Tag Archives: resurrection

Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

16th Sunday after Trinity

September 24, 2023 AD

Old Testament: I Kings 17: 17-24
Epistle: Ephesians 3: 13-21
Gospel: Luke 7:11-17

 

Then [Jesus] came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Saint Luke 7:14, 15

We read in the Gospel for this Lord’s Day, “Jesus went to a town called Nain and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.” The city of Nain was about five miles southeast of Nazareth where Jesus had grown up in the home of Mary His mother and His foster father Joseph. It’s also not far from Mount Tabor which is thought to be the place of Christ’s transfiguration. The city of Nain survives to the present day as a village called in Arabic Nein. It seems that the name Nain was taken from a Hebrew word which means pleasant, delightful and Nain does have a fine view of the Plain of Esdraelon and there is a spring that makes possible groves of olive and fig trees.

But as Jesus and His disciples and the great crowd approach the gates of the city they encounter an utterly familiar, completely ordinary scene: a scene experienced by countless people countless times every day in every part of this fallen world. A funeral procession of mourners, a body being carried to the grave. But what then happens is utterly OUT of the ordinary because this procession to the grave is met by another procession: a procession of life consisting of Jesus’ disciples and a great crowd and Jesus with them. THIS procession is a procession of LIFE because Jesus is the Lord of Life who said, “I AM the resurrection and the life, the one who believes in me — though he were dead — yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in ME shall never die.” And those WORDS are not JUST words! They come to life as the Lord of Life has compassion on the widow following the dead body of her only Son to the grave. You might say that here these two processions collide, the procession of death and the procession of life — and LIFE triumphs! JESUS who IS the resurrection and the life triumphs!”

“Do not weep” He says to that sorrowing mother. He goes and He touches the bier “and the bearers stand still. ‘Young man, I say to you, ARISE!’” says Jesus and the dead man and begins to speak “and Jesus gives him to his mother.”

Jesus not only GIVES life. Jesus IS the Life just as He says, “I AM the way, the Truth, AND THE LIFE…I AM the resurrection and the life.” To this fallen, death-bound world the One who IS LIFE has come. In dying He DESTROYS death and in rising from the dead He bestows everlasting life not only on us human beings but on the whole death- bound creation. For the Apostle Paul says that — in a way we cannot now even dimly imagine — “CREATION ITSELF will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.” And in his vision while exiled on Patmos, Saint John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, saw a NEW heaven and a NEW earth where there are no tears, neither sorrow nor crying for — as John writes — “the former things have passed away.” I love those memorable words of the late Vladimir Lossky: “An infinite ocean of light flows from the body of the risen Lord.” “AN OCEAN OF LIGHT FLOWS FROM THE BODY OF THE RISEN LORD.”

“From the BODY of the risen Lord” because HIS body is the body of God the Son who IS Light and Life from all eternity, made FLESH of the virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit. I love the words of one of the great FATHERS of the Church, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, when he explains the meaning of Jesus’ touching the bier which held the corpse of the young man. Saint Cyril says:

“The Lord Jesus works the miracle NOT ONLY by WORD of mouth, but also by TOUCHING the bier — so that we may know that the sacred BODY of Christ has power to save mankind. For it is the Body of the One who is LIFE and the FLESH of the omnipotent Son and Word of the Father whose power it possesses. For as iron applied to fire will do the work of fire, so FLESH, after it has been united with the WORD who gives life to all things, ALSO becomes LIFE GIVING and a banisher of death.”

And how wonderful it is that this LIFE-giving Body of Christ is mysteriously yet truly given to be our Food in the Sacrament of the Altar. Christ’s BODY is LIFE-giving Food, Christ’s BLOOD is LIFE-giving drink: the Medicine of Immortality, the Pledge of the resurrection.

So there before the gates of Nain the procession of LIFE collided with the procession of DEATH – and LIFE TRIUMPHED! REMEMBER that EVERY LORD’s DAY is a little Easter because ON this day the Lord rose from the dead. And because of the Gospel read today, we are on this Sunday perhaps more conscious of this than we usually are. Just as EASTER is the glorious triumphant CROWN of the Christian YEAR so also EVERY Sunday is the CROWN of the week. On THIS day Christ speaks His WORD OF LIFE. On this day Christ who IS LIFE gives Himself to us in that wonderful Sacrament of Life and Love. The ancient Christians knew and understood this in a wonderful way and nothing could keep them from coming to receive their risen Lord and Savior in the Holy Mysteries of His LIFE-giving Body and Blood! How WONDERFUL it would be if we Christians in these gray and latter days could recover this joyful consciousness of EVERY DAY as the DAY of Life and Light, the DAY of the Savior’s resurrection!

