Opening Greeting
Pastor: Christ is risen!
Congregation: Indeed, He is risen!
Pastor: Hallelujah!
Congregation: Indeed, He is risen! Hallelujah!
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Responsive Easter Litany:
Pastor: How joyful it is, to celebrate the good news of God’s love!
All: We are called to be Easter people!
Pastor: Darkness cannot claim us!
All: Fear cannot bind us!
Pastor: Christ is Risen!
Congregation: Indeed, He is Risen!
Pastor: Hallelujah!
Congregation: Indeed, He is Risen! Hallelujah!
Gospel and Sermon Matthew 28.1-10
The Resurrection of Jesus
28 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.
5 But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ 8 So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’
Do not be afraid: believe, hope & love!
Christ is Risen!
Indeed, He is risen.
Hallelujah
Indeed, He is risen Hallelujah!
Happy Easter – Glaedelig paske!
It is not wonderful to be able to gather this glorious Easter morning and shout our faith out with sounding Hallelujahs!
With words that defy our knowledge and our reason, yes even gravity!
With words that sets out minds on things above. To believe. To hope. To love more.
WE can never say too many hallelujahs!
Hallelujah is an old mysterious word of faith. The word “hallelujah” translates to “God be praised!”
Today we gather to give praise and to believe, to let our hearts and minds look further.
Today we are called to look up, above our own nose tip and limited horizon, and look further to find hope. “We found love in a hopeless world,” Rihanna once sang – and Christianity is the hope that was found in a hopeless world; it is the light in the darkness; it is the love in a hateful time; it is a defiant faith that keeps telling us: do not be afraid: believe, love and hope.
We are here today, seated in this beautiful church built for worship and praise. It is a place of faith, hope and love. It is a place where we are called to look up and beyond. It is a place to remind us that we are part of a sacred story told by God.
So today, as we give praise and gather, let us go back in time to that very first Easter Sunday.
We just heard the story told by Matthew. How the women, the 2 Mary’s, in the early dawning of the day came to the tomb. Early on the first day of the week when everything was still dark, the world’s first preacher of the resurrection arrived at the tomb of Jesus. A woman. Let me repeat: a woman was the first preacher. Unaware of who she would find, who she could become, and what she would soon be compelled to proclaim and shout of into the world.
The dawning morning became a morning of change, earthquake, mystery, faith and defiant hope.
This is where the calling and the purpose often are born in our lives isn’t it: right in the darkest hour of our distress or grief or despair. The truth meets us and gives us hope. When we had come to lay our dreams to rest someone comes to wipe away our tears and ask: “Why are you weeping?”
She was weeping and we are weeping because life hurts. Even after that first glorious Easter Morning suffering and pain is still in the world. We still weep and doubt and worry and feat. Friends still have to say good bye. There are misunderstandings and missteps. There are valleys of deep darkness and shadows and sorrows. There are enemies. Life is still life. The living is still living.
But something monumental happened that first Easter morning when the women came to the grave. Something shifted in them. Hope and joy was bubbling in then as they ran and shouted: Hallelujahs!
Because the angel spoke to them about life.
Because the rock was rolled away.
Because they’d been weeping instead of sleeping for so long.
Because it was dawn and the first birds were up and singing.
Because he was their friend, their master and their Lord and he was not dead.
Because he spoke to them once again saying: Do not be afraid! Live! Believe! Love! Hope!
From that empty tomb, from that Easter Morning, Christianity was born. From that morning faith filled the gaps of our fears. That morning called them and us to give praise and not to be afraid.
Because we believe in light not darkness.
Because we believe in hope not despair.
Because we believe in love not hatred.
Because we believe in truth does not lie.
Because we believe in embraces and not in loneliness.
Indeed, He is Risen. Hallelujah!
The Ushers will now hand out a small Postcard for you.
It is an easter morning painting. The Resurrection by Arne Haugen Sorensen a profound Danish painter who at the tender age of 94 lives in Spain and DK… still painting and expressing his faith.
His colorful expressive arts adorn several churches in Denmark. But none as beautiful as this painting.
The first time I saw this painting it hit me like an earthquake. It was on a rainy summer day in the windy parts of Western Denmark – in Ringkøbing a small town marked by the roaring ocean, fishermen, faith and open horizons.
Ringkøbing Kirke is an old church, from the 14th century, right at the center of the small town. Built by big heavy bricks, wooden doors and soft colors.
And then the painting of Arne Haugen Sorensen. At the old altar it explodes with hope and presence. It almost feels like an earthquake when you see it the first time. Unexpected, Explosive. Expressive.
I almost felt like one of the women at the empty tomb, filled with hope and praise. Wanting to run back into life with hope.
Look at the painting.
Bold colors. Bold message. Red, yellow, blue and green. The black dark grave. The body. The gigantic hands of God reaching down, lifting up and carrying his child – in life and in death, yes even beyond death.
Arne Haugen Sorensen painted the painting in 1996. It is dedicated to his daughter Mathilde. He was painting this painting in the midst of his tragic loss of his daughter who was an drug addict. She was only 26 when she passed of an overdose – leaving her grieving parents and her small son. He painted his hope in a hopeless time of grief. It expressed his deepest darkest despair and his brightest hope.
It is a powerful statement of what faith is.
A hope that Gods living hands are carrying us even when life seems without meaning. Two giant hands embrace the small human being, carrying him or her out of the darkness.
We too live in times that seem meaningless and hopeless. We experience hardship, losses and despair. We struggle to find hope. WE struggle to curb our fear. We struggle to dare to believe. WE struggle to set our minds and our eyes beyond what we might know.
Look at the painting. When I first saw it in the old church it went straight to my heart. Arne Haugen writes about paintings.
“The Resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity and at the same time embracingly abstract and painstakingly concrete. You have to dare to walk into the simple message: Do not be afraid. Life is eternal. Accept that the hardest for us as modern people is to believe that somebody would care even for me and would embrace and greet me when life is over. Faith is a choice.”
So, the Easter message gives us hope for today and tomorrow. For this life and time. For life beyond death and eternity.
Do not be afraid!
This is the call of easter to us. That God will be there.
Look at the painting again.
The dove is flickering as a hope. The hands are lifting.
Maybe you are thinking about someone you lost and miss. See her or him in the loving hands, lifted, embraced and loved.
Maybe you feel like you are in a dark hole of despair and fear. Have faith that God will lift you, embrace you and love you.
Do not be afraid.
Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack, a crack in everything.
That is how the light gets in.
This is how Lenoard Cohen sings about hope in this song “Anthem.”
There is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in.
We do believe that light conquers darkness. We do believe that light is strong the darkness. We do believe that there is a crack in everything, even in our despair, in our fears, in our loneliness, in our death - there is a crack in everything that is where God lets light in.
So, believe, have faith, show love and let hope enlighten your days and ways.
It is Easter today so let us confess our faith with shouts of joy:
Indeed, He is Risen. Hallelujah!
Amen.