30 March
2013
St. Athanasius Lutheran Church
The
Great Vigil of Easter Vienna, VA
“Paradise Is Open Again”
The
world holds candlelight vigils to remember the dead.
The
Church’s
candlelight vigil is to wait for the living.
For our Lord, who was crucified for us and then laid in the
tomb, is not dead, but is risen from the dead.
Tonight, we begin to remember and celebrate that is a small
way.
Tonight is not the full joy of Easter, but the quiet
confidence that Easter is coming in the morning.
Tonight
we prepare for that celebration.
We
prepare by remembering the works of God and the promises of God.
All that
He has done for His people in the past, and His
promises for the future.
And so
we will hear of creation, and remember that with Jesus’ resurrection is the new creation.
We will
hear of the flood and how God saved Noah and his family, and remember that God
keeps us in safety in the ark of Christ’s body, the Church.
We will
hear of Abraham and Isaac and remember that the Father who sacrificed His Son
for us was God, not Abraham, and that Jesus is the Lamb God provided.
We will
hear of how Israel passed through the Red Sea on dry land, but that Pharaoh and
his army were drowned, and remember that in passing through the waters of Holy
Baptism, we are rescued from our enemy, satan.
We will
hear from the prophet Isaiah that the Word of God always accomplished that for
which it is sent, and remember that the Word made flesh did exactly that -
accomplished the salvation of mankind for which He was sent.
We will
hear of Jonah and his preaching to Nineveh after his three day stay in the
belly of the great fish, and remember our Lord’s coming to us after his three day stay in the grave.
And we
will hear of God’s great
rescue of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, and remember
that Jesus has saved us from the flames of hell.
And then
we will hear from the Apostle Paul, how baptism is our Easter.
How in baptism we are joined with the death and resurrection of Jesus and
raised to a new life in Him. And we’ll remember our baptism and rejoice in it.
And when
we awake in the morning, all joy will break out - in the church and in all
creation! For our Lord Jesus is risen from the dead,
never to die again. And our joy will not be because we are caught up in an
emotion, but the joy that is founded on God’s Word and promises. His Word and promises fulfilled for
us. For that is true joy. Joy that will last. Joy that cannot die.
For
Paradise is open again.
That’s what Jesus has done for us.
The
angels which once guarded the way to the Tree of Life
now announce to us that the grain that was buried in the ground has come forth
as a new Tree of Life for us, that we may eat of Him and live forever.
And so
we do, and so we will.
This is
the night. The night that has changed everything.
Thanks be to God.
In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.