postpartum women died in Texas hospitals than had in pre-pandemic years, which ProPublica used as a baseline to avoid Covid-19-related distortions. As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, ProPublica found that it rose substantially in Texas.” Doctors who reviewed the data say that this adds “to the evidence that the state’s abortion ban is leading to dangerous delays in care. Texas law threatens up to 99 years in prison for providing an abortion. Though the ban includes an exception for a “medical emergency,” the definition of what constitutes an emergency has been subject to confusion and debate.”
The good news comes slowly. But, slowly doesn’t mean never.
As of early February, Congress was receiving calls from constituents at a dramatically higher rate, with “a system that usually handles a few dozen calls per minute is straining to keep up with more than 1,500. President Trump’s moves to upend the government — and his decision to empower the billionaire Elon Musk to carry out a slash-and-burn campaign inside the federal bureaucracy — are dominating the news and reverberating across the capital and beyond. And nowhere is the impact more apparent than the beleaguered congressional phone system, a major conduit for citizens to contact their representatives in Washington that in recent days has been nearly crippled as it absorbs tens of millions of calls responding to the new Washington order.”
The President is demanding concessions from universities, and Harvard and others are saying no. Federal judges have ordered fired federal employees to be reinstated. Even the librarians are taking action. The American Library Association, along with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), “the largest union representing museum and library workers, today asked a federal judge to halt the Trump administration’s gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) — a non-partisan and independent agency dedicated to supporting and funding libraries and museums and the crucial community services they provide in every state across the country.”
In Texas, a federal judge appointed by the current President “has issued a ruling blocking the removal of individuals under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), citing concerns raised in the Supreme Court’s recent decision and the controversial Abrego Garcia case. The judge pointed to the potential for wrongful detention or deportation, emphasizing that the Abrego Garcia case had exposed critical flaws in the government’s application of the AEA.”
The good news comes slowly, and it feels too small to match the magnitude of the world’s evil. And yet it comes, and keeps flowing out into the world. The good news of Easter morning has reached all of us, traveling down through the centuries, in different languages, across borders, in spite of human error and pride. The “idle tale” of the women turned into life-changing good news for them, and, in turn, for us. The story that started with a few people has changed the world. The good news comes slowly, and yet it comes with the force of God’s great love for the world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer
Resurrection
We tend to limit our understanding of resurrection to the reanimation of a corpse. He was dead, literally dead, no heartbeat, no respiration, and then he was alive. But there are all kinds of figurative deaths that we can and often do experience and to which the experience of resurrection often speaks.
Commotio Cordis
That’s Latin for “agitation of the heart.” In fact, it’s more than just a little agitation; it’s a very rare occasion (about 20-30 times a year in the USA) when the heart stops beating because of a sharp blow to the chest.
Most often, it occurs to young people whose rib cage bones haven’t hardened sufficiently to protect the heart, and when it occurs, it’s usually in the context of a sporting event, especially baseball or football.
On Monday night, January 2, 2023, it happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin when he tackled Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter of the game on a seemingly routine play that didn't appear unusually violent.
Higgins was running with the ball on a 13-yard pass from Joe Burrow when he led with his right shoulder, hitting Hamlin in the chest.
Hamlin then wrapped his arms around Higgins' shoulders and helmet to drag him down. Hamlin quickly got to his feet, appeared to adjust his face mask with his right hand, and then fell backward about three seconds later and lay motionless. Team trainers rushed to the field and administered CPR for 10 minutes before Hamlin’s heart was restarted with an AED (defibrillator) and he was taken to University of Cincinnati Hospital and placed in intensive care. The football game was stopped and postponed to a later date.
The cities of Cincinnati and Buffalo rallied, en masse, to offer prayers and letters for Hamlin and his family. Eventually, he was released from the hospital and returned to Buffalo where he underwent physical therapy until, this past year, when he was determined to be fit to return to professional football.
Damar Hamlin now plays football for the Bills and is the national spokesman for a movement to provide AED’s in every high school in America.
* * *
Grand Slam Winner
And we’re not talking about Denny’s breakfasts, here.
On April 10 of this year, professional golfer Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland was considered one of the best golfers in the world, and with good reason. He had won 28 PGA tour events including three of the four hardest: The US Open, The British Open, and The PGA Championship (twice). He is the winningest European player in the history of the PGA.
One victory would cap it all, but that victory has eluded him for 17 years: The Masters. Second place and fourth place is as good as he’s finished in 17 tries. A victory this year, however, would put an irreplaceable crown upon his brow. If he could win the Masters, which started on April 10, he would win the “Grand Slam” of Golf, a feat only five other golfers in history have ever managed to accomplish — The Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship.
Rory did well. He was leading the field by four strokes when Sunday’s final round began but much to the dismay of the gallery, he double-bogeyed the first hole.
