We began the vigil of Easter with fire. As the prayers reminded us fire provides light and warmth. As a pillar of fire it banished the darkness of sin. Fire illumines the candle of hope and serves as the appropriate introduction to Easter. But as the recent devastation of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris demonstrated there is another side to fire. Fire devastates not only ancient buildings but modern towns and majestic forests. Fire can scar the human body beyond recognition. Fire is a destroyer. So fire is a mixed blessing. A bit later in our service we will use the symbol of water. There is no life without water. Water cleanses the body and refreshes the soul. Gazing at Lake Michigan can calm our unsettled hearts. But as Hurricane Katrina demonstrated there is another side to water. Water claims lives. Water floods communities. Water rots out roots. Water is a mixed blessing. We just proclaimed the Word of God. The Word brings messages of hope, shows us the right path, teaches us to love. But words can also hurt, insult, defame, abuse, offend. Words are a mixed blessing. The climax of our service this night is the Holy Eucharist where we eat and drink the real presence of Christ. But as necessary as food and drink are when they are misused we become sick or addicted. Even food and drink are mixed blessings. As the symbols of this night testify, all of human existence has a great potential for good – but also contains within it the potential for tragedy and suffering. Human existence is chock-full of mixed blessings.
Even life itself, the greatest blessing of all, is mixed. Because we are alive we can love, we can grow, we can smell the flowers, we can write poetry, we can savor momma’s home cooking, we can enjoy a deep belly laugh, we can hold a baby in our arms. Oh, how great it is to be alive. Yet we also know that our bodies can be filled with pain, that our hearts can break, that loneliness threatens us, that death is a great, hungry bear stalking us. As great as it is to be alive a shadow lies over us because we understand that life as we know it is passing. Which brings us to this night, this Easter Vigil. On this night we look to Jesus to see that the shadow hanging over us itself is passing, that life proves stronger. On this night we celebrate the triumph of Jesus over sin and death. On this night we understand that life is not a mixed blessing but a complete blessing, that in Jesus we are blessed beyond belief.
We have the blessed assurance that the shadow passes, that God makes a way out of no way, that Good Friday becomes Easter Sunday. You see, Church, on this night we can rejoice — for Sunday is coming. On Friday you have to go to see the doctor, take your medicine, watch your blood pressure. But on Sunday, my Lord what a morning, the Risen Lord promises that we are a new creation and that all manner of things will be well. On Friday, you have to pay your bills, fix what’s broken, find affordable housing. But on Sunday, my Lord what a morning, the Risen Lord assures us not to worry about what we are to eat or what we are to wear for our Heavenly Father knows what we need. On Friday, you wonder how the family can hold together, how the kids can be kept safe, how to heal all those old hurts. But on Sunday, my Lord, what a morning, the Risen Lord empowers us to forgive seventy times seven times and to discover that what makes us one is not that we like each other but that God loves us all and calls us to be together. Yes, the Good Fridays are there. They are real. They are terrible. But Sunday is coming and, my Lord what a morning, all that we are as human beings is lifted up by the Risen Jesus to join with him in blessing.
What does it mean to be completely blessed, to be blessed beyond belief? Let’s go back and remember that first Easter Sunday. The angel told Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, mother of James, the searching and hopeful women, “He is not here, but he has been raised.” He has been raised – news almost too good to be true. How their hearts must have burst on hearing the news. Notice though that there is a “but” in the angelic pronouncement: he is not here. He has been raised BUT he is not here. That is our story. On Sunday morning we already have all that we could have dreamed or hoped for – the Risen Jesus promises us that death has no power over us, that our stony hearts will be replaced by natural hearts, that even without money we can eat grain and drink wine and milk for God’s ways are not our ways, that the Red Sea of opposition will be parted, that all that God created, all this wide and confusing world was created good. BUT, the Risen Jesus is not here, he has gone ahead of us. On this Sunday we already have the resurrection blessing BUT we live in the shadow of death which follows us like a lost puppy. We rejoice in Easter faith for we know how the story comes out. BUT we walk in Easter faith since we are catching up to where Jesus, our Risen Lord, has preceded us. That is the blessing. My Lord what a morning. Let us rejoice and be glad for Jesus Christ is risen today.