Melton Team Parish Vicar's reflective Worship

Welcome to a time of Reflective Worship

Blessed are You, O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In Your great mercy You have given us new birth into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
(1 Peter 1:3)

Alleluia, Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Opening prayer

God of glory, by the raising of Your Son
You have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill Your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned 
and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

One of the Collects for Easter Sunday

We say or sing...

1. Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia.
our triumphant holy day, Alleluia.
who did once, upon the cross, Alleluia.
suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia.

2. Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia.
unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia.
who endured the Cross and grave, Alleluia.
sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia.

3. But the pains that He endured, Alleluia.
our salvation have procured; Alleluia.
now above the sky He's King, Alleluia.
where the angels ever sing. Alleluia.


Surrexit Christus hodie
Anonymous Latin, Lyra Davidica (1708), Compleat Psalmodist (1749 Arnold) Charles Wesley (1707-88)

Jesus Christ is risen today - sung by St Martin’s Voices

Bible reading

Before reading and reflecting on today's Gospel reading, let's pause to pray:
Lord, open our eyes - that we may see Jesus. Amen.

Mark 16: 1 - 8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

For the word of the Lord: thanks be to God.

Reflection

“Trembling and bewildered…afraid…”.
After more than a year of Covid-19 fears and restrictions, that’s how many people in the UK are feeling as lockdown is gradually lifted. Particularly for those of us who’ve been classified as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘shielding’, the thought of emerging though open doors into a strange and now unfamiliar world can engender sensations of, on the one hand, happy anticipation, relief, expectation of ‘getting back to normal’… while on the other hand, there are gut-feelings of tension, nervousness, trepidation … It’s been a distressing and traumatic time. “Re-entry anxiety” - that’s what psychologists are calling this confusion about the changes that we all have to navigate as we adjust to ‘a new normal’.

“Trembling and bewildered…afraid…”.
After watching helplessly as their beloved Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tortured and crucified, His friends were emotionally drained and traumatised. Their hopes were dead and buried with Jesus. Yes, we may recall that Jesus had tried to teach the disciples that He would suffer, be killed and rise again - but they just didn’t understand, they couldn’t take it literally, assuming He was talking in riddles. So, on that first Easter morning they did not get up early in order to witness the resurrection. On the contrary, they had come to undertake the sad but necessary task of anointing a battered and bloodied dead body. The open entrance of tomb was the last thing they expected or wanted to see. What they found gave them the shock of their lives - and it left them speechless.

“Trembling and bewildered…afraid…”.
This is the natural reaction of human beings to very difficult and traumatic experiences. It’s not surprising that many of us feel anxious in our present times and circumstances - and we shouldn’t feel guilty about it! Nor should we be at all surprised that those first followers of Jesus were confused and alarmed as they adjusted to the sight of an open empty tomb and the news that Jesus had risen. 

Perhaps today our own senses have become dulled to the astonishing message of Christ’s resurrection because we’ve heard it so often and we expect that a ‘Happy Easter’ is something that happens automatically. But that’s as unreal as the Easter Bunny, whereas the Resurrection of Jesus is the most earth-shattering, mind-blowing event in history. Notice that in this passage from Mark’s Gospel, the women did not actually meet the risen Jesus. They heard about Him from the angelic messenger, they received with their ears the words, ‘He has risen!’ but they hadn’t yet encountered Him in the ‘new normal’ of His risen life. The truth of the resurrection and its implications for Christ’s followers dawned on them more and more fully in the coming days; they were eyewitnesses to the fact. Then the sure and certain hope of eternal life through Him spread from a single spark to a multitude of living flames.