By the 10th hole he was tied for the lead with Justin Rose at 10 under par. By hole 15 he was one back behind Rose and at 16 he birdied and brought it to a tie again. On 16 he was one behind Rose but on 17 Rose missed a put to put them both at 11 under par. McIlroy finally made birdie on the playoff hole to win.
Upon sinking the winning put, Rory Mcilroy fell to his knees and wept. Seventeen years of failures had paid off in a win.
He is now only the sixth man in history to win the Grand Slam of Golf.
* * *
For Other Sports Illustrations Of Figurative Resurrections See:
* * *
Resurrection — Gradually, Then Suddenly
In Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, the character Mike Campbell is asked how he went bankrupt. He responds “Gradually, then suddenly.”
That is often the way life comes to us, isn’t it? Not just in bad situations like Mr. Campbell’s bankruptcy. Good things happen that way as well. A little at a time, then all at once.
We are trying to understand the multiplication tables and we struggle to figure them out and memorize them and then, after days or maybe weeks of drills, it pops! And suddenly, they make sense. Or, for the life of you, you can’t think of the word for 26 down in a crossword puzzle and you think and you think until finally, frustrated, you set the puzzle down and do something else. Then, an hour or a day later, after letting the problem ferment in your brain, you look at the clue and it’s as clear as day. Or learning to ride a bicycle, we wobble and tumble and crash and then, suddenly, we get it and we’re flying down the street.
Coming to terms with the resurrection of Jesus can be like that for lots of people. We struggle with it, sometimes for years. Did it really happen as described in the gospels? Which gospel is correct? What does it mean? For me? For life in general? For the world?
We mull it over and over, we talk about it with other Christians and maybe some non-Christians as well and then, suddenly, one day…BOOM! A flash of light and, well, maybe you don’t understand it exactly, but down in the very depth of your being it comes together, and you realize that resurrection isn’t just an historic reality, it’s an existential one as well. For you. Today. And Tomorrow. And forever.
* * *
Class Clown To Golden Boy
During the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school my parents called me and my four siblings together at the dining room table for a family meeting. We didn’t have those very often so we knew it was important, and it certainly was.
They announced that our father had accepted a job with another company, and we would, in a few weeks, be moving from Indianapolis to Cincinnati to start a new life.
I wasn’t angry, really. I knew dad was unhappy at his current place of employment and I wanted him to be happy with his life and career, but this meant leaving my life behind. I finally had a girlfriend. I had my group of buddies. I was on a path to lettering in three sports and I was, well, okay, I’ll say it. I was popular!
Dad had already been to that foreign land of Cincinnati a few times and with mom’s blessing, he had picked out a new house, church, and school district for us. The future seemed like a black hole that threatened to suck me in to oblivion with no chance of escape.
One day, noting my dismay, my mother took me aside and offered some parental advice. Owing to her father’s tuberculosis and eventual suicide, she had moved five times in her four years of high school and she had managed to come through it with at least a little sanity. This is what she told me:
A new school is a clean slate. If there’s anything about yourself that you want to change, now you can do it. Just take off the old you like a dirty t-shirt and put on a new you when you go into that new school. Take your time. Pick your new friends, the friends of the new you, carefully. Be whoever you want to be.
For one of the few times in my life, I took my mother’s advice seriously.
In my Indianapolis school I had been something of a class clown, a goof off, a nice but shallow kind of guy, well-liked but not really taken seriously.
I decided to change that. I decided to be more serious and thoughtful. And, to make a long story short, it worked. Two years later I graduated president of the senior class, vice president of the student council, lead actor in the spring musical, and the recipient of several awards and two scholarships for citizenship. Oh, and I had a new, steady girlfriend.
The “old” Dean had died and been resurrected as the “new” Dean.
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:
Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
Seven years ago Easter Sunday was my last Sunday serving a church I had served for more than 19 years. Through the years I had trained that congregation to shout, “He is risen indeed!” every time someone said, “Christ is risen!” Even in the middle of a sermon in October, if they heard the magic words, they responded. The benediction on Easter 2018, my last words leading worship in that congregation were “Christ is risen!” They thundered back, “He is risen indeed!” As I silently walked down the center aisle for the last time, I thought to myself, “Christ is risen; Tom’s unemployed.”
* * *
Easter “Sunday”
It is worth reminding people gathered for worship on Easter Sunday that Christians worship on Sunday because it was on a Sunday, the first day of the week, that Christ rose from death. So, at the very start of Christianity, when we were a small movement within Palestinian Judaism, Christians were disruptive, by wanting to worship on what we would consider Monday. We put the seventh day sabbath to rest (see what I did there?), and when we’re at our best, we’ve been disruptive ever since.
* * *
Luke 24:11
ληρος
The only place that the word “ληρος“ (laros, in English) appears in the Bible is Luke 24:11. This is what the male disciples said about the Marys’, Joanna’s and the other women’s report of what the men at the tomb had told them. The NRSV renders that term “an idle tale.” Other translations call it “idle talk,” “nonsense,” “a feigned thing,” “sheer imagination,” and “madness.” Chances are it was a vulgar term, closer to “bullshit,” than any of these translations offer.
