This Is the Night!

Sermon for SMHP, Easter Vigil 2018

John 20:1-18

           Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.

           But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ ¹⁶Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^* ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).

           ¹⁷Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

This is the night 

in which the darkness of sin has been purged away by the rising brightness.

This is the night 

in which all who believe in Christ are rescued from evil and the gloom of sin, are renewed in grace, and are restored to holiness.

              This is the night!!!

           This is the night!!!

           Tonight we stand in the shadow of death, hearing the stories of our God. 

           Creation.

           Deliverance.

           Salvation

           Wisdom

           Hope

          

           We tell each other these stories to poke at memories hundreds and thousands of years old.  Memories of God doing wonderful, miraculous things.  A long reminder that God can do wonderful, miraculous things!

           We need the reminder this night, because we have entered into the space between death and life.  We can still remember the rough wood of the cross, the story of betrayal, pain, and death.  We were here, not long ago, gathered around the cross, remembering the agonizing death of Jesus. 

           And we will be here tomorrow, hearing the amazing story of the greatest thing God ever did, that time when incarnation gave way to resurrection.  And tomorrow there will be cake, and ham, and Easter baskets and the shared joy of Easter.

           But this is the night…when we stand at the edge of joy.

           Until fairly recently, I would have struggled to find an image of what I just said to you.  What does it mean, really, to stand “at the edge of joy”?

           [Start slide show]

           I’m still not sure I can adequately describe what it means, but I can show you what it looks like, since I see it most every morning.  Every morning, we open the door to the bedroom directly across from us, and there, standing in his crib, is this child, poised at the edge of joy.  When he sees you, his face lights up, and his arms stretch out, and you feel your heart start to sing.

           Every once in a while I wonder, “Will he be that boy [point to slides] this morning?  I mean, he can’t be a bundle of joy every morning, right?”

           I’m just going to let these slides run.  They don’t need any commentary.  We shall instead talk about Mary.

           Mary of Magdala went to the tomb of Jesus on the day after the sabbath.  According to Mark, she had spices for the anointing of his body.  John doesn’t tell us why she went, only that she saw the stone rolled away and went straight to Simon Peter, who then raced “the other disciple” to the tomb where they went in, one at a time, saw that the linen cloths were still there, but Jesus was not.

           Then, John tells us in the most matter-of-fact way…they went home.

           But Mary stood outside the tomb.

           Weeping.  Both feet firmly planted in Good Friday, and the horrible death of Jesus.

           And she looks in and sees the same grave clothes, and a pair of angels, and is still in a Good Friday place.  “They must have moved the body,” she tells the angels, nonplussed by the fact that there are angels in the tomb.

           She sees Jesus himself and stays in that sad, terrible Good Friday space.  “Oh, Mr. Gardener,” she beseeches, “Tell me where you have put Jesus.”

           I believe that it happened just like that, because I know that it is possible to get stuck in a Good Friday space, despite ubiquitous evidence that resurrection has, in fact, happened.  That it is, in fact, Easter.

           Sometimes we need a little nudge.  Sometimes we need a big nudge.

           Mary’s nudge comes as Jesus calls her name, and his recognition breaks through her lack of recognition and they share a moment which heaves her out of Good Friday, and toward the joy of Easter.

           She sees him, finally, and she is so excited that she latches onto him.  That’s pretty much what happens to me every morning in my house.  I want to grab hold of that and just hang on.

           But you can’t hang on.  You have to trust that the source of your joy is for real.  That Jesus is resurrected.  That the little boy is smiling on the other side of that bedroom door. 

           The best thing about living with Dominic is that he not only showers us with his own joy every morning…he reminds us to be joyful ourselves.

           The best thing about being Easter Christians is that we can remind each other that our joy is for real.

           Say that to the people around you:  “Your joy is for real!

           Our God has triumphed over death!

           Come into the joy of Easter, friends.  Our God has triumphed over death.  Let our joy be complete, and let us be about the work of sharing our joy with one another, with all those we meet, and with a hurting world.

           This is the night!

           Christ is the light!  Let him shine in us, and cast out all darkness, for our joy is for real.  Alleluia!  Amen.