March 27, 2016 - Holy Week - Easter - Christ is Risen and Bodies on Earth

Christ Has No Body

L'Estasi di Santa Teresa

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Saint Teresa of Ávila

Pastor Michelle offered this quote from Saint Teresa of Ávila at the end of her Easter sermon about Jesus Christ risen.  Understanding, reason and faith collided and merged together for me at that moment.   My "how to make traditional services contain something new" question I pondered on Palm Sunday a week ago was resoundingly answered.

Saint Teresa inspired me personally a long time ago.  I learned about her, not through quotes or her writings but, rather, discovered her through an art class when studying Bernini. His sculpture, L'Estasi di Santa Teresa or The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome captured my imagination when I first encountered the stories and photos of this piece.

Let me write about the service and then delve into the importance of thinking about Saint Teresa of Ávila on Easter..

These were the first Easter services for me that Creator celebrated without Pastor Dayle.  There was a shift in emphasis to take in.  There was both the familiar and unfamiliar throughout the service.  The Creator Praise songs Lord, I lift Your Name on High and There Is a Redeemer were very familiar and the Creator Choir led the congregation on them.

Christ the Lord is Risen Today was also familiar to the choir and congregation from last year's musical cantata.  There is music that forms the community on holy days like Easter and Christmas.  The Gathering Hymn - Jesus Christ is Risen Today is one of those hymns.  I noticed people coming in late while the congregation was singing this song, made the sign of the cross as they entered.  I think they were unconsciously responding to a holy moment the singing was creating.  I did not see people earlier or later making the sign of the cross.

Photo By Ron Houser

The readings were traditional.  Pastor Michelle made Children's Time fun by having children and the congregation sing "Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord", alternately having half of us only stand when singing "Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah" and the other half only when singing "Praise ye the Lord".  

After the sermon the Hymn of the Day was Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds, another song emphasizing triumph with it's repeated Alleluias.

The Creator Choir sang songs the congregation had not heard before, like He is Risen (Mary's Song) with Janice's strong solo and Resurrection Song from The Day He Wore My Crown cantata.  Matt added some choice piano accompaniment and Jon directed both pieces' dynamics and emotions    Performing them as a choir member was exhilarating.  There is something that resonates with music you have practiced for months and are completely familiar with singing.

The Communion songs were Be Not Afraid, You Are Mine and another Easter hymn Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen! The service closed with our traditional Sending Song - Hallelujah, We Sing Your Praises.  For the 8:00 service, it was delightful to watch Shirley playfully flexing her muscles while singing "Strong in faith" and little Mimi stomping to the beat.

Back to the sermon, Saint Teresa, and a great sense of humor. Saint Teresa's sense of humor is documented.  For example on one occasion Teresa complained to God about her mistreatment from so many different people. God replied to her saying ‘That is how I always treat my friends’  St Teresa replied ‘That must be why you have so few friends’.

Photo By Ron Houser

St Teresa struggled because few could understand or appreciate her inner ecstasies.  I learned the levitating stories that float around her (forgive me using the word float).  I read her description of God giving her spiritual delights.  God's presence overwhelmed her senses and she would be filled with rapture while she was in a glorious foolish, prayer of union.  At times she felt "the sun of God melt her soul away"and at other times her whole body was raised from the ground.

If she felt God was going to levitate her body, she stretched out on the floor and called the nuns to sit on her and hold her down. Far from being excited about these events, she "begged God very much not to give me any more favors in public."

I never connected St Teresa's levitating with raising from the dead.  I learned again this morning how my mind fragments my spiritual activities and knowledge into convenient cubby-holes.  St. Teresa was contained in the cubby-holes of Art, Bernini, Catholic Saint, and the Spanish Inquisition.  None of these referenced back to my Lutheran or Easter cubby-holes until today..  

St. Teresa's story tied in with aspects of Easter clearly described in today's Gospel reading but normally not emphasized like Pastor Michelle did today. Her sermon focused partly on the disciples not believing the story of the risen Jesus from the women, women normally not considered reliable witnesses at that time.

Something flying in the face of normal rational world is disconcerting.  Lutherans are suspicious of leaving our minds / reason at the door when it comes to religion. Yet Christ is Risen is God's deepest revelation of God to us and that, in turn, is hard to reconcile with life's reality.  As Pastor Michelle said as she concluded her sermon "Resurrection is a gift from God received by faith".

Pastor Michelle's "gift" of the St. Teresa quote brought everything to a full circle.  Art, together with religious revelation. Without faith, Christ has no body now on earth but our's.  In my mind's eye ( I will make it easier for you by inserting an image to the left) I see St. Teresa's body captured in a miraculous sculpture with an angel. They are both depicted as levitating above the ground so they are without bodies on earth in more ways than one and yet are portrayed in a sensuous encounter.

What can those of us with bodies anchored to the earth do as the body of Christ on earth besides exclaim "Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluiah!"?