* * *
Luke 24:1-12
The First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament offers a fresh look at the names of the characters in today’s lesson from Luke. Here’s how this translation renders vv. 8-11:
Then the women remembered what he had said. They hurried back to tell the eleven message bearers and the others what they had seen and heard. There was Strong Tears (Mary) of the village of Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala), Woman of His Goodwill (Joana), and Brooding Tears (Mary), the mother of He Takes Charge (James), and other women with them.
These women told the message bearers and the others what they saw with their own eyes. But the men did not believe the women, thinking it was empty talk.
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, pp. 161-162.)
* * *
John 20:16
“Rabbouni!”
The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek. The language that Jesus and his disciples spoke was Aramaic, which can be thought of as a dialect of Hebrew. In the gospels there are a few occasions when Aramaic words are left untranslated and appear in the Koine Greek text. For example, when Jesus brings the girl back to life in Mark 5:41 he says, “Talitha cum,” which means, “little girl, get up.” When he restores hearing to a deaf man in Mark 7:32 he says, “ephratha,” which means, “be opened.” The only Aramaic word in John’s gospel appears in today’s reading from John’s gospel, verse 16, when Mary recognizes Jesus and calls him “Rabbouni.” Its use points to a profound connection and intimacy between Mary and Jesus.
* * *
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-26
Last week’s lesson from Psalms was Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29. It is worthwhile to explore what’s different about these two readings, so close together in the liturgical calendar. Verses 14-18 read
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
I shall not die, but I shall live
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death. (NRSVue)
While they cannot be accurately said by Jesus, the last line reads, “but he did not give me over to death,” these verses clearly point to victory and vindication that are certainly part of the Easter message.
* * * * * *
WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
All: The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
One: The Lord is our strength and our might.
All: God has become our salvation.
One: There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
All: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
OR
One: Christ is alive! Let all creation rejoice with us today.
All: Alleluia! Death is not the final word with God.
One: Rejoice in all the ways God brings new life to us.
All: We praise the one who raises us from the depths.
One: Share the good news that Christ is alive for us.
All: We will share God’s life with all this day.
Hymns and Songs
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
UMH: 302
H82: 188/189
PH: 113
GTG: 245
AAHH: 282
NNBH: 121
NCH: 233
LBW: 130
ELW: 369/373
W&P: 288
AMEC: 156
STLT: 268
The Day of Resurrection
UMH: 303
H82: 210
PH: 118
GTG: 233
NNBH: 124
NCH: 245
CH: 228
LBW: 141
ELW: 361
W&P: 298
AMEC: 159/160
Christ Is Alive
UMH: 318
H82: 182
PH: 108
GTG: 246
LBW: 363
ELW: 389
W&P: 312
Renew: 300
In the Garden
UMH: 314
AAHH: 494
NNBH: 116
NCH: 237
CH: 227
W&P: 300
AMEC: 452
Sing with All the Saints in Glory
UMH: 702
ELW: 426
AMEC: 163
Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain
UMH: 315
H82: 199/200
PH: 114/115
NCH: 230
CH: 215
LBW: 132
ELW: 363
This Is the Feast of Victory
UMH: 638
H82: 417/418
PH: 594
GTG: 513
ELW: (In the liturgy)
Renew: 199
I Come with Joy
UMH: 617
H82: 304
PH: 507
NCH: 349
CH: 420
ELW: 482
W&P: 706
Renew: 195
Here, O My Lord, I See Thee/Here, O Our Lord, We See You
UMH: 623
H82: 318
PH: 520
GTG: 517
NCH: 336
CH: 416
LBW: 211
AMEC: 531
Glorify Thy Name
CCB: 8
Renew: 37
Our God Reigns
CCB: 33
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who brings new life to your creation day after day:
Grant us the courage to look for those signs
even in the midst of death and chaos;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the one who brings new life to creation each day. You love constantly renews all that you have made. Help us to trust you so that we can see what you are doing in our midst. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our lack of faith in your renewing love.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to make you into our image rather than allowing you to make us into your own. We despair of all the evil and violence around us when you are working to bring hope and new life to all. We not only miss your work but we join in the negative things that work against you. Forgive us and help us to see the new life you are bringing to us and allow us to join in sharing that life with others. Amen.
One: God is bringing new life to all creation. Rejoice that Christ is alive and at work to redeem the world.
Prayers of the People
Glory to you, O God, for you are bringing life out of death. When all seems lost, you come to renew your promises.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to make you into our image rather than allowing you to make us into your own. We despair of all the evil and violence around us when you are working to bring hope and new life to all. We not only miss your work but we join in the negative things that work against you. Forgive us and help us to see the new life you are bringing to us and allow us to join in sharing that life with others.
