Friday, April 15, 2022

April 17, 2022 Easter Worship

 Pioneer Presbyterian Church

Resurrection Day Worship

10 a.m.                                                                                                                April 17, 2022

 

PRELUDE

 

CHOIR INTROIT

 

*Processional Hymn of Glory:         “Jesus Christ is Risen Today!           Glory #232

 


*Resurrection Day Greeting

 

     The light of Christ has come into the world.

     The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

     Christ the Lord is risen today!

     He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

*Prayer of Rejoicing

 

*Call to Worship   

 

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! All creation worships before God’s throne! Jesus Christ our King is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!

 

     Let there be shouts of joy on earth and in heaven! Death shall have no  

     dominion! Jesus Christ the Living One has broken the kingdom of death!

      

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of your King! Christ

Jesus has conquered! Sin’s bleak bondage is broken; you are free! Darkness is

vanquished forever!

 

     Let songs of triumph resound across the whole wide earth! Sing, choirs of  

     angels! Jesus Christ our King is now risen from the dead!

    

Rejoice, people of God! Exult in glory! The risen Savior shines upon you! He puts

death’s dark shadows to flight! Because he lives, we also shall live!

 

     Let the household of faith acclaim: Death has been swallowed up in victory! For as  

     in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive! Thanks be to God who  

     gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Call to Confession

 

Prayer of Confession

 

     Gracious God, we have heard the good news: How on the third day, you raised    

     Jesus from the dead, vindicating his mission as the world’s Savior. He has     

     commissioned us as messengers of the gospel of life. But we are distracted by lesser  

     things. We focus on our griefs and losses instead of walking in the resurrection life  

     of our risen Lord. Forgive our inattention toward the things that matter most. Day    

     by day, give us grace to leave the tombs of fear and to live in glorious hope, through   

     Jesus the Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

 

Assurance of Pardon

 

     Friends, God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its Savior.

     We rejoice in the good news: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!

 

Passing the Peace

           

     The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

     And also with you!

     Let us share the peace of Christ with each other.

 

Glory be to the Father

    

     Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the  

     beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

Time with Children

 

The Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom

 

Choir Anthem                      “Jesus Paid It All”                                    arr.  Jean J. Pinkston

 

Gospel Lesson: John 20:1-10

 

Message:                    “Running Toward Resurrection”                  Pastor Daryl R. Wilson

 

Pioneer PC                                                                                                                        Resurrection Day

John 20:1-18                                                                                                                           April 17, 2022

“Running Toward Resurrection”

Pastor Daryl R. Wilson

 

If you’re like me—and I’m supposing you are, at least in this respect—then for you Resurrection Day is a big deal. Not for the pretty dresses, bunnies, bonnets, breakfasts, colored eggs, and candy—those things are fun, but they’re extraneous. No, this day matters because as the Apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:17-19).

 

So, for our own sakes and the sake of everyone we love who has died in the faith of Jesus Christ, on this day of days we’re hoping we haven’t bet the farm on a bad wager. Either this crucified man was raised from the dead—in time and space, in flesh and blood, mind you, and not merely in sacred imagination or mass hallucination—or we’ve squandered our hopes, misdirected our faith, and wasted our lives, and our fate is sealed. We’ve lost. Lost it all.

 

So, you’re here because you have a lot at stake, and you want to believe. Perhaps you’re thinking, “I just wish I could have the faith of the twelve disciples. If only I’d been an eyewitness, then I could be sure.” Well, I’m here to help! Isn’t that what preachers are for? Here’s what you need to do to have the Easter faith of the disciples: Take up running. You don’t need to run a marathon, but you need to cover intermediate distances in a good time. A mile would be a good distance. To help you further, I’ve researched one-mile races you can enter around the U.S.—you know, so you can measure your progress.

Boise offers the Cupid’s Undie Run. If sunshine on your shoulders makes you happy, aim for the Nearly Naked Mile in Iowa City. Conversely, if running makes you frown, hotfoot it to the Grim Mile in Chicago. Need a little dough to get by? Try your luck at the Dash for Cash in Laurinburg, NC. Better odds than lottery tickets! Forgot to shave? Take on the Mustache Mile in Reston, VA. New washer at home? Test it out with the Mighty Mud Mania Mile in Scottsdale. Or, have a blast at the Bust-a-Gut One Mile Fun Run in Missoula and the Zombie Trot in Butte. Don’t say I never did anything to help you!

