Steadfast Love: A New Cut

Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).

Gathering Time (5-10 minutes). In pairs or groups of three, have participants answer, “What is your favorite Easter memory from childhood?”

Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 and John 20:1-18.

• The psalmist declares “I shall not die, but I shall live…” (verse 17). From what you read in this psalm, what accounts for this confidence? [1. The Lord is his strength and might (verse 14). 2. The psalmist cannot say it enough in verses 15-16; the Lord’s love never quits. 3. The Lord has answered him in his time of trouble (verse 21). 4. The Lord has acted again and again on his behalf (verses 23-24).]
• As you read this well-known story from John 20 again, what details do you notice for the first time? How do these “new” details add to your understanding of the story?
• Mary is the only one who sees the angels sitting where Jesus had been lying. She is the only one who encounters Jesus at the tomb. What do you think accounts for this? [There are no right or wrong answers here. For one, she didn’t rush back home, as the others did. She allowed herself to fully grieve the loss of her dearest friend in the world. She made space in her day and in her heart for life-changing holy encounters. What else?]
• The words are attributed to Oscar Romero: “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” Mary saw Jesus through eyes that had cried. What do you think this means for Jesus’ disciples today? [To cry is to feel deeply. To feel deeply is to experience life in the lowest of the lows and the highest of the highs. To cry is to be changed in some profound way by what you have lived through.]
• Mary says to the gardener (she does not yet know it is Jesus), “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” There is an intrepidness about Mary that opens her life to a different experience of Jesus. How does a fear of “getting involved” close our lives off to miracles?
• What is the significance for us in Jesus’ words to Mary, “Do not touch me…But go to my brothers”? [Acting on what we know is fundamental to our life with God. We will experience Jesus most intensely in the doing and the serving and the loving and the sharing.] Where is Jesus sending you to bring good news this coming week?

Optional Activity – Listen to this week's playlist song, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” by Dolly Parton.

We’ve come through the shadows of Holy Week, and Easter morning has dawned again. Christ is risen! Whether 2,000 years ago or today, this is a simple, yet irrational declaration: Christ is risen! We don’t fully understand Resurrection. We can’t make logical sense of it. But it is perfect and fitting for God, whose steadfast love endures forever because even death cannot stop Love. So, listen and sing along with Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” giving thanks to God whose love never ends, never fails, and brings us into new life today and every day.

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer:

May we see things that can be seen only through eyes that have cried, Lord Jesus. May we hear your voice. May we waste no time in going to our siblings with the thrilling news of an empty tomb and the hope that does not disappoint. Alleluia. Amen.

Rev. Joe Hamby is the Director of Community Education at Roof Above, a comprehensive homeless service provider in Charlotte, NC. In his first career, Joe was a youth pastor at several United Methodist churches in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. Joe’s other ministry interest takes him to Cabarrus Regional Juvenile Detention Center twice a month.