Easter Sunday at All Hallows (Sunday, March 31, 2024)

Welcome to Sundays at All Hallows.

This Sunday, March 31, is the Feast of the Resurrection in the Western Church. It is also known as Resurrection Sunday, Pascha and Easter Sunday. Pascha is derived from a Greek word, which is in turn derived from the Aramaic pascha, from the Hebrew pesach meaning Passover. Easter is derived from a German word for the east and the dawn.

As with Christmas the Eastern Church and the Western Church celebrate this feast on different times of the year. The Eastern Church will be celebrating the feast on May 5.

What matters is not when we celebrate the feast but rather we recognize the importance of Jesus’ resurrection to the Christian faith. Christians follow a living Lord, not a dead teacher who lived in the first century of the Common Era.

GATHER IN GOD’S NAME

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

Open this link in a new tab to hear Brian Wren’s “Christ Is Risen! Shout Hosanna!

1 Christ is risen! Shout hosanna!
Celebrate this day of days!
Christ is risen! Hush in wonder:
all creation is amazed.
In the desert all-surrounding,
see, a spreading tree has grown.
Healing leaves of grace abounding
bring a taste of love unknown.

2 Christ is risen! Raise your spirits
from the caverns of despair.
Walk with gladness in the morning.
See what love can do and dare.
Drink the wine of resurrection,
not a servant, but a friend.
Jesus is our strong companion.
Joy and peace shall never end.

3 Christ is risen! Earth and heaven
nevermore shall be the same.
Break the bread of new creation
where the world is still in pain.
Tell its grim, demonic chorus:
"Christ is risen! Get you gone!"
God the First and Last is with us.
Sing Hosanna everyone!

Open this link in a new tab to hear John L. Bell and Graham Maul’s “Christ Is Rise While Earth Slumbers.”

1 Christ has risen while earth slumbers;
Christ has risen where hope died,
as he said and as he promised,
as we doubted and denied.
Let the moon embrace the blessing;
let the sun sustain the cheer;
let the world confirm the rumor:
Christ is risen, God is here!

2 Christ has risen for the people
whom he died to love and save;
Christ has risen for the women
bringing flowers to grace his grave.
Christ has risen for disciples
huddled in an upstairs room.
He whose word inspired creation
can’t be silenced by the tomb.

3 Christ has risen and forever
lives to challenge and to change
all whose lives are messed or mangled,
all who find religion strange.
Christ is risen, Christ is present
making us what he has been:
evidence of transformation
in which God is known and seen.

God has promised forgiveness
to all who truly repent,
turn to Christ in faith
and are themselves forgiving.

Let us confess our sins to God our Father.

Silence

Almighty and merciful God
we have sinned against you,
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with all our heart.
We have not loved others as our Saviour Christ loves us.
We are truly sorry.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us to amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be;
that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen

Merciful Lord,
grant to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that we may be cleansed from all our sins,
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Marty Haugen’s “Glory to God” from Beneath the Tree of Life.

Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to God in the highest,
and peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people on earth.

1 Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.

Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to God in the highest,
and peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people on earth.

2 Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
receive our prayer.

Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to God in the highest,
and peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people on earth.

3 For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.

Glory to God, glory to God,
glory to God in the highest,
and peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people,
peace to God’s people on earth.

Let us pray.

Silence

Almighty God,
through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
you have overcome death
and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
Grant that, as by your grace going before us
you put into our minds good desires,
so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect;
through Jesus Christ our risen Lord
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen

THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

A reading from the New Testament (John 20: 1-18)

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!”

Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb. The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and saw the linen cloths, but he did not go in. 6 Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there and the cloth which had been around Jesus' head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed. (They still did not understand the scripture which said that he must rise from death.) Then the disciples went back home.

Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she was still crying, she bent over and looked in the tomb and saw two angels there dressed in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. “Woman, why are you crying?” they asked her.

She answered, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”

Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not know that it was Jesus. “Woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who is it that you are looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, “If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary!”

She turned toward him and said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (This means “Teacher.”)

“Do not hold on to me,” Jesus told her, “because I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.”

So Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and related to them what he had told her.

Silence

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

On Sunday Morning

Most of us I suspect have never visited a graveyard early in the morning when the sun has not yet risen. In England the churchyards of the older churches are dotted with tombstones, marking where members of the parish are buried. Some older American churches have a graveyard or a burial ground near the church. It may be behind the building, on one side of the building, or across the road from the building. Kids on a dare may visit the graveyard or the burial ground at night. People usually visit the grave of a loved one during the day.

Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb while it was still dark. She had witnessed his crucifixion and his burial. She may have experienced a sleepless night following these events. John does not tell us what prompted her to go to the tomb. But when she arrives at the tomb, she finds the stone rolled away from the tomb’s entrance and the tomb empty. She runs to tell Simon Peter and John. (John is referring to himself when he refers to the disciple whom Jesus loved.)