We give you thanks for all the signs of new life that we see around us in nature. We thank you for the wondrous news that Christ is alive, here and now. We thank you for the love that renews us all.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We remember those who are grieving during this time of celebration. We recall those who find themselves still entombed in fear and despair.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Christ is Risen!
by Tom Willadsen
After the little ones have gathered up front, and you can expect a crowd this morning, many of them hopped up on jelly beans (“Jelly beans” is two words, I just checked.) and Peeps®, say to them “Christ is risen!” Hold the microphone out for them to reply. Chances are they will not know to say, “He is risen indeed!” Explain the tradition to them. It’s an Easter-season greeting for Christians. Give them a couple chances to practice shouting “He is risen indeed!” in response to you.
Tell them every time they hear the words “Christ is risen!” they should shout, as loud as they can, “He is risen indeed!” And not just today, every time they hear it. Encourage everyone in worship to do this; and point out that the kids are leading the way (“a little child shall lead them,” Isaiah 11:6).
Next ask them what day it is. Easter, of course, but the answer you’re looking for is “Sunday.” Ask them if they know why Christians go to church on Sunday. Christians started out as a sect of Judaism, and for Jews Saturday, they seventh day of the week, is set apart as a special day of rest to honor the Living God. When Jews stop from working on Saturday it reminds them that God set them free from slavery, and that God rested after making the world in six days. So the seventh day of the week was very important to Jesus and all his followers.
The little ones heard the story—or will hear the story—about Jesus’ closest friends going to the tomb to take care of his body first thing on the morning on Sunday, the first day of the week. But what happened? What did the people who went to the tomb where Jesus was buried find? Let them answer these questions.
He wasn’t there! They didn’t know exactly what happened, but we know…Christ is risen! They should totally be shouting at this point. If they’re not, prompt them a couple more times. Then thank them for coming up and helping you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 20, 2025 issue.
Copyright 2025 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Nonsense by Katy Stenta. Jesus and women shared mutual trust. Why didn’t the male disciples share that same trust?
- Second Thoughts: News That Travels at the Speed of God by Mary Austin based on Luke 24:1-12.
- Sermon illustrations by Dean Feldmeyer, Tom Willadsen.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children’s sermon: Christ is Risen! by Tom Willadsen.
Nonsense
by Katy Stenta
John 20:1-18, Luke 24:1-12
In the Scriptures
In the Bible Jesus trusts women. It begins in John 2:1-11 in Cana, where Jesus’ own mother says it is time for his ministry to begin (and he complies). The woman who touched Jesus’ cloak to be healed, definitely had faith, and Jesus definitely trusted her and understood her as well. The woman who was to be stoned was rescued by Jesus, when he said that those without sin would be able to throw the first stone. The result was that no one was able to throw the first stone. Jesus gave her forgiveness and sent her on her way in John 8:1-11.
According to Luke 8:1-3, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward, and many other women funded Jesus’ ministry out of their own pockets. Then there is the story of Mary, disciple of Jesus who sits at his feet to listen to his teaching and given it as her inheritance in Luke 10:42. And, of course, told to tell the good news of the resurrection in Matthew’s version of the gospel in 28:10, the women were the original apostles. Jesus worked hard to build communication and trust with women in a culture where it was difficult, almost impossible to do so, and yet he did.
In the News
Today, the culture of trust and information being passed between human beings in the United States is fraught. How can we trust any form of communication when disinformation—deliberately misleading information — and misinformation — misleading information that is spread, without perhaps malicious intent — are both rampant? Though the last election was won for many reasons, disinformation was a key strategy. Some examples of false information disseminated by the Trump campaign included: Haitian immigrants eat cats and dogs, Tim Walz abused a young man thirty years ago, and a fake video from Russia of a supposedly Haitian immigrant who had just arrived in the US and voted in two counties. This did nothing but crumble the trust of information and communication between families, friends, and political parties.
Then there is the communication about what the Republicans are doing now. Most of what the party is carrying out now comes as a shock, because their voters did not believe they would actually follow through on any of their plans. Most believed them to be no more than idle tales to ruffle Democrats feathers. Thus, when tariffs are enacted, job cuts happen, or immigrants are wrongfully deported, people are shocked. Trust is broken in new and different ways.
In the Sermon
It is astonishing how people cannot hear the words Jesus said when he promised that he would suffer, die, and rise again. Despite his repeated warnings, his disciples did not have ears to hear or hearts to understand his words. Thus, when the women return with the tale of what they saw with their own eyes, again it is thought to be λῆρος which is defined as “trash, trumpery, of what is showy but useless.”
After all we have been through this year, perhaps it is easier for us to believe how hard it was for the disciples to believe what they heard, or even saw. Trust is fractured and fragile. The good news is that the resurrection is not depending on faith. Jesus Christ lives with or without our belief. Instead, the rebuilding of our relationships helps to heal our “good news” telling so that it can be better heard. Maybe this is why Jesus spends so much time healing, feeding, and giving time to the marginal. Good works always speak louder than words. Living out the resurrection is not dependent on our good works — Christ is alive! However, the good news can be lived out in ways louder than words.
