April 11, 2009 at Saint Mark in Norman, OK
Mark 1: 1-10 Palm Blessing + Isaiah 50: 4-7 + Psalm 22 + Philippians 2: 6-11 + Mark 16: 1-8
In the era of human civilization, human scientists can mark the Iron Age and the Bronze Age with the discovery of these things and their impact on human life and history. Then I suppose the development of the wheel, electricity, and the printing press ought to be counted, and perhaps many other moments that left their mark on human life. But none of them compares to the inaugural event that forever changed this world: the resurrection of Christ. It does not make any difference whether you believe it or not. The impact, the consequences are unmistakable as the lives of those who experienced and witnessed it began to change the course of human history.
Once every twelve months on the Sabbath after the first full moon of the spring equinox, people like us everywhere on this earth assemble in the night – at an hour that is in-between. We are between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We are between the death of Christ and the Resurrection. We are between sunset and sunrise. In a sense, for a moment, time is suspended giving us a space in which to reflect upon how we use time and what happens in time.
How we live in time shapes the quality of our relationships with ourselves and with others; with the world and with God. Too many of us seem to see time as something to be ticked off, or counted down wishing they had done things differently, looking back. This moment in here suggests that we would do better to look forward and live in anticipation of what will happen next.
Here in the darkness of this Easter Vigil, we are between times. We know darkness, sometimes far too well and too often: and in that darkness we search for meaning in our lives and the world around us.
Here in the darkness of this Easter Vigil we practice, we practice waiting. It is the crux of our faith this waiting, and if we practice it well, we shall endure other times of waiting that come: waiting for a birth, waiting for the results of a medical test, waiting for a loved one to breath their last, waiting for our own last moments.
Here in the darkness, we remember who we are and whose we are, We gather in community to keep company in the dark because it is frightening and lonely without another. It is so easy to fall into the violence, greed, and narcissism of this age, and so we sit in the dark to remember that we have embraced another way of life, and that along with those who keep this vigil we do not turn back for like the Israelites whose story we told again, we go forward even if the way is uncertain: forward to grow in relationship to God. Together we can face the unknown, the unfamiliar, and trust God for what is to come.
Mary Magdalene and the others show us how. Although frightened, they pressed forward facing the challenges that assaulted their faith. A new day dawned, and it was time to carry on with life even in the midst of death. When they arrived at that tomb, they were surprised that he was not there. Even though they could not possibly have understood what it could mean, what began in the darkness of an uncertain night was now beaming with possibilities and newfound hope. It is when we choose to live in the face of what looks like death that God most often surprises us with a glimmer of light and will carry us into a new day. We have held that glimmer of light tonight, and we have shared in this darkness. We must continue to do that, and when we do, we shall live in time and in the future.