St. Chrysostom's Easter Sermon
Are there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Are there any who are grateful servants?
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 Hell 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 Hell, 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!
The Easter sermon of John Chrysostom (circa 400 AD)
Some Thoughts on John 20:1-19
Commentary, John 20:1-18, Barbara Lundblad, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2016.
"It has always struck me as remarkable that when the writers of the four Gospels come to the most important part of the story they have to tell, they tell it in whispers. The part I mean, of course, is the part about the resurrection. They are trying to describe it as truthfully as they can. It was the most extraordinary thing they believed had ever happened, and yet they tell it so quietly that you have to lean close to be sure what they are telling. They tell it as softly as a secret, as something so precious, and holy, and fragile, and unbelievable, and true, that to tell it any other way would be somehow to dishonor it."
"The Secret in the Dark," Frederick Buechner, Buechner Blog.
Paul begins by drawing the readers of his letter back to the good news of God in Christ Jesus that he proclaimed to them: that Jesus died upon the cross for all and to save all people, that all people are reconciled to God through the work of Christ on the cross, and that we are reconciled first to Christ and then to each other.
I have always thought that we reveal our relationship with God and Christ through our relationship with others. In other words, our relationships with others (good, bad, indifferent) are all rooted in our understanding of Christ's work. And, if Christ saves me and I truly have that hope, and it is not in vain, then I must see all others in the same relationship with Christ's saving act. And, in so doing, I see the potential hope of our reconciliation.
Paul then bears witness to how this extra-historical event of great magnitude was literally witnessed by others. He writes,
Paul is deeply rooting not only his mission and ministry in the cross of Christ, but he is reminding anyone who would call themselves a follower that they, too, are rooted here in this cross. Before we raise our banners high for our Christian sect or our belief that we have it right and others wrong...before we start to claim that the future of the church...this or that...is dependent upon our actions...I feel Paul reminds us everything depends on Christ and his cross and resurrection.
I wonder if things in church, our arguments, those things we think are so essential, would be approached differently if we started out where Paul starts out in this passage.
"Beyond stereotypes, beyond deeply seeded religious segregation, Peter obeys his command, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. In a gesture of faith, a movement of complete trust, a posture of submission, Peter tells the story of Jesus, a story in which he knew very well."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 | Levi Holland | Post Coffee Co. A Plain Account | A Plain Account, 2017
"The goal is that people might be released from sin. The Greek word usually translated "forgiveness" is aphesis, which literally means "release." A pattern of sins often brings people to a point where the sins define the present and limit the future. For a person to have a different life, the sins must no longer define the person's situation."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 (Baptism A), Craig R. Koester, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
"First Thoughts on Year A Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Baptism of Jesus, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
"Entertaining Angels: Hospitality in Luke and Acts," Andrew Arterbury, (other resources at) "Hospitality," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2007.
Here are Other Choices for Easter Sunday Readings
"The reference to 'all' may also have a much wider focus: all people and all of creation. That is at least the goal of this love which flows from the heart of God and that needs to be the goal of that love in and through our lives as well, so that no one is beyond it and no part of creation beyond our care and concern."
"First Thoughts on Year C Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 11, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
"Since the author recognizes the ongoing reality of slavery in his instructions to slaves in 3:22-25, the final contrasting pair, slave/free, in 3:11 helps show that for the author what has been negated in baptism is not the existence of such contrasting groups. Rather these contrasts no longer serve as the prime identity of people's separateness since they are all in Christ who gives them their prime identity."
Commentary, Colossians 3:1-11, Richard Carlson, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.
Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text
The passage we have for today from Paul's letter to the community in Colossia comes after a concern about a bunch of rules or ways of doing ritual that are drawing the members from the real focus of worship and life in Christ. (2.21ff) Some scholars believe that these may be rooted in purity laws. Paul offers a very important vision of Christ - he offers freedom and reconciliation. The Christ that Paul and I believe in is one who is not an oppressive liturgical fundamentalist! Worship itself should mimic a God of freedom and liberation.
