WELCOME Thank you for coming! We're so glad you've chosen to worship with us today. This is a sacred time, as we gather in community to open our hearts to God. I invite you to light a candle, As our candles are lit here in our sanctuary, to remind us of God's presence with us, and to set aside this as a time of worship for you. First United Church of Christ and Conference Center is a church with full real life standing in the Eastern Association; Southern California Nevada Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC). And anyone you see with a "Minister" tag is an ordained UCC minister in real life. As we like to say, it's good to be real in Second Life! And as a UCC church, we'd like you to know that "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here." We're going to start the music, and run the announcements underneath. SONG OF PREPARATION "All That We Let In" - Indigo Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6sDR2bOuGE Our service will be in voice and text. Music will be on the media viewer, so be sure that you have media turned on. Please try not to touch the viewer, it just stops playing for everyone. There will be a link in Nearby Chat if you want to view the video in your own browser. If you would like a bulletin for today's service you can find it in the red binder in the back. If there are any other announcements about the life of the church, please type them in Nearby Chat at this time. Today we will celebrate Holy Communion, so you may wish to collect the elements to set your table wherever you are. Some bread, a cracker or cookie and something to drink. Bring whatever will help you feel closer to God. We practice an open table, and all are welcome to share this sacred meal with us. INTRODUCTION The lectionary reading for Easter gives us the last chapter of the Gospel according to Mark. There’s just one problem, It literally ends with a preposition, an unfinished sentence. We clean it up in the English translation. You may find verses in your Bible That go beyond Mark chapter 16 verse 8, But they were added much later. So for what happens later on that first Easter, After the open and empty tomb, We have to go to other sources. Tonight we’ll look at the account in Luke’s Gospel. But I have to say, Mark’s ending is somehow so appropriate, And it feels real, honest. It’s not tied up neatly in a bow, this story, Which means we are the ones who have to write the rest. It’s Easter. Let us begin. MARK 16:1-8a When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. “Blackbird” – The Beatles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Man4Xw8Xypo “A Disciple – Easter Day” We heard him say it We were there, Well some of us were, some distance away, but we heard him say it: “It is finished.” And we thought, “well, so are we.” But that was then, And now it seems It isn’t finished at all. What are we to do with that? Some of our number left for home. A few tried, quietly, discretely, To see what they could learn on the street. But most of us sat huddled in an upstairs room. With the door locked and barred. Paralyzed with fear. Waiting, for what would come next. LUKE 25:13-27 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. “Walk On” – U2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jRGngeoilo “Cleopas ” (adapted from Wild Goose Worship Group “Stages on the Way”) There were two of us, Walking together, Walking away from it all; Walking and talking, No . . . more than talking . . . Arguing, Arguing and almost falling out. We agreed on what had happened, We knew what had happened, We were there. But what did it mean? The kind of revolution we wanted Was not what we were given. And if he had set Israel free, Why was he not around To proclaim its liberation? So, it was good To have the company of a stranger, Who was as interested in current affairs as ourselves. It was good to have somebody Make sense of our confusion, Draw tighter the loose threads we had forgotten. Though it wasn’t until we sat down To share a meal That our confusion really ended, and his feeding of us began. LUKE 25:28-33a As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem . . . “Happy in the Sorrow Key” - Indigo Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_3VHglCDUg LUKE 25:33b-49 They found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you— that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” “Rise Up” – the Many https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUineyWWdk “It Happened One Easter” It isn’t finished. The disciples wanted a revolution for Israel, And barring that, at least closure. They got neither. Instead, they got an empty tomb, And more than they expected. The Greek word for “tomb” used in Mark’s Gospel Comes from the Greek word for memory, And the word we usually translate as “entrance” also means “door.” So when the women walking to the tomb ask: “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” They are literally asking: “Who will roll the stone away from the door to our memories?” So that we can remember him, Instead of the image of his lifeless body. So that we can remember hope. In Mark’ Gospel they meet someone who does just that, Someone who reminds them Jesus told them this would happen. That Jesus told them there would be death, and then resurrection, And then he would meet them again. Luke’s Gospel tells a similar story. Cleopas and his companion didn’t remember those teaching either, So they meet someone who reminds them. Then when Jesus shows up in the room where the disciples were holed up, He does it again, Opens their minds – re-minds them Of what they had forgotten. Celtic scholar John Philip Newell says that from the Celtic Christian perspective that is who Jesus is: The memory of what we have forgotten. We suffer from “soul’s forgetfulness,” And Christ comes to reawaken us