...of Easter

The great thing about writing a blog is that I get to write what I like, when I like. And that means that I get to re-post other people’s great reflections.

It is almost Easter Sunday. 1,600 years ago perhaps the greatest Easter Sermon was presented by John Chrysostom. His name means ‘golden voice’ in Greek, and these are words of pure gold.

Enjoy!

And remember: Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

re there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!

Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!

If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.

To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!

First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!

Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He destroyed Hell when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.

Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!

Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

...Of Learning Greek

I was once on a train from Christchurch to Auckland, when a man in a seat near me noticed I was reading the Gospel of John.

Smiling, we came over to sit next to me. I suppose my alarm bells should have been ringing: Who chooses to sit next to a person reading the bible, except someone with an axe of some sort to grind. A frown normally means "I need to tell you why that book is junk, and why you Christians are ruining the world".

(Aside 1: I don't mind these conversations: we Christians have done our fair share of mucking things up. It's probably the only point on which +Richard Dawkins  and I agree. So people are entitled to their best shot, and to have a Christian do the listening for a change.)

But a smile: that so often means: I have superior revelation than you, and you have the privilege of hearing it from me.

(Aside 2: this is one of the approaches that so often produces people with the frown in 'Aside 1'.)

So I should have pretended I was asleep, or busy, or had eaten too many baked beans; or something like that.

(Aside 3: some of the tactics non-Christians have used to avoid being talked at by Christians on public transport: it doesn't work for them, and never has for me either.)

But I didn't. I smiled back (Mr T. would have said "I pity the fool"), and was soon subject to a treatise on why the translation of the bible I was reading was flawed. The Greek was quite different, said my smiling assassin. Jesus isn't God: he's a created being with lots of power, but he isn't God.

My feeble response that surely 2,000 years of scholars couldn't be wrong was brushed away with the king hit: "But how do you know? Have you studied Greek?" To which I had to concede that no, I had not. It was a crushing blow. I was relying on others. I was totally defeated.

(Aside 4: he was too. I discovered that he knew no more Greek than me. What greater nonsense can there be than two ignorant people arguing over an issue with no true knowledge of any of the facts?)

And as he sauntered away, happy in the knowledge that he had won the argument, I resolved that day to learn Greek. Never again would such humiliation happen. Next time I would be ready.

And so I received a great gift from that fellow: not the gift of his wisdom (see aside 4), but something far better. It is a lazy way to live to only rely on second-hand knowledge or experience. Abundant life is lived only as we experience it ourselves. Learn Greek; climb a mountain; plant a tree; ab-sail: but get out and experience life for yourself.

...of Passports

You can study your passport. You can examine every page. You can compare your passport with that of another person. You can study the history of passports. You can review the philosophy of international relations, and become an expert on their purpose. You can research where they are needed. You can learn a great deal about passports in general, and your own in particular.

Or you can use it, get on a plane, and experience the world.

The choice is yours: study it; or use it.

Which will you choose?

...Of Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll (who's real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)  was a gifted author, who wrote "Jabberwocky", "The Hunting of the Snark", and - most famously - the two "Alice" books: "Adventures in Wonderland", and "Through the Looking Glass". These explore life through the 'nonsense' genre - so called, because the actual stories appear to make little sense.

I love the 'nonsense' genre, and extreme comedy for that reason: by making little literal sense, 'Alice' and works like them free us from the constraints of the Modernist mind. We are given permission to explore the great 'What If's' of life: what if I were a king? A princess? An astronaut? A pirate?

What if I could live forever?

What if anything I tried always succeeded?

What if there is a God who is truly interested in me?

What if...?  I love that question. I love to read thinkers who break the molds of constraint we put on ourselves: Lewis Carroll; Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/); Andy Stanley (http://yourmove.is/); Jesus of Nazareth.

So to the free thinkers who encourage us to become more than we ever thought possible: this blog is dedicated to you.