May 14: The Sixth Sunday of Easter

The Rev. Joseph Peters-Mathews is the vicar of St. Hilda St. Patrick. The sermon for May 14, 2023 was preached in response to John 14:15-21 based on the manuscript below.

One of my outlets for creativity

– in addition to sewing when I can

or stapling streamers to themselves – 

is making playlists.

I like to bring an order

to what seems chaotic

even if I’m then only one 

who totally understands this order.

But being who I am,

I like to do that collaboratively, too.

This Easter I asked people on Twitter

what they would be listening to on repeat. 

Explicitly Christian music or otherwise

how would they be singing “Alleluia”

throughout the Great Fifty Days.

I got answers!

One of them was a modern hymn

written by Matt Boswell, Michael Bleecker,

and Matt Papa.

“Come behold the wondrous mystery

In the dawning of the King

He the theme of heaven’s praises

Robed in frail humanity

In our longing, in our darkness

Now the light of life has come

Look to Christ, who condescended

Took on flesh to ransom us,”

it begins. 

As it works through Jesus’

ministry, life, death, and resurrection

the hymn concludes,

“Come behold the wondrous mystery

Slain by death the God of life

But no grave could e’er restrain Him

Praise the Lord; He is alive!

What a foretaste of deliverance

How unwavering our hope

Christ in power resurrected

As we will be when he comes.”

This will probably be

one of my top songs of the year

on my Spotify Wrapped.

“Come behold the wondrous mystery

Slain by death the God of life

But no grave could e’er restrain Him

Praise the Lord; He is alive!

What a foretaste of deliverance

How unwavering our hope

Christ in power resurrected

As we will be when he comes.”

This is Paul’s invitation to the people of Athens

as he preaches to them about Jesus.

“As I went through the city 

and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, 

I found among them an altar with the inscription, 

‘To an unknown god.’ 

What therefore you worship as unknown, 

this I proclaim to you. 

The God who made the world 

and everything in it, 

he who is Lord of heaven and earth, 

does not live in shrines made by human hands, 

nor is he served by human hands, 

as though he needed anything, 

since he himself gives to all mortals 

life and breath and all things…

While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, 

now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 

because he has fixed a day 

on which he will have the world judged in righteousness 

by a man whom he has appointed, 

and of this he has given assurance to all 

by raising him from the dead.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Last week I said,

“Jesus’ being the way

is not being the access point,

a directive to turn or burn.

Rather through Jesus,

because of Jesus –

we have the truths of God

and through those truths

we have life abundant.”

As Paul has had a dramatic conversion experience,

he goes to the people of Greece

and tells them essentially the same thing. 

“This God you know is there –

but you do not know –

is the One True God.

This God has given us all that we have.

Whatever is true, 

whatever is noble, 

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable

these things come from this God.

This God who gives us all good things

is asking us 

to change our lives and ways

to live into loving one another.

To show God’s goodness

and worth for evaluating our deeds

God has given us both the author and perfecter 

of our faith.

And God has raised him,

Jesus his anointed, the Christ

from the dead.”

God’s goodness 

made known to us in Jesus

is what inspired St. Gregory of Nyssa to write

“O you, who are beyond all –

This is the only thing that we can sing about you.

What hymn, what language could express you?

No word can express ion.

Can the mind find anything to cling to?

For you exceed all intelligence.

You stand alone, inexpressible.

All that is said, come from you…

All that is, prays to you.

Towards you, all beings,

Reflecting on your Universe,

Lift up a hymn of silence.”

As Paul reflected to the Athenians

and St. Gregory reflected to those

with whom he ministered

all that is prays to God.

All that is good

is made good through Jesus the resurrected Christ. 

Hitting mailboxes this week

are 6,600 postcards inviting people

to come behold this wondrous mystery

on Pentecost. 

Alex is making brisket

and I’m bringing Costco potato salad.

 I hope you’ll email me

with what you can and will bring. 

Sharing the good news

the abundant-life-giving news

that Christ is risen from the dead

trampling down death by death

and upon those in the tombs

bestowing life

is the work God has given us to do. 

I asked people on Twitter

how they would be singing alleluia 

during the Great Fifty Days.

How have you been? 

Can you share that resurrection song 

and this resurrection life

with someone? 

If Paul can preach to the Athenians

using an altar dedicated “to an unknown God”

surely we can invite someone to church! 

“Come behold the wondrous mystery

Slain by death the God of life

But no grave could e’er restrain Him

Praise the Lord; He is alive!

What a foretaste of deliverance

How unwavering our hope

Christ in power resurrected

As we will be when he comes.”

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