Show Notes
He is risen indeed! Let us celebrate that because of Easter, everything has changed.
Nuance’s Formed for Formation is a weekly liturgy to encourage all of us to be faithful to Christ in the public square. Join Case Thorp as he follows the Church calendar through the reading of Scripture, prayer, and short reflections on faith in all facets of public life.
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Episode Transcript
He is risen indeed! Those words proclaimed by Christians around the world this weekend continue to echo in this first week of Easter, as we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Savior. May they continue to stir in our hearts reverence and rejoicing and serve as a hope and a promise that whatever situations and circumstances we may face, His resurrection power is available to us in them.
A reading from Isaiah chapter 65 beginning in verse 17:
“See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
“Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain,
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
they and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
I like the fact that Easter Sunday does not fall on a set date every year like Christmas. It’s variable, landing on the first Sunday following the first full moon in spring reminds us that this history shaping and history breaking event isn’t just an annual observation, something to be recognized once a year before we move on, but a reality, a reality for us to acknowledge any and every day. We live each day as Easter people, as a Christian conference in England was called some years ago. Doing so means that we go out into our everyday worlds as business owners, managers, teachers, students, tradespeople, doctors, receptionists, and more. We go out with a life-changing conviction. It’s this: that because of Easter, everything has changed. The old has gone and the new is coming. The future can be different because the past has been dealt with. We don’t ignore or minimize this pain and the suffering that continues. But together with the prophet Isaiah, we look forward to a time when they are over. God’s intention, we see in this passage, is for a community marked by joy, one where the lives of the youngest and the oldest matter, where people prosper, enjoying their homes and the fruits of their labor. And we have a part to play in bringing this about as stewards of his gifts and resources wherever he places us, be that in the corner office with a great view or at the bench in the shipping department. Our hope is not in our own abilities, but in his grace and goodness, supremely evidenced at Easter when once and for all, Jesus broke the power of sin and death. That is the good news we celebrate, not just on Easter Sunday, not just this week, but each and every day. He is risen indeed. And because of that, everything can change.
And now select verses from the 118th Psalm.
1
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2
Let Israel say:
“His love endures forever.”
14
The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
15
Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
16
The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
17
I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
18
The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19
Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20
This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.
21
I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23
The Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
24
The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
Let us pray along with missionary John Burge.
We are often not the Easter people that we should be. Distracted by the world around us, we fail to hear your voice, or hide when faith is challenged as we wander off the path. Forgive us, we pray. Restore the love that we first had, a faith that can endure. We will keep our eyes fixed on you, Lord, and with you at our right hand, we shall not be shaken. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
And now I’m reading from the book of Acts chapter 10 verses 34 to 43:
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
