Saturday, April 19, 2014

Easter

Easter Sunday is also known as the feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
We don't know exactly where the English word "Easter" comes from. Some have said there was an Anglo-Saxon goddess of life called Eastre, speculating that the Christian church borrowed the name to link it to the new life Jesus gives. Originally the festival day, as well as the 50-day season that follows, were known as Paschan adapted Hebrew word that means "deliverance" or "passover." The Jewish observance of Passover is closely linked to Easter, and many churches use this time of year to read the account of the Hebrew slaves who departed from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. (That's why the Charlton Heston movie The Ten Commandments is often broadcast in US in the days before Easter. It works for both Jews during Passover and Christians in the lead-up to Easter.)

Easter is the central day of the church's worship calendar. As such, it defines the starting dates of Lent (40 days before) and Pentecost (50 days after). But from year to year it is hard to know when Easter itself falls. Unlike Christmas, Easter is not a fixed date on the calendar. In the year 325 AD the Council of Nicea declared that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal equinox. That means Easter could comes as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. (Branches of Eastern Christianity use a different calendar, so their Easter is often later.) In days when most people did not have calendars, the date of Easter would be announced from the pulpit on the first Sunday after Epiphany. Even with calendars, it's still a good idea to remind churchgoers when Easter falls so that they have adequate time to prepare for the biggest event of the church year. It was on this day that the ancient church initiated new members, often baptizing them in the early hours before sunrise. Remnants of this tradition still remain in the form of Easter Sunrise Services or the late-night Easter Vigil.

There are various speculations about how and why bunnies and eggs were added to Easter celebrations. Apparently the Easter bunny originated in Germany as a character very similar to Santa Claus. The first record of him in a book goes back to 1682, describing how he brought candy, eggs, and toys to the homes of children who were good. Colored Easter eggs may have something to do with the roasted eggs that are eaten during the Passover seder meal. Or they may have to do with Lenten fastingif someone abstained from eating eggs for 40 days, then they would need to boil them to prevent spoilage, leaving a big batch to start eating on Easter day.

In spite of these later cultural traditions, the meaning of Easter clearly goes back to an empty tomb 2000 years ago. (Read John 20:1-18 for a review of the details.) What you believe happened early that Sunday morning in Jerusalem indicates where you fall on the spectrum of faith. For those who think that Jesus was just a good teacher and leader, the claims of the resurrection might be difficult to accept. But for those who believe that Jesus is the Father's own Spirit-filled Son, who organize their lives around the claim that God did indeed roll away the stone of the tomb, there is reason to sing.


Saturday, April 12, 2014

Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday?

Almost every church -- even the most non-liturgical -- celebrates Palm Sunday the week before Easter. That's because Jesus entered Jerusalem one week before his death, cheered by crowds who put down palm branches and shouted praises.

Woven palm branches, called palaspas in the Philippines.
Image from inquirer.net
If your church is going to have services on Maunday Thursday or Good Friday, then Palm Sunday can concentrate just on the triumphal entry. However, most churches in America find it hard to get people to attend mid-week services. Thursday and Friday of Holy Week are regular work days in this country, unlike the Philippines where they are national holidays. (Church attendance is still a challenge there, because school graduations are often on that weekend and Holy Week is a popular time for vacations.)

So if there is no mid-week service to commemorate Jesus' trial, suffering, and death, then the church has to use Palm Sunday to recognize those events as well. That means that in one Sunday service the congregation needs to move from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to his death at Calvary. That's a lot of ground to cover in one hour.

Here are some ways to make your service a Palm and Passion observance:

  • Add more scripture readings to the service. All four gospels emphasize this last week of Jesus' life, and they narrate the story better than anyone. So just make more time for hearing straight from them. (In a good translation, of course!)
  • Make the sermon shorter. (Do I hear an Amen from anyone?)
  • Cut out extras. This Sunday is not a great time for baptisms or welcoming new members. The weeks of Easter are much more suited for that.
  • Leave out announcements, or make them very brief.
The best thing of all is to prepare yourself beforehand. Read the texts for the day prior to the service, and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you into fuller truth and understanding during your congregational time together. This is good advice for any church member, on any Sunday of the year.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

What is the Lectionary?

I often mention the "lectionary" here, meaning the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) -- a list of suggested scripture readings to use in corporate worship each Sunday (and other special days) of the year. The RCL provides four readings for each day, from different sections of the Bible: Old Testament (or Acts), Psalms, New Testament epistles (or Revelation), and the Gospels. The main text for the sermon can come from any of those passages, or the preacher can combine several of them.


The RCL was compiled in 1992, although the idea of using an organized reading schedule based on the liturgical calendar is quite old. (In my New Testament class this week we read a sermon by Saint Augustine of Hippo. He mentions that he is coming back to the book of 1 John after taking a few weeks away from it, due to Easter interrupting the cycle of Sunday readings.) Of course there is no rule that a church has to follow the RCL. I have pastor friends who prefer to set up their own passages for preaching so they can create series on various topics. (Your pastor may follow the RCL without you knowing it. Click here to check.)

On most Sundays of the year my churches will use the Lectionary. Here are some reasons why I generally follow it:
  • Many churches use the RCL, so Christians of several denominations hear the same readings. This means that members of my churches can talk about the sermon later in the week with other Methodists, as well as Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians.
  • The cycles of the liturgical calendar are meaningful in the way they draw us to Christmas and Easter each year. The readings leading up to and following these major days create a rhythm of remembrance around the events in the life of Christ.
  • There are a lot of helps out there for planning a worship service based on the RCL readings. It makes it much easier to select songs and prayers that fit with the theme for that Sunday. 
  • The readings are usually selected so that they work together. The life of Jesus reflects and fulfills God's revelation through the Old Testament, and the four weekly texts are aligned to show these connections.
  • As a pastor, the RCL places a discipline on me to preach a wide range of topics and passages. I don't just get to use the ones I like or find easy to understand. 


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