While John outruns Simon Peter, it was Simon Peter who is first to peer into the tomb. After the two disciples have confirmed for themselves that the tomb is empty, they return home. Mary Magdalene remains behind, weeping in her sorrow over the disappearance of Jesus’ body. When she peers again into the empty tomb, she sees two angels sitting where Jesus body had lain. They ask her why she is weeping. She tells them.

Something prompts her to turn around. A man is standing behind her. It is Jesus but she does not recognize him in the poor light. She thinks that the man is the gardener. Jesus asks her why she is crying and who she is looking for. She asks him if he has removed Jesus’ body from the tomb.

When Jesus speaks her name, she recognizes him. Jesus instructs her not to cling to him as he has not gone back to the Father but to go to the disciples and tell them that he is returning to the Father. Mary Magdalene does what he instructed her to do. She goes to the disciples and tells them that she has seen Jesus and tells them what he told her.

In a number of Christian traditions Mary Magdalene is called the “apostle to the apostles” because she was first to witness the risen Jesus and to tell the apostles the good news—Jesus had risen from dead as he said that he would.

The New Testament does not tell us a lot about Mary Magdalene. What we do know about her comes from the Gospels. She is mentioned by name twelve times in the Gospels. This is more than most of the apostles and, except for Jesus’ family, is more than any other woman. She is mentioned in all four Gospels.

Luke’s Gospel tells us that she was one of a group of women disciples who traveled with Jesus and supported his ministry from their resources. This suggests that she was a woman of means. She had enough wealth to be considered to prosperous or well-off.

Luke’s Gospel also tells us that Jesus drove seven demons out of her.

When she and the other group of Jesus’ women disciples are mentioned in the Gospels, Mary Magdalene is always listed first. Among Jesus’ women disciples she occupies a position similar to the position that Simon-Peter occupied among the men disciples.

The portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute or a woman of loose morals has no basis in Scripture. It has been traced to a Easter sermon of the sixth century Pope, Gregory the Great, who conflated Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, using her hair. He was not the first or the last to embroider the Gospel narratives with details that are products of their own imagination. Unfortunately, this mistaken belief has persisted until this day despite repeated debunking.

The Gnostic writings written several centuries after the canonical Gospels describe Mary Magdalene as having a special relationship with Jesus and Jesus as imparting to her hidden knowledge which he did not share with his other disciples. Fictional writings of more recent composition have floated the idea that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife.

Mary was a common name in New Testament times. “Magdalene” was likely added to her name to distinguish her from the other Maries in the Gospels. It refers to her place of origin. Magdala is a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in the Roman province of Judaea.

Gospels are a unique form of literary. They were primarily written to provide an account of Jesus’ life and teaching for a population that was largely illiterate, unable to read or write, and who lived in what was still very much an oral culture, a culture in which values, attitudes, and beliefs are conveyed by word of mouth. They are not like novels which tell a story in lavish detail or a theological treatise which goes to great lengths to explain a concept. They do, however, tell us what we need to know. John explains the purpose of his Gospel later on in the chapter from which today’s reading is taken.

In his disciples' presence Jesus performed many other miracles which are not written down in this book. But these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your faith in him you may have life. (John 20:30-31 GNT)

Among the striking things about today’s reading is that it is a woman who is first to witness the empty tomb and the risen Jesus and John included an account of what happened in his Gospel. In the time of Jesus, in the part of the Mid-East where he lived and taught, women were not allowed to give testimony in court because they were not considered to be reliable witnesses. Yet John gives a key place to a woman’s testimony in his Gospel. Why? Because he and the other disciples were convinced what she said was true. It was so convincing that it overcame what prejudices they may have had to accepting a woman’s testimony.

What is also striking is what Jesus says to Mary Magdalene. “Do not hold on to me,” Jesus told her, “because I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.” Jesus is not giving the weeping Mary Magdalene a cold shoulder. Nor does Mary Magdalene appear to be taken back by what he says. What he is saying kindly to her is that is not to the Jesus whom that she has know that she must cling but to the Jesus risen from dead and seated at the Father’s right hand side in heaven. It is to the risen, ascended Jesus in whom she must put her faith and trust. There is a message in his words for us. We must do likewise. It is to the risen, ascended Jesus to whom we also must cling, in whom we must put our faith and trust too.

Mary Magdalene sets an example for us. She does what Jesus tells her. She does not try to linger with him in the garden. She goes to the other disciples and tells them that Jesus is alive, that he has risen from the dead. She does not keep it to herself. She shares with them the good news that Jesus has conquered death.

