After the blessing of eight worship services this week, I am ensconced into my usual Friday of hibernation, seeking to pull together the sermon for Sunday morning. Because the Presbyterian congregations of Oconee County have a long standing tradition of gathering for worship each evening of Holy Week, and because as pastor of one of those congregations, I am called upon to preach once during the week, my long sought after discipline of slowly incubating a sermon for Sunday has been shattered. As a consolation, I will post the sermon from Wednesday night. It surprised me - taking a different course and becoming a bit of a respite from the burden and solemnity of Holy Week. If you are curious, check out the second "Seedling to Sermon" page.
What I am anticipating now is the climax of this week - the last three services that will take place on Sunday morning. (This week actually offers 12 opportunities for worship. My missing one will be tonight - Good Friday- which I hate to miss but necessity will be my master this evening.) Our day at Seneca Presbyterian Church will begin at 6:30 a.m. with our sunrise service of worship. I understand this tradition has a long history as well, dating back to the days when the hill that now sustains our Fellowship Hall building was vacant - and an ideal spot to watch the sun rise on Easter morning. Though that hill is no longer accessible, its base still provides a great place to gather for worship. As we do, we shall borrow just a bit of an ancient tradition that is finding something of a resurgence among Protestants - namely the Easter Vigil.
A true Easter Vigil would begin in the early darkness of the last night before Easter dawn. It would last about six hours and contain four distinct movements: the service of light where the fire is rekindled after being extinguished on Good Friday, the service of readings that traces salvation history from the time of creation to the Easter morning of new creation, the service of baptism, and the celebration of communion. We will do numbers one and four along with a very abbreviated version of number two. Then adjourn to Pastors' Hall for our SPC tradition - the feast of Easter breakfast.
As today progresses, I hope to offer you another post as I ponder one of the most amazing stories of Easter: Mark's very strange ending to his Gospel. (That's verses one to eight, not nine to twenty. They were added later as an attempt to "fix" Mark's puzzling end to the Gospel story.) So check back again and offer your feedback. Then join us in our worship of God on Easter Sunday at either 9:00 or 11:00 a.m. The final outcome of today's work will be embedded within the joy of that morning's celebration.
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