You and I cannot meet with Jesus, see Him and touch Him, in the same way that the first disciples did in the 40 days between Christ’s Resurrection and His Ascension. However, thanks to the gift of His Spirit, we can encounter His presence in our midst, we can enter into a relationship of faith and trust in Him which enables us to hold in the same focus the reality of crucifixion, of suffering and its ensuing trauma and the veracity of the resurrection, of life beyond death. As Pete Greig puts it in his book God on Mute: “Good Friday (when we don’t know why the darkness is prevailing) and Holy Saturday (when we don’t know where God has gone) give way like the winter to the summer. Easter Sunday comes and we, of all people, become messengers of hope”.

Let's say or sing prayerfully...

1. Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

2. In the grave they laid Him, Love whom men had slain,
thinking that He never would awake again,
laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

3. Forth He came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for the three days in the grave had lain,
back from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

4. When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
then Your touch can call us back to life again,
fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

John Macleod Campbell Crum (1872-1958)
© Oxford University Press

Now the green blade rises - sung by St Martin’s Voices

Prayers of intercession

Heavenly Father, with all Your people in heaven and on earth, we rejoice and give thanks that Jesus who died upon the cross has been raised to life eternal, victorious over sin and death. And we pray that Your whole Church may faithfully proclaim this Easter message. We pray for every member of our churches: increase our faith, dear Lord, deepen our love for You and for one another, and empower us to share with others the Good News of Christ’s resurrection. Lord of life: in Your mercy, hear us.

Living Lord, vanquisher of sin, bring Your message of peace to a world torn apart by bitterness and violence: peace among nations, especially thinking of on-going conflicts around the world today…; peace in the face of terrorism and tyranny wherever it rears its ugly head…; peace between peoples of differing race, creed and culture - in our own country and globally. We pray for Your peace in the hearts of people everywhere, casting out pride and arrogance, greed and selfishness. Lord of life: in Your mercy, hear us.

Lord, we pray for our leaders in Parliament and locally… Please guide those continuing to work to overcome the detrimental effects of the Coronavirus on physical and mental health, on education and the economy, on relationships and the wellbeing of all men, women and children of ages. And we pray that the presence of the Risen Christ might be known more and more in our own homes and hearts. Lord of life: in Your mercy, hear us.

Look mercifully, dear Lord, upon all who are in pain: we name before You now in the silence of our hearts those we know and care for who are  suffering in whatever way today… We pray that the light and joy of Easter might dispel their darkness and sorrow. We pray too for people we don’t know personally but whose pain is brought to our attention through the news media: those enduring famine, poverty, homelessness or modern-day slavery; refugees and asylum seekers; those oppressed by addiction, or depression and anxiety; and those who are persecuted because of their Christian faith. Lord of life: in Your mercy, hear us.

Father in heaven, we remember before You in the light of Christ’s resurrection those dear to us who have died… May those facing death at this time, and those who mourn, have faith and trust that Christ has broken the power of death and opened to us the gate of glory. Lord of life: in Your mercy, hear us.

The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, 
hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done;  on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.  Amen.

We say or sing...

1. The day of resurrection,
Earth, tell it out abroad!
the passover of gladness,
the passover of God!
From death to life eternal,
from earth up to the sky,
our God has brought us over
with hymns of victory.

2. Our hearts be pure from evil,
that we may see aright
the Lord in rays eternal
of resurrection light;
and, listening to His accents,
may hear, so calm and plain,
His own 'All hail!' and, hearing
may raise the victor strain.

3. Now let the heavens be joyful,
and earth her song begin,
the round world keep high triumph,
and all that is therein;
let all things seen and unseen
their notes of gladness blend,
for Christ the Lord is risen,
our joy that has no end.


Anastaseos hemera
John of Damascus (c.675-749) translated John Mason Neale (1818-1866)

The day of resurrection - sung by St Martin’s Voices

Closing prayer

May God the Father, by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead, strengthen us by His Spirit to walk with Him in His risen life.  Amen.

Conclusion

Let us remain in the peace of Christ. Alleluia!
Thanks be to God.  Alleluia!

The Revd Dr Mary Barr           Melton Mowbray Team Vicar