Five Days that Changed a Life

It is Easter Sunday.  The day is almost over and tomorrow classes begin once again.  Tomorrow I go back  to my normal routine of reading, writing and classes. Yet, I will never forget the past five days.  Prior to arriving at CDSP, the word Triduum was not in my vocabulary. It was not something that I would ever have thought I would use in a sentence, let alone write a blog post about.  But once again I have been proven wrong.

Holy week, beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter Sunday has always been a special time. The celebration of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the parade around church properties singing "All Glory Laud and Honor" followed by Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday.  This year though it has special meaning.  It is probably the last year when I won't be required to work in a parish.  This is the last time that I will be allowed to worship as a member of the congregation rather than as a member of the altar party.  With that in mind, a fellow student, Twila and I decided to ask around the seminary community which parishes had the best service for each of the days.  We got varying answers but many people could agree on certain churches. With that information, we decided to plot out our plan of attack, beginning on Wednesday.

My grandmother, Catherine, passed away last year on April 15 and she had always spoken of the Tenebrae service she attended at her church.  I had never attended one so we decided to start there on Wednesday night at St. Mark's Church in Berkeley.  It was a moving service with lots of chanting and ending in darkness.  During the service I listened intently and could feel my grandmother looking down from heaven.  It was pretty moving for me.

Maundy Thursday we went back to St. Mark's again for their service.  During this service, the priests washed the feet of the parishioners just as Jesus had done for his disciples over 2000 years ago.  I have been to these services in the past and knew what to expect even still St. Mark's service was touching. I have never gone forward to have my feet washed and I am still trying to understand the practice.  After the foot washing the entire church was stripped bear and we all left in darkened silence.

Thursday night an altar of repose was set up in the chapel and seminarians took turns praying in the chapel.  I prayed from 6:30 - 7:30 am and spent much time in mediation and contemplation.  In my life, the time was a great respite from the hustle and bustle of life.  My hour of prayer was followed by morning prayer at 7:30.

For Good Friday, we were told to go to St Mary's in San Francisco.  During this service I was moved to tears.  It was a service like I have never attended.  After the gospel was read, the cross was carried in church and laid on the floor at the base of the altar.  In our bulletins, we were given a piece of paper to write something we wished to pray for.  We then took turns walking to the cross, kneeled down, prayed and placed our paper at the base of the cross.  While this practice was something I had seen before in other settings, I never seen it done during a Good Friday service.  After everyone had placed their prayers at the foot of the cross, the choir sang an anthem.  These are the words:

Rest well, you sacred limbs,

for which I no longer weep - - 

rest well,

and bring me also to my rest.

The grave that is allotted to you,

and contains no further suffering,

opens heaven for me and shuts off hell.

For me, I finally had prayer for something that I have been burdened with and carried for many years.  It was a time to leave them at the foot of the cross and then to hear the choir sing the words, Rest well, you sacred limbs, for which I no longer weep were more than I could take.  It was like a damn had broken and I was freed.  I will never forget that night or that place as a place where I was able to let go of the guilt I carried for far too long.

  

Saturday is the Easter Vigil.  Third and final service of the Triduum.  This service begins where the Good Friday service ends and by the end of the service marks the beginning of Easter.  It is when the light of Christ is brought back into the church after having been extinguished on Thursday night.  For the Vigil, we went to St. Gregory's.  St. Gregory's is a church like no other.  All I can say is that if you are ever in San Francisco, you need to worship at St Gregory's at least once.  The service began at 8:00 pm and was over at 11:15.  Twila and I had to quickly leave in order to catch the last bus back to Berkeley.  

Today for Easter, we decided to try Christ Church, a church of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the anglican church of Japan.  The service was in English but the majority of the congregation is of Japanese descent.  It was a wonderfully moving service with two baptisms.  From there we decided to have a Easter feast of Sushi and then take the bus back to Berkeley.

Something changed our minds though.  We felt called to witness another Easter service though.  It was during this second Easter service, that I know I met the Risen Christ.  I have spoken about Open Cathedral in the past but today was different.  In the heart of San Francisco on a small walkway between a federal building and another building, about 75 people mainly homeless gathered to celebrate Easter.  Here among the people that most of society would call "the least of these" I witnessed community like no other.  We sang praise songs, heard a sermon that felt like I had stepped into a revival, and then broke bread.  During the entire service, some people walked up to join us, other got scared by the looks of the people and turned the other way, and yet others merely walked by as if nothing was happening.  Yet, as we worshipped and prayed, the members of that congregation poured out their hearts for all the people who have less then them.  A group of homeless men and women praying for others.  There was not one ounce of pity among them.  In fact they were praising God that they were alive and doing well.  I wish that I could have just one tenth of the grace and kindness that they had.  If more of the population could model their behavior, the world would be a much better place.  I left that service knowing that Christ is alive in well in that small part of San Francisco.

This morning, during the baptisms, we renewed our baptismal covenant.  In those covenants, we are asked to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ, seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves and strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.  Although I am tired from attending these services, I am also leaving Holy Week refreshed.  Refreshed because I have a newfound strength for my personal call.  A call that I feel is to help Christians everywhere live into the Baptismal Covenant that we make with God.  But I know that I can't do this alone and for that I answer my call with the same answer we give to our baptismal covenant, I will, with God's help.

May you all have a Blessed Eastertide!

