Readings for the Day:
- Genesis 1:1-2:4a [The Story of Creation]
- Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 [The Flood]
- Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 [Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea]
- Ezekiel 36:24-28 [A new heart and a new spirit]
- Romans 6:3-11
- Matthew 28:1-10
Sermon:
This night is one of the most important nights of our faith. It's because we celebrate the core of our belief and our reason we trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because we celebrate that most sacred mystery: The Resurrection.
As we read in the Gospel tonight, the resurrection took place just before dawn. Or, as we will read in John in our service in the morning, it took place in the dark of night before dawn. For the Jewish people, the day started at night, after the sun set. And so we, in our celebration, are approaching the time of that great event.
Vigil itself means we are being vigilant. That we are being watchful. So the time of this service at night, the recollection of Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as they came in the wee hours of the morning to the tomb to help prepare Jesus' body for burial, helps us, in a way, to be present with them. To witness the Earthquake with them. To witness the stone being moved away. To hear the angel say that Jesus is there no more, but is now Risen.
This service, by the mere proximity of time to those events over two millennia ago, lets us be present for the events we hear about tonight. It allows us to be closer to them. It allows us to experience the Resurrection in its fullness.
And we experience this fullness by celebrating the totality of our lives as Christians together. We celebrate Jesus Christ as the light coming into our hearts and penetrating the darkness of sin and death that surrounds us. We celebrate the totality of Scripture, especially of the Old Testament epics that show us the history of salvation that God has been working throughout all of time from the very beginning. And we will soon celebrate the totality of our sacraments as we renew our Baptismal vows and celebrate the Eucharist together.
Through Baptism and Eucharist we celebrate the two great outward and physical signs of inward and spiritual grace that our Lord Jesus Christ gave us. In them we celebrate those sacraments, those rites, those ways of worship that set us apart as followers of the Way. Followers of Christ. Those who are called Christians.
So live into this night. Live into this sacred mystery. Every year this service is a reminder to us of all that God has done for us in the world. It is a reminder that although God died for us, He rose again to give us new life in Him. We remember the grace He has given us through our journey through the Scripture. We remember that we are united to Him through the gifts of the two main Sacraments we recall and celebrate. And we know that He is with us always through His flame that burns brightly each Sunday until the end of this Great Easter season.
And most of all, we live into the sacred mystery of the Resurrection through the time in which we celebrate. As we prepare for the dawn coming, we find ourselves like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. We too are there to witness the glory of Jesus Christ rising from death into life. And through our entire service, we see that we too are called to die to sin and self so that we can rise to new life through that wonderful truth we celebrate today: the marvelous gift of the Resurrection from the dead.