RESURRECTION SUNDAY 2020
My
favourite service, for many years, was the Easter Vigil. Usually this would take place on the Easter
Saturday, but the traditional idea of a vigil, is that it keeps going until the
sun comes up. The symbolic idea is that
we are going from darkness and death to glorious light and resurrection.
The sacred
readings for this service tie together two stories. The story of the Israelites escape from Egypt
with the passing over of the angel of death and the salvation of the nation
through the parting of the sea, is the first story. The 2nd story is, of course the
story of the empty tomb and the discovery that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Both these
stories are from the past, but they have a relevance for the future for all of
us. The egg that has become symbolic of
this time is a bit of a mystery to most, possibly an important one, which I
will explain a little later……
If you have
been following my reflections you would already know a fair bit of the story we
title the Exodus. You would already know
that the many plagues that were supernaturally sent, didn’t convince Pharaoh to
let the people go. So the ultimate
plague, the death of the first born, was enacted. The Israelites then set out. They were no small group. There were about six hundred thousand
men. The women, children and livestock
were not counted but this was a huge number of people. I imagine that they were rather slow moving
and difficult….. no mobile phones for
communication either, but it seems that they had effective means for keeping
all together and all was good until they reached the sea and discovered that
Pharaoh had again changed his mind and sent the solders after the slave
nation.
You can
imagine the distress and why some cried out, “Is it because there were no
graves in Egypt that you brought us out here?”
Moses must have had very broad shoulders to take all the criticism. The people fluctuated between wanting to
follow Moses and then not trusting him and then probably calling him all the
derogatory names that our society also calls our leaders. It is nothing new really – especially when
people are hard pressed, stressed and frightened. (Yep – our leaders really, really do need our
prayers and people to support them).
In a tiny
way, at this time of isolation due to the Carona virus, we might understand the
plight of the people. Back in Egypt
things were no good – but here they were in a place where they could see no
escape and no future. Many who have lost
jobs at this time can not see their future either and that is possibly the
hardest part. However, our Israelites
felt that they were most likely facing death – sooner rather than later.
I remember
someone telling me about Moses’ position as he stood there in that moment; Sea
in front, Egyptian army behind – God… your move…..
Moses knew
that God was directing him every step of the way, but just like the others,
Moses too was frightened at times. It
was a reassurance that God’s presence, a cloud of fire had moved between the
Israelites and the Egyptians, but it certainly was an anxious time. God’s instruction was to move forward into
the sea. But wait – you know the saying,
“if it’s flooded, forget it”? Well, this
was way beyond that. However, as Moses held
out his hands over the sea, God made a wind to create a path of dry land in the
middle of the sea, creating a pathway to the other side.
I can
imagine that the noise of the wind, the wall of raging sea and the frightened
people would have been intense. The deliverance
was dramatic and frightening, but it also was sure and one more important
aspect – It was what God did.
As far as
those Israelites being able to save themselves, they were as good as dead. The frightening reality is that the arrows of
the army following could have reached them and the sea could have drowned them
and then they had to trust God completely that the sea would not come back on
them at any second and drown them.
After all, this was a nation…. Not a few righteous people, but a whole
nation of the good, the bad and the ugly in all kinds of ways.
A common reason that people give for not
coming to church…. I’m not a holy person – I’m not religious – I don’t
understand this God stuff….etc…. I
actually believe that while most say this, the deeper truth is that they don’t
want to confront the truth. The truth
that God can save them, but their fear that he will reject them. They have painful experiences of unanswered
prayers and therefore, a sense that God, if he exists, has rejected them.
A whole
nation was saved by God. The good, the
bad and the ugly. Some were
faithful. Some had enough faith to hope
in Moses and the faith of others. Some
simply knew the stories of God’s interactions with their ancestors. Some just wanted to be free and didn’t think
much about God at all, although grateful that the blood of the lamb had saved
their family from loss so far.
I imagine
that as the sea came together again, separating the Israelites from the
Egyptians, there must have been a mighty roar of relief and celebration at
being so definitely delivered.
God saved
his people. They were free now and he
had delivered them and by this act, even those who knew themselves to be the
bad or the ugly, knew that they were not rejected, not abandoned or forsaken by
God – but chosen as part of this holy nation.
They were, at that point in time, a redeemed nation because God had
chosen them, and was giving them a fresh start….but it didn’t end there.
These
people had been brought from death to life.
Jesus had
been crucified, laid in a tomb, and now our Gospel reading tells us that he had
risen. The two Marys came to the tomb in
sorrow, but then an Angel appeared to announce Jesus had risen and then the
ladies saw Jesus!
Jesus had
been brought from death to life.
These two
stories are tied together to help us understand that Jesus’ resurrection is
connected to all his people – The good, the bad and the ugly.
All are
offered his gift of life.
People
often get stuck on whether these are literal things that happened…. Can we
believe the stories? In the short time I’m
here talking to you I can honestly say that I believe these are true, factual
events. My belief is not unfounded blind
faith…. I actually have reasons for my
belief and I understand if you need to know more, but don’t simply disregard
the story of faith because you have doubt.
This story is too important – It is the difference of staying between
slavery and death, or life and life eternal.
This year I
decided to celebrate a Seder Meal on Holy Thursday (similar to the Jewish Passover
remembrance meal). In this meal there is
an egg. The egg is a symbol of mourning,
but also a symbol of hope. Hope for the
Jewish people was the promise that God gave to bring them to the Promised Land.
As
Christians we mourn that life does not always reflect the life of God. We mourn that there is sickness and sin and
at this time we grieve that we can’t even reach out with the usual hugs to
comfort our friends. We mourn that
Christ suffered undeserved rejection, crucifixion and death, but we rejoice in
his resurrection because, not only is this a great story that Jesus is the
Messiah, proved to be true in all that he claimed about himself, but there is a
promise of life for us too. There is
hope in the promises of God.
Our Romans
letter tells us that we who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, so we too
might walk in newness of life.
We are all,
the good, the bad and the ugly, all offered this life of God and love.
So, our
Pascal Egg is to remind us that sad things have happened. The history of the world is one of great sin
and injustices in every generation, but through Christ’s sacrifice there is
hope. There is a vision for a better way
and a life that is abundant and eternal.
An egg is literally about new life and the life that is offered us
through the resurrection on that wonderful morning. Will we accept this gift of life?
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