 

The Bible reveals a connection between resurrection and running. According to John’s Gospel, the first response to the resurrection isn’t praise, prayer, or paralyzing fear. Those come later. Nor is it shouts of joy, silent awe, or songs of glory. No, the first response is running! Yes, running. A mile or so. It begins this way: In the wee small hours of Sunday morning, before dawn, Mary Magdalene approaches the tomb where her friends had laid the Lord’s body on Friday afternoon. In the grace of God, a woman becomes the first witness to the resurrection. In those days women were judged to be unreliable witnesses and their testimony wasn’t permitted in court. You think the Early Church just made up this tale of an empty tomb and a risen Savior? Then why make women the first witnesses, if they wanted anyone to believe the story? Maybe because it’s true. Throughout the Bible, God chooses women for vital roles. Don’t believe the uninformed when they tell you women are subservient to men and have no place in leadership. As the Brits say, “As if!” Some people need to read the Bible without sexist lenses clouding their understanding. If Almighty God bases the whole Jesus movement on the witness of a woman, women can preach and lead.

Yet it isn’t resurrection that Mary Magdalene understands at first; it’s the dismaying discovery that the tomb is empty. Someone must have stolen his body!

Alarmed, Mary sets off like Usain Bolt bursting from the blocks. She runs with all her might to find Peter and John and report the awful news of grave robbery. Picture it: In the pre-dawn darkness, a frightened woman flees from the yawning mouth of an empty tomb. Ever found that scene depicted on an Easter card? Neither have I. But there she is. Your first eyewitness.

 

When Mary finds her friends, she gasps out her startling report. Peter and John take off running like a pack of wild dogs is at their heels. They’re both running toward something, running until their lungs are bursting, running toward the immense mystery that awaits them at the empty tomb. But then, John reports, they also begin to run against each other. The adrenaline kicks in and their heart-pounding dash becomes a race. “Last one there is a rotten Easter egg!” Why the competition? Well, the two had been rivals for years, each vying for center stage, each jostling for attention from Jesus. They start running out of some mixture of rising hope and sinking fear, but along the way the rivalry kicks in. The pace picks up—each man determined to get there before the other.

 

But there’s more here than two disciples running the first Miracle Mile. It’s not surprising that John wins, since he’s much younger than Peter, perhaps even a teenager in the physical prime of life. The deeper point is that they’re not merely running toward a mysteriously empty tomb. They don’t realize it yet, but they’re also running toward the future, toward resurrection, toward a whole new life; world remade. When they start running, they’re followers of a dead rabbi; when they finish, they’ll be disciples of the Risen, Conquering Christ.

So, when John reports that he “outran Peter and reached the tomb first,” he’s not bragging; he’s making a profound theological statement. When John reached the tomb “he bent down to look in and saw the linen wrapping lying there, but he did not go in.” Then Peter comes up, stumbling and puffing, and elbows John aside. Stooping down, he enters the tomb and is astonished to see Jesus’ grave clothes neatly folded, not flung about by robbers looking for loot. Peter doesn’t know what to think. Then John goes in, “and he saw and believed.”

 

Which means he’s not just first in the race to the tomb; he’s also first in the way he comes to believe. The first of a vast multitude to follow. The first to believe in the resurrection the way we do. The others will come to belief as well, but not like John. Mary believes when she actually sees the risen Jesus and hears him call her name. The others—including Peter, as far as we can tell—believe when Jesus appears to them that night, says, “Peace be with you,” and shows them his wounded hands and side (20:19-20). Thomas isn’t there for that great occasion, and when the others tell him, “We have seen the Lord!” he says, “I have to see for myself. I have to touch those nail marks in his hands, that wound in his side, otherwise forget it” (20:25). He only comes to believe when the risen Jesus steps toward him and offers, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”

 

But the beloved disciple is different. He believes when he sees…nothing. He doesn’t see Jesus. He can’t touch Jesus. Jesus doesn’t call his name. John looks around the empty tomb and remembers what Jesus predicted on the road to Jerusalem: “The Son of Man will be condemned to death; then mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.”

