Easter Vigil

Matthew 28:1-10

The Rev. Francene Young

Easter has become predictable. The challenge for preachers is to restore Easter’s power to shock, startle, surprise, terrify, amaze.

The preacher must pull a rabbit out of a hat. (Now you know how rabbits became associated with Easter.)

I do not have a hat or a rabbit, but I do have an Easter Challenge. A challenge to become rock-rollers with an Easter Heart. Hold on to that thought.

But before I go on, I want to share a little story I found while researching for this message. I love these little stories:

A Sunday School teacher had just finished telling her first graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening.

Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, she asked: “And what do you think were Jesus’ first words when he came bursting out of that tomb alive?”

A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. Attached to it was the arm of a little girl. Leaping out of her chair, she shouted out excitedly, "I know, I know!"

"Good" said the teacher, "Tell us, what were Jesus’ first words?"

And extending her arms high into the air she said: "TA-DA!"

My friends, we are hear in anticipation of the great TA DA!

The resurrection of Jesus is much greater than a magic trick, and our proclamation must be no less enthusiastic than that little girl's "TA-DA!"

In the gospel we just read from Matthew, Jesus’ first words to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when Jesus appeared to them on their way to tell the disciples of his resurrection was “Greetings.” Not TA DA! Though I am sure “Greetings: had a TA DA impact on them!

The resurrection changed the world forever. It announced that God's kingdom had come. It was the start of God's new age that opens God’s kingdom to all people! And this is a gift, offered to each of us without price, simply because God loves us that much and Jesus paid the price with his life. So we could have a new life.

Christ has done all the work that needs to be done. Christ has died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. And then, Christ was raised to new life, so that we, too, can be raised and have eternal life.

So Easter is all about a four letter word — and as Christians we’re supposed to be full of it. The four letter word is LIFE.

(I know you were thinking something else). But our Easter four-letter word is LIFE!

New life. Whole life. Abundant Life. Redeemed life. Resurrected life.

The purpose of life is not death, Easter says. The purpose of life is life . . . a life that triumphs over death forever.

Celebrating Easter is the best thing that we, as the church, can do because it is a celebration of all that is good, all that is true, and all that is beautiful.

In fact, I would make the case that celebrating Easter is the greatest public service the church can perform for the world. Why? Because THE TA DA, the resurrection, Jesus’ return to life gives us new life which we share with others.

Remember Jesus’ final words on the cross? “It is finished.”

On Easter “It is finished” becomes “..and Now it begins.”

Life begins anew with the resurrected beating of an Easter heart; a resurrected heart. An Easter Heart.

It is an Easter heart that the resurrected Jesus offered to all who believed in him

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw the empty tomb, encountered the Resurrected Jesus on their way to tell the disciples. Filled with fear and joy of an Easter heart, the two Mary’s ran to tell others. We need to tell others.

Do you have an Easter heart? Does the church have an Easter heart? Here are some ways you can tell.

1) An Easter heart is full of new life. An Easter heart is full of a new mission. An Easter heart is full of new possibilities and open to what Christ might be calling it to do? An Easter heart responds to the tug of Jesus. WHAT HAS BEEN TUGGING ON YOUR HEART??

2) An Easter heart church is full of rock-rollers. Notice I didn’t say rock-and-rollers. I am from Cleveland, the city of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I know the difference. I did not say an Easter heart church is full of ROCK AND ROLLERS . . . I SAID an Easter heart church is full of ROCK-ROLLERS.

The first sign of the resurrection, as noted by a distraught Mary Magdalene and the Other Mary, was that the rock that sealed Jesus’ tomb had been rolled away from the tomb’s entrance by an ANGEL.

Rock-rollers offer help remove stones or barriers for all sorts of people who are trapped in all kinds of tombs.

Strengthened by an Easter heart we can . . . .

· Help roll away despair, and reveal a path to hope.

· We can roll away fear — and encourage those stuck in tomb to step out into the light.

· We can roll away feelings of rejection and unworthiness as we show people the love of Christ (the love he has shown us).

4) A church filled with ROCK ROLLERS HAS An Easter heart THAT IS always experiencing adrenaline surges,

always skipping beats, and

always HAS a racing pulse.

5) A church filled with ROCK ROLLERS HAS An Easter heart THAT is arrhythmic because in an Easter heart church the unexpected is always happing. Resurrection happens. Miracles happen. Truth happens. Goodness happens. Beauty happens. Jesus happens.

6) A church filled with ROCK ROLLERS An Easter heart church is filled with laughter.

The resurrection is a testimony to the adage, “he who laughs last laughs best.” The Sanhedrin thought they had the last laugh. The Roman authorities thought they had the last laugh. The cruel crowds and sadistic soldiers thought they had the last laugh.

But the resurrection proved God has the last laugh.

The church WITH ITS Easter heart filled with rock rollers, should ring with laughter enjoying fully the divine sense of humor.

This is not to say that our journeys will all be rosy and without trials.

The promise of Easter Sunday is not that our hearts won’t break. In fact, the promise of Easter is that if you love, your heart WILL break. For God so loved the world, God’s heart broke. The cross is a symbol of God’s broken heart. A broken heart is the price of love.

Yet, Easter is the symbol of a heart that will break and out of this broken heart, God will birth a new heart, a whole heart, a redeemed and restored heart.

An Easter heart is full of new life, renewing itself over and over, again

An Easter heart church is full of rock-rollers who in the name of Christ reach out to help other removes the stones from the tombs that have blocked them from experiencing the love of Christ.

I want to close this Benediction found in

Numbers 6:24-26:

Here it is in its original form:

“May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace.”

I have altered this for today for our rock rolling Easter hearts, WHICH IS ALSO A CHALLENGE. Let us pray

“May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace with a beat-skipping, laughing out loud, rock-rolling, Easter hearts.”

AMEN!

Sermon adapted from several from Sermons.com who grant permission to use their resources.