The Resurrection Of Our Lord/Easter Day
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
(Occurs in all three cycles of the lectionary; see The Resurrection Of Our Lord/Easter Day, Cycles A and B for alternative approaches; see also Liturgy Of The Palms, Cycle A, for an alternative approach to vv. 1-2, 19-29.)
The climactic verse in the Easter reading of Psalm 118 (v. 24) can easily serve as an appropriate anthem for celebrating the goodness of God on any given day. Every day is the day that the Lord has made. But there is poignancy in using this verse in reference to the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It would be effective to construct a sermon around verse 24, using the rhythm of the litany already established by the verses leading up to it.
The Resurrection was not an afterthought, or a "Plan B." God had it in mind all along. Death would be defeated once for all in our lives by the raising of Jesus from the dead. This is the day God made to accomplish this incredible act -- let us rejoice in it and be glad!
The sorrow that follows on the heels of all our losses, the lonely separation from loved ones by death, is certainly one of the most difficult burdens we bear. But because of God's gift of eternal life demonstrated powerfully by raising Jesus from the dead, we are not doomed to carry the burden of loss without hope. We can find comfort in the knowledge that we will see our loved ones again. This is the day the Lord has created for this great purpose -- let us rejoice in it and be glad!
Of course, death is not only about the loss of life. People in our world daily face the death of their dreams. It may take the form of the loss of a home or career. It may come as a divorce or a debilitating illness or injury. Suddenly, without warning, the world we thought we knew turns on us, and we are laid bare with distress.
But God has unleashed a powerful principle of renewal in our world. God can take that which is dead and breathe new life into it. The Lord can take shattered dreams and lost hopes and make them alive again. We can experience resurrection in our hearts and in our minds as God works with us to creatively find ways around and through our disappointments. Just when we think the world has ended, God makes a new world. And this is the day the Lord has made where that sort of renewal of life can happen -- let us rejoice in it and be glad!
More often than not, it is the daily grind that robs us of our joy, fills us with boredom, and tempts us to apathy. It is the mind-numbing routines that mark our days and sap our energy that we come to resent. Without any specific event, with no particular tragedy, we yet find ourselves grieving a life that is not snatched away, but rather slips away. We stand looking back over twenty, thirty, or fifty years and wonder where the time went.
But there is a cure for this malaise. It is the recognition that God has chosen to infuse life with a constant source of newness. We can, if we choose, live in the light of a new day every day. This is that day that the Lord has made for us to live in. Today, let us rejoice in it and be glad!
-- J. E.
The climactic verse in the Easter reading of Psalm 118 (v. 24) can easily serve as an appropriate anthem for celebrating the goodness of God on any given day. Every day is the day that the Lord has made. But there is poignancy in using this verse in reference to the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It would be effective to construct a sermon around verse 24, using the rhythm of the litany already established by the verses leading up to it.
The Resurrection was not an afterthought, or a "Plan B." God had it in mind all along. Death would be defeated once for all in our lives by the raising of Jesus from the dead. This is the day God made to accomplish this incredible act -- let us rejoice in it and be glad!
The sorrow that follows on the heels of all our losses, the lonely separation from loved ones by death, is certainly one of the most difficult burdens we bear. But because of God's gift of eternal life demonstrated powerfully by raising Jesus from the dead, we are not doomed to carry the burden of loss without hope. We can find comfort in the knowledge that we will see our loved ones again. This is the day the Lord has created for this great purpose -- let us rejoice in it and be glad!
Of course, death is not only about the loss of life. People in our world daily face the death of their dreams. It may take the form of the loss of a home or career. It may come as a divorce or a debilitating illness or injury. Suddenly, without warning, the world we thought we knew turns on us, and we are laid bare with distress.
But God has unleashed a powerful principle of renewal in our world. God can take that which is dead and breathe new life into it. The Lord can take shattered dreams and lost hopes and make them alive again. We can experience resurrection in our hearts and in our minds as God works with us to creatively find ways around and through our disappointments. Just when we think the world has ended, God makes a new world. And this is the day the Lord has made where that sort of renewal of life can happen -- let us rejoice in it and be glad!
More often than not, it is the daily grind that robs us of our joy, fills us with boredom, and tempts us to apathy. It is the mind-numbing routines that mark our days and sap our energy that we come to resent. Without any specific event, with no particular tragedy, we yet find ourselves grieving a life that is not snatched away, but rather slips away. We stand looking back over twenty, thirty, or fifty years and wonder where the time went.
But there is a cure for this malaise. It is the recognition that God has chosen to infuse life with a constant source of newness. We can, if we choose, live in the light of a new day every day. This is that day that the Lord has made for us to live in. Today, let us rejoice in it and be glad!
-- J. E.
