- Gospel Reading: Luke 24:1-12
- Alternative Gospel Reading: John 20:1-18
- Psalm Nugget: Psalm 118 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist)
image: The “Shroud of Turin,” as found at Wikimedia Commons
Featured Musician - Jonathan Rundman “Were You There”from his album A Heartland Liturgy
Hello and welcome to the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, the lectionary podcast for preachers, seekers and Bible geeks. This is episode 160 for Sunday March 27, 2016. Easter, Year C.
- Gospel Reading: Luke 24:1-12
- Alternative Gospel Reading: John 20:1-18
- Psalm Nugget: Psalm 118 Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist)
- Illinois Primary
- March Madness
DONATE: www.pulpitfiction.us/donate
Thank you to new donor John Cerasani
And new sustaining donor Annie Helms: I'm a relatively new pastor and I love listening to your show each week for sermon ideas. Thank you!
Gospel Reading: Luke 24:1-12
Initial Thoughts
-
Preaching, proclaiming, “offering God” (Martin E. Marty)
- Why is Easter important to you?
- Why is it important for your congregation?
- What does Easter compel you to do?
- Technically this is the last reading of the Easter Vigil and not the Easter morning reading
-
Women to the tomb
-
Bringing spices so Jesus wouldn’t smell bad as people come to pay respects
- Couldn’t do it earlier due to Sabbath
- Women traditionally anointed the body of the dead - maybe - not definitive
- They go expecting a dead Jesus, not an empty tomb
- Awkward sexist vibe - they don’t believe the women (who support Jesus’ ministry 8:1-3, who watch Jesus’ trial and crucifixion 23:49, Witness Jesus burial 23:55, Go to the tomb and discover the resurrection) but they do believe Peter (the denier)...
-
Bringing spices so Jesus wouldn’t smell bad as people come to pay respects
-
Why do you look for the living among the dead?
- We want to cling to what we know (death) instead of entering into what we do not know (resurrection)
- Tendency to follow the status quo than to risk the unknown (the devil we know…)
-
Remembered his words - the resurrection is made real in both the proclamation and remembering Jesus life
- Testimony- proclamation is as central to Easter as the resurrection itself
- They proclaim what they saw, heard and remembered - in what ways have you proclaimed when you have witnessed resurrection (the unexpected, impossible love and grace of God)? In what ways have you heard the good news when you least expected it? How do you remember Jesus’ teachings and life? What will you proclaim?
-
An idle tale
-
The closest followers of Jesus dismiss the women’s message “garbage , drivel, nonsense, crap, bullshit is what it means” Anna Carter Florence
- “That’s a lot of crap”
-
Resurrection turns the world upside down
- “if the dead don’t stay dead, what can you count on?” Anna Carter Florence
- Resurrection should be hard to believe - 4 different stories which greatly differ from one another
- Don’t pretend like it is easy
- In the face of an awful political environment, cancer, declining environment, etc Resurrection seems impossible!
-
The closest followers of Jesus dismiss the women’s message “garbage , drivel, nonsense, crap, bullshit is what it means” Anna Carter Florence
-
9% success rate - Only Peter does something about the good news
- We focus so much on numbers- here are the numbers- 91% of people will dismiss the good news as BS
- But if we do not proclaim then it is 0%
- Witness, Testimony is the task of Easter
- How often do we look for the living among the dead? We look to dead ideals and customs for new life (we put new wine in old wineskins) instead of creatively venturing forth into the New Thing God is doing.
Psalm Nugget: Psalm 118 with Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist)
Alternative Gospel Reading: John 20:1-18
Initial Thoughts
-
This is the a choice for a reading every Easter, years A, B, and C.
- Easter 2C is John 20:19-31, Jesus appears to disciples and Thomas.
- Easter 3C is John 21:1-19, Jesus appears among the fishermen.
- Easter 4C is John 10:22-32 Conflict with Jewish opposition over identity.
- Easter 5C is John 13:31-35 Farewell Discourse: Jesus’ new commandment: Love each other.
- Easter 6C is John 14:23-29 Farewell Discourse: Jesus bid peace to his disciples
- Easter 7C is John 17:20-26 Jesus prayers for disciples before his arrest.
- Possible three-part series starting Easter “I have seen Jesus.”
-
Empty Tomb
- Early in the morning, while it is still dark. (Easter sunrise services?)
- Mary Magdalene is alone. Sees that the stone is rolled away.
-
Mary gets Peter, but Peter is slow. Beloved Disciple gets there first.
- Beloved Disciple - no where does Bible say that this is John.
- Authorship of Gospel is anonymous.
- BD stands at door, sees linens
-
Peter comes, runs in, saw linens, including face cloth folded neatly.
- What does this signify? Not grave robbers? No grave robber would fold up the linens neatly.
-
BD then comes in. He “saw and believed.”