Paul then says (in the beginning of our passage) Christ has left the ways of the past behind, we are now able to be joined directly with God through Jesus's work on the cross. Evil has been trampled and so too any distractions which draw us from the love of God. So we are to "rise up" as Ray Wylie Hubbard sings and become united to God in Christ Jesus.
Certainly the images of "above" language are about "harmony, justice, and peace" says William Loader. The things that are below are of a more worldly nature. These will get in the way of our worship and life with God.
"In the first creation story God drove Eve and Adam out of the garden. But in this new creation Jesus sends Mary out of the garden rejoicing."
Commentary, John 20:1-18, Lucy Lind Hogan, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"For hearers of the gospel read at a single setting, Jesus? words to Mary would have recalled the themes of the last discourses and the writer doubtless intended so. Without this insight our Easter celebrations can flounder about clutching onto the body of Jesus and getting bogged down into proving materiality."
"First Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Easter Sunday, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
We begin with Mary discovering that the body is not there and reporting it to the disciples. There is the famous disciple race. The beloved disciple loves Jesus more, so he arrives at the tomb first before Peter; this is the intent of the storyteller, at least. When he arrives, he sees the burial clothes, and he believes. He sees, he experiences, the resurrection, and he believes.
Mary Magdalene then experiences the risen Jesus. She has been searching for him; she sees him but does not immediately know him. In fact, she only knows him once her name is called. Raymond Brown points out several reasons for this in John, vol 2, 1008ff. Playing out the reality of Jesus' own words in John 10.3: "The sheep hear his voice as he calls by name those that belong to him." "I know my sheep, and my sheep know me." Her response is to announce to the disciples that she has "seen the Lord."
We have to preach two different experiences of the risen Christ from two loving followers this Easter. They give us a sense that the risen Lord is known and experienced in many ways. While true belief will come with the Holy Spirit, we are given the beginning of the new creation story in John's resurrection account.
The Victory has been won on the cross. The chasm that separated the earth and heaven has been breached. The disciples begin to experience a new order and a new creation. They begin to understand the things that have been told to them.
In these resurrection accounts, we have the beginning of faith, which comes from experiencing the risen Lord. Their faith will grow even as Jesus continues his journey to the Father. He remarks that we are not to cling to these experiences for the unity if fulfilled in the ascension which is soon to come. Jesus is even now, as he stands before Mary, making his way to the Father. Only then will the comforter and Holy Spirit be unleashed in the world. Then, and only then, will the disciples come to a fullness of belief.
John's Gospel tells us clearly that resurrection is not simply a bodily, this world, experience but a resurrection into unity with God. Only when Jesus is resurrected and unified will the new creation truly spring forth. So now, on Easter Sunday, as we read John's Gospel, we prepare and raise our heads for the coming of the Holy Spirit and the salvation of creation, which is even now upon us.
Mary Magdalene then experiences the risen Jesus. She has been searching for him; she sees him but does not immediately know him. In fact, she only knows him once her name is called. Raymond Brown points out several reasons for this in John, vol 2, 1008ff. Playing out the reality of Jesus' own words in John 10.3: "The sheep hear his voice as he calls by name those that belong to him." "I know my sheep, and my sheep know me." Her response is to announce to the disciples that she has "seen the Lord."
We have to preach two different experiences of the risen Christ from two loving followers this Easter. They give us a sense that the risen Lord is known and experienced in many ways. While true belief will come with the Holy Spirit, we are given the beginning of the new creation story in John's resurrection account.
The Victory has been won on the cross. The chasm that separated the earth and heaven has been breached. The disciples begin to experience a new order and a new creation. They begin to understand the things that have been told to them.
In these resurrection accounts, we have the beginning of faith, which comes from experiencing the risen Lord. Their faith will grow even as Jesus continues his journey to the Father. He remarks that we are not to cling to these experiences for the unity if fulfilled in the ascension which is soon to come. Jesus is even now, as he stands before Mary, making his way to the Father. Only then will the comforter and Holy Spirit be unleashed in the world. Then, and only then, will the disciples come to a fullness of belief.
John's Gospel tells us clearly that resurrection is not simply a bodily, this world, experience but a resurrection into unity with God. Only when Jesus is resurrected and unified will the new creation truly spring forth. So now, on Easter Sunday, as we read John's Gospel, we prepare and raise our heads for the coming of the Holy Spirit and the salvation of creation, which is even now upon us.
