A Sermon at the Easter Vigil So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy… Why this great joy tonight? Why the fire, the candles, the flowers, the bells, the music, the alleluias? There are reasons, enough, it seems. We’ve heard the stories of the saving deeds God has done from Creation to Exodus to Dry Bones. Dani, Eva and Claire have been baptized into Christ’s body and it is right to welcome them to the family with joy. We’ve heard the stirring words of John Chrysostom and proclaimed – quite loudly – that Christ is risen indeed. Reasons enough for joy, to be sure! Yet while we celebrate, the world is going on as it has, not noticeably different from what it was yesterday or will be tomorrow or the day after – a world in which much, both big and little, still goes wrong. People who were seriously ill yesterday, still are. War continues in Iraq and Afghanistan, as does genocide in Darfur. Friends argue and feelings are hurt. Marriages continue to struggle. Millions around the world remain hungry, lack clean water and contract preventable disease. And people die – of old age, illness, violence, neglect, poverty and sheer bad luck. Sin and Death seem to continue on their merry way through this world as if nothing of consequence happened when –as we believe -- Jesus died and rose to make the creation new. What are we to make of the stubborn persistence of the powers of evil in a post-resurrection world, a persistence that seems to give the lie to the joy we know tonight? The answer to that question is in the Taize chant we’ve sung throughout Lent and in the sermons of this Holy Week: Jesus, remember me, when you come into your Kingdom; Jesus, remember me, when you come into your Kingdom. The prayer of the criminal crucified with Jesus remains our prayer – even after the resurrection – because God’s work is not finished; the Kingdom is yet to come. What we celebrate tonight is not the final act in God’s work of salvation. It is the decisive event, assuring, as Dame Julian of Norwich, says, that “All will be well and [we] shall see that all manner of thing shall be well.” And all will be well-- when Jesus comes in his kingdom. Because almost 2,000 years of history have passed since the cross and resurrection, we Christians have a tendency to see our faith looking backwards – as if all the important stuff happened a long time ago. But the Gospel always looks forward, forward to the coming of the Kingdom. Jesus ministry was replete with signs of the in-breaking of that Kingdom: miracles of healing; meals with the outcast; forgiveness of sinners, raising of the dead. Jesus’ preaching, too, was about the coming of God’s Kingdom: God’s Reign of healing, love, justice, mercy grace, forgiveness, compassion, peace and welcome for all. This is what we pray for with the criminal on the Cross and in the prayer Jesus’ taught us: Thy Kingdom come -- let the healing and forgiving love that absorbed sin and death on the Cross and rose from the grave rule fully and visibly over the whole creation. We aren’t there yet – and so we pray for the Kingdom to come. But meanwhile, we live in hope and in joy, because there are signs and foretastes of that Kingdom all around us. Tonight’s worship is one such foretaste, when fire, candles, flowers, bells, music, alleluias all show forth the joy we know in Jesus’ Resurrection, the most powerful of all signs of the Kingdom that is to come. And there are many more such signs and foretastes all around us if we have the eyes to see. Here are a few that have crossed my path recently – I’m sure you can add to this list. • A woman in Afghanistan continues to teach girls the skills they will need to prosper -- even in the face of death threats from the Taliban; • A deacon mediates on Jesus washing her feet and turns her prayer into a simple, powerful Maundy Thursday sermon; • A conflicted couple offer each other forgiveness as one of them prepares to die; • Another couple accepts the death of their relationship and prepare to move on; • a third couple rejoices in the gift of life-giving love. • A former gang member in LA hosts a call-in radio show that helps lead others away from his once-violent life. • The Baptisms of Eva, Clair, and especially Dani proclaim that all God's children -- all God’s children -- are full and equal participants in the life of Christ's Church, as our Bishops recently wrote; • And the Easter Eucharist we will share shortly is nothing less than a foretaste of the banquet of the Kingdom in which we and all creation will be gathered home by the crucified and risen Christ. Yes, sin and death still are present in this world – but the Resurrection of Jesus we celebrate tonight promises that all will be remembered when he comes in his Kingdom. No wonder we are joyful! Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia! The Rev. Jack Zamboni Easter Eve, 2007