Easter Week- Luke 24; John 20

Lent, Holy Week, and Easter Sunday have come and gone. Christian preparation for Good Friday and Easter has passed. Celebration and rejoicing have reached a high point on Easter morning, and we have begun the 50 days of Easter joy.  Unfortunately, for many of us, during the rest of Easter week and even the whole season, it seems we crash. This tendency is understandable. We often exhaust ourselves with preparations and then lack the energy to enjoy the spiritual celebrations on the church calendar.

However, the fact is that Easter Week and the fifty days of Eastertide should be filled with spiritual rejoicing for individual believers and the body of believers. We should be freshly inspired by our Lord's Resurrection. So even if we take a brief pause to catch our breath, let us remain focused on our risen Lord in our thoughts and prayers.

The Traditional Books of Common Prayer offer us help to continue celebrating. The primary collect for Easter Sunday is to be said throughout the week. There are Eucharistic collects and readings for Easter Monday and Tuesday in BCPs from 1549-1962. The Anglican Missal and newer Prayer Books also provide propers for all of Easter Week. Hymnals contain numerous Easter hymns which may be read or sung as prayers of praise and thanksgiving. And as always, there are readings for the Daily Offices. 

So let us be filled with prayers and praises during the Easter Season. Our prayers of thanksgiving and rejoicing for Christ's Resurrection should be as devoted as our prayers of preparation and repentance! Christ is risen! Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

Lent VI, commonly called Palm Sunday- Matthew 21: 1-11; Matthew 27: 1-54

On this Sunday next before Easter, many Anglicans and other Christians read two gospel accounts-  Matthew 21: 1-11 (or Mark 11:1-11) and Matthew  27:1-54. Most contemporary Christians, even those who do not go in for historical church ceremonies,  know the Sunday before Easter as Palm Sunday.  And the Gospel account of people praising Jesus and waving or strewing palm branches is lovely and meaningful.  As believers, we certainly think that Jesus was/is the Christ and deserved/deserves to be honored as the great king humbly coming in peace. So reading the Palm Gospel is appropriate, and there is nothing inherently wrong with having a few leaves of palms or other leaves in the church in commemoration.

Unfortunately, there are problems associated with "Palm Sunday" from the first century onward. The crowd that praised Jesus did not really understand or appreciate Him. Five days later, some of the same people may have been yelling, "Crucify him." This sinful fickleness still applies to many people.

Furthermore, from about the 8th century, the medieval church got carried away with the ceremony of the Palms. It became more and more elaborate, and in the popular consciousness overshadowed the more ancient emphasis on the Passion Gospel. So it should not be surprising that in 1549 Archbishop Cranmer tried to shift the emphasis to the Passion of Christ. The ceremony of the Palms was abolished, and from 1549 through 1662, Anglican Prayer Books simply called the day "The Sunday next before Easter." Even under ritualist pressure, the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer remained subdued in calling the day "The Sunday next before Easter, commonly called Palm Sunday."

With the passage of time, we seem to see a repeat of medieval extravagance. Ceremonies, palm leaves, music, and processions have become more and more widespread and elaborate. And in many Anglican and other churches, these cute rites have come to overshadow the ancient and Reformation emphasis on Christ's Passion. While I do not advocate the abolition of the observance of Palm Sunday, I can see why Cranmer and other reformers did so. If we do wish to focus on Christ's triumphal entry, we should avoid too much pageantry, and we should relate this day to our Lord's Passion.

Palm Sunday as a Warning

Very often Palm Sunday is a beautiful observance. Whether there is a procession or not, there are likely to be palm branches ( or some local green substitute). A Gospel about Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem is likely to be read, and there are probably some rousing hymns or songs of praise. Christians of all sorts like to praise Jesus, and even many "nice" unbelievers don't mind joining in if it is a pretty spring morning.

Yet, in truth, sometimes we don't stop to consider the deeper meanings of the commemoration. Jesus comes as a peaceful and humble King to claim His throne, and the crowd seems to have a partial appreciation. They use Messianic titles and shout "Hosanna" which means "save now." This expression, Hosanna, is great, but we should beware. A crowd may have divergent views about what it means to be saved and differing understandings of what happens "now." Many in the crowd were looking for political salvation from Roman oppression, and they hoped that now- that Palm Sunday- the great Jewish Revolt was starting under the leadership of Jesus the Messiah.

They misunderstood. They had not really listened to or understood Jesus for a long time. They had overlooked the spiritual and moral implications of salvation. They did not see that "now" was a time of repentance and conversion, a time to choose a higher way. Now was a time of humility and suffering and sacrifice. It was not a time for a great military or political victory, but a time for victory over sin and death through cross and resurrection. And because of their misunderstanding and impatience, many members of that crowd may have been among another crowd that would soon shout "crucify him."

For us then, Palm Sunday is a warning. Although we have long heard the message and the story of Jesus, our understandings and applications are often incomplete. We tend to focus on great displays and worldly blessings just as the Jerusalem crowds did. And we want such things "now."
Therefore, let us focus on the spiritual dimensions of Palm Sunday and Holy Week. We need to understand the spiritual character of salvation through Christ. We need to be patient and see that the "now" of our salvation is to look to, understand, and have faith in Jesus as the deliverer who comes in the name of His heavenly Father.

Easter 2017

I often find myself a little lost for words about Easter. The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the overwhelming expression of divine power and grace in all human history. Sermons, hymns, and liturgies are important and humanly necessary responses, and yet they only scratch the surface. So for me, the reading of a resurrection Gospel and basic prayers of thanksgiving, including a simple early Communion service, make the point as well as the largest and most theatrical liturgies.

The Lord is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Thanks be to God. Alleluia!