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The
Cathedral Church
of Saint John
Ten Concord Ave.
Wilmington
Delaware
19802

voice: (302) 654-6279
fax: (302) 777-5789

Wheelchair
Accessible

Parking lot
on Concord Avenue

  

Dean’s Sermon
Easter Vigil
3 April 2010

by the Very Reverend William B. Lane

The Tomb Is Empty!

Matthew 28:1-10

Jesus died and was entombed as the Sabbath was approaching. Two women, Mary of Magdala and Mary mother of James and Joseph, whom John the evangelists tells us was the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus, had been present for the burial. When the Sabbath was over, they went back to the tomb, and there as Matthew tells us, had the first encounter with the resurrection of Jesus. Not only do they visit the empty tomb, but they encounter the risen Jesus and receive instructions from him to inform his community of his resurrection and to have them go to Galilee to meet him.

The resurrection of Jesus is testified to in the canonical Gospel accounts and also in the earlier writings of Paul. And if it is part of the Christian story in the fifties of the first century when Paul was writing, then it must have part of that story far earlier. Indeed, it must have come from the founding community of Jesus who spoke of it and rejoiced in it well before a written narrative was undertaken.

We began this evening by hearing the great story of creation from Genesis, with God’s pleasure in what was wrought. We moved on to the resurrection of Israel from its bondage in Egypt as recounted in Exodus, and then to the prophetic proclamation of God’s will to restore God’s covenant with His people in Ezekiel and Sephaniah. Paul, in the epistle to the Romans announces that this restoration has become an actuality. And in Matthew, we are presented with the story of when this actuality first becomes reality for the community of Jesus- the two Mary’s find that the tomb is empty and that Jesus is with them. Not a phantom Jesus, for according to Matthew, They came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.

We will have the Easter season to explore the resurrection and what it means, but for this evening, as we celebrate that the tomb is empty and that God has done a new thing in Jesus, we can pause to consider how this good news is indeed the core of the Christian proclamation to the world. When Jesus sent the women to the disciples with the news of his resurrection, he was sending them as the first of a “great cloud of witnesses” to the new creation born in him and through him. A new creation that was promised to all who entered into relationship with him. As Paul would explain:

If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2Cor. 5:17)

That Jesus’ tomb is empty is not in and of itself good news, but that the tomb is empty because Jesus has been raised is very good news. And that the resurrected Jesus is the promise of our new life makes this existential good news; and it takes effect, not in the hereafter, but now as we enter into relationship with this Jesus. That is, it is not first about our life after death, though it is about that. It is first about life here and now, and a new way to live it.

Through the witness of a faithful Church, the Risen Lord of creation, the risen Jesus, is made known. The one who said that he had come to serve, is made known by a servant Church. The living Jesus, the Jesus of the new creation, is present to the world through the Church of the new creation. The proclamation to the world by the Church is that through the Resurrection of Jesus, God has loved his creation into salvation, into relationship with him.

This relationship has been liturgically expressed this evening. We joined with Chazity and Jeremy in their baptism as we affirmed our own baptism by- proclaiming our relationship with the triune God; by clearly stating that we are committed to life in the community of Jesus; and by announcing that we will live as kingdom of God people. That is:

  • Persevering in resisting evil.
  • Walking and talking the good news of the risen Lord.
  • Seeking and serving our Lord by serving others.
  • Striving for justice, and peace, and respecting the dignity of every human being.

The people of the risen Lord, make known to the world that the norm for creation is not power and control, not abuse which then is compounded by denial or blaming others, even the victim. No, the norm is love, compassion, justice and mercy. And this norm is not one amongst many that we are invited to select from. Jesus, the risen one, is betrayed when the Church fails by omission or commission to live, present, and call the world to this norm.

So Chazity and Jeremy and all of us, and everyone who joins us in rejoicing that the Lord is Risen, we are all called to incarnate that joy every day of our lives. How, by living that which we promised in baptism; by being living signs of the kingdom of God.

Faithfully,
The Very Reverend William B. Lane

Above image is from the San Marco Museum, Florence, Italy

Dean’s Sermons:

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