To listen to the sermon delivered by The Reverend William Nesbit, Jr. at the Great Vigil of Easter click here.

Saint Charles' Episcopal Church – Saint Charles, IL

The Great Vigil of Easter – The Great Vigil - Year A – RCL

Saturday March 22, 2008 

Romans 6:3-11 – Matthew 28:1-10

The Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

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

How Holy is this night! As we gathered in the 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 Gods salvation, words that give light and warmth to the cold places in our lives. Then, with all the pomp and circumstance appropriate for the Great Vigil of Easter, we baptized a brand new little Christian, Autumn Grace Burnett. Then in a cacophony of music and noise 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 overpowers even righteous anger. In spite of ourselves, 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 destroy armies, turn stone into flesh, and 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 still we 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 we just experienced 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 Gods 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 our baptismal candidate is currently incapable of growing a beard, this lack of beard didn't stop me from using the oil abundantly on her. The chrism we are using today was set aside and specially blessed last Monday by Bishop Lee at a Chrism Mass, a special celebration of the Eucharist where the clergy of the diocese gathered to renew our ordination vows. 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.

Tonight as we baptized Autumn we all joined with her in renewing our own baptismal vows, pledging our whole selves to the support and spread of the kingdom of God. Tonight 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 have used some of it during the service