- Raymond Brown says “The fourth evangelist does not challenge the tradition that Peter was the first of the Twelve to see the risen Lord (Luke 24:34, 1 Cor 15:5); but in his consistent desire to exalt the Beloved Disciple, John has that disciple come to faith even before the risen Lord appears or prophetic Scripture is recalled. Thus the Disciples becomes the first full believer.” (Raymond Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament, p. 359)
- Unclear what, exactly, he believed. Next line is “They didn’t yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.”.
- Perhaps they believed Mary’s report that “they had taken Jesus body.”
-
Peter and BD find empty tomb, believe, but don’t understand. Then they go back.
- They come to check on Mary’s report, see that she is speaking the truth, but go back completely untransformed. The empty tomb wasn’t enough for them. In fact, this scene ends with Mary going back to tell them, but in the next scene they are still locked in a room.
-
Many bizarre details that are hard to make sense of.
- Mary is alone but says, “we don’t know what they’ve done with him.”
- Why are the linens so meticulously described? Face cloth folded, and placed apart from the rest.
-
Jesus Appears to Mary
- “At the heart of the Gospel reading for Easter is the resurrection appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, leading to her confession, ‘I have seen the Lord.’ The narrative tells a wonderful story of a seeking woman, who is surprised by what she finds, or better, by the One who finds her. Hearing her name spoken by Jesus’ familiar voice brings a transformation of her grief and the opening of a new world.” (Charles Cousar, Texts for Preaching, Year C, p. 273).
-
Mary lingers, crying.
- Mourning is important. Cannot get to healing without mourning first. Resurrection does not take away tears, it just means tears are not the end of the story.
- Two angels ask her “why are you crying?”
- “They’ve taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”
-
Sees Jesus, but does not recognize him until he says her name.
- When he speaks, “Mary,” she responds “Rabbi.”
- There is a poignant beauty in her recognizing him only after he speaks her name. “My sheep listen to my voice.” (John 10:27 - will be the text in a couple of weeks)
-
Jesus tells her “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’
- Relationship status is one of equality. Disciples are siblings. They share the same Father.
- Translation issue - NRSV has only “Go to my brothers.” Not really a problem, but something to be aware.
- Jesus first appears to Mary. This fact cannot be overstated. In a world where men continue to try and use the Bible to justify subordination and violence, the fact that Mary is the first to recognize that Jesus had risen is important. She is the first witness to proclaim, “I have seen Jesus.”
- “Don’t hold onto me… Go.” As wonderful as Easter is, we cannot hold onto it. We need to move forward. The great anthems, the packed pews, the new faces are all so great. It should be celebrated, but we cannot hold onto it. Monday is coming. Easter 2C is coming. We need to go. Go into the community. Go into the places where people are and need to hear “I have seen Jesus.”
Tasty Wafer of the Week:
- It’s Friday...Sunday’s Coming by Rev. S. M. Lockridge
CLOSING
Thank you listeners
Feedback:
-
Pulpitfiction.us
- KatieD - As always refreshing, thought provoking and good to hear Bryan Sirchio. Rev. Mary Luti (where do I find what you mentioned?) Your one hour presentation is just perfect for my daily walk. Earphones and away I go - - - so good to have something worthwhile to listen to as I walk.
- Julie - I always appreciate the new thoughts and perspectives on texts that I've heard my whole life. Your comment about the scent of the perfume still being on Jesus's feet on Good Friday made me wonder--what about the person who was nailing Jesus to the cross? Did he smell the perfume as he pounded nails into Jesus's feet? What confusion would that have caused him? I would imagine that the scent and the wonder stayed with him the rest of his life.
-
Find us on iTunes, subscribe and please leave us a review!!
- iTunes Review: From Chaplain E “Five Stars. Robb and Eric, your ability to thoughtfully talk about the lectionary text has been informative and entertaining for a good long time. Thank you so much. I’m a Chaplain at a Children’s Home. I preach to teens who know nothing about the Bible. It’s awesome, and you help me more than you know.
-
e-mail: [email protected]
- Marie Duquette www.marinawell.com
- Pastor Karin, from Ohio, “Long-time listener, first-time emailer - thanks for a consistently good show that helps me center myself in the text each week.
Thanks for including all of the texts and speaking to their context and meaning. "Morning by morning new mercies I see" - I'm always amazed at the Bible's ability to proclaim grace and truth and wisdom.”
- 92-92-PULPIT (929-278-5748)
- facebook.com/pulpitfiction
- @pulpitfpodcast
- Support us at pulpitfiction.us/donate
Featured Musician - Jonathan Rundman “Were You There” from his album A Heartland Liturgy. ++
Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”, "Real Ride" and “Summertime”) and The Steel Wheels for our transition music(“Nola’s First Dance” from their album Lay Down, Lay Low) and Paul and Storm for our closing music (“Oh No”).