Sermon - Easter Vigil (4/11/2020)

Gen. 1:1-2:4a; Ex. 14-10-31, 15:20-21; Is. 55:1-11; Zeph. 3:14-20; Rom. 6:3-11; Matt. 28:1-10

The story of Easter is your story, and my story.  From the beginning God created everything that exists out of nothing, you and me and the sun and the stars and galaxies all called into being by God’s Word.  This life is given to us by the gift of an eternal and deathless God, so how can death have the final word?

When God called a people, God rescued them from certain defeat.  They passed through the waters that caused death and destruction to those who wanted to enslave others, but freedom and deliverance to those who had cried out in their oppression.  And on the safe side of the sea, the hope for a new life begins.

In freedom, the people of Israel learn what God is like.  They learn that God offers salvation freely to all – everyone who is thirsty, come to the water and drink!  And they hoped for the day when God would restore all creation, save the lame and gather the outcast, and make all things new.

After Jesus was crucified and buried, after he spent the Sabbath resting in the tomb, in the dark of Saturday night the women went to the tomb, “to see the tomb,” as Matthew says.  What they saw was the completion of everything God has been doing – the dawn of the age to come, the victory of life over death, the power of God to bring new life out of nothing.

And that new life, Paul says, is not just for Jesus, it is for you and me.  We too pass through the waters with Israel, with Jesus, from death to life.  In baptism Easter life is given to us as a free gift – all who are thirsty, come to the water!  For if Jesus is risen, then we shall arise – indeed, we already have.  Give God the glory.  Alleluia!