Sunday School, April 19, 2015 The Third Sunday of Easter

Sunday School, April 19, 2015   The Third Sunday of Easter

Themes:

Post-resurrection appearances Christ

Question:  Why did only a few people see the risen Christ?   Why don’t people see the Risen Christ today?

During the Easter season we are studying the other ways in which Jesus told his disciples that he would be known to them.

When Jesus re-appeared to his disciple he said, “Peace be you.”  And so that is why we “pass the peace” in the church service on Sunday.  We say, “The Peace of the Lord be with you Always.”  One of the signs that Christ is still present with us is when we live in peace with each other.  If we open ourselves up to the presence of Christ, we can know peace in our hearts and we can also live in peace and friendship with each other.

The writer of the first letter of John wrote that the way in which we are able to “see” Christ is to become like him.  And the best way to become like Christ is to learn how to live in love with God and with each other.  If we let our hearts be changed by peace and love, we can begin to find the presence of Christ in other people and in the beauty of our world.

So remember when we say, “The peace of the Lord be with you,” it is not just words in a church service, it is also the way in which we want to live with each other because the presence of Christ makes us peaceful and loving people.

Puppet Show

Jesus and his disciples Peter and Andrew

Peter:  Jesus, I am so glad that you came back to life.  When you died, I was very sad especially because I had failed you.  I told people that I did not know you because I was afraid.

Jesus:  Peter, I understand and I forgive you.

Andrew:  Jesus, now that you have return to life, could we build a house for you to live in so you will a place to stay?

Jesus:  Andrew, I will always be with you but not in the seeing and touching way.  I have to make myself available to everyone and everywhere.

Peter:  So if everyone is going to know you I guess you cannot stay here and live in Jerusalem or Galilee.  But where will you go?  And how will everyone know you?

Jesus:  I am going to return to my Father.  But I will be known because the Spirit with be with everyone everywhere.

Andrew:  What is the Spirit like?

Jesus:  It is like my breath.  You can’t see my breath but when I blow I can makes some leaves move in my hand.   It is like the wind; you can see the wind but you can see what the wind does.

Peter:  So how will we know that your Spirit is with us like the Wind or like your breath?

Jesus:  When you see love, peace, kindness, fairness, kind words, then you will know that I am present with you always.  And not just to you but to everyone who is looking for peace, love, joy and kindness.

Andrew:  Jesus, we do wish that you could stay and be just with us because that would make us feel very special.  But we know how much you want everyone to feel special.

Jesus:  When I go, I will leave with you and everyone the Spirit of love, joy, peace and kindness.

Peter:  And with you Spirit, we will go and tell everyone about you and about how you will give everyone the best education in the world in love, joy, peace and kindness.

Jesus:  I came to you again so that you can go to all people and teach them about God’s love, peace and kindness.  And so I say to you: My peace be with you.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

April 19,  2015: The Third Sunday of Easter

Gathering Songs: Hallelu, Hallelujah; I’ve Got Peace; Amazing Grace; When the Saints

Liturgist: Alleluia, Christ is Risen.

People: The Lord is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Hallelu, Hallelujah (Christian Children Songbook, # 84)

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord. 

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, praise ye the Lord. 

Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah. 

Praise ye the Lord, hallelujah.  Praise ye the Lord.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the First Letter of John

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 4

You have put gladness in my heart, * more than when grain and wine and oil increase.

I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; * for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

While the disciples were telling how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Song: I’ve Got Peace Like a River, (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)

1.      I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

2.      I’ve got love like a river….

3.      I’ve got joy like a river….

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Holy Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(Children may gather around the altar)

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:        Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Amazing Grace, (Blue Hymnal, # 671)

1.      Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

2.      ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

3.      The Lord has promised good to me, his word my hope secures; he will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.

4.      Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

5.      When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: When the Saints (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 248).

1.      O when the saints, go marching in.  O when the saints go marching in.  Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

2.      O when the girls go marching in…

3.      O when the boys go marching in….

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Alleluia!  Alleluia!  Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God! Alleluia!  Alleluia!