SECOND THOUGHTSNews That Travels at the Speed of God
by Mary Austin
Luke 24:1-12
The story doesn’t say: Did Jesus wake up from death slowly, or was the resurrection instant? However it happened for him, the good news takes time to sink in for the people who love him. When the women find the tomb empty, resurrection is not the first thing they imagine. Grave robbers? Soldiers? Cruel guards, who have taken Jesus’ body away? Believing in any of those things would have been easier than taking in the idea that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
Keeping quiet about the empty tomb would have been easier than enduring the ridicule of the other disciples, who call their story “an idle tale.” (Ahem, ok, complete b.s.) We can picture their skeptical reaction. There are unknown figures in white who announce this news, okay, sure, right. In Luke’s telling, only Peter thinks there’s enough substance to the story to jump up and see for himself.
Good news travels slowly, even on the first Easter.
Good news travels slowly in our world, too. As we go to press, US pension funds have lost $169 billion since the President announced his tariffs. Investors have lost substantial sums since the tariff announcement began “triggering a global financial shock that included the steepest stock market declines since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and wiped away trillions of dollars from investors’ portfolios.” Retirement dreams are ever more distant for people near retirement age.
Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration has “cut thousands of jobs, closed offices and enacted new policy — including more stringent identity checks that could require in-person office visits. Advocates warn these sweeping moves could lead to seniors and people with disabilities having a harder time getting help with their crucial benefits. Already, getting assistance can be burdensome. “My first phone call that I made to Social Security, I was on hold for 3 hours and 15 minutes before I spoke to somebody,” Aaron Woods, who’s been trying for months to help his mother sort out her Social Security and Medicare benefits, told NPR.” Benefits could become even harder to access “as the agency plans to cut 7,000 jobs — though its current staffing of about 57,000 is already at a 50-year low.”
Anti-abortion laws in Texas mean that more women are dying of complications related to pregnancy loss. “After the state banned abortion, dozens more pregnant and postpartum women died in Texas hospitals than had in pre-pandemic years, which ProPublica used as a baseline to avoid Covid-19-related distortions. As the maternal mortality rate dropped nationally, ProPublica found that it rose substantially in Texas.” Doctors who reviewed the data say that this adds “to the evidence that the state’s abortion ban is leading to dangerous delays in care. Texas law threatens up to 99 years in prison for providing an abortion. Though the ban includes an exception for a “medical emergency,” the definition of what constitutes an emergency has been subject to confusion and debate.”
The good news comes slowly. But, slowly doesn’t mean never.
As of early February, Congress was receiving calls from constituents at a dramatically higher rate, with “a system that usually handles a few dozen calls per minute is straining to keep up with more than 1,500. President Trump’s moves to upend the government — and his decision to empower the billionaire Elon Musk to carry out a slash-and-burn campaign inside the federal bureaucracy — are dominating the news and reverberating across the capital and beyond. And nowhere is the impact more apparent than the beleaguered congressional phone system, a major conduit for citizens to contact their representatives in Washington that in recent days has been nearly crippled as it absorbs tens of millions of calls responding to the new Washington order.”
The President is demanding concessions from universities, and Harvard and others are saying no. Federal judges have ordered fired federal employees to be reinstated. Even the librarians are taking action. The American Library Association, along with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), “the largest union representing museum and library workers, today asked a federal judge to halt the Trump administration’s gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) — a non-partisan and independent agency dedicated to supporting and funding libraries and museums and the crucial community services they provide in every state across the country.”
In Texas, a federal judge appointed by the current President “has issued a ruling blocking the removal of individuals under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), citing concerns raised in the Supreme Court’s recent decision and the controversial Abrego Garcia case. The judge pointed to the potential for wrongful detention or deportation, emphasizing that the Abrego Garcia case had exposed critical flaws in the government’s application of the AEA.”
The good news comes slowly, and it feels too small to match the magnitude of the world’s evil. And yet it comes, and keeps flowing out into the world. The good news of Easter morning has reached all of us, traveling down through the centuries, in different languages, across borders, in spite of human error and pride. The “idle tale” of the women turned into life-changing good news for them, and, in turn, for us. The story that started with a few people has changed the world. The good news comes slowly, and yet it comes with the force of God’s great love for the world.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean FeldmeyerResurrection
We tend to limit our understanding of resurrection to the reanimation of a corpse. He was dead, literally dead, no heartbeat, no respiration, and then he was alive. But there are all kinds of figurative deaths that we can and often do experience and to which the experience of resurrection often speaks.
Commotio Cordis
That’s Latin for “agitation of the heart.” In fact, it’s more than just a little agitation; it’s a very rare occasion (about 20-30 times a year in the USA) when the heart stops beating because of a sharp blow to the chest.
