the delight of resurrection hope
Great Vigil of Easter | Matthew 28:1-10
He is Risen! Hallelujah! What a night!
We gather in the late evening to light a holy fire, to gather around words of inspiration, of remembrance, that God is a God of love, of conviction, of love and mercy and renewal. That everything we believe, everything, comes down to this trust in Jesus, this love.
We gather outside with eagerness and anticipation. Each year, I long to slow us down, to enjoy the gathering, the lighting of the fire. It isn’t just a step we need to follow, the liturgical element that gets the paschal candle lit, that gets our candles lit, so we can go sit inside in the dark — we light a fire and call for the Spirit’s blessing of it (and of that moment! with one another! as we anticipate the coming night!) — so that the moment itself might be holy. In the same way, sacramental. A sign of grace.
Then, when we are able to still our hearts, we hear the ancient stories again, reminding ourselves of others’ witness, of God’s generous grace. And only when it gets dark, when night finally arrives, do we remember our baptism, and dare to declare the end of the darkness, that the light has returned to the world, raised by the glorious, generous, grace-filled God.
Fear and Great Joy
We read of the end of the Sabbath day, which concludes with the setting of the sun on a Saturday night, “as the first day of the week was dawning.” Dawning — as in happening, commencing, in the midst of the new day that God has ushered in. Two Marys, including the Mary, the perhaps great disciple, Mary, go to the tomb and see a spunky angel descend from the sky, roll away the stone from in front of the tomb, and sit on it, like a sprite, like a tease. The guards are frozen like statues, like grimacing gargoyles. But the women . . . the Marys . . . it is to them that the angel speaks.
And that spunky angel tells them to not be afraid. Jesus isn’t here. God raised him. He’s on his way to Galilee. He tells them to tell others about it. To meet him there.
Not frozen at all, but warmed by grace and joy, the two Marys don’t need to see for themselves, it seems. Invited to look, they take off. But let’s take note of their hearts. It says “they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy”. And. Both.
Fear and great joy.
Not one or the other. Meaning fear did not overwhelm them, freezing them in place so they couldn’t experience anything else. Nor are they only filled with great joy of the moment, as if all worries about the world are erased by this news.
They fear and they enjoy. And this, friends, is the balance. The secret sauce of The Way of Love. Holding the fear in check and embracing the opportunity for great joy. To love.
The Command
And then, as they go, they are met by Jesus himself! What? Yes!
Do not take this moment for granted, friends. That joy for granted. Because it is about the complexity of emotions, of that fear and great joy together.
So when they see Jesus and he says, “Greetings!” they drop to the ground, they put their hands on his feet in worship, in homage, in service and devotion. That is their response. Not with apprehension and fear, anxiety, of wondering what to do, like . . . how do I greet you, Jesus? None of the indecisive confusion of personal greetings that we have. They are on the ground in worship in an instant.
Jesus repeats the words of that spunky angel. Do not be afraid. And he repeats the direction. Tell the others I’ll meet them in Galilee. It sounds like they’re going on a roadtrip!
Greetings!
The pastor and theologian Chelsey Harmon describes the problem with our innocuous and underwhelming translation of the word: greetings.
Like the word for “greetings” in many other languages, it’s actually a command; the verb means “to be in a state of happiness and well-being” or to “rejoice and be glad,” which over time also came to be a shortened form of address. Clearly, it’s a communication of happiness or gladness to see one another: Jesus is happy to see them, and he is happy to be seen by them.
If we then put these words into the moment, we can hear it with new juice. Rejoice and be glad! Do not be afraid! Greeting and command! Like, Mary, Mary, be happy! Be well! There is nothing to fear! We have work to do!
And isn’t this even more enlightening and connected to this moment, to our desire for this moment? Like encouragement and confidence. The classic teacher you got this moment. Hey, friends! Lighten up! Let go of that anxiety that is stressing you out and weighing you down! Our friends need to hear a message from you! We’ve got stuff to do!
Greetings! Whatever. Nah, Rejoice and be glad! That’s what we say to each other tonight! Rejoice and be glad!
The Work Ahead
We’ll get to the work ahead soon enough. The doing the good Jesusy stuff of making the Kin-dom of God present in the Blessed Community. The loving God and neighbor as ourselves. You know, the ongoing and always stuff of being people of faith. But tonight, friends, we are given the good news, witnessed by Mary and Mary, that Jesus Christ is risen. That death cannot contain him. That God’s work is undaunted by empire’s fear and hatred. And we have much more to do.
This is worth celebrating. This is worth rejoicing. Sharing with one another. Yes, Jesus has been raised by God from the dead. Death’s sting is like a puny little pin prick. Nothing. Forgettable. Yes!
Tonight, we rejoice. We calm the fear. We’ll need some of it for the work ahead. But put it in the back seat. And for Pete’s sake don’t let it drive! Because we have rejoicing to do! Feasting! Gathering with great joy! This is Jesus’s command, remember! To rejoice and be glad. For the grace of God has returned the hope of humanity to the world. And we’ll need to lace up our walking shoes. Hallelujah!