   

Post-tramatic Stress and Post-resurrection Appearances

2 Easter  B       April 12, 2015

Acts 4:32-35   Psalm 133

1 John 1:1-2:2  John 20:19-31

Lectionary Link 

  Post-traumatic stress syndrome has become a common feature of our psychiatric news because of the horrors of war.   Can it be there are devastating human experiences from which we never recover?  Can the past mark our present and future in very unhelpful ways?

  Is there something patently unfair about the Easter experience?  Why did the friends of Jesus in the post-traumatic stress caused by his arrest and horrifying death get to have these post-resurrection appearances of Jesus just three days after his death?

  How come Christ could make post-resurrections appearances to his friends alone or in groups and why cannot our recently departed loved ones return to give us such reassurances of their immediate well-being?  Does the uniqueness of the post-resurrection appearances to the disciples of Jesus seem so unfair?

  What about the issue of a post-event syndrome; the return of the repressed in a future event in one’s life?

  What about the post-event syndrome of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ?

  Only a few were privileged with such sightings; Were these sightings post-event syndrome of an illusory nature; were they events of a chimerical Christ?  Could they be something like the syndrome known as “folie a deux,” the shared illusion of two?  If an illusion is shared by more than one person then it has more objective status.  One person can be crazy if one experiences something out of the ordinary but if two people share something then the one is absolved of the “individual” craziness.  One may resort to “mob” behavior to characterize the experience of mutual consensus by a group of people.

  How do you and I feel about living off “second hand” fumes of the resurrection of Christ?  We are so far removed from the intimate immediacy of the post-resurrection appearances; how can we think that we could have a valid experience of the post-resurrection appearances of Christ?

   How many of us have had post-death manifestations of recently departed loved one?  And if we have, would we even feel comfortable to admit to them because we want to avoid being called crazy?  Yes, we do admit that loved ones return to us in dreams and so dream space is an acceptable place for re-encounter with departed loved ones without being regarded to be too crazy.

  There is something unfair about the post-resurrection appearance of Christ to his disciples.  Why cannot every person who has had a post-traumatic stress syndrome experience some subsequent post-event experience which will heal the scars of loss and trauma caused by the traumatic event?

  Why can’t every soldier in battle know a post-resurrection appearance of all who are killed in battle and have a friendly meeting to have coffee or a drink together as reconciled friends?

 Why isn’t the post-resurrection experience of Christ replicated for each and every one of us in our events of stress caused by the horrendous effects of such permissive freedom in life which allows almost anything to occur?

  These questions are not just our questions?  They were addressed in narrative forms by the Gospel communities and this is most poignantly expressed in the story of the doubting Thomas.

  Is “being there” a  superior experience to knowing about being there second hand or by hear say?  The experience of Jesus with his disciples was so unique that if you weren’t there, your experience is impoverished and inferior, so you have good reason not to believe in the same way as an eye-witness because your experience is inferior and lacking.

  Were you there when they crucified my Lord?  No you weren’t.  Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?  No you weren’t.  Were there when the Risen Christ appeared to the disciples?  No you weren’t.  Were you there when St. Paul had an experience of the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus?  No you weren’t.  So just accept your impoverished experience of the Risen Christ.  It is second hand hearsay and so you are not responsible for having the same quality of faith that the disciples had.  Phew!  That lets us off the hook for being really faithful.

  The Gospel writer of John  presents Thomas the Apostle as an example that being there is the preferred and superior experience.  But the Gospel writer has the Risen Christ proclaiming the blessed state of the faith of people who were not there and yet who still had faith because of word of mouth reports, but finally because of the technology of memory called writing:  "These things are written so that you might believe……"  How intimate is a written report?  Well, most of us know how to get very intimate with some of the things we read.  Did you ever curl up with a novel and have your brain sizzle with how the arrangement of words can evoke the Sublime and change the chemistry of your brain to experience a passionate presence?  In the old days of the art of letter writing, did not such personal letters to you evoke the art of another kind of presence of a different order?

