04/11/2024
POEM: "Easter is Judgment Day"
I love poetry, but I often find it more difficult to understand than simple prose. It took me a long time to realize that poetry is supposed to call for an entirely different way of seeing and hearing. Poetry is like condensed soup. It’s not intended to be eaten out of the can, but rather it relies on us to add something to it—to stir in the water and air it needs so that after a period of mixing and heating it can convey its deeper truths.
Sunday Pastor Jackie kicked off of our new sermons series: The Tarnished Halo Society—God Never Gives Up on Imperfect People. Her excellent message included a poem that jarred me enough that I asked for a printed copy. What got me interested was the phrase—“our sin revoked.” I’ve heard that our sins are forgiven, or removed, or canceled, but I’d never thought about the sin itself as being revoked, i.e. no longer charged against us. Easter is not often thought of as Judgment Day. We think of it as Our Greatest Blessing Day. And yet we forget that the resurrection of Jesus is a complete indictment of the ways of this fallen world. Easter delivers a sweeping judgment of the “the way things are" as well as the powers and principalities of this world.
I’ve included Steve Garnaas-Holmes’ poem because I think it is worth stirring, mixing, and warming up to. I believe it has the power to help us think about that first Easter in some new and challenging ways. Good Luck!
Easter is Judgment Day
Easter is Judgement Day.
The great work of all our empires of state are overturned;
our walls are broken down.
All our judgments are overruled.
All our cruelties rescinded.
Our sin revoked.
Our aloneness has been colonized by God's loving presence.
Even death has been dismembered, powerless.
Our fear is sentenced to life locked up in hope and trust and joy.
Our death is taken from us,
and replaced by Life that is unassailable and infinite.
With flaming sword of sunrise, God has vanquished the shadows.
and even the darkness shines, even the grave gives forth glory.
The Crucified One is risen.
Alleluia
Archived Posts
What Jacob Marley Would Do,
If He Could Do It…
I thought about using the following for a benediction—since Jacob Marley was warning Scrooge about the danger of loving money and what it could buy. Ends up with the Cantata and everything else going on, I didn’t have the time. So here is what you might have heard if the sermon itself was 5 minutes shorter!
A Confirming Word on Old King Herod
I just want to echo what Rick said in his fine sermon yesterday (Nov. 23). Herod was a ruthless tyrant and skilled politician. When the Magi don’t report back to him, he decides to kill all the male children of Bethlehem under the age of 2. That’s one paranoid dude.
Power Without Conscience?
I ran out of room for this vignette in Sunday’s sermon. Remember the quote that could be the headline for Ahab and Naboth: “All that’s needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” The following reinforces that truth.
The Cars Are Looking for A King
I don’t have a thing to add to Pastor Jessica’s excellent sermon this last Sunday. The fable/parable she shared has been one of my favorites for all the lessons she pulled from it in her message. I was playing around with my friend Chat GPT and after several abortive attempts, we came up with the following modernized version of Judges 9:7-15.
The Lost Benediction
Depending on the length of the sermon, I try to add a little something extra in my benedictions. This week I wrote up a benediction but then realized we’d be singing and waving our umbrellas to some New Orleans jazz.
Change of Focus This Week
Instead of sharing with you about yesterday’s sermon I’d like to invite you to do some background reading for next Sunday’s “Only Murders in the Bible.” Seeing that it is All Saints Day this Sunday, we are going to look at the very first Christian martyr, Stephen.
You Might Be Thinking It’s All About You If…
In working on Sunday’s sermon I asked my computer’s AI if she/he could come up with a few suggestions in answer to the above: "You Might be thinking it’s all about you, if…."