Amen

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Our Saviour Parish News, April, 2023



OUR SAVIOUR LUTHERAN CHURCH

3301 The Alameda
Baltimore, MD 21218
410.235.9553
April, 2023

PALM SUNDAY—APRIL 2; DISTRIBUTION AND PROCESSION OF PALMS AND DIVINE SERVICE, 11:00 AM
MAUNDY THURSDAY—APRIL 6; DIVINE SERVICE AND STRIPPING OF THE ALTAR, 7:30 PM
GOOD FRIDAY—APRIL 7; THE LITURGY OF GOOD FRIDAY, 7:30 PM
EASTER EVE—APRIL 8; THE EASTER VIGIL AND THE FIRST HOLY EUCHARIST OF EASTER, 7:3O PM
EASTER DAY—APRIL 9; FESTIVAL DIVINE SERVICE, 11:00 AM

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Once again we stand at the threshold of that week in which the Church throughout the world celebrates the memory of the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. At the approach of Easter there come to mind the memorable words of Walter Kuenneth (1900–1997) in the preface to the second edition of his book, The Theology of the Resurrection. The first edition had been published in 1933, the year when Hitler came to power, the second edition in 1951 after Germany and the world had suffered the consequences of Hitler’s rise to power in all the misery and terrors of the Second World War. Kuenneth’s words continue to speak the truth also in our day:

The course of history, as it has so terribly disclosed itself to us, can only be a confirmation of the Christian insight that all mankind is trembling on the brink of destruction and groaning under the tyranny of death. In this dark night of the world there is only one single source of light: the joyful news, “Christ is risen!”

Easter Day is the very heart and center of the Christian year, the day when every Christian will be present in the House of God to meet the risen Lord in the Holy Sacrament of His body and blood.

In addition to the Holy Week services at Our Saviour there will again be a Good Friday Tre Ore Service from 12:00–3:00 PM at Bethlehem Church, 4815 Hamilton Avenue. Come when you can, leave when you must.

Palm Sunday is the deadline for ordering Easter lilies which this year cost $16.00. Be sure to enclose with your check the names of those you wish to remember or honor.

I think that the Lenten soup suppers were much enjoyed and want to thank those who prepared and served them: Bernie Knox, Merton Masterson, Gabe Purviance, Mary and Paul Techau, Jean and Wayne West. The offerings at the soup suppers will help to provide ALDI gift certificates at Thanksgiving and Christmas for needy families connected with the Waverly School. Do remember to bring items for the GEDCO food pantry and for the Helping Up Mission.

Some necessary work on the organ has been completed ahead of schedule; the result is very pleasing. After careful study and reflection, the Church Council is planning on moving forward with still more improvements to the organ. And the floors in the education building were recently cleaned by professional cleaners. I think that our property has been well cared for down through the years; it remains a continuing challenge.

Our Sunday morning Bible class has completed its study of the First Letter of Peter. We have begun a study of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Come join us! But note that the Bible class will not meet on Easter Day.

This year’s Saint Mark’s Conference will take place April 24–25. The theme of this year’s Conference is The Praying Church. Although primarily intended for pastors, everyone is welcome to attend. More information on the Conference can be found at our website: oursaviourbaltimore.org.

On Sunday, April 30, Redeemer Church at 4211 Vermont Avenue in Irvington will celebrate its 125th Anniversary with Divine Service at 5:00 PM followed by dinner. If you will stay for dinner, be sure to email church@redeemerlutheranbaltimore.org.

We continue to remember in our prayers James Bauman, Louis Bell, Dana Carmichael, Maggie Doswell, Qulla Downs, Albert Ford, Frank Ford, Iris Ford, Yolanda Ford, Helen Gray, Queenie Hardaway, Gloria Jones, Althea Masterson, Mary Mokris, Julia Silver, Lawrence Smallwood, George Volkman, Dennis Watson, Gary Watson, Jean West, Wayne West. Maggie Doswell continues to recover at Cadia Healthcare, 4922 LaSalle Road in Hyattsville, MD 20782. Yolanda Ford remains at Future Care, 1046 North Point Road, Baltimore, MD 21224; Louis Bell at Autumn Lake Healthcare, 7 Sudbrook Road, Pikesville, Md 21208; Queenie Hardaway at Augsburg Village, 6825 Campfield Road 21207.

If you are unable to come to church but still wish to receive the Sacrament, email me at charlesmcclean42@gmail.com or call me at (410) 554–9994. And please do not hesitate to contact me if you need a ride to church. I hope that those who are able to come to church will do so, especially during Holy Week and on Easter Day. It is in fact the Lord Christ Himself who invites you to meet Him as He comes in the preaching of His Word and in the Sacrament of His body and blood. When He so graciously invites us, how can we fail to respond with gladness?

Affectionately in our Lord,

Pastor McClean