Sermon and Readings for Pascha (Orthodox Easter) 5th of May 2013

8/23/2019 Sermon and Readings for Pascha (Orthodox Easter) 5th of May 2013

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s anyone devout and loves God, let them enjoy this fair and shining festival. Is anyone a gratefulservant, let them enter the joy of their Lord. Have any wearied themselves with fasting, let themnow enjoy their payment. Has anyone laboured since the first hour, let them today receive their due.Did any come after the third hour, let them feast with gratitude. Did any arrive after the sixth hour,let them not hesitate: for there is no penalty. Did any delay until after the ninth hour, let themapproach without hesitating. Did any arrive only for the eleventh hour, let them not fear because oftheir lateness: for the Lord is generous and receives the last as the first: he gives rest to the worker ofthe eleventh hour as to those of the first. He has pity on the latter, he cares for the former. He givesto the one, he is generous to the other. He accepts the work done, he welcomes the intention. Hehonours the achievement, he praises the purpose. Therefore all of you enter into the joy of our Lord:first and last, enjoy your reward. Rich and poor dance together. Sober and slothful honour the day.Fasters and non-fasters be glad today. The table is full, all of you enjoy yourselves. The calf is fatted,let none go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of the faith. All of you enjoy the richness of hisgoodness. Let no one grieve at their poverty: for the kingdom of all has been revealed. Let no onebewail their faults: for forgiveness has risen from the tomb. Let no one fear death: for the Savioursdeath has freed us. By enduring it he quenched it. He who descended into Hell has despoiled Hell. Heembittered it when it tasted his flesh as Isaiah proclaimed in prophecy, Death, he said, wasembittered when it met you there below. Embittered, for it was destroyed. Embittered, for it wasmocked. Embittered, for it was slain. Embittered, for it was wiped out. Embittered, for it was boundfast. It received a body, and came face to face with God. It received earth, and met heaven. It receivedwhat it saw, and fell through what it did not see. Where, Death, is your sting? Where Hell, is yourvictory? Christ is risen, and you are abolished! Christ is risen, and the demons have fallen! Christ isrisen, and Angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life has found freedom! Christ is risen, and there is nocorpse in the grave! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first fruits of those whosleep. To him be glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.

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ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATEARCHDIOCESE OF THYATEIRA & GREAT BRITAIN

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EEPPIISSTTLLEERREEAADDIINNGGActs 1:1-8n the first book, Theophilos, I dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the daywhen he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to theapostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by manyproofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And whilestaying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise

of the Father, which, he said, you heard from me, for John baptised with water, but beforemany days you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit. So when they had come together, theyasked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is notfor you to know the times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But youshall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnessesin Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

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GGOOSSPPEELL RREEAADDIINNGGJohn 1: 1-17n the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Hewas in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without himnothing that was made, was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The lightshines in the darkness, and the darkness did not master it. There was a man sent from God,whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, that all mightbelieve through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. The true lightthat enlightens every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world cameinto being through him, and the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, andhis own people did not accept him. But to all who accepted him, he gave power to becomechildren of God, those who believed in his name, who were born, not of blood nor of the willof the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among

us; and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.(John bore witness to him, and cried, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after meranks before me, for he was before me.) And from his fullness have we all received, graceupon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

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ome people may be surprised that the Fathers chose this particular reading for thisLiturgy on this, the Greatest Feast of the whole Christian year: Holy and GreatPascha. Why one might ask is the gospel not one of the accounts of the Resurrectionitself? In fact of course, on this day, the devout will have already heard two accounts ofthe Resurrection, at the first Liturgy of Pascha (now served on Great Saturday morning)and then again in the middle of the night just before we proclaim Christ is Risen! forthe first time. And, of course many people will have heard the stories of theResurrection read on virtually every Sunday of the year at Orthros (Matins).So the Fathers set out to do something different. They want to answer thequestion So who is this, who is risen from the dead, and why does it make anydifference?And they do this by giving us what is without doubt the most splendid and mostprofound passage in all the gospels, the so called Prologue of St Johns Gospel.It is, first of all, an account of a relationship: the relationship between God theFather and God the Son who is called the Word: In the beginning was the Word and theWord was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God:..The Greek word Logos ( ) is much richer in meaning than the Englishtranslation. Certainly it means word but it also means reason and is behind all the

English words that end in ology like ornithology, archaeology etc. It is important toremember that when we talk about the Word of God we are not talking about a bookbut about a person.Second it is about Creation, not how Creation came about but who did it, whowas the creator: All things were made through him and without him was not anything madethat was made. And this creation is not only all the material stuff with which we aresurrounded for In him was life and the life was the light of men. So there is for us a specialunderstanding of Life. It is connected with Light which takes us to the very beginningof Creation to God himself. For we read in Genesis And God said Let there be light andthere was light...Third we understand that this light is special for us because it is: The true lightthat enlightens every man was coming in to the world and of those who received him: whobelieved in his name he gave the power to become the children of God.And here is why this gospel reading matters to us. The one who is risen fromthe dead is not just a man. He is God himself, who for some unaccountable andextraordinary reason thinks that we silly little people are worth bothering with, worthsharing our life, worth suffering with, worth dying for and then above all worth sharinghis divine life with for ever. And the proof of this is that he is risen. Because he is risenso are we. He has trampled down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowed life.

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Sermon and Readings for Pascha (Orthodox Easter) 5th of May 2013

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