By Ashley Johnson

Christ is Risen!

A Choral Call to Worship for Four Voices

Voice 1: Christ is risen!

All Voices: Christ is risen indeed!

Voice 2: Christ is risen!

All Voices: Christ is risen indeed!

Voice 3: Exhale. [pause] Go ahead, exhale. Breathe out. Let go. On this Easter Sunday, allow your souls to be replenished. Take in the joy. Take in peace. Take in the togetherness. Take what you need.

Voice 1: And wonder. Wonder, and imagine, and reflect, and question, and listen. Listen deeply to the words and the songs. Listen deeply to the Holy Spirit. And hear the words that God has for you.

Voice 4: We emerge from the long days of Lent, our journey through the wilderness. And we acknowledge that there is a darkness in this world that seems to loom. And we remember that nestled within the great mystery of the Resurrection is a great light. Search for that light, that hope on this day.

Voice 2: So, we come into this space, this sacred space, and we bring ourselves; our whole selves. We encourage you to embrace your body, and we invite you to use your body to give God a hand clap of praise, to sing, to jump around, to dance, to celebrate. And as we celebrate the Risen Savior, we invite you to bring your full selves into worship because Christ is risen!

All Voices: Christ is risen!

All Voices: Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Early!

A Choral Reading for John 20:1-18 for Three Voices

Voice 1: Early

Voice 2: Early

Voice 3: Early

Voice 2: on the first day of the week, while it was still

All Voices: dark,

Voice 2: Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came

Voice 1: running

Voice 2: running

Voice 3: running

Voice 2: to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said,

Voice 1: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

Voice 2: So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.

Voice 3: Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.

Voice 2: Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside.

Voice 3: He saw and believed. Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Voice 1: Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white [Voice 2 begins], seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

Voice 2: Two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

Voice 2: They asked her,

Voice 2 and 3: “Woman, why are you crying?”

Voice 1: “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.”

Voice 3: At this, she turned around and saw Jesus

Voice 2: Jesus

Voice 1: Jesus

Voice 3: standing there, but [pause] she did not realize that it was Jesus.

Voice 2: He asked her,

Voice 3: “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Voice 2: Thinking he was the gardener, she said,

Voice 1: “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Voice 2: Jesus said to her,

Voice 3: “Mary.”

Voice 2: She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,

Voice 1: “Rabboni!”

Voice 3: “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go

Voice 2: Go

Voice 1: Go

Voice 3: instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Voice 2: Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news:

Voice 1: “I have seen the Lord! And this is what He said to me.”

Crying is Welcome Here

A prayer inspired by John 20:1-18

Mary cried.
She wept.
She had the courage to cry.
So, we can cry like Mary.
Even on this Easter Sunday, we can cry like Mary.
Crying is welcome here.

In fact, we must cry.
We must cry when we’re hurting.
We must cry with the missing.
We must cry with the dead.
We must cry with those who suffer.
We must cry with the marginalized, the silenced, and the forgotten.
We must cry with those who lack bread.
We must cry.
Crying is welcome here.

If we don’t cry, if we don’t cry out,
If we try too hard to be strong for too long,
If we don’t release the pain,
We will hurt only ourselves.
We must cry.

How else will we be able to see our need for the Resurrected Savior in our midst?

Crying is welcome here.

Your Stories Matter

A Closing based on Acts 10:34-43

It is around kitchen tables swelling with food,
On worn porches,
During easy road trips,
And in the hum of barbershops or hair salons
That we experience the Divine
As we linger long enough to hear, really hear, the stories of others.

Your life matters.
Your life matters, and your stories matter.
So, testify; tell your story.

Or someone else will.