Most often, it occurs to young people whose rib cage bones haven’t hardened sufficiently to protect the heart, and when it occurs, it’s usually in the context of a sporting event, especially baseball or football.
On Monday night, January 2, 2023, it happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin when he tackled Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins in the first quarter of the game on a seemingly routine play that didn't appear unusually violent.
Higgins was running with the ball on a 13-yard pass from Joe Burrow when he led with his right shoulder, hitting Hamlin in the chest.
Hamlin then wrapped his arms around Higgins' shoulders and helmet to drag him down. Hamlin quickly got to his feet, appeared to adjust his face mask with his right hand, and then fell backward about three seconds later and lay motionless. Team trainers rushed to the field and administered CPR for 10 minutes before Hamlin’s heart was restarted with an AED (defibrillator) and he was taken to University of Cincinnati Hospital and placed in intensive care. The football game was stopped and postponed to a later date.
The cities of Cincinnati and Buffalo rallied, en masse, to offer prayers and letters for Hamlin and his family. Eventually, he was released from the hospital and returned to Buffalo where he underwent physical therapy until, this past year, when he was determined to be fit to return to professional football.
Damar Hamlin now plays football for the Bills and is the national spokesman for a movement to provide AED’s in every high school in America.
* * *
Grand Slam Winner
And we’re not talking about Denny’s breakfasts, here.
On April 10 of this year, professional golfer Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland was considered one of the best golfers in the world, and with good reason. He had won 28 PGA tour events including three of the four hardest: The US Open, The British Open, and The PGA Championship (twice). He is the winningest European player in the history of the PGA.
One victory would cap it all, but that victory has eluded him for 17 years: The Masters. Second place and fourth place is as good as he’s finished in 17 tries. A victory this year, however, would put an irreplaceable crown upon his brow. If he could win the Masters, which started on April 10, he would win the “Grand Slam” of Golf, a feat only five other golfers in history have ever managed to accomplish — The Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship.
Rory did well. He was leading the field by four strokes when Sunday’s final round began but much to the dismay of the gallery, he double-bogeyed the first hole.
By the 10th hole he was tied for the lead with Justin Rose at 10 under par. By hole 15 he was one back behind Rose and at 16 he birdied and brought it to a tie again. On 16 he was one behind Rose but on 17 Rose missed a put to put them both at 11 under par. McIlroy finally made birdie on the playoff hole to win.
Upon sinking the winning put, Rory Mcilroy fell to his knees and wept. Seventeen years of failures had paid off in a win.
He is now only the sixth man in history to win the Grand Slam of Golf.
* * *
For Other Sports Illustrations Of Figurative Resurrections See:
- Simone Biles, US Olympic gymnast who dropped out of the competition in the 2020 Olympics due to mental health stress only to return to the competition in 2024 to become the greatest gymnast of all time. Not the greatest female gymnast, mind you, but the greatest gymnast of all time.
- PGA golfer Ben Hogan, who, in 1949, with his wife, was involved in a head-on crash with a bus. The crash resulted in a broken left ankle, contusions to his left leg, a broken collarbone, a cracked rib, a double fracture of the pelvis, a head abrasion and internal injuries. Doctors told his family to prepare for the possibility that he might never walk again. Yet, in 1950, the year after the crash, Hogan played nine events and even won the US Open. Then in 1951, Hogan played just four events, two of which he won — the Masters and the US Open to become one of the five players at that time to win the Grand Slam.
* * *
Resurrection — Gradually, Then Suddenly
In Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, the character Mike Campbell is asked how he went bankrupt. He responds “Gradually, then suddenly.”
That is often the way life comes to us, isn’t it? Not just in bad situations like Mr. Campbell’s bankruptcy. Good things happen that way as well. A little at a time, then all at once.
We are trying to understand the multiplication tables and we struggle to figure them out and memorize them and then, after days or maybe weeks of drills, it pops! And suddenly, they make sense. Or, for the life of you, you can’t think of the word for 26 down in a crossword puzzle and you think and you think until finally, frustrated, you set the puzzle down and do something else. Then, an hour or a day later, after letting the problem ferment in your brain, you look at the clue and it’s as clear as day. Or learning to ride a bicycle, we wobble and tumble and crash and then, suddenly, we get it and we’re flying down the street.
Coming to terms with the resurrection of Jesus can be like that for lots of people. We struggle with it, sometimes for years. Did it really happen as described in the gospels? Which gospel is correct? What does it mean? For me? For life in general? For the world?
We mull it over and over, we talk about it with other Christians and maybe some non-Christians as well and then, suddenly, one day…BOOM! A flash of light and, well, maybe you don’t understand it exactly, but down in the very depth of your being it comes together, and you realize that resurrection isn’t just an historic reality, it’s an existential one as well. For you. Today. And Tomorrow. And forever.
* * *
Class Clown To Golden Boy
During the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school my parents called me and my four siblings together at the dining room table for a family meeting. We didn’t have those very often so we knew it was important, and it certainly was.
