"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."

Sermon for the Great Vigil of Easter 2019St. Paul’s Sacramento

Genesis 1:1-2:4a [The Story of Creation] 
Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 [Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea] 
Isaiah 55:1-11 [Salvation offered freely to all] 
Ezekiel 37:1-14 [The valley of dry bones] 
At The Eucharist

Romans 6:3-11 
Psalm 114
Luke 24:1-12

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

We gather this evening to celebrate the breaking of our Lenten fast.  We gather to marvel in the new Easter fire, the singing of the Exultet, and listening to stories of our creation and salvation history.  Tonight is a long night of remembering and celebration, and unlike Easter day, it is mostly a service attended by church members.  One of my fondest memories of being a transitional Deacon was singing the Exultet here at the Great Vigil of Easter. 

This service is an odd service for many.  We read a whole bunch from the Hebrew Scriptures before we ever get to the main act!  We first read about creation and the pronouncement from our God that creation is Good – indeed God found creation to be very good.  Then we read about God working over and over again in the history of humanity to get us to see that creation as Good.  And over and over again in our history we have had to turn back and return to the good.  Over and over again God has offered God’s grace and forgiveness to God’s creation.  Over and over again the prophets tried to get humanity to turn from destruction to the work of loving God’s and loving God’s good creation.

And the work of our salvation history and God’s dream of a creation that is very good is still a work in progress.  All it takes is to read any newspaper, watch any news program, or read any social media platform to see that there is much work to do to bring about God’s dream of salvation and love for God’s creation.  It is easy to give up on God’s dream.  It is easy to say that it was a nice idea – loving God and loving our neighbor – but after all these years it is impossible. That dream is dead.

But here we are – celebrating something that does not make any sense.  Celebrating that God’s love that came down on Christmas and walked among us was hung on a cross to die.  We are celebrating because there is something bigger than what we can understand.  There is something bigger in God that we don’t always understand.  Something that we struggle to accept.  We are celebrating that Jesus showed us that Love would not die.

With all that is going on in our world.  With the hyper partisanship, the unacceptable crises of people being treated as less than beloved children of God.  With the humanitarian crises of a lack of housing in our communities we can be ready to call it quits.  We can be ready to retreat into our own cocoons and accept defeat.  Like the women we can be ready to take the dream of God’s salvation, the dream of Love, and anoint it with spices, wrap it in a shroud and bury it.  Because by all outward appearances that dream is dead.

However, when just when we are ready to bury God’s dream the amazing happens.  We here the angels whispering in our ears – and occasionally shouting from the pinnacles "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”  Even in times of distress we will find that God’s dream of a good creation, God’s walking among us offering grace upon grace, offering salvation, is still here.  The good news of Easter is that the Love that came down on Christmas would not die.  That Love is so powerful that nothing we can do will kill that love.

All we have to do it to look among the living.  If we look at the living, we will see a hunger for God’s love.  In the dreadful fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame the images of people praying for our lady of Paris was both heartbreaking and heartwarming.  Seeing people praying the rosary while the firefighters worked to contain the fire.  Listening to spontaneous groups of people singing Ave Maria in the streets was amazing.  It was an outpouring of love that brought be to tears.

I saw the hunger for the love that did not die but is still walking among us on Ash Wednesday.  I saw it in the amazing numbers of people wanting to be reminded that God loves all of Gods creation and hungers to turn around.  People who hunger to turn around society and create a place of love.  Over 200 people stopped at this corner to have prayer and imposition of ashes – people hungry for a new beginning – so hungry that they came out even in rain that was literally blowing sideways in the early morning. 

I saw that love on Maundy Thursday at St. Matthew’s where that small community – one that by any rational measure of success should have ceased functioning years ago.  I saw it as they gathered for the washing of feet.  I saw it in a four-year-old boy gently and reverently washing his mother’s feet.  I saw it in the sharing of the meal.  I saw the love of God in the sharing of the meal and the fellowship of the gathered. And I especially saw that hunger and love in the stripping of the altar.  When the gathered congregation took turns rubbing the oil into the wood.  Anointing an altar of love as if for burial – the scent of the unction was a powerful reminder that the love of God that we celebrated on Thursday would not die – the scent that hung in the room was not one of death but was the scent of love.

I see God’s love all the time.  And when I have my dark moments – moments when it seems that we have managed to finally do what Good Friday and the crucifixion failed to do.  In those moments I hear the Holy Spirit whisper "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”  In those moments I again see the Love that is all around us.  In those moments am taken aback by the incredible generosity of the people who gather around this table.  The incredible generosity and love of people who have little yet make this place a haven and sanctuary where God’s love is alive.  A people who work to spread God’s dream of love to out in our world.

And just like the reaction that the disciples had to the women’s amazing story that Christ is risen our society rolls their collective eyes and considers this resurrection, this love of God and love of Creation as just an “idle tale”.  An idle tale that is not based in reality.  The good news is that while many will see this Dream of God as a dream that died there are still the women who remind us that the tomb is empty, there are still the Peter’s who run to see the empty tomb and to remember that the Love is not dead. 

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”  I invite you this Easter season to look for God’s love.  The love that God has for each and every one of us – the love that God has for God’s good creation.  The love that is not in the cold tomb but is very much alive and walking among us at this very moment.