Episode 130 - Holy Week & Easter

[transcript automatically generated - cleanup in progress]

hi there this is michael gunger this is holy week for christians around the world and with so many of us not being able to get together this week we thought we'd do something a little different this week for both the podcast and the sunday thing which if you don't know what that is it's a weekly online discussion group that we do with liturgists folks and for the sunday thing this week we would like to invite you to bring some sort of meaningful spiritual sacrament or symbol with you to your computer so i mean it could be elements of communion it could be a statue of shiva or a painting of carl sagan doesn't really matter what it is but we just like to take some time during the sunday thing to kind of have a sacred moment together for holy week you know with all of our respective beliefs and traditions or lack thereof colliding and sort of one beautiful hodgepodge of liturgists nonsense uh i don't know i think it'll be fun and as for the podcast we thought we'd just post this liturgy that we recorded um for the liturgists early on in our history it's for holy week cult garden and it features material by rachel held evans and science mike and rob bell amina brown gunger and some others and we hope that this material can offer you [Music] i don't know some hope some sense of connection in a week where we normally are setting extra time to decide to be together and to reflect on the big questions of our existence and issues of life hope you enjoy the podcast and we would love to see you this sunday 11 a.m pacific at the sunday thing don't forget your little uh sacred cows to bring with you um you can find out more by the way about the sunday thing at the liturgists.com join the community where we also have these liturgies posted and meditations and all sorts of other stuff we would love to see you this sunday all the love everybody there are questions that wait in the shadows doubts that lurk until we shut the lights off and try to sleep the kind of despair that forms its own tape over our mouths when we try to pray the question trembles in our chest fights its way out of our throats and sticks in the air vapor-like warm breath meeting cold wind god where are you maybe i shouldn't question you maybe i shouldn't doubt you but sometimes i do sometimes life and tragedy and grief make it difficult to believe you i want to but sometimes it's hard to so where are you now when i cry when i try when i want to know why where do i find your quiet in the midst of the noise how do i not mistake your silence for the thought that you don't hear my voice there are questions that wait in the shadows doubts that lurk until we shut the lights off and try to sleep darkness such that haunts my soul desperate longing for an absent god the torture and the pain i can't explain my heart [Music] cries [Music] repulsed an empty in my soul revolted by the blatant lack of god [Music] the torture and the pain i can't explain my heart cries [Music] oh my god where are you oh my god where are you oh my god my god my god [Music] repulsed an empty [Music] the charger and the pain i can't explain my heart cries [Music] oh my god where are you oh my god where are you oh my god oh my god my god oh my god where i am oh my god [Music] oh my god oh my god my god [Music] [Music] [Music] uh oh my god where are you oh my god where are you oh my god my god my god [Music] it will bother you off and on like a rock in your shoe it will startle you like the first crash of thunder in a summer storm or it will lodge itself beneath your skin like a splinter or show up again the uninvited guest whose heavy footsteps you'd recognize anywhere appearing at your front door with a suitcase in hand at the worst possible time doubt will pull you out to sea like a riptide or hold your head under as you drown triggered by an image a question something the pastor said something that doesn't add up the unlikelihood of it all the too good to be trueness of it the way the lady in the thick perfume behind you sings up from the grave he arose with more confidence than a single line of a song then you've managed to muster in the past 10 years and you'll be sitting there in the dress you pulled out from the back of your closet swallowing down the bread and wine not believing a word of it so you fumble instead through those back pocket prayers help me in my unbelief well everyone around you moves on to verse 2 verse 3 verse 4 without you you will feel their eyes on you and you will recognize the concern behind their cheery greetings we haven't seen you here in a while so good to have you back and you will know they are thinking exactly what you used to think about easter sunday christians nominal lukewarm indifferent but you won't know how to explain that there's nothing nominal or lukewarm or indifferent about standing in this hurricane of questions every day and staring each one down until you've mustered all the bravery and fortitude and trust it takes to whisper just one of them out loud on the car ride home what if we made this up because we're afraid of death and you won't know how to explain why in that moment when the whisper rose out of your mouth like jesus from the grave you felt more alive and awake and resurrected than you have in ages because at least it was out at least it was said at least it wasn't buried in your chest anymore crawling for freedom and if you're lucky someone in the car will recognize the bravery of the act if you're lucky there will be a moment of holy silence before someone wonders out loud if such a question might put a damper on easter brunch but if you're not if the question gets answered too quickly or if the silence goes on too long [Music] please know you're not alone there are other people singing words to hymns they're not sure they believe today other people digging out dresses from the backs of their closets today other people ruining easter brunch today other people just showing up today and sometimes just showing up burial spices in hand is all it takes to witness a miracle we believe in one god [Music] we believe in god [Music] [Music] is [Laughter] [Music] is [Music] we body help us with our unbelief we believe we believe [Music] we believe in jesus [Music] [Music] that yeah christ was wrong for we oppress the poor reward the [Music] strongest [Music] me [Music] we believe holy spirit is the lord [Music] we believe in resurrection in the [Music] and we believe that we must the help [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] [Music] believe [Music] again [Music] let us [Music] empty words [Music] you have your breath the exhale the inhale [Music] this life force that gently and quietly and unassumingly surges through you in and out in and out your breath enters and then leaves your body and your body is made up of all these molecules which are made up of these cells which make up these systems you are this odd blend of soul and spirit dust and bone you have hair and eyelids and toes and elbows and knees and opinions and you make assumptions and you have expectations you are this potluck of emotions and