They announced that our father had accepted a job with another company, and we would, in a few weeks, be moving from Indianapolis to Cincinnati to start a new life.
I wasn’t angry, really. I knew dad was unhappy at his current place of employment and I wanted him to be happy with his life and career, but this meant leaving my life behind. I finally had a girlfriend. I had my group of buddies. I was on a path to lettering in three sports and I was, well, okay, I’ll say it. I was popular!
Dad had already been to that foreign land of Cincinnati a few times and with mom’s blessing, he had picked out a new house, church, and school district for us. The future seemed like a black hole that threatened to suck me in to oblivion with no chance of escape.
One day, noting my dismay, my mother took me aside and offered some parental advice. Owing to her father’s tuberculosis and eventual suicide, she had moved five times in her four years of high school and she had managed to come through it with at least a little sanity. This is what she told me:
A new school is a clean slate. If there’s anything about yourself that you want to change, now you can do it. Just take off the old you like a dirty t-shirt and put on a new you when you go into that new school. Take your time. Pick your new friends, the friends of the new you, carefully. Be whoever you want to be.
For one of the few times in my life, I took my mother’s advice seriously.
In my Indianapolis school I had been something of a class clown, a goof off, a nice but shallow kind of guy, well-liked but not really taken seriously.
I decided to change that. I decided to be more serious and thoughtful. And, to make a long story short, it worked. Two years later I graduated president of the senior class, vice president of the student council, lead actor in the spring musical, and the recipient of several awards and two scholarships for citizenship. Oh, and I had a new, steady girlfriend.
The “old” Dean had died and been resurrected as the “new” Dean.
* * * * * *
From team member Tom Willadsen:Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!
Seven years ago Easter Sunday was my last Sunday serving a church I had served for more than 19 years. Through the years I had trained that congregation to shout, “He is risen indeed!” every time someone said, “Christ is risen!” Even in the middle of a sermon in October, if they heard the magic words, they responded. The benediction on Easter 2018, my last words leading worship in that congregation were “Christ is risen!” They thundered back, “He is risen indeed!” As I silently walked down the center aisle for the last time, I thought to myself, “Christ is risen; Tom’s unemployed.”
* * *
Easter “Sunday”
It is worth reminding people gathered for worship on Easter Sunday that Christians worship on Sunday because it was on a Sunday, the first day of the week, that Christ rose from death. So, at the very start of Christianity, when we were a small movement within Palestinian Judaism, Christians were disruptive, by wanting to worship on what we would consider Monday. We put the seventh day sabbath to rest (see what I did there?), and when we’re at our best, we’ve been disruptive ever since.
* * *
Luke 24:11
ληρος
The only place that the word “ληρος“ (laros, in English) appears in the Bible is Luke 24:11. This is what the male disciples said about the Marys’, Joanna’s and the other women’s report of what the men at the tomb had told them. The NRSV renders that term “an idle tale.” Other translations call it “idle talk,” “nonsense,” “a feigned thing,” “sheer imagination,” and “madness.” Chances are it was a vulgar term, closer to “bullshit,” than any of these translations offer.
* * *
Luke 24:1-12
The First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament offers a fresh look at the names of the characters in today’s lesson from Luke. Here’s how this translation renders vv. 8-11:
Then the women remembered what he had said. They hurried back to tell the eleven message bearers and the others what they had seen and heard. There was Strong Tears (Mary) of the village of Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala), Woman of His Goodwill (Joana), and Brooding Tears (Mary), the mother of He Takes Charge (James), and other women with them.
These women told the message bearers and the others what they saw with their own eyes. But the men did not believe the women, thinking it was empty talk.
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021, pp. 161-162.)
* * *
John 20:16
“Rabbouni!”
The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek. The language that Jesus and his disciples spoke was Aramaic, which can be thought of as a dialect of Hebrew. In the gospels there are a few occasions when Aramaic words are left untranslated and appear in the Koine Greek text. For example, when Jesus brings the girl back to life in Mark 5:41 he says, “Talitha cum,” which means, “little girl, get up.” When he restores hearing to a deaf man in Mark 7:32 he says, “ephratha,” which means, “be opened.” The only Aramaic word in John’s gospel appears in today’s reading from John’s gospel, verse 16, when Mary recognizes Jesus and calls him “Rabbouni.” Its use points to a profound connection and intimacy between Mary and Jesus.
* * *
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-26
Last week’s lesson from Psalms was Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29. It is worthwhile to explore what’s different about these two readings, so close together in the liturgical calendar. Verses 14-18 read
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
I shall not die, but I shall live
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death. (NRSVue)
While they cannot be accurately said by Jesus, the last line reads, “but he did not give me over to death,” these verses clearly point to victory and vindication that are certainly part of the Easter message.
* * * * * *
WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
All: The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!
One: The Lord is our strength and our might.
All: God has become our salvation.
One: There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
All: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
OR
One: Christ is alive! Let all creation rejoice with us today.
All: Alleluia! Death is not the final word with God.
One: Rejoice in all the ways God brings new life to us.
All: We praise the one who raises us from the depths.
One: Share the good news that Christ is alive for us.
All: We will share God’s life with all this day.
Hymns and Songs
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
UMH: 302
H82: 188/189
PH: 113
GTG: 245
AAHH: 282
NNBH: 121
NCH: 233
LBW: 130
ELW: 369/373
W&P: 288
AMEC: 156
STLT: 268
The Day of Resurrection
UMH: 303
H82: 210
PH: 118
GTG: 233
NNBH: 124
NCH: 245
CH: 228
LBW: 141
ELW: 361
W&P: 298
AMEC: 159/160
Christ Is Alive
UMH: 318
H82: 182
PH: 108
GTG: 246
LBW: 363
ELW: 389
W&P: 312
Renew: 300
In the Garden
UMH: 314
AAHH: 494
NNBH: 116
NCH: 237
CH: 227
W&P: 300
AMEC: 452
Sing with All the Saints in Glory
UMH: 702
ELW: 426
AMEC: 163
Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain
UMH: 315
H82: 199/200
PH: 114/115
NCH: 230
CH: 215
LBW: 132
ELW: 363
This Is the Feast of Victory
UMH: 638
H82: 417/418
PH: 594
GTG: 513
ELW: (In the liturgy)
Renew: 199
I Come with Joy
UMH: 617
H82: 304
PH: 507
NCH: 349
CH: 420
ELW: 482
W&P: 706
Renew: 195
Here, O My Lord, I See Thee/Here, O Our Lord, We See You
UMH: 623
H82: 318
PH: 520
GTG: 517
NCH: 336
CH: 416
LBW: 211
AMEC: 531
Glorify Thy Name
CCB: 8
Renew: 37
Our God Reigns
CCB: 33
Music Resources Key
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
GTG: Glory to God, The Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who brings new life to your creation day after day:
Grant us the courage to look for those signs
even in the midst of death and chaos;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are the one who brings new life to creation each day. You love constantly renews all that you have made. Help us to trust you so that we can see what you are doing in our midst. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our lack of faith in your renewing love.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to make you into our image rather than allowing you to make us into your own. We despair of all the evil and violence around us when you are working to bring hope and new life to all. We not only miss your work but we join in the negative things that work against you. Forgive us and help us to see the new life you are bringing to us and allow us to join in sharing that life with others. Amen.
One: God is bringing new life to all creation. Rejoice that Christ is alive and at work to redeem the world.
Prayers of the People
Glory to you, O God, for you are bringing life out of death. When all seems lost, you come to renew your promises.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We try to make you into our image rather than allowing you to make us into your own. We despair of all the evil and violence around us when you are working to bring hope and new life to all. We not only miss your work but we join in the negative things that work against you. Forgive us and help us to see the new life you are bringing to us and allow us to join in sharing that life with others.
We give you thanks for all the signs of new life that we see around us in nature. We thank you for the wondrous news that Christ is alive, here and now. We thank you for the love that renews us all.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We remember those who are grieving during this time of celebration. We recall those who find themselves still entombed in fear and despair.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
Hear us as we pray for others: (Time for silent or spoken prayer.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN’S SERMONChrist is Risen!
by Tom Willadsen
After the little ones have gathered up front, and you can expect a crowd this morning, many of them hopped up on jelly beans (“Jelly beans” is two words, I just checked.) and Peeps®, say to them “Christ is risen!” Hold the microphone out for them to reply. Chances are they will not know to say, “He is risen indeed!” Explain the tradition to them. It’s an Easter-season greeting for Christians. Give them a couple chances to practice shouting “He is risen indeed!” in response to you.
Tell them every time they hear the words “Christ is risen!” they should shout, as loud as they can, “He is risen indeed!” And not just today, every time they hear it. Encourage everyone in worship to do this; and point out that the kids are leading the way (“a little child shall lead them,” Isaiah 11:6).
Next ask them what day it is. Easter, of course, but the answer you’re looking for is “Sunday.” Ask them if they know why Christians go to church on Sunday. Christians started out as a sect of Judaism, and for Jews Saturday, they seventh day of the week, is set apart as a special day of rest to honor the Living God. When Jews stop from working on Saturday it reminds them that God set them free from slavery, and that God rested after making the world in six days. So the seventh day of the week was very important to Jesus and all his followers.
The little ones heard the story—or will hear the story—about Jesus’ closest friends going to the tomb to take care of his body first thing on the morning on Sunday, the first day of the week. But what happened? What did the people who went to the tomb where Jesus was buried find? Let them answer these questions.
He wasn’t there! They didn’t know exactly what happened, but we know…Christ is risen! They should totally be shouting at this point. If they’re not, prompt them a couple more times. Then thank them for coming up and helping you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, April 20, 2025 issue.
Copyright 2025 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
