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St. Charles Episcopal Church - Saint Charles, IL

The Great Vigil of Easter - the Great Vigil RCL – Year C

Sunday, April 4, 2010 

Genesis 1:1-2:4a – Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 – Genesis 22:1-18 – Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 – Ezekiel 37:1-14

Romans 6:311 - Matthew 28:1-10 

Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

How Holy is this day! As we gathered in the pre-dawn cold and gloom and a spark, a symbol of that divine spark that begins all of us, started a new fire. Then we were led by that light to a holy place, set apart for the worship of God, and around that source of light and warmth we heard the great stories of God’s salvation, words that give light and warmth to the cold places in our lives. Then, with all the pomp and circumstance appropriate to the Great Vigil of Easter, we renewed the solemn promises and vows of Holy Baptism. And in a cacophony of music, noise, and water we welcomed in the great fifty days of Easter with the shout of Alleluia, Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed!

In these sacred actions we see reflected the greater reality of the whole life of faith; Its beginning, growth, and continuing renewal by the Holy Spirit. We begin with a mystery; the mystery of God’s love for us in our very creation. A love that over powers even righteous anger. In spite of ourselves and our behavior, God can’t stop loving us. No matter what we do to hurt or ignore, God stays with us, not only tolerating, but seeking out and loving us. As we have heard, this love has the power to flood the entire world, destroy armies, and even raise the dead. Our first awareness of this love can be overwhelming. Sadly, it is too often a new experience in this world to be loved for who we are, warts and all, and not for who we pretend to be. It’s like coming across a cool glass of lemonade in the middle of a desert. Or perhaps a splash of water.

But then comes the hard part. Our awareness of this love begins to place demands on us. We start wanting to be like God. We want to act like God. We want to love like God. So we try, but we can’t. We fail. Maybe not right away, but all too soon. We try harder, but we still can’t. We may get close, but still we fail. It can be discouraging, and if we are not careful, we might even think that God gets upset with us when we fail, and cuts us off. Or worse, we might get upset with God for putting us in this situation to fail in the first place. And we forget where it all began. God loves us; loves us abundantly; loves us beyond our ability to comprehend.

As a way of trying to capture at least some of this incomprehensible reality, our church uses symbols, small actions and items that speak to us on many levels. The baptism that welcomes us into the Christian family is full of symbolism. Fire and water. Death and Resurrection. One of the powerful symbols we use is chrism. It is a rich symbol. Chrism is a word that shares roots with the word Christ and King. Chrism is the oil of anointing, the oil of kings. The Hebrew kings were all anointed and at our baptism we too are anointed, taking our rightful places in the kingdom of God. Chrism is also a symbol of God’s abundance.

Chrism is made principally of olive oil, a precious commodity in the first century. It is mixed with essence of chrism, a rare mixture of essential oils that gives chrism its unique scent. One is oil of balsam, the famous balm of Gilead, an oil with a rich history of healing. The other is oil of bergamot, the oil that is added to oriental tea to make the famous Earl Gray tea. I cannot think of this symbol of God’s abundance without recalling those verses from the 133rd psalm, “Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in unity! It is like fine oil upon the head that runs down upon the beard, Upon the beard of Aaron, and runs down upon the collar of his robe. It is like the dew of Hermon that falls upon the hills of Zion. For there the Lord has ordained the blessing: life for evermore.” Though I have yet to baptize anyone with a beard, the lack of beards doesn’t stop me from using the oil abundantly when I baptize.

The chrism we use was set aside and specially blessed a week ago Saturday by Bishop Lee at a Chrism Mass held at the Cathedral. It was a special day of celebration where those adults preparing for their baptism gather to learn and pray together. Chrism is not only a symbol of kings and the Holy Spirit, it is also a symbol of the bishop, the wider church, and our own apostolic mission. We are all ministers of the church by virtue of our baptism, and chrism serves to remind us of this important reality and obligation.

This morning as we renewed our baptismal vows, We again pledged our whole selves to the support and spread of the kingdom of God. As the sun rose this morning, we too like Christ are raised from the dead and walk in newness of life. The white shell on the edge of the font contains chrism. I will be using some of it during the peace, but there will still be plenty left, I encourage you as you leave today, or for that matter whenever you pass by the font, to dip your fingers into that shell and anoint yourselves, recalling your own special gifts for ministry, those gifts that bring you here to this church each week, and recalling your own baptism. Smell the aroma of royalty and remember that you too have a crown in heaven. Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.