The Natural State of the Cosmos
Sunday, April 20, 2025
Scriptures: John 12:23-32
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Summary: In this Easter Sunday sermon Jeremy looks at the story at the centre of the Christian tradition, Jesus’ death and resurrection. John’s gospel presents a Passion narrative that exposes the structures of violence in our world and shows us that Christ’s salvation is personal and for everyone.
Easter: Mortality is at the heart of the Easter story, but the irrevocable nature of sacrifice makes Easter hard to grasp and talk about. The unsatisfying answers that have been offered to explain why the events of Easter had to happen can leave us confused or even feeling misled.
Did Jesus have to die because God was mad? Jeremy guides us to pay close attention to Jesus’ words in John. Easter is the moment of God’s judgement, when our violence and brokenness are held up in front of us for all to see; judgement is not some retribution that comes at the “pearly gates.”
Instead, Jesus was and is committed to driving out the power that we have constructed around ourselves. That is, our systems and structures of violence. On the cross, Jesus makes these fully visible so that they might lose their power in our world. Much like a seed needing to die before new life can grow, Jesus knew he needed to die in order to inaugurate a new reality and ultimately “draw all people to himself,” giving space to enter “new futures” of hope and life.
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Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
Connect: What’s an Easter tradition in your family? Do you paint eggs or make the kids in your family hunt for eggs? Do you attend Stations of the Cross or watch Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ periodically?
If you don’t have a specific Easter tradition currently or you didn’t have one growing up, what’s something, generally, that you like about Easter time?Share: Feel free to share about how you first encountered the Easter story, either when you were younger or when you heard the story later in life.
If you can remember and feel comfortable sharing, how was the Easter story explained or interpreted to you in the past? In other words, what was the “elevator pitch” description of Easter?
Reflect: on what Jesus says about his impending death. To overthrow the ideologies and powers of this world Jesus knew he had to die, his death was a mirror held up to us at the cross—not some future judgement looming over us. Read Jeremy’s words,
“On the cross, God says no more.
This is what your violence looks like.
This is what your disdain for each other does.
This is the pain your scapegoating manufactures in the world.
And it's no longer hidden.
And you can't look away.
Because that's what judgement is.But it's not because God hates us,
not because God wants us to suffer.
The cross exists because God wants us to stop passing pain back-and-forth between ourselves.
The cross is where we stop pretending we’re okay,
and we come face to face with what we do to each other all the time.”Does this change the way you think about the Easter story or Jesus’ ministry at all?
Does the fact that judgement was already passed at the cross change how you think about your interpersonal conflicts? What about social or global conflicts?Engage: with the idea of God exposing the violence of the world so that an alternative way of peace can slowly grow and turn over all the systems of power in our societies that lead to brokenness.
If, in Jeremy’s words, sin could be understood as corruption rather than a legal infringement against God, how does the Easter story reveal that to us?
In what way does the story of Easter help you subvert the violent, ideological, or authoritarian tendencies in your life?Takeaway: What is your takeaway from the message or today’s conversation?
Prayer from the sermon:
Father of all life, Son of all grace,
Spirit our mother who upholds and sustains all of us,
God of such great surprise as to put a catch in our breath and wings in our heart,
we praise you for this joy too great for words,
for this new world unleashed in us and now us in it,
for today there are no more dead ends.We have journeyed with you toward this day,
and now that we have arrived, through life and death and at resurrection,
at goodness, and truth alive and breathing in the world.
Would you remind us today that resurrection is happening all around us,
All the time.As life returns with spring,
as hope is renewed within us,
as you continue to repair your world piece by beloved piece,
breathe new breath into dusty lungs,
pump fresh blood into tired hearts,
bring new vision to eyes that have become to dull to see your beauty that surrounds us always.All so that we might celebrate life from where ever it comes to find us today. In the strong name of the Christ who died,
and rose to new life,
we pray,
Amen. -
CALL TO WORSHIP Luke 24:1-6
MUSIC Curated by Kevin & Alyssa Borst
Passion - King of Glory
Brooke Ligertwood - Holy Song
Brooke Ligertwood - King Of Kings
Passion - He Who Is To Come
Hillsong Worship - O Praise The Name
EUCHARIST INVITATION
Written by Bobbi Salkeld
Resurrection Sunday reminds us that change is what it means to participate in the life of Christ: our hurt can heal, what feels sad can give way to joy, a new story can burst up from the earth of our lives like life from a seedling.And so we come to the Eucharist meal today as an act of celebration. We remember that the resurrected Jesus surprised a couple of his friends on the road to Emmaus – surprised them with the power of life over death.
As we turn to the elements Jesus gave thanks for and shared with friends on that first Resurrection Sunday – bread from the fields and grapes from the vine – we hope for open hearts to recognize Christ in our midst too.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.Let us pray.
Loving God, all life springs from communion.
The grapes harvested, the grains grown, the friends gathered, the lost ones found.
This sacrament of gratitude is a place where the Risen Christ meets us.
Broken, we are being made whole.
Poured out, we are filled with joy once again.
Spirit of resurrection, bless the places we gather and feast.
Amen.
As we come forward, give thanks for the ways you participate in the change that leads to new life.
KATIES STORY
Special Video
SERIES BUMPER
Easter Sunday
