Rev. Wesley Menke
16 April 2022 Easter Vigil
In the beginning. Can you believe that? There was a beginning! It’s comforting really to think that we could go back to when it all started. Maybe by going back to the beginning we could figure out where it all went wrong and how we got into this mess in the first place!
What mess am I talking about? You name it! We’ve all got messes. Am I right? Places where life didn’t just not go as planned, but it totally went off the rails! What’s surprising, however, is that when we go to the beginning we find that things were good…they were very good! God made light, air, water, land, stars, birds, fish, animals, humans, and rest; and it was all very good! And even when problems happened, God was there to provide and help us work through the problems.
Take slavery for example. God’s people were enslaved in Egypt for decades, for a generation. But then God called on a very special person to lead the people into freedom and throw off the scourge of oppression. Who was this special leader? Her name was Miriam! Miriam’s leadership began when her baby brother was thrown into the Nile river to die; but she intervened and delivered the boy to someone who could help. Not just anyone; the daughter of Pharaoh. Her baby brother grew up; and even though he had his issues, he managed to help get the people out of Egypt, and when they finally made it through the Red Sea: Miriam was there supervising: to make sure Moses didn’t mess it up! She led all the women in a song which we heard read tonight. By Maria. And in case you didn’t know. Miriam is the Hebrew form of Maria.
One of the great privileges of having freedom and prosperity is sharing it with others. Isaiah the prophet writes in chapter 55 of his book that so bountiful and wonderful is God’s grace and what God has done for God’s people that it has not gone unnoticed. Rather the whole world has seen and heard about what God has done with God’s people and for that reason others want to get in on the action! Isaiah says that, “You shall call nations that you don’t know and nations that you don’t know shall stream to you!”
It is overwhelming to consider all of the people God brings into our life. People can come to you with such overwhelming needs that you might feel that you don’t have the resources to deal with them. When people come into our lives they have their own ideas, their own way of doing things, and we struggle to know what to do about it; or how to help. That is how King Nebudchanazzar felt about all the Jewish people he liberated from Jerusalem. Out of his own graciousness he brought these people to Babylon to teach them the enlightened ways of that great empire. But despite his best efforts; they just wouldn’t learn. In particular Shadrac, Meshac, and Abendego would not learn the ways of the Babylonians and insisted on maintaining their religious and cultural uniqueness. So the king felt he had no other choice but to destroy them. So he threw them into a fiery furnace.
In an act of sheer strangeness they didn’ die, they weren’t burned, and when they came out, they didn’t even smell like smoke. The other night we decided to have a fire in a firepit in the backyard. I smelled like smoke for days. I had to wash my clothing and towels multiple times to get the smoke smell out. So how could Shadrac, Meshac, and Abendego come out smelling like a rose? How come we don’t experience the same level of protection and miracles?
Paul tells us why. He says that if Christ died on a cross even though he was without sin, and if we are baptized into his same baptism, then we expect the cross in our own lives too. We can expect suffering that we don’t deserve. But, just as Christ was raised from the dead, we can expect new life and resurrection in our lives too even after suffering and death. Why? Because we are saved by Grace, through faith, and not by our works.
So tonight Bridgett and Reagan will be baptized. You will be joined into this spiritual family of sinners who have been redeemed by God’s Grace. We are not a perfect bunch, but we are a bunch who knows the power of God’s grace, just like Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene was the first to go to the tomb on Easter morning. When she got there the tomb was empty. And how did that make her feel? Terrible! She thought Jesus’ body had been stolen. She ran for help, and the men didn’t believe her! So they went to look and they were scandalized too! They ran home and hid, but Mary Magdalene stayed there at the empty tomb and wept. She wept for Jesus whom she loved. Then in the midst of her tears angels explained to her what had happened. Then she saw Jesus, who was the one she wanted to see all along. And she didn’t even know it was him! Isn’t it funny how long it takes us to accept the good things God does in our lives. Isn’t it funny that we can’t even see a blessing right in front of us? Then Jesus speaks her name, Miriam. And she knows that it is him! She grabs hold of him. And he says, “let go. Go and tell my brothers that I am alive, and that I am going to my father and your father, to my God and your God.”
And that is the great gift of salvation. Jesus isn’t just a teacher, or Lord. He is our brother. He makes us his sibling in Baptism, and we are adopted as God’s own children, inheritors of the divine promise. Our Father. Our God. Amen.
Leave a Reply