Last Sunday, the Community gathered on Zoom for a nighttime service meant to bring the immersive and integrated members together, to celebrate Pascha alongside the Orthodox churches, and to continue the story of the Resurrection, which continues to inspire and instruct us throughout Eastertide. Anna, the Integrated member from Zimbabwe, and I planned the service: an expanded version of the Compline we often say, on Sunday nights at the Palace, and whenever the entire Community comes together for an event.
Many of the elements are the same, some are particular to Easter, and others are products of my own creativity. The prayers that follow the Nunc Dimittis are about half “what’s supposed to be there” and half my own additions, based on the themes Anna and I thought the Community needed to hear. Likewise, Anna developed a meditation around emptiness and completion. Instead of a Psalm, we had an interactive poem/prayer which gave space for personal reflection in the midst of a moment of liturgy. Structured expression, as it were. I chose the Gospel passage, much longer than the short verses we usually hear at Compline, because I wanted to capture a few of the many ways Jesus encountered his friends, post-Resurrection, and the many reactions and emotions he stirred up. The responses to the Gospel are my own, including the painting, which I did as a student at William & Mary. It’s inspired by a stained glass window of Emmaus at the V&A, done by the Welsh artist Selywn Image — but put through a very post-Cubist lens. I was glad to share it with my friends, and now with you all, and you’ll have to come see it when I have an office again.
I’ll begin, however, with the walk I took last Sunday morning, through the appropriately empty streets of London. I had hoped to clear my head, but thankfully, the walk became a source of inspiration for the service Anna and I were still planning. The few people I passed were oddly courteous, and I found myself going back to a few neighborhoods with happy memories. Throughout, I found visual reminders of Resurrection, in the landscapes and the architecture of buildings much too self-important for silly musings or miracles.
As Easter continues around us, Peace! – JFL
Moments of resurrection I noticed around Smith Square: empty tombs fitted with vibrant green doors, unfinished arrows inviting you inside, an architectural pattern like a stone ready to be rolled away, the windows of a construction site opened into a cross.
Introduction & Meditation
Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!
He is Risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Our help is in the name
of the Risen Lord,
who made heaven and earth, Alleluia!
May he, the Lord almighty, grant us a quiet
night and a perfect end.
Amen.
EMPTY — we consider a vessel that we have chosen, one that speaks to us of emptiness. We remember how Jesus emptied himself on the cross and how God emptied the tomb. We notice how the vessel is still complete, even as it is empty, but also how this completion means it can become full and even more complete. We think about our own emptiness and completion and potential for filling.
Confession & Absolution
Most merciful God, we confess to you,
before the whole company of heaven and one another,
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed
and in what we have failed to do.
Forgive us our sins, heal us by your Spirit
and raise us to new life in Christ.
Amen.
O God, make speed to save us.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.
The Word
A Psalm of Lamentation and Praise
Creating and completing GOD,
we come to you because you know
change and consistency,
hope and despair.We come to you, parts of your story
for humanity — creation in all its complexity,
brokenness, and beauty.Hear us as we cry.
Hear us as we question.
You have always reached out,
so now we reach out to you.Offer your lamentation or protest aloud.
This is the breath I have to offer,
one of sadness I cannot seem to shake.And yet, O God, in that same breath,
I find goodness within me, greatness
without me. They sit beside my sorrow.We come to you, parts of your story
of a new Kingdom, which promises completion,
born of brokenness and beauty.Hear us as we celebrate.
Hear us as we state our thanks.
You have always moved in creativity,
so now we try to dance in step with you.Offer your praise or thanksgiving aloud.
Creating and completing GOD,
let every breath I take in be a breath of renewal,
and every breath out, a breath of praise.
The Gospel According to St. John
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Responses to the Gospel
How? How did the disciples know Jesus? How did they recognize him, with his body different but not exactly new? He could move through walls, or into thin spaces at least, but his wounds were still there. He was the same and familiar, but at the same time, foreign and surprising. So…how did they do it? How did they know Jesus when things didn’t go as planned? How did they know him, when they were locked away, hiding, in isolation? When they were dispersed? Doubtful. Disappointed. Hurt. When they were together but not really; living together but not really? Afraid. Sad. Angry. Just really lonely. How? How did the disciples know this resurrected Jesus?
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the Breaking of the Bread.
One body we are, alleluia, for though many, we share one bread.
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the emptiness of a tomb.
One church we are, alleluia, for though we may feel broken
and unraveled, we share one witness and that witness will persist.
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the calling of a name.
One community we are, alleluia, for though we have many callings, we share one great commission.
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the bringing of myrrh and spice.
One body we are, alleluia, for though we have many gifts,
we offer our ideas and actions, prayers and artistry,
through one source of inspiration.
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of fasts and the sharing of meals.
One church we are, alleluia, for though we hunger after many things and offer many forms of hospitality, we share one table, welcomed by one host and honored by one guest.
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the touching of his wounds.
One body we are, alleluia, for though we carry many doubts and questions, we share one life and in that common living, we find comfort.
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in their yearning for the Kingdom.
One church we are, alleluia, for though we travel many roads
and meet in many houses, we share one faith, one hope, one love.
The Disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the forty days they spent together.
One community we are, alleluia, for though we cannot be together,
in one room, in one Jerusalem, we share one communion with Christ, who continues to speak and walk and act among us.
The Disciples know the Lord Jesus still.
We are his one body, Alleluia,
and his Spirit lives in us, Alleluia. Amen.
The Gospel Canticle & Concluding Prayers
Nunc Dimittis
Alleluia. The Lord is risen, alleluia,
as he promised to you. Alleluia, alleluia.
Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:
your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people;
A light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Alleluia. The Lord is risen, alleluia,
as he promised to you. Alleluia, alleluia.
Into your hands, O Lord —
who knew how it felt to be dispersed,
disjointed, abandoned and alone —
I commend my spirit.
Into your hands, O Lord,
I commend my spirit.
Alleluia, Alleluia
Into your hands, O Lord —
who through his agony
knew complete humanity
and through whose resurrection,
we share in his complete communion —
I commend my spirit.
Into your hands, O Lord,
I commend my spirit.
Alleluia, Alleluia
For you have redeemed me,
Lord God of surprising, emptying, filling,
calling, answering, breaking, sending,
sustaining truth.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
Into your hands, O Risen Lord,
I commend my spirit, in need of rest.
Alleluia, Alleluia
Keep me ever as the apple of your eye.
Stay close to me, who works
or watches or weeps this night, hide me
under the shadow of your wings.
Intercessions & The Lord’s Prayer
Collect & Blessing for Easter
Almighty God,
by triumphing over
the powers of darkness,
Christ has prepared a place
for us in the new Jerusalem:
may we, who have this day
given thanks for his resurrection,
praise him in the eternal city
of which he is the light;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