The Gospel writers were promoting the art of resurrection presence of a different but equally valid order than the experience of actually being there.

  You and I can bawl like babies during a “chick flick” or some other cinematic presentation.   You and I can come to tears at unexpected times when observing the grief of others, even while we might in our own immediate loss be shocked to have any tears or response at all.   And so the post-traumatic effect of the artistic representation of events of grief or joy can have the effect of moving us to a cathartic experience of release.  And this is another kind of valid presence.  The early church knew this and they were in the Gospel narratives as literary artistic presentations already extolling the validity of the artistic presences of Christ.

  The superiority complex of physically being there has raised its head in the history of the church.  I think that the “being there” complex drove the church in the 11th century to develop the transubstantiation theory of the presence of Christ in the bread and the wine.  Bread and Wine were regarded to be changed to the physical presence of the body and blood of Jesus.  Why? because of this subtle belief that that regarded physical presence to be a superior and a most valid presence.

  Modern science forced many people of Christian faith into a “being there” complex.  The empirical parallel of modern science in history was to grant “being there” superiority only to accounts that assumed that if one was there they could be empirically verified in scientific ways.  So Virgin Birth has come to be viewed by many through modern biology; miracles and cure has come to be viewed in the ways modern medical science regards healing and cure.  And the resurrection has come to be viewed as a scientifically verifiable event.  And what was denied?  The art of story and the evocative art and equal validity of the Sublime presence which can only be known through the cathartic experience of the artistic event.  The faith of those who believed in artistic real presence has been regarded to be inferior to those who assumed all of the biblical events were events of scientific empirical verification.

  I believe that the Doubting Thomas story was evidence  of the early church granting full status to another order of Sublime Presence, which was in fact the full artistic response to the impact of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

  No one can go back and make historic event not happen or re-occur.  How do we integrate the past in the present in the best possible way?  We do so with artistic remembering through the entire range of artistic manifestation given to us as the creative gifts of our lives.

  For the early church the artistic re-enactment of a new family meeting in the founder’s meal was an artistic event.  Bread and Wine in the Eucharist are artistic elements which evoke a sure and certain real presence.  We find another valid presence in the words which we read, a literary artistic and real presence.  Another artistic presence is known as we learn the art of rearranging our interior lives to express and evoke the experience of peace and as we learn and practice the art of being peace makers.  In the experience of individual and community peace one can find the artistic evocative presence of Christ.  There is another gifted art which is truly divine presence indeed.  It is the God-given art of forgiveness.  It is the human tendency to retain each others sins and faults; it is the God given presence of Christ to be able to forgive one another.

  The doubting Thomas event signifies what also might be called a “Breath Transplant.”  Jesus breathed upon his disciples; they had died in their sadness at his death but then they were resuscitated by the Holy Breath of Jesus.  This story of the transfer of breath is the story of the realization of God’s Breath, God’s Holy Spirit which is always already within us to be released as we mobilize creatively the very essence of our life force.

  Today, we are invited to the validity of the art of the resurrection presences of Christ in our lives.  We are to be like the proverbial oyster; we are to let all of the irritating grains of our previous stress and loss be made into the pearls of the new artistic experiences of Christ’s resurrection graceful Presence under the guise of creative recovery with healthy and affirming outcomes in our lives.   
  But we also need to be patient to realize that some irritations will remain in our lives and in the lives of others forever.  Not everything will become a pearl in this life and so resurrection life means that we continue to care for one another in our continuing loss and grief.  Not everything gets resolved or finished or redeemed in this life and the resurrection of Jesus means we also have the faith to live with the unresolved issues that are a part of our lives.

  Let us not lock the validity of the life, death and resurrection of Christ into the being there experience of a few people two thousand years ago.  Let us know the artistic release and remembrances in the many ways in which the resurrection Christ can be morphed and interwoven within the specific experiences of our current day to day lives.  And let the resurrection energy of Christ make us all artists who are ourselves weaving webs of the presence of Christ to trap all in this maze and labyrinth of heaven on earth.  Amen.