Christ is Risen - sermon for the Easter Vigil

Easter Vigil

April 19, 2014

Do you ever have moments where you are reading scripture and suddenly you begin to wish that you could have been there?

Like at the creation…to be standing there when God said “let there be light”…and Mike and Vern looked at each other in amazement.

Or at the crossing of the Red Sea…The girls from Confirmation making up part of the crowd that walked through the sea on dry land only to watch as the Egyptians were drowned.

Could you imagine, Bev, being able to shout those words with Isaiah, inviting people to come and to eat of their fill of water and wine and bread?

Or to be the boys from confirmation standing with the crew members on the boat with Jonah, scared as the waves from the storm crashed into the boat and then to watch as Jonah was swallowed whole by a large fish?

Or to stand at the door of the fiery furnace and count not 3 men in there, but 4…all untouched by the fire that would instantly kill anyone who went near it?

What if you had walked along with Jesus and his disciples through the last couple days?

Through the last supper and a foot washing.

Through a betrayal in a garden and a trial.

Through shouts of Crucify and the release of a murderer.

Through a crucifixion and a death.

Sometimes I think to be physically present for stories in scripture would be exciting and awe-some.  This is one of the instances, though, where I think it would be confusing and terrifying and upsetting to have been there. But more than all that, I think it would be exhausting.

I mean, think about it, for those of you who have been here for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday and now tonight, it’s been a roller coaster of emotions.  We were absolved of sins and washed each other’s feet before partaking in a holy meal.  We heard about Jesus’ passion and death and pondered our roll in the crucifixion.  And tonight, on this most holy of nights, we celebrate Christ’s Passover from death to life.

A roller coaster indeed.

So what would it be like to stand next to Mary Magdalene in that time of the morning when the darkness permeates everything, staring at a stone that wasn’t where it was when you last saw it? After everything else that you have been through this weekend, the one task you would like to complete as a ritual of saying goodbye to someone you love, even that doesn’t turn out the way that you plan.  Because the one whom you love that was placed in that tomb on Friday isn’t there now. 

Now what do we do?  Simon Peter and the beloved disciple ran.  Mary Magdalene just stood there. Stunned.  That was all she could take.  And so she just stood there and wept. She let the darkness surround her as she stood there, let it envelope her and the pain she was feeling. 

But as she wept, she must have missed the first glimpses of sunlight starting to come up over the horizon.  The darkness being chased away, a new day coming to life. 

I imagine that when the one whom Mary thought was the gardener approached her, she wiped her eyes and made like everything was ok.  But those telltale red eyes of a person who has been weeping would have given her away.

“Just tell me where you’ve put him so we can take care of his body.”

And in the middle of the darkness that had been surrounding the last couple days, day broke for Mary when she heard a word most familiar to her…her own name. 

Jesus is risen

Jesus is alive

We weren’t there

We don’t know

Here’s what we do know

Christ is alive

Christ calls us by name and makes us his own in baptism

Christ has given us gifts of bread and wine and promised to be present in those gifts so that we may be fed and refreshed.

Christ is present with us in the darkness, dispelling in and bringing us light

Christ meets us not just in water, bread, and wine, but in dirt and manure, in tears and laughter, in the sprouting plants and the budding trees

And like Mary, we cannot hold on to Christ. We cannot keep him to ourselves.  When we truly meet Jesus, our lives are changed and our way of looking at the world is changed.  The blues are brighter, the greens are greener, the world filled with light and life. 

And when we see the risen Christ in the midst of dirt and manure, in tears and in laughter, in falling leaves and spouting plants, in bread and water and wine, and our lives our changed, that is something she shouldn’t keep to ourselves.  It’s something to share! It’s something to celebrate.

Christ is risen!