Sunday, April 24, 2011

All Around the Earth, All Day Long



 The bells of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France


Can you hear them? They are ringing. Big bells in lofty church towers, small prayer bells in quiet monasteries, electronic carillons. From every country on earth, bells of every size and shape and sound ring out as the shadows of night flee from the advancing light of day.

The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen! 


from The Medieval Sourcebook

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Waiting

Thoughts to ponder as we wait, at the Wood between the worlds:

“Waiting is our destiny. As creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for, we wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light. We wait in fear for a happy ending that we cannot write. We wait for a ‘not yet’ that feels like a ‘not ever.’” Lewis Smedes
from "Stuck in Saturday", Pete Wilson

"In this understanding, it is not a matter of “balancing” the other-worldly against the this-worldly, or the this-worldly against the other-worldly. Each world penetrates the other. The present is, so to speak, pregnant with the future to which the future gives birth. 'The world is charged with the grandeur of God,' declares the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. Charged as in electrically charged; the present is given new urgency, raised to a new level of intensity, because it is riddled through and through with a promised future."
from "Living Between the Now and the Not Yet", Richard John Neuhaus

"Paul determined to know nothing but Jesus and the cross. Was that enough? What is the cross? Is it big enough to fill the universe?. . .Adam fell at a tree, and by a tree he was saved. At a tree Eve was seduced, and through a tree the bride was restored to her husband. At a tree, Satan defeated Adam; on a tree Jesus destroyed the works of the devil. At a tree man died, but by Jesus’ death we live. At a tree God cursed, and through a tree that curse gave way to blessing. God exiled Adam from the tree of life; on a tree the Last Adam endured exile so that we might inherit the earth."
from "Christ and Him Crucified", Peter J. Leithart

And a song:




wjasig

Thursday, April 21, 2011

For the Least of These

Today is Maundy Thursday. I didn't know what that meant until we moved into a Presbyterian town 20 years ago. I was raised Southern Baptist. That is a a flavor of evangelical Christianity that is liturgical in its lack of liturgy. There were only three important events on our church calendar: Christmas, Easter, and Communion.

"Mandatum novum do vobis" (a new commandment I give you) is considered the origin of the word "maundy". These are the words Jesus spoke as he washed the disciples' feet in that upper room. They were some of His final words to them, that command to love each other.


England's King Edward I began a Maundy Thursday tradition of giving coins to a representative number of his poorest subjects, one coin for each year of the monarch's age, and washing their feet.

A king, stooping and bending to wash the feet of his poor.

Too many years later, in the affluent United States, there are churches inviting families and children to celebrate Easter by reserving tickets and participating in helicopter candy drops.

Helicopter candy drops.

What we need are drops of human mercy for the mother grieving the loss of her daughter. . . the elderly man living out his remaining hours alone in a nursing home. . . the hungry child struggling to stay alert in school. What we need are not lavishly staged acts of Hollywood hype but small, quiet acts of love toward each other.

Because His image burns inside us all, and honoring each other is the truest way to honor Him.

I am not a king. Far from it. But there is a desire in me, today, to honor that simple act of the King of Glory by making a feeble attempt to stoop, to bend, to wash the feet. . .

of the least of these. . .

for Him.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."


wjasig