In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
Christ has risen.
Christ has risen indeed!
THE EXSULTET
Rejoice now, heavenly hosts and choirs of angels,
and let your trumpets shout Salvation
for the victory of our mighty King.
Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth,
bright with a glorious splendor,
for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal King.
Rejoice and be glad now, Mother Church,
and let your holy courts, in radiant light,
resound with the praises of your people.
We pray to God the Almighty
for the grace to sing the worthy praise of his great glory;
through Jesus Christ His Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with Him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The First Lesson
Acts 17:22-31
Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Psalm 66:7-18 Jubilate Deo
7 Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his praise to be heard;
8 Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.
9 For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.
10 You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
11 You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.
12 I will enter your house with burnt-offerings
and will pay you my vows, *
which I promised with my lips
and spoke with my mouth when I was in trouble.
13 I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts
with the smoke of rams; *
I will give you oxen and goats.
14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, *
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
15 I called out to him with my mouth, *
and his praise was on my tongue.
16 If I had found evil in my heart, *
the Lord would not have heard me;
17 But in truth God has heard me; *
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *
nor withheld his love from me.
The Epistle
1 Peter 3:13-22
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia
Give thanks to the Lord, who is good.
The love of the Lord knows no ending.
All in Israel say,
“God’s love has no end.”
2. The right hand of God raised me up.
The hand of the Lord has triumphed.
I shall never die,
I shall live, telling God’s deeds.
3. The stone which the builders rejected,
becomes the cornerstone chosen.
Praise the work of God
for this marvel in our eyes.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia
By the way – music to these words should be familiar. It’s called “Celtic Alleluia.” So familiar – you might even want to sing it to yourself.
The Gospel
John 14:15-21
Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
THE SERMON Fr. Nelson Gaetz
Early in my ministry an elderly woman (Looking back – she only seemed elderly to me at 25) leaned over to me in the receiving line after the service and offered me some sage advice: “When you don’t have anything to say – don’t say it.”
I feel a little like that wisdom applies to me today. John 14 is a difficult passage, partly because it is taken out of context. No, I don’t mean “misquoted.” I mean it is hard to understand apart from the rest of this section of St. John’s Gospel. Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples and about to share the Last Supper with them. He teaches with passion and yes, about his impending passion. He’s trying to tell them what it all means. He is trying to tell us what it all means. And, that’s where it gets complicated. He is trying to impart a lifetime of teaching to a group that mostly misunderstands what he says. He has tried agrarian stories. He has taught in actions, even raising the dead. What’s remaining? Complex, deep philosophical message about love, keeping commandment, reveling in the relationship of a God who is complex: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
So difficult to understand. It would take a lifetime to wrestle with it all. Perhaps that’s the point. It does take a lifetime to wrestle with it all. The Christian Faith is at once as simple as a father’s guidance and as profound as a mother’s love.
Did I mention that if when I don’t have anything to say I should not say it. I would rather say today, when I can’t understand it I need to step back, think and pray. And that’s exactly what Jesus did next with his disciples. Chapter 14 ends “Come, let us go from this place.” And they went out to the Mount of Olives…. TO PRAY.
It takes every ounce of strength in the preacher that I am to keep from saying more but by now you know. The message today is not more words. The message of today is prayer. If you have your Bible handy – look up John 17: 1 – 18. Pray over each word. Often called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. (More on that another day.)
THE NICENE CREED
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
THE PRAYERS
Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Brief silence
For the faithful proclamation of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him, that through hearing the Word of the Lord many may be brought to faith and to the knowledge of the truth, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the Church of God here and everywhere, especially Michael and DeDe, our Bishops, Nelson, our Rector, our Wardens and Vestry that all who confess Jesus Christ may be united in doctrine and witness, defended against all the assaults of the enemy, and eager to gather together around Your Word and Sacrament as soon as possible in love for one another, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For our parish, for the work of the Kingdom in our community, and for the resources to accomplish all that God desires, that His name may be glorified among us and His purpose fulfilled in our words and works, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the agencies and institutions through which we love our neighbor and provide for those in need, for the destitute and homeless, and for everyone who suffers unemployment and underemployment, that we may aid them in their needs and assist them in all their needs, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the lonely who suffer the burdens of life without friendship or family, for those depressed or weary of pandemic measures, and for the fellowship of the Church, that we may bear one another’s burdens and live in community with Christ as our head, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the sick and those who suffer, especially those we name here, that God would grant healing to their bodies, peace for their minds, and consolation in their grief and sorrows, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
For the nation, for those who lead our nation, for the end of the pandemic, for peace among nations, and for an end to terror and violence, that we may work for the common good so that justice may prevail, life be protected and truth abound, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.
O Lord, our God, as we recall the obedient life and life-giving death of Your Son for our salvation, we pray You to strengthen our faith and to make our hearts bold, that we may not fear but address our prayers to You in all humility. Hear us on behalf of Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, who even now stands before You on our behalf, pleading our cause with His own blood, until that day when we are delivered from the changes and chances of this mortal life and stand before You in eternity; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
So now we pray with confidence to the Father the words our Lord Jesus taught us.
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, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
AN EASTER BLESSING
The God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great Shepard of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do His will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us, and remain with us always.
Alleluia. Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.
Amen.