Mary Magdalene may have had doubts that the other disciples would believe her. But she goes to them and tells them. She took a chance. When it comes to telling others about Jesus, we need to take a chance too. We need to go and share the good news.

If our circumstances restrict us to our homes, we can pray for those who are able to go and for those to whom they go. We can also share the good news with those who come to us. Mary Madalene did not let the limitations that being a woman in the first century of the Common Era in a Mid-Eastern country imposed upon her keep her from testifying to what was not only most important event in her life but the lives of all humankind—Jesus’ victory over death.

It was not by chance that risen Jesus revealed himself to a woman. It was a part of a God’s plan from the beginning. Mary Magdalene was the first in a long line of women who have borne witness to Jesus, to his character, to his life and teaching, to his crucifixion, to his resurrection from the dead, even at the cost of their own lives.

As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord from the dead, let us also honor them and all who bear witness to him in our day. May we follow their example and glorify God with our lives.

Open this link in a new tab to hear John L Bell and Graham Maule’s “Darkness Is Gone.”

1 Darkness is gone, daylight has come;
the heir to heav'n and earth
arises with the dawn.
Death loses its sinister sting:
God's promise to do a new thing is done,
and hallelujah! Earth joins heav'n to sing.

2 See now the cross, see now the grave:
they, vacant, celebrate
how God's foolishness can save.
The criminal nailed as a fraud
is raised by the power of God and lives,
so, hallelujah! Scatter the news abroad.

3 Greener the grass, brighter the sun,
the God-loved world proclaims a new age has begun.
Creation is decked for her guest who,
freed from his grave clothes,
is dressed in light and,
hallelujah! Tells that the earth is blessed.

4 The needed trust, the longed-for peace
are passed as hands from sword and shackle and released.
The violence of hate reigns no more:
the vict'ry or love is the core of hope
and, hallelujah! Loves means an open door.

5 "The Kingdom comes!" the King proclaims:
justice and joy abound where
Christ-filled faith pertains.
Religion, remote and type-cast, is gone
and the future is vast, new tongues sing,
"Hallelujah! God is for us at Last!

6 Enroll the drum, enlist the gong to celebrate
in sound that right has conquered wrong.
Join hands with the neighbor unknown,
unite through the love
that is shown in Christ, for,
hallelujah! Christ is our Lord alone.

Let us affirm with Christians across the ages what we believe about God
and his love for us.

We believe in one God,
who made us and loves all that is.
We believe in Jesus Christ,
God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was born, lived, died and rose again,
and is coming to call all to account.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
who calls, equips and sends out God’s people,
and brings all things to their true end.

This is our faith, the faith of the Church:

We believe in one God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER

Let us pray for the Church and the world.

Almighty and everliving God,
hear the prayers which we offer in faith and love:

For peace, and for your salvation to be known throughout the world …
For the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church
and for the unity of all Christian people …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For all who serve and lead in your Church,
for pastors, elders, and other ministers …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For all your people, growing in the faith of Christ,
and passing it on to generations yet to come …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For all who live and work in this community …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For families, and for those who live alone …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For all who are sick in body or in mind,
and for those who care for them …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For all in authority,
and especially for our President …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For all who have been entrusted with the responsibility of government …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

For those who work for peace, justice and righteousness throughout the
world …
Lord, in your mercy
hear our prayer.

Rejoicing in the fellowship of your holy apostles and martyrs, and of all
your servants departed this life in your faith and fear, we commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to you, Lord God; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

As our Savior taught his disciples, we pray

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

THE SENDING FORTH OF GOD’S PEOPLE

Almighty God,
we thank you for the gift of your holy word.
May it be a lantern to our feet,
a light to our paths,
and strength to our lives.
Take and use us
to love and serve all people
in the power of the Holy Spirit
and in the name of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

May the almighty and merciful God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
bless us and keep us
now and forever. Amen.

Open this link in a new tab to hear Lori True’s arrangement of Brian Wren’s “Christ Is Alive (This Is the Day of New Beginnings).”

Christ is alive, and goes before us
to show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new,
our God is making all things new.

1 This is a day of new beginnings,
time to remember, and move on,
time to believe what love is bringing,
laying to rest the pain that's gone.

Christ is alive, and goes before us
to show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new,
our God is making all things new.

2 For by the life and death of Jesus,
love's mighty Spirit, now as then,
can make for us a world of difference
as faith and hope are born again.

Christ is alive, and goes before us
to show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new,
our God is making all things new.

3 Then let us, with the Spirit's daring,
step from the past, and leave behind
our disappointment, guilt and grieving,
seeking new paths, and sure to find.

Christ is alive, and goes before us
to show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new,
our God is making all things new.

Christ is alive, and goes before us
to show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
our God is making all things new,
our God is making all things new.

Those present may exchange a sign of peace.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.