Modern science keeps refining the understanding of what constitutes the world we inhabit. Atoms and molecules were the first breakthrough, which years later led to a more complex understanding called the standard model with terms like quarks and muons and bosons – whatever they are. The seeming discovery of dark matter and energy suggest that a new theory needs to be developed that might even include something called a multiverse with vibrating strings! All this theory is something that we non-scientists have a hard time wrapping our heads around. Contrast contemporary science with the belief of the ancients that creation was made up of a mixture of earth, wind, water and fire – a lot easier to grasp. The liturgy of this holy night uses those elements as a reminder that all of creation has been re-made in the Resurrection of Jesus. We start with the fire to remind us of that Christ is our light. We then use our breath to speak the Biblical word of God we have as a glorious heritage. The waters of baptism initiate us as members of the People of God. And the earth produces the bread and wine that become the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. While we are not as naïve about creation as the ancients were, the four elements work well enough in capturing the presence and action of God in the normal events of daily life. While you might need to understand relativity to create a GPS system, we don’t need to understand relativity for our phone to tell us how to get from home to the new Apolonia restaurant.
This is important because there is a temptation to imagine that to live in God’s presence we need to somehow get out of the daily grind. Isn’t there some exalted plane where we might reach God if we could only find it? How can God be part of putting supper on the table, washing our hands with soap and water, speaking words of forgiveness and compassion, switching on the lights when evening comes? The liturgy for this evening belies that temptation. The Jesus who rose from the dead plunged deeply into the stuff of human existence while he walked among us. As he rose in glory that first Easter Sunday all that he shared of human life arose as well to let us know that the privileged place to encounter the divine is among the pots and pans and, dare I say it, even the bed pans. Easter is not so much a cosmic phenomenon as it is a human one.
What we take from this Holy Night then is the challenge to bring Easter, to bring Resurrection into the earth, air, fire and water of our lives. The world is charged with the grandeur of God, according to the poet. Easter challenges us to see that grandeur in all things since in the Risen Lord all is made new. Our earthly existence with all of the worries and troubles of life contains within it Easter hope and joy if we have the eyes to see. The words we speak as an Easter people contain within them the potential of bringing love and care to the people in our lives. The light of the Risen Christ can show us how each choice, each decision we make is our contribution to bringing about the kingdom of God. Being bathed in the Easter waters of Baptism provides the blessed assurance that we are children of God and nothing or no one can take that away from us. Easter warms our hearts, our hearths, our homes with divine grace and consolation. No wonder Alleluia is our song.