Posted By RichC on April 12, 2009
I’ve been looking for a few new ways to focus on Easter, so thought I’d take advantage of the Internet to gain new perspective. I started with listening to a bit of Glenn Beck audio with Pink Floyd as the music (seemed a strange choice) and finished up by reading a few newspaper articles. It seems pastors planning their messages are focusing in different ways, some traditional and some recognizing their congregations are facing “fears and doubts” in this recession. No doubt it is a challenging economy for many. An article in the Chicago Tribune focused on that topic. (article text included below)
Happy Easter.
Resurrection pastors rely on Mark to tell Easter story
By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune reporter
April 12, 2009
When pastors gaze upon their flocks after sunrise on Sunday, many will see congregations cast in shadows—haunted by diminishing investments and the prospect of losing jobs and homes.
Amid this fear and doubt, the clergy must lead the faithful to a message of hope—the miracle of the Resurrection commemorated at Easter.
To do it, many will rely on the Gospel of Mark, a tale that embodies the anxiety of confronting the unknown. Mark tells the story of Jesus’ life and death, but it closes with a cliffhanger: Three women go to his tomb, only to tremble with fear at finding the crypt bare.
It is that sensation of emptiness, terror and mystery that is drawing pastors to this scripture.
“I think there’s a connection between those who have lost jobs or have had their hours cut or face medical uncertainties and these women who don’t know what lies in the future,” said Rev. Tony Dusso, pastor of Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Oak Forest.
“Today, I think the Resurrection is a story that reminds us that no matter what we face, no matter what our fears are, we can look forward and ahead with hope.”
Dusso’s congregation is one of a handful in the Chicago area whose marquees celebrate the Resurrection year round. Whether the Resurrection name emerged from consolidation of churches, or from ambitious plans to revive a ministry, the moniker symbolizes the hope of a new day.
“With the financial problems that many are experiencing, unemployment and fear of getting laid off, I think there’s more need for faith in Resurrection this year,” said Rev. Thomas Tivy of Resurrection Roman Catholic Church in Bucktown. “Hope is the main message.”
Four Gospels tell the story of Easter: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Tivy and others say the Gospel of Mark offers a particularly “crisp and stark” approach to the tale. Catholics often read it at the Saturday night Easter vigil as a precursor to the joyful resolution on Easter morning, recounted in the Gospel of John.
While the Gospel of John is a popular choice every Easter, Mark is another option this year for many Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant churches who follow the Revised Common Lectionary, a three-year cycle of biblical texts. Churches committed to the lectionary rotate their focus on Matthew, Mark or Luke, and the most recent Advent kicked off the Year of Mark.
Rev. Brian Hiortdahl, pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lakeview, attributes that timing to divine providence. The Gospel of Mark reflects a universal state of limbo; like a season finale, it leaves the reader wanting more. The Greek translation of Mark even stops in the middle of a sentence.
“People are staring mid-sentence out into a future they can not see or predict,” Hiortdahl said. “It’s scary to think that God is alive and able to do things so far beyond our prediction and beyond our control.
“The future is wide open. We can participate in it, but we’re not in charge, and we are a people who like to be in charge of stuff,” he said. “We like to predict. We like to figure out when the economy is going to get better and plan for it. Resurrection just blows all of that away.”
In his 12 years as a pastor, Dusso said he has preached on Mark only occasionally and usually for shock value.
“This year, it’s not about shock,” he said. “It’s not about waking us up that this resurrection is more than chocolate bunnies. It really is a message for this year that transcends that. It’s about our conditions today in 2009.”
Dusso said each of the Gospels has a theme that captures the tenor of the season. John features a reassuring reunion between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Matthew and Luke emphasize the disciples and their doubt.
Beth Felker Jones, an assistant professor of theology at Wheaton College, said that diversity is an argument for preserving the canon despite movements throughout church history to synthesize the gospels into one book.
“The church has always resisted hammering it out into one story. They keep the four,” Felker Jones said. “All four of these portraits of what Jesus has done speak to different communities, different needs, different emotions.” Her husband, a Methodist pastor, will base his Easter sermon on Mark.
Scholarly debate about Christ’s resurrection has focused on whether Jesus really rose bodily from the dead or whether the story is more of a metaphor for personal, spiritual and community renewal. Congregants of churches named for the miracle recognize both. They especially recognize the restorative potential of their communities.
Gloria Thorne has been a member of Church of the Resurrection in Oak Forest ever since its inaugural worship service on Easter more than 40 years ago. Since then, cancer and other illnesses have claimed members of her family and threatened to take her. With each loss and struggle, the congregation has brought Thorne back to life.
“The name of the church seems to fit in with all the people,” said Thorne, 80. “When you see those people, you know there’s hope in the way they reach out to others in Christ’s name.”
Rev. Aaron Johnson of Resurrection Covenant Church in Lakeview said he hopes that’s true of his congregation as well. The church changed its name from Cuyler Covenant more than two years ago as part of a plan to reinvigorate its mission and reverse its dwindling rolls.
Members don’t just call themselves Resurrection, they practice it, Johnson said. The church opened a warming center in January to provide a haven for the area’s homeless.
Rev. Dayna Winke of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Franklin Park agrees that current events put the practice of resurrection in a whole new light.
“With our given economy, we must be reminded of the resurrection that says: ‘Go forth and do for your neighbor’,” said Winke. “Resurrection didn’t end the day Jesus rose from the dead. It ended when he said: ‘All right, go and do this.’ .”
Both Johnson and Winke said they will rely on Mark to remind their congregations that Easter is only the beginning.
“We don’t have a visual, accountable sighting of Jesus in the text we’re given for Sunday,” Johnson said. “So often, we celebrate Easter on Sunday, and we move on with our lives. The Gospel of Mark shows that’s not all there is to Easter.”
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