Easter Vigil , 04/20/2019

Sermon on Luke 24:1-12, by Richard O. Johnson

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. [Luke 24.1-12 NRSV]

But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. The Danish theologian Kierkegaard told a parable of a community of ducks, waddling off to duck church to hear the duck preacher. The duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. This was a wonderful gift, he said, for there was no place these ducks could not go, nothing they could not accomplish. Why, with those wings they could soar right up into God’s presence! Shouts of “Amen!” were quacked through the duck congregation. When the service was ended, the ducks left, commenting on what a wonderful message they had heard—and then they all waddled back home.

Are we like them? Do we come in darkness this night, hear the story of redemption, hear this glad Easter gospel with all its drama? Do we talk about how wonderful it is, perhaps even singing Charles Wesley’s wonderful words, “Soar we now where Christ has led”—and then waddle home, acting as if the story, the words, the truth is indeed an idle tale?

If it does not touch me

Well, of course it is an idle tale, if it does not touch me. Luther’s explanation of the Apostles’ Creed in the Small Catechism teaches us the importance of the Christian faith touching me—that God created, not just the world, but me; that Christ came, not just to save humanity, but so that I may be his own. Perhaps on this Resurrection Day we need to complete the circle by quoting once more from the Catechism: To believe, Luther says, means knowing that “on the last day he will raise me and all the dead, and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life.” Again the personal. He will raise me; he will give me eternal life. That’s what this day means.

He will raise me. E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary, told about an African convert to Christianity. Often in those days the newly baptized were encouraged to take new names, especially if their old names had pagan associations. This particular man chose a new name, but it was not what the missionaries expected. At his baptism he asked to be named “After.” He had concluded that his entire life was now new and different, now that the risen Christ had embraced him.

The promise of resurrection is that there is an “after” for us. In a life that sometimes seems discouraging, sometimes even tragic, there is always an “after.” Even what seems like death is not the end. “He will raise me.”

B. White wrote movingly of his wife’s grave illness, which lasted for several years. She was mostly bedridden, but every October she would select a day to supervise the planting of the garden. Often it would be a cold and blustery day, but she would wrap herself in a trench coat, establish herself on a canvas lawn chair, and with a clipboard and pencil, give explicit directions to the gardener as to what bulbs should be planted where. Each year it seemed unlikely she would live to see the flowers of spring, but she kept at it every autumn for several years. When you believe there is an “after,” you keep going with faith.

Eternal life means joy

And he will give me and all believers in Christ eternal life. St. Paul puts it this way: “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” But it is not for this life only. We have the gift of eternal life. Yet this is no pie in the sky, no future hope. That gift of eternal life impacts this life, this very night. It enables us to live with joy, with purpose, and with freedom.

We can live with joy. In 1930, in the early days of the Soviet Union, the Bolshevik Bukharin addressed a huge assembly in Kiev. His subject was atheism. For over an hour, he harangued against Christianity, heaping ridicule and contempt on the gospel and all that it means. When he finished, he demanded, “Are there any questions?” A solitary man arose and asked permission to speak. He mounted the platform, stood next to Bukharin, and slowly surveyed the crowd. At last he shouted the ancient Easter greeting of the Orthodox Church: “Christ is risen!” The vast assembly was immediately on its feet, and the response came crashing like the sound of an avalanche: “He is risen indeed!” There, in that dreary place filled with powerful opposition to the gospel, the promise of eternal life brought joy and triumph even in the face of death. When you know that Christ has given you eternal life, your joy cannot be stifled.

Eternal life means purpose

That promise of eternal life brings purpose. When Luba Tryszynska was a young mother, she was imprisoned, along with thousands of other Polish Jews, in Bergen-Belson concentration camp. Her husband was taken away to another camp, where he ultimately died. Her three-year-old son was snatched from her arms and sent to the gas chambers of Auschwitz. But on her second night in Bergen-Belson, Luba heard children crying, and she responded as any mother would. There were 46 Dutch children who had been dumped at her camp, presumably to die. None was older than 14. Luba rescued them. She coaxed kitchen workers to give her extra food, and she stole would she could not beg. “I felt I was alive for a purpose,” she later said. “I wanted to help these children who didn’t have their mothers.” For nine months she struggled to keep them alive, and when the camp was liberated in April 1945, she had succeeded with all but two.

We who have the gift of eternal life—we have a purpose! That purpose is what keeps us going, even when death is all around us, even when the world seems to make no sense and have not future, even when we feel like giving up. And with a sense of purpose, life can be full.

Eternal life means freedom

That gift of eternal life also sets us free—free to love, free to give. Larry Phillips tells about a trip to a restaurant with his 6-year-old son. The boy asked if he could say grace, and of course his father said “OK.” They bowed their heads. “God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would thank you even more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And liberty and justice for all! Amen.” There were chuckles from surrounding patrons, but one woman said rather sternly, “That’s what’s wrong with this country. Kids today don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!”

At this the boy burst into tears. “Did I do wrong, Dad? Is God mad at me?” Dad assured him he had done just fine, that God was certainly not mad. Just then an elderly man approached the table. He winked at the boy and said, “I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer!” “Really?” the boy asked. “Cross my heart.” And then, in a theatrical whisper, the man tipped his head toward the woman who had made the remark. “Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.”

Well, of course there was ice cream for dessert. The six year old stared at his for a moment, then without a word picked up his bowl, walked over to the woman who had made the remark and set it down in front of her. “Here,” he smiled, “this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes, and my soul is good already!” [Homiletics 10:2]

Can you say that this night? Have you heard the promise, that God will give you eternal life? That’s what makes for a good soul, you see. If you have heard that promise . . . if you truly have heard that promise given to you . . . then you have been set free to do wonderful things in this life. You have been set free to love, to serve, to give yourself away; free to live joyfully for Christ, the risen Lord; free to face the future with confidence and excitement, no matter what has happened yesterday, no matter what is happening today. If you know that Christ will raise you, and give you eternal life, then this Easter gospel is no idle tale, and you will not waddle home after church tonight, but soar where Christ has led.

The Rev. Richard O. Johnson
Grass Valley, California, USA
E-Mail: roj@nccn.net

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