Easter Symphony Matthew 28:1-10 St. Marks Resurrection Worship EASTER (April 1) 2018 1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you. 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings! And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.10 Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. One Tuesday morning, Bill woke up sick. He thought he would shake it off, but it got worse through the day. He was scheduled to play with the orchestra that Friday and Saturday. Bill played the tuba. By Wednesday, he knew he would not be well enough in time to play in the concerts, so he called in sick, to allow the maestro to get a back-up tuba player. Bill had never missed a concert before. By Friday night, he was feeling much better, although probably not well enough to have played the concert. But he went to the performance and sat in the audience. He was enraptured as he heard the whole symphony being played. Afterwards, he rushed up to the maestro and said, I can t believe it. I just can t believe it. That whole symphony, I thought was simply a variety of Ooom-Pah-Pah, after Ooom-Pah-Pah. When I heard everyone else play, it was really beautiful.
2 In the book, Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, which I read early in my ministry, there are various stages in the process of dying described. I remember when I read that book, I was impressed at how closely the stages of dying seemed to be reflected in the movements through Dvorak s New World symphony, the second movement, the Largo movement. I bet you are familiar with it. Tom will play the introduction. It is also known by the name of the song, where words have been applied to the Dvorak music, Going Home. HERE, TOM PLAYS THE FIRST FOUR LINES OF THE SONG. Going home, going home I'm just going home Quiet light, some still day I'm just going home In that book describing the various stages of death, one of those final stages is filled with the singing of birds. In my prayer time this Lent, I have been dwelling on the time between the cross on Friday and today, Easter morning. What went on with Jesus, I have pondered. We tend to just jump straight from Friday to Sunday. I ve been pondering of what it was like on the cross, with all the pain, combined with the actual cause of death suffocation caused by the weight of the body forced down by gravity, which actually collapses the lungs. To get a notion of what that is like, try holding your breath for as long as you possibly can, and then when it feels like you must inhale, exhale instead for as long as you can. This is the feeling of suffocation. I don t know which was a greater turmoil: the pain or the suffocation.
3 But, in my devotion time, I can imagine how the final breath had to be a relief, a release. Death had to, at last, be welcomed. And then that journey began through Friday night, all day Saturday, until early on Sunday morning when the birds came. When the silence of death was interrupted by the singing of birds, didn t even Jesus have to question: Is this really birds singing outside in the Garden, or is this the sign that goes along with the process of death? And then the symphony crescendos into something entirely new: DEATH IS CONQUERED. In the prayer that we prayed on Thursday evening, it refers to Jesus, Medicine of Immortality. No longer not after this symphony of Easter will death ever prevail again. That illness was cured on the first Easter for ALL of us. All the illnesses in life that will eventually lead us to that doorway we call Death will continue some being cured, others not yet. But because of Jesus Resurrection going through that doorway called Death is only a temporary passage. Nothing, Romans 8:39 says not even death will separate us from the love of God in Jesus. The birds will sing, the symphony will crescendo, and we will be welcomed home. Death has been conquered. HERE TOM PLAYS A FEW MORE LINES OF THE SONG. It's not far, just close by Through an open door Work all done, care laid by Going to fear no more
4 Mother's there expecting me Father's waiting, too Lots of folk gathered there All the friends I knew All the friends I knew I have to confess some of you know sometimes I can be a bit of a geek. And I have discovered this electronic brain wave monitoring device that measures when my brain lets go of words and images and thoughts and remains at rest. The idea in what is called centering prayer this is when God can communicate in the deepest way deeper than words or images or thoughts. And when this brain measuring device finds my brain empty of the things that distract me from God, it gives me a little signal that I am there. You may be ahead of me already the signal that the brain monitor provides is the singing of birds. And, so, during this season of Lent, as I have been focusing on Jesus between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I have been discovering new depths of relationship with God in the singing of birds. They provide me with a symphony our Easter symphony. You don t have to be geek like me to experience Jesus. But, it does really help if you can spend some time, just being quiet. Listening for birds outside your window is good. Or just listening to whatever sounds God provides, without the intervention of humans. In that special time, know that Death has been conquered. Wherever you are, God is wanting you to know HOME. In the final book of the Bible, where we are told just how Jesus healed us of Death, it says that God is making His home AMONG US.
5 Going Home is not just a symphony for after we go through that doorway we call death. By the power of Easter, God wants us to experience His holy and powerful presence right here, right now. HERE TOM PLAYS A FEW MORE LINES OF THE SONG. Morning star lights the way Restless dream all done Shadows gone, break of day Real life begun There's no break, there's no end Just a living on Wide awake with a smile Going on and on Everything changed on that first Easter, when God s Easter Symphony was sung. Some people have heard it; others are too busy to stop and listen. But one thing I know. Unlike the symphony Bill the Tuba Player used to know (before he heard everyone playing) God s symphony is NEVER just about thee or me. It s always about a whole orchestra meant to make music together. Death was conquered on the first Easter. The music continues to play. I hope you will take time to listen. I hope you will take time to join in, and play.
6 AMEN. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.