Posted on 05/13/2007 8:04:59 AM PDT by Huber
The Collect.
O LORD, from whom all good things do come; Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Epistle. St. James i. 22.
BE ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
The Gospel. St. John xvi. 23.
VERILY, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Rogation Sunday, also Easter V, May 9, 1999
In the world of CVS and Wal-Mart, the Easter season began in full force just after St. Patrick's Day, and it ended about a month ago. In the church, Easter begins on Easter Day and lasts for the forty days thereafter. We are still in Eastertide this morning, and we shall be there until Thursday. Easter is not over until we blow out the Paschal Candle on Ascension Day. The Paschal Candle has been burning since Easter morning to symbolize Christ's presence with his disciples during the forty days after his resurrection.
In the Prayer Book's calendar, Easter concludes with a mini-season called "Rogationtide." Rogationtide starts today, Rogation Sunday, and continues for the next three days leading up to the Ascension. The word "rogation" comes from the Latin word which means "to ask" as in "inter-rogation". In this moming's gospel Jesus tells us, "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."
In Rogationtide we reaffirm one of the deepest religious impulses of mankind -- the impulse to ask whatever forces may be out there to bless what we plant in the spring and make it grow so we will have a plentiful harvest in the fall and enough food to eat for the winter. The fact that the fertility festival called Rogation Sunday and the fertility festival called Mothers' Day fall on the same day this year is a happy coincidence.
At least in the Northern Hemisphere, the connection between Easter and spring fertility celebrations is not hard to see. Jesus rose from the dead in the spring to guarantee new life; flowers come back in the spring; rabbits are fertile; eggs represent birth. There is nothing wrong with Christians' enjoying all of those more secular - perhaps even pagan -aspects of the Easter celebration.
Just be sure your understanding of the symbolism is working in the right direction. The resurrection of Jesus is not a symbol of the rebirth of nature in spring. The rebirth of nature in spring is a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. The hymn "Welcome, Happy Morning" gets this point right as it sings: "Bloom in every meadow, leaves on every bough/ Speak his sorrow ended, hail his triumph now."
In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes, "Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Firstfruits is an Old Testament concept. God told Israel to give him part of the spring harvest to help guarantee a good harvest later on in the fall. What they gave him in the spring was called the firstfruits, logically enough.
What St. Paul is trying to tell us is that there is a clear connection between the cycles of harvest and the resurrection of the dead. Offering the firstfruits in the spring led to a good harvest in the fall. The resurrection of Jesus in the spring leads to the full harvest of the dead later on at the last day - in the fall, so to speak.
Jesus is the firstfruits of the dead - he came up out of the grave first. We are the later fruits of the dead. We shall come up out of our own graves when he comes back. The marvelous hymn we just sang makes this point clearly: "Christ is risen, Christ the firstfruits of the holy harvest field;/ Which will all its full abundance at his second coming yield./ Then the golden ears of harvest will their heads before him wave;/ Ripened by his glorious sunshine from the furrows of the grave."
Before we say good-bye to Easter, let's review some important points it teaches us. The resurrection of Jesus proves that God is stronger than death. Since the devil's biggest hold over us comes through making us fear death, the resurrection breaks his hold.
Jesus' resurrection is a preview of our own resurrections. We shall rise from our graves in new bodies as he did; we shall be restored to our family and friends as he was.
Since death entered the world through the sin of man, Jesus' victory over death, is also victory over sin and its consequences. While we await the end, we participate directly in the resurrection through having our sins forgiven in the church. Jesus structured his church around shepherd-bishops, who have his power to forgive as they are obliged to proclaim his resurrection.
As St. Paul sums it up, "Christ is risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
The Collect. O LORD, from whom all good things do come; Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Epistle. St. James i. 22.
The Gospel. St. John XVi. 23.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.