Jesus Triumphant Entry

The Liturgy of the Palms

Today marks the beginning of holy week, a time when we hear the stories and walk with Jesus on the path to his crucifixion and resurrection.  The reading from Mark that began this morning’s service tells of Jesus preparation and entry into Jerusalem.  In some translations of the bible, this story is entitled Jesus triumphant entry.  This title has always puzzled me, what is so triumphant about it?

Two different takes on this story include Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar and our own entry into the santuary this morning.  In Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus enters a town with crowds of people walking around him shouting Hosanna and waving palm fronds.  It is a joyous and raucous parade.   Similarly, we began this service commemorating the entry into Jerusalem by reading marks gospel story, blessing our palms and then parading around the church singing, All glory laud and honor.  In it, we sang the words, “thou art the king of Israel, thou David’s royal son, who in the Lord’s name comest, the king and blessed one.”  The whole sequence of events this morning is an indication of how the church celebrates Jesus entry. We read the words of Mark telling of Jesus entry and then as a congregation, we act upon those words.  We move out into the world in procession before returning to the church to continue the celebration.  During OUR celebration, we recognize that Jesus is entering Jerusalem as the Messiah, the King.  The long awaited savior has arrived and His time has come.  Yet, this celebration is short lived because immediately afterward this point, we read the entire passion story ending with Jesus death on a cross. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, I want to stay in Palm Sunday.  Because Holy Week has only just begun.

What must it have been like to be present when Jesus entered Jerusalem? For just a few minutes, let’s think about that. 

You are in Jerusalem, a city occupied by the Romans, THE imperial power.  It is Passover, a time when many people are making pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  A time when the people commemorate the exodus from slavery, it is a celebration of freedom and redemption. You are peasants standing on a dirt road outside the city walls.  In the distance you see people running into the street to meet a large group of people, probably another group of pilgrims. It seems this isn’t a normal group though.  You begin to hear people whispering comments, comments you strain to hear, but can’t.  Slowly you begin to recognize that leading the group is a man.  This man isn’t walking though, he is riding on a colt, possibly a young donkey so small that the man’s feet are dragging on the ground.  You are confused, why a colt, a symbol of peace?  As the group of people nears, the excitement continues to build.  You see other people running from the fields and placing palm fronds on the ground in front of him.  Still others are removing their cloaks and placing them on the ground in front of the group.  Your cloak is your identity, a part of who you are.  Is this man royalty?  Only kings get this type of greeting.  Finally the group is close enough that you see the man on the colt in the center.  He is not royalty, He is dirty and wearing only a tunic.  You can’t make out what he is saying or doing but you now can understand what the crowd is saying.  They are shouting, Hosanna, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David. Hosanna in the highest heaven.  Again something is strange, the crowd is singing songs, typical of the pilgrims heading to the temple.   As the procession nears you, you have a decision to make?  Should I remove my cloak and place it on the road?  Why are the people shouting Hosanna? Do you recognize whom this person is that is riding into town on a colt?

Today’s liturgy of the palms is about just that.  Recognizing the person coming into town on a colt.  How do WE recognize the face of Jesus?  Jesus triumphant entry is as much about Jesus entering the city of Jerusalem as it is about the reaction of the people.  They were treating Jesus as royalty, a king.  The people on the road into Jerusalem gave of themselves in order to praise Jesus not knowing what would happen next.  They gave of themselves expecting nothing in return.  Just like the peasants on the road put down their cloaks and palms, we too are called to do the same.  We are called to give of ourselves.   This giving takes many different forms.  For some it is service to an underserved population, to others it can be performing random acts of kindness, and yet to others it can be paying a good deed forward.   It is in this selfless giving that we are closest to the people of Jerusalem that day.  For the people of Jerusalem, cloaks were precious property.  What are our cloaks, the things we wrap our identities it.  As we begin our holy week walk with Jesus, I leave you with question,

Would you take off your cloak and lay it on the road?  Throughout this Holy Week,  What does it mean to lay our identities at the foot of Christ?

Jay Walton, 4/2/2012, Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Pacific School of Religion

Fear and Phobia conquered

First off let me apologize for the lack of posts this semester.  It has to been for lack of trying.  I did something this semester that I thought would be challenging but never anticipated how crazy it would make me.  I am currently taking five classes and auditing a sixth.  What makes it crazy is that all six classes require me to do the work for each class.  This means that on average I am in class 16 hours per week and then doing an additional 40 hours of work outside of class, plus I am also working about 10 hours per week in my work study job on campus.  Needless to say, I am starting to feel burnt out.

I am taking six classes for a reason though.  It isn't just for fun.  Let me explain.

As a second year M.Div student, we are required to work in a parish for 10 - 12 hours per week.  During that field ed, I will be exposed to all aspects of life in a parish.  This includes preaching and I had never done that.  Typically, a student takes an intro to preaching (homiletics) during the fall term second year, but next year the homiletics professor is on sabbatical so there will not be a class offered.  I was concerned about not having a homiletics class so I looked around for something this spring.  I found a class on Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary.  This class is a 4000 level third year class but I asked the professor if I could audit the class.  She graciously accepted me with one condition, I would be required to do all the work.  After much thought, I said if I'm doing the work I might as well take it for credit and thus my sixth class was born.

But the story doesn't end there.  As many of you know, I love to get up on my soapbox and express my opinions on things, but in reality, I am deathly afraid of preaching.  I have never preached in front of a congregation before.  So I took this class to try to get over my fear of preaching.

I am glad to say that after this morning, I now have written and preached a sermon, not in front of a congregation, but in front of a class.  It is a start.

If you are interested, I will post the sermon shortly.