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:
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Original Manuscript:
There is a great wonder in this night. There is a powerful and joyful mystery in it. This is the night where we keep Vigil with our Lord. It's where we hear the words about what our faith is, all the way from the beginning to this moment. This Resurrection moment.
We keep Vigil now because the sun has now set on Holy Saturday. We are now slowly approaching the wee hours of the morning, the time when our Savior rose from the grave. That moment is what our faith is truly about. And as we approach that moment, that moment that is now here, it is fitting that we remember how it is we got to this point. It is fitting that we look at all of Scripture and say 'it was all leading up to this moment.'
This moment, the Resurrection, is what it's all about for us as Christians. It is how we are able to live in relationship with God, that relationship that we always wanted and couldn't quite grasp on our own. The Resurrection is the fruit of the labors of Jesus' love for us, a love that would die so that we might live.
That exact moment, the moment Jesus came back to life and left the tomb, would have happened at this time. It was a moment we never quite get all the details about, at least for what happened to Jesus' body at this time. It seems that in one moment Jesus is dead, the other He is gone, and the next He is back to share with us the Good News.
None of the disciples were there to see the Resurrection. In fact, none of them even went to the tomb until the women, going out and doing the work that needed to be done, came back and told them what had happened.
We don't hear about the exact moment of the Resurrection, which is why this service tonight is so powerful. This is our chance to be present in this event. It's our chance to be there as it happens.
No, this isn't First Century Palestine. We're still in 21st Century Alabama, a half-a-world away in time and space. And yet, saying the words, keeping the Vigil, it makes us present in that event in a real way, albeit a way that is beyond our understanding.
That's because when we keep this Vigil for our Lord, we are present with Him. "Where two or three are gathered together, I am in the midst of them" says the Lord. We are present in the event of the Resurrection because we are present with God.
This is not only true for us this night, it is true for us every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist. Jesus tells us to "do this in remembrance of Me." Jesus is telling us to remember in such a way that we become present in the events. These words recall the Last Supper, as well as all that follows after it. So when we celebrate the Eucharist, we are present with Jesus in the Last Supper and in His death. And whenever we remember Jesus' death, we are also remembering His Resurrection as well.
Every Eucharist, we live into the death and resurrection. Tonight we do so in a more focused way. Tonight we do it by living into that one moment, the moment Jesus became alive again.