to our true nature as beloved of children of God, To remind us of hope and love and joy, To remind us that the root and core of our very being, And indeed of everything in creation, Is the light of God. And this, says UCC pastor Mary Luti, Is the true meaning of our sacrament of holy communion. We talk about communion as a meal of remembrance, Which it is, After all Jesus says, “do this in remembrance of me.” But that doesn’t mean we are reminiscing, Like we would at a funeral reception Over little finger sandwiches and cookies. In the original Greek, the word for remembrance is stronger, edgier “anamnesis” which literally means “against amnesia.” Against – amnesia Amnesia – forgetting – is our adversary. And this meal we call holy communion, or the Eucharist, Is how we combat that adversary. “It’s not reminiscence,” Luti says, “it’s resistance.” It’s not just remembering, It’s refusing to forget. Refusing to forget hope. Refusing to forget joy. Refusing to forget what Jesus commanded us when he gave us this meal: To love one another. There are forces around us that want us to forget: Forget who we are, Who we were created by God to be, Forget who Jesus is and what he promised us, Forget we even knew him, Forget what those forces arrayed against us Have been up to in our world. Destroying, killing or squeezing the life out of everything, For profit or power. Those forces hung Jesus up on a cross, Thinking it was finished, And would all be forgotten. The disciples bought into that narrative, They thought it was finished too. And it was through the breaking of the bread, That they remembered. And realized that it wasn’t over, not even close. Jesus would be sending them out, Out of their locked upper room, Out into the world. To remind others. The forces of amnesia are still at it, Their tactics subtle and relentless. If we forget, they win, and they can tell us anything they want, And we won’t know what is truth, Because we will have forgotten what we knew Of the one who is the truth, And the way, and the life, And what he showed us about God and about ourselves. About love. “In the vacuum of forgetting,” Luti says, “injustice has it easy, violence rules the day.” But Jesus gave us this meal, Not just so we will remember, but so we will never forget. This makes the sacrament of holy communion, So much more than eating a little bread and drinking a little from a cup. It‘s a dangerous memory, an uprising even. It’s not the revolution the disciples wanted, but it’s the revolution we need. At the Table we take a stand. We remember him. We remember each other. We remember everyone hate erases. We remember joy. Because in the words of the poet Toi Derricotte: “Joy is an act of resistance” too, And we refuse to forget. Amen. SHARING GOD’S TABLE (parts adapted from Maren Tirabassi) For Holy Communion this evening, I invite you to lend Christ your table, as the woman with the Upper Room, lent him the Passover table, and two friends from Emmaus welcomed to their table one they thought was a stranger. Lend Christ your table, your bread, your cup and your open heart. Invite you to hold your hands over the elements you have gathered As we bless them. Host of our salvation and Visitor to our lives, send your transforming power upon this bread and your freely given love upon this cup. May they re-mind us of the joy of resurrection hope. Risen Christ, live in us that we may live in you. Amen Take the bread on your table. Hold it in your hand. Feel it’s weight. It is as real and tangible as the hands and feet of Christ When he appeared to his disciples that first Easter evening. And we remember the time Jesus took the brehis table And giving thanks, he blessed it and broke it, and shared it saying, “This is my body, given for you. Take, eat, and remember.” The bread in your hand is blessed, and broken, a meal of grace. Let us share it together. [eat the bread] Sharing love we will never be hungry. Now take the cup you have on your table, As we remember the cup of wine Jesus took after the evening meal, That he shared with his disciples, his closest friends, Saying, “this is the cup of the new covenant. Drink, and as often as you drink, remember me.” This cup from your table is blessed, like the overflowing of tears and joy. Let us share this cup of blessing together. [drink from your cup] Drinking deeply we will never thirst. Let us pray. O Holy One, we come to you with lilies and tears, with personal Alleluias we whisper that soar like the greatest choir. We claim the resurrection for those we love who are tenderly sheltered in your arms and name the resurrection as your invitation to all the weary, all those who need healing, all who need hope. We pause for a moment to lift them to you in silent prayer. MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER May our lives become your table in all the world. May we never forget love, joy, hope. And may this meal shared this Easter Give us the nourishment to embody your Resurrection, with love, joy, and hope In our lives and in our world. Amen. BLESSING “Seen - A Blessing for Easter Day” – Jan Richardson You had not imagined that something so empty could fill you to overflowing, and now you carry the knowledge like an awful treasure or like a child that curls itself within your heart: how the emptiness will bear forth a new world you cannot fathom but on whose edge you stand. So why do you linger? You have seen, and so you are already blessed. You have been seen, and so you are the blessing. There is no other word you need. There is simply to go and tell. There is simply to begin. I invite you to either turn your microphone on and speak the traditional response in voice or type it in nearby chat: Christ has risen! Christ has risen indeed! “This Joy” – Resistance Revival Chorus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TbDPwA09Bc