feelings and physicality you are part mountain and part ocean and then part spirit you are a fascinating endless mystery and then you move about this world and there is cement and taxes and there is your insurance agent and there is the person you buy bread from and you have people that you love and people who are like human sandpaper they annoy you to no end there are people that you embrace on a regular day and there are people that you pass by once on a street in a large city on the other side of the world and you will never be close to them again as long as you live [Music] you live in this body with this breath that comes and goes and then in this body you experience this world with wind and waves and trees and rocks and deserts and mountains it's all part of what you call your life and in these experiences with this breath coming and going and in this body with these people that you know and this set of circumstances that is called your life you have these experiences and some of these experiences fill you with hope and with life sometimes it's a beautiful song sometimes it's holding the hand of your young daughter sometimes it's sitting by the bed as your grandfather takes his last breath sometimes it's a holiday meal with relatives sometimes it's friends from school sometimes it's that moment at work where you get this sense that what you're doing matters we have these moments of meaning these moments of substance these moments when we think yes there is a point to this [Music] and then there are the other moments the moments of despair the moments when it doesn't go well there are the long cold silences there is that thing that happens when the alarm goes off in the morning you think another day there is that thing that happens when you're driving to work and you think why what's the point there is that small habit that grew and grew until now it's like a destructive pattern you don't know what to do with it and so what happens ever so gradually if we do not guard our hearts is that we come to gradually be overtaken by this pervasive sense that there might not be a point to it that underneath it all it actually is random and pointless and so what happens is those good beautiful true moving inspiring moments the lump in the throat the tear in the eye that sense when you embrace somebody and it feels like you're holding the universe in your hands those moments start to feel like they're just little detours and escapes from how it really is which is cold dark lonely and pointless resurrection is the opposite resurrection says oh no no no those glimpses those are actually the real thing they're the thing that undergird the whole thing just that moment when that person said that kind word and it ignited a whole new world in your heart that wasn't just an aberration from how things are that was a sign a symbol a glimpse a glance of how it actually is resurrection says that this is our home and that our home is good resurrection says that not only is our home good but everything about our home that is wrong twisted broken destructive flawed and failed everything about it whether it may hurt and whether it may be something like cancer that is real and however big the bruise is and however much blood there is on the floor whatever it is however real it is and however much it broke your heart it is in the end in some really really hard to describe way [Music] temporary that in fact there is a new creation bursting forth right here in the middle of this one and there is a new heaven and a new earth coming together this jesus in his resurrection insists that in the conquering of death he has brought about something new something you can trust that whatever is holding you down whatever feels like it's drowning you whatever feels like it's a weight chain to your ankle does not have the last word that is resurrection [Music] [Applause] [Music] now a guy rising from the dead 2000 years ago can i prove that happened no no one can and be very suspicious of anybody who says they can prove that and be especially suspicious of sermons where people spend 45 minutes proving to you that a man actually rose from the dead nobody knows what we know is there has been a community of people for several thousand years who insist that something happened that a tomb is empty and that when you trust this story something will be unleashed and unlocked in your heart and in your life so yes it's history but it's a bigger better wider more expansive understanding of history so for those who think what come on how far-fetched is that try it try living in this story try trusting that all those little glimpses and glances of hope and beauty and truth and light that they weren't aberrations they weren't mistakes they weren't some blip in the system they were actually showing you what it's really like that this new life is as close as the breath you just took and the breath you're about to take [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] god [Music] breaks us [Music] a garden lovely [Music] and [Music] bring me [Music] bring us back to life [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] love is [Music] [Music] oh my god [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] for this month's meditation portion of the liturgy we invite you to slow down find a quiet space where you will not have any interruptions and for the next 20 minutes or so we invite you to focus on the love of god using your breath science shows us that human brains are oriented towards responding to the stress of daily living with fear or anger the simple act of focusing on god's love allows us to orient our brains towards compassion empathy focus and concentration as you breathe now we invite you to imagine that you are inhaling the very love of god that creates and sustains the world with every inhalation imagine god's love filling your lungs spreading into your bloodstream and nourishing your entire being with light and grace and then when you breathe out imagine that you're breathing that love back out into the world into your relationships into your work and into all your activity in places of influence imagine that you are breathing in the life and love of god and breathing it back out into a world that desperately needs it so close your eyes become aware of your breath and use it as a prayer [Laughter] during this period of quiet reflection you may find it useful to repeat this mantra my god loves me do this while touching each of your fingers in turn with your thumb this practice has been shown to increase the neurological effectiveness of prayer and meditation and it makes it easy to still wandering thoughts simply alternate between periods of breathing meditation and mantra in whatever pattern feels best or most natural to you my god loves me [Laughter] my god loves me [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] my god [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] my god loves me my god loves me my god loves me my god [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] follow me in the lord's prayer feel free to say it aloud if you wish our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen you