It
was just a little over twelve hours ago that I stood right here at this ambo,
with the congregation in darkness except for the burning candles held by each,
and I had the privilege to sing the solemn proclamation of Easter joy, the
Exsultet. The second verse of this most
magnificent song of praise goes like this:
Be glad, let
earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King,
let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness.
Our
entire Easter celebration, beginning with the Vigil last night, continuing
today and for the next seven days, and then for seven weeks after that, is
about this juxtaposition: light over
gloom and darkness, mercy over sin, life over death.
Sadly,
gloom and darkness aren’t strangers to any of us, except perhaps the very
young. Our lives all have their share of
gloom and darkness, some apparently more than others, some apparently full of
gloom and darkness. War, terrorism,
starvation. Serious illness, job loss,
financial struggles, addictions, broken relationships. The profound emptiness and grief at the loss
of a loved one. And what do we have to
look forward to at the end of our lives?
Our own passion, our own suffering, our own Calvary.
Here
in Irondequoit this hit so close to home this week. The Lynch family, already struggling with
mom’s cancer, then dealing with the tragic accident involving son Michael two
weeks ago, then the news on Tuesday that Michael was no longer responding to stimuli,
and then Michaels’s death on Thursday.
Talk
about gloom and darkness. Sorrow. Heartbreak.
For Michael’s family, for his friends and classmates and teachers,
indeed for our entire community.
But
not for Michael.
No,
not for Michael. For we believe, indeed
this is the essence of our faith, that Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God,
lived, truly died on the cross, was buried, and then on this very day rose from
the dead. By His death and resurrection,
destroying the power of death. Shining
radiant brightness against gloom and darkness, indeed against the gloom and
darkness of our lives.
Because
we trust that Michael who was baptized into Christ and believed in Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior now lives with Him.
That Michael, too, has experienced the same resurrection. And despite our grieving with the Lynch family,
we can even celebrate today.
For
it seems to me that what we celebrate today, the central event in human
history, the day on which we gained our salvation, is the only thing that makes
sense out of a situation like Michael’s.
Last night I sang “our birth would have been no gain, had we not been
redeemed.”
That
even though we experience gloom and darkness in our lives, we know that it is
temporary, that it has already lost, has already been defeated, overcome by the
grace, the power of Christ’s resurrection.
And we trust, we have this profound hope, that after our own suffering,
passion and death, we too will share in His resurrection. Share in His life for all eternity. We, too,
when Christ our life appears, will appear with him in glory.
That is what we
celebrate today. That’s what this day is
all about. That is what the great joy of
this day is all about. That sin and
death, darkness and gloom, have no lasting power, that they don’t have the last
laugh. That Our Blessed Lord conquered
sin and death on this day, once and for all.
So
what do I take away from this, what do I take home, you might ask?
Three
things, I think.
First,
that we are to place Christ first in our lives, right at the center of our
lives. And not only Christ, but Easter
Christ, Christ risen from the dead. This
is what it means to call ourselves Christian, the central belief of Christians,
that we are believers in Christ who rose from the dead in glory. As Saint Paul writes to the Romans, “If you
confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will
be saved.”
The
second thing is that we confess with our mouth, with our lives, that Jesus is
Lord and risen from the dead. A joy as
great as ours is something we can’t keep to ourselves. The world thinks we’re fools, so as St. Paul
also writes, let us be fools for Christ.
Let us not keep this very good news to ourselves. Indeed, Jesus is what the world is thirsting
for, even if they don’t know it, and His death and resurrection is our
only hope, the world’s only hope!
Finally,
that we live every day of our lives with the joy of the Resurrection, that we
be people of joy, that we be Easter people. With joy we celebrate
Christ’s resurrection today and indeed, every Sunday of the year, remembering
and celebrating His death and resurrection here in sacred word and Holy
Eucharist, His real presence.
Strengthened here and fed with His body and blood, soul and divinity, we
are sent forth – out into the world as people of joy.
So
that even in the darkest times, we can shine with His joy, with His risen
life.
So
that through our lives, He is made present, so that He can raise the fallen, He
can bring comfort to mourners, He can bring peace into situations of
concord.
So
that through you and me, sisters and brothers, the love and mercy of the Risen
Christ may be made known to a world so desperately in need of Him, so hungering
and thirsting for His love.
Jesus Christ is Risen
from the dead. Alleluia! Alleluia!
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