“It all fits,” he thinks. “Everything has happened the way Jesus predicted. Here we are on the third day. This isn’t a crime scene! This isn’t a scam! Jesus is alive!” Thus, John is the first person to arrive at resurrection; the first to believe that a risen Savior is on the loose; the first person on earth to wake up and glimpse the dawn of God’s new creation. Not because of Jesus’ presence, but because of his absence. All he has to go on is Jesus’ word and an empty tomb.

 

Do you understand now why John thought it was so important to let us know who won that race to the graveyard? He wants us to know that the first believer in the Resurrection came to believe the same way you and I must—not seeing the risen Jesus. He has no video evidence, no DNA samples to match, and neither do we. He doesn’t even yet understand how the Jewish Bible points to belief in a Suffering Messiah, so that gives us a leg up on him. But like John, the risen Jesus hasn’t come to us in a graveyard and gently called our name. The risen Jesus hasn’t found us and offered his wounded hands for us to touch. You see, the message of the angels isn’t only, “He is risen!” but also, He isn’t here.”

 

“Have you believed because you have seen me?” Jesus asks Thomas in v. 29. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” By this he means us, and John, our forerunner in the faith. John believes in the resurrection because he knows and trusts Jesus. Though Jesus is nowhere to be seen, he doesn’t fear abandonment. Jesus’ love becomes a light shining in the darkness and so John bets his life that the Lord’s absence means that now he’ll be present everywhere. He bets everything on the impossible hope that Jesus has been raised from the dead. Now we know two truths about John: He’s crazy—a fool for Christ—and he has won. For Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead.

And so we believe today, too. Not because of proofs or evidence, but because John knew and trusted Jesus, and we do, too. John told the story of the empty tomb and the risen Jesus to others, and they believed it, too. They told the story to still others, and those others passed this great wonder along, down a vast line of believers, all the way to us. And so we, too, bet everything on this one hope, that “Jesus Christ is Risen today!”

 

Therefore, run

 

Don’t wait. Run as fast as you can. Run with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Run because the grave is empty. Run toward resurrection. “He is not here; for he has been raised, just as he said.” Run because the story is true. Run and tell your brothers and sisters that Jesus is alive. On Friday afternoon God assaults death and hell. An all-out war for supremacy. Everything, everything, is at stake. Early Sunday morning, God wins! By the grace of his Son, and by grace alone, so do we! 

 

 

 

*Hymn of Response:                         “Thine is the Glory”                             Glory #238


Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

 

     Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by 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 debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us    

     from evil. For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Call to the Offering

 

Sharing Our Gifts With God

 

*Grateful Response:

 

     Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God all creatures here below;   

     Praise God above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

 

*Prayer of Dedication

 

*Closing Hymn:                  “Christ is Risen! Shout Hosanna!”                      Glory #248

 


*Charge and Benediction

 

     Go forth in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ!

     Thanks be to God! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

 

*Choral Response

 

Pastor: Daryl R. Wilson                                        Liturgist:  Jack Bauer

Church Musician:   Linda Greenfield                Music Director:  Carol Sawyer

Coffee Hour: JoAnne & Joanie

   

LOOKING AHEAD

            4/17     Prayer Shawl @ 1:00

4/17     Congregational pictures following the service – Smile!

            4/18     PNC meets at 8:00 a.m.

            4/19    Women’s Spirituality at 10:30

                        Great Figures of the New Testament meets at 7:00 p.m.

            4/24     Deacon’s meet following the morning service

            4/30     Jennifer Schirm’s Memorial Service @ 12:00

                    

PRAYER CARE:

For the people of Ukraine; Ralph Sawyer who continues to improve at home; Larry Koskela with Shingles;  Somer Bauer undergoing cancer treatments; Darlene Wingfield, Mary and Ray Swarthout, George and Joyce Sahlberg, and Margaret Dunbar dealing with declining health issues. Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and family near and far.

 

LECTIONARY For  4/24/22:

 

Acts 5:27-32 and Ps. 118:14-29 or Ps. 150 or 2 Kgs. 7:1-16 and Ps. 2; Rev. 1:4-8; John 20:19--31

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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