"The first ones ever, oh, ever to know of the rising of Jesus, his glory to be, were Mary, Joanna, and Magdalene, and blessed are they who see. Oh, blessed are they who see the Lord, oh, blessed are they who see." (Hymnal 1982, 673)
Some Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
"The entirety of this chapter is the eloquent center of Paul's primary argument for the Resurrection."
Commentary, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Susan Hedahl, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
Commentary, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Susan Hedahl, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"Whether then it is we or they (and may God make it both), so let us proclaim, that the world might come to believe; that Christ Jesus died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he we raised again."
Commentary, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Karl Jacobson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
Commentary, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Karl Jacobson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
"Affirming that God raised Jesus from the dead (whether with a transformation model or a replacement model) is foundational for reading the story of Jesus as paradigmatic for us all: there is death and there is hope!"
"First Thoughts on Passages on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Easter Day, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
Oremus Online NRSV Text
This passage also appears on Easter Day in year B.
"First Thoughts on Passages on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Easter Day, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
Oremus Online NRSV Text
This passage also appears on Easter Day in year B.
Paul begins by drawing the readers of his letter back to the good news of God in Christ Jesus that he proclaimed to them: that Jesus died upon the cross for all and to save all people, that all people are reconciled to God through the work of Christ on the cross, and that we are reconciled first to Christ and then to each other.
I have always thought that we reveal our relationship with God and Christ through our relationship with others. In other words, our relationships with others (good, bad, indifferent) are all rooted in our understanding of Christ's work. And, if Christ saves me and I truly have that hope, and it is not in vain, then I must see all others in the same relationship with Christ's saving act. And, in so doing, I see the potential hope of our reconciliation.
Paul then bears witness to how this extra-historical event of great magnitude was literally witnessed by others. He writes,
"Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.Paul then writes that he received such grace that he himself became a missionary of this message. The power of Paul's belief and reception of the good news has spurred him on.
Paul is deeply rooting not only his mission and ministry in the cross of Christ, but he is reminding anyone who would call themselves a follower that they, too, are rooted here in this cross. Before we raise our banners high for our Christian sect or our belief that we have it right and others wrong...before we start to claim that the future of the church...this or that...is dependent upon our actions...I feel Paul reminds us everything depends on Christ and his cross and resurrection.
I wonder if things in church, our arguments, those things we think are so essential, would be approached differently if we started out where Paul starts out in this passage.
Some Thoughts on Acts 10:34-43
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 | Levi Holland | Post Coffee Co. A Plain Account | A Plain Account, 2017
"The goal is that people might be released from sin. The Greek word usually translated "forgiveness" is aphesis, which literally means "release." A pattern of sins often brings people to a point where the sins define the present and limit the future. For a person to have a different life, the sins must no longer define the person's situation."
Commentary, Acts 10:34-43 (Baptism A), Craig R. Koester, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
"Luke's trim speech given to Peter ends by noting the promise of forgiveness and declaring that Jesus will be the one to judge the world. This is also part of what it meant to say, 'Jesus is Lord'."
"First Thoughts on Year A Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Baptism of Jesus, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
"In Luke's writings the ancient practice of hospitality, the custom of welcoming travelers or strangers into one's home and establishing relationships with them, becomes the prism through which Jesus? disciples can view one another and others as valuable children of God."
"Entertaining Angels: Hospitality in Luke and Acts," Andrew Arterbury, (other resources at) "Hospitality," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2007.
We are reading from the book of Acts during Easter. Luke is believed to be the author of this book and so it is a continuation of the story of the Gospel. When we look at it this way we see an important story arc that has been in effect from the earliest passages of the Gospel – Jesus is Lord of all.
