During Holy Week in 1999, my seminary professor, Rev. Dr. Mark Taylor, preached a powerful sermon, Galilee: the Margins of Empire (or something along those lines). In his inspiring message, Dr. Taylor suggested that we may find the risen Christ if we seek him among the present-day Galileans, those who live on the edges of society. The sermon has stayed with me and influenced my Easter preaching every year since. After all, it's my kind of resurrection story. Fourteen years later, it finally made it into one of my hymns.
Women rose that early morning, buying spices for their dead.
Hastened, then, to where they’d laid him, found the stone was moved instead.
They were startled. What had happened? Then a stranger said with care,
“He’s gone ahead, just like he told you. Galilee – you’ll find him there.”
Galilee was where he came from. Galilee, his native land.
Lowly corner of the empire, beaten down by Caesar’s hand.
Poor they were, the Galileans, crushed, and burdened with despair.
Jesus came and served among them. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
Where is Jesus? Can we find him, now two thousand years have passed?
Start by seeking “Galileans”. Find the present-day outcasts.
Under bridges; in the shelters; asking for a coin to spare;
With the poor, oppressed, downtrodden. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
With the soldiers home from battle, broken by our raging wars;
With the children, tired and hungry; those the world seems to ignore;
With the bullied on the school yards; in the hospitals of care;
With the sick, and lost, and lonely. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
With the strangers in a strange land, those far from their native soil;
In the picket lines and prisons; in the fields with those who toil;
In the barrios and ghettos, crumbling homes in disrepair;
On the margins of our empires. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
If we seek him, we can find him, as we serve among the least.
Let us carry out his mission. Let us be his reign of peace.
May we move among the people, with Christ’s love in us to share.
May we have the faith to follow. Galilee – we’ll find him there.
Copyright © 2013 by Rachel Frey. All rights reserved.
You'll Find Him There
Tune: NETTLETON 87.87D (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)
Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Easter A and B
Tune: NETTLETON 87.87D (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)
Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Easter A and B
Women rose that early morning, buying spices for their dead.
Hastened, then, to where they’d laid him, found the stone was moved instead.
They were startled. What had happened? Then a stranger said with care,
“He’s gone ahead, just like he told you. Galilee – you’ll find him there.”
Galilee was where he came from. Galilee, his native land.
Lowly corner of the empire, beaten down by Caesar’s hand.
Poor they were, the Galileans, crushed, and burdened with despair.
Jesus came and served among them. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
Where is Jesus? Can we find him, now two thousand years have passed?
Start by seeking “Galileans”. Find the present-day outcasts.
Under bridges; in the shelters; asking for a coin to spare;
With the poor, oppressed, downtrodden. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
With the soldiers home from battle, broken by our raging wars;
With the children, tired and hungry; those the world seems to ignore;
With the bullied on the school yards; in the hospitals of care;
With the sick, and lost, and lonely. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
With the strangers in a strange land, those far from their native soil;
In the picket lines and prisons; in the fields with those who toil;
In the barrios and ghettos, crumbling homes in disrepair;
On the margins of our empires. Galilee – you’ll find him there.
If we seek him, we can find him, as we serve among the least.
Let us carry out his mission. Let us be his reign of peace.
May we move among the people, with Christ’s love in us to share.
May we have the faith to follow. Galilee – we’ll find him there.
Copyright © 2013 by Rachel Frey. All rights reserved.
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