Sermon preached by The Rev'd Donna Downs

St. Paul’s on the Green, Norwalk, Connecticut

The Great Vigil of Easter – March 22, 2008

What makes this night different? That is a question that is asked at the beginning of Jewish Passover, each year as Jews retell the story of passing from death into life as Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery and bondage by the Egyptians to a land promised to them by God. For 40 days and nights they wander in the wilderness. This story is retold year after year.

So, what makes this night different for us. The Easter Vigil is the only service the church celebrates that begins in darkness. Father Nicholas lit a fire at the back of the church. From that fire the paschal candle is lighted –we hear “The Light of Christ” chanted and we respond “Thanks be to God”. The deacon leads the procession up the aisle holding the candle. From that one candle all of our candles were lighted. Slowly the light of Christ illuminates our sanctuary. In the midst of darkness Christ’s love shines and we are able to see faces of people throughout the church. Some we recognize – others we don’t know well but they have come to hear a story – a shared story – A story that is retold and refashioned.

Something else makes this night different – the retelling of the history of Christianity, from Genesis – when, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and God gave the earth shape – to the Exodus, to the time when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (the mother of James and John) went to Jesus’ tomb early in the morning on the day after the Sabbath. An earthquake of seismic proportions occurs. An angel of the Lord descends from heaven, rolls back the stone at Jesus’ tomb, sits on it and announces to the women – “I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. (But don’t linger long)” The women are invited by the angel into the tomb – the stone was rolled away to let them in and see that Christ is alive.

This evening we are invited into the tomb – a place that held death is now a place of life.

This is the night that Jesus passes over from death into life. This is the night when we renew our baptismal vows – drowned to the old life, and risen into a new life. Father Nicholas invited us to renew our baptismal vows by answering a series of questions: “Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and renew your commitment to Jesus Christ? Do you stand up for and turn away from behavior that hurts others and when you are drawn toward hurting another will you remember, the commitment you made to Christ and most importantly, remember the commitment that Christ makes to you – to be present with you always - Will you remember that Christ precedes you and remains with you always just as God led the Israelites out Egypt and Jesus met the two Mary’s as they hurried to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen God meets us - leads us - cares for us and loves us.

Another question we were asked this evening - “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” Not co-existing and tolerating people, but striving to live in community, striving to understand their stories, their lives – joys and pains, working together to bring justice and peace.

Last week I stood at the Jordan River in Israel at the place once known as Ceseara Philippi, where Jesus asked his disciples, Who do you say that I am? Peter’s response was that Jesus was the Messiah. Our group renewed our baptismal vows – another women a priest from Montana and I led the renewal of our vows– as people came forward - we reached into the Jordan River – and made the sign of the cross on people’s foreheads as they came forward to reaffirm their vows.

After the renewing of our vows, it was pointed out to me by someone that as he was receiving Christ’s blessing he looked at the river and saw numerous fish struggling to swim upstream back to the safety of still waters. The fish would swim vigorously, fighting against the current that threatened to carry them away from home, they would stop and rest, only to renew their journey upstream.

What are you struggling against this night? Do you feel as if you have been running toward an empty, dark and lifeless tomb this past year? Don’t stop there, go in, but don’t linger long, and discover that the darkness of the tomb has been replaced with the light of Christ.

In the stories we told we are able to look over our shoulders to the history of God’s saving acts of grace and love. We are marked as Christ’s own forever. We are people of the resurrection – Easter people. The resurrection is about Christ and it is about us. It is not something that happened in the past only to Christ and is celebrated and remembered once a year. It is what happens to us over and over. What God has done for us and is doing for us. Transformation is today. The resurrection is something that we celebrate and the best place to do that is at the Lord’s table. There with eyes of faith, we name the grace evident in our common lives, and share in the Christ’s Body and Blood.

What makes this night different? We are welcomed home. Alleluia Christ is Risen!