Drawing on Richard Hays’ work, we easily see a narrative that begins to portray Jesus as Lord – as the Kyrios. Luke begins in 1:16 and carries the term to our passage for today. Of all the Gospel authors, Luke uses the term the most. He ties it into Isaiah’s prophecy and the suffering servant, as discussed in the Holy Week readings. (Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, 253ff)
In this Easter reading, we have the high point of Luke’s arc in the words of Peter:
We should probably be clear before moving along; we humans are the ones who set boundaries for God. We, the religious, like God to be the lord inside our church walls but not outside. We like our God to be lord of us but not them. We desire a God who is lord of our country but not theirs. We confuse this lordship (with a little “l”) because we think we get to be in charge of God. We believe we get to decide who God likes and doesn’t like. That is, of course, all very silly nonsense. We have no control over what God is Lord over. As our passage tells us today, it turns out that God in Christ Jesus is Lord over all. The scripture says something: the son sun rises on the righteous and unrighteous alike.
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| Easter's First Light at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
In this Easter reading, we have the high point of Luke’s arc in the words of Peter:
“I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
…All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”What is revealed here is the immortal nature of God’s Word – the Immoral Word – the second person of the Trinity. God acted through the word, in this case, Isaiah’s prophetic word, long before the unique person of Jesus. God reveals the ultimate unity of God and that just as this God was Lord of Israel so this God in Christ Jesus is Lord of all. The incarnate Word made flesh reigns because God reigns. Jesus is Lord of life and Lord of death, it turns out, on this Easter day – of all.
We should probably be clear before moving along; we humans are the ones who set boundaries for God. We, the religious, like God to be the lord inside our church walls but not outside. We like our God to be lord of us but not them. We desire a God who is lord of our country but not theirs. We confuse this lordship (with a little “l”) because we think we get to be in charge of God. We believe we get to decide who God likes and doesn’t like. That is, of course, all very silly nonsense. We have no control over what God is Lord over. As our passage tells us today, it turns out that God in Christ Jesus is Lord over all. The scripture says something: the son sun rises on the righteous and unrighteous alike.
Previous Sermons For This Sunday
Sermon preached on Easter 2015 at the Great Vigil at Canterbury A&M. Here is a video of Ray singing:
This is Easter
Sermon preached at Christ Church Cathedral, Easter, 2014
Easter Sermon: Go to Galilee
Preached at Christ Church Cathedral, Houston Texas, Easter 2011.
Christ is Risen...forever and forevermore
Preached Easter Sunday, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston, 2010.
Here are Other Choices for Easter Sunday Readings
Some Thoughts on Colossians 3:1-4
"The reference to 'all' may also have a much wider focus: all people and all of creation. That is at least the goal of this love which flows from the heart of God and that needs to be the goal of that love in and through our lives as well, so that no one is beyond it and no part of creation beyond our care and concern."
"First Thoughts on Year C Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 11, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
"Since the author recognizes the ongoing reality of slavery in his instructions to slaves in 3:22-25, the final contrasting pair, slave/free, in 3:11 helps show that for the author what has been negated in baptism is not the existence of such contrasting groups. Rather these contrasts no longer serve as the prime identity of people's separateness since they are all in Christ who gives them their prime identity."
Commentary, Colossians 3:1-11, Richard Carlson, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.
Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text
The passage we have for today from Paul's letter to the community in Colossia comes after a concern about a bunch of rules or ways of doing ritual that are drawing the members from the real focus of worship and life in Christ. (2.21ff) Some scholars believe that these may be rooted in purity laws. Paul offers a very important vision of Christ - he offers freedom and reconciliation. The Christ that Paul and I believe in is one who is not an oppressive liturgical fundamentalist! Worship itself should mimic a God of freedom and liberation.
Paul then says (in the beginning of our passage) Christ has left the ways of the past behind, we are now able to be joined directly with God through Jesus's work on the cross. Evil has been trampled and so too any distractions which draw us from the love of God. So we are to "rise up" as Ray Wylie Hubbard sings and become united to God in Christ Jesus.
Certainly the images of "above" language are about "harmony, justice, and peace" says William Loader. The things that are below are of a more worldly nature. These will get in the way of our worship and life with God.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)...8But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices10and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.Paul's view is that when these things are set aside, not as new rules or laws, but as a way of living together, new life is revealed - resurrection life is revealed. And in this we receive the poetry of love and unity that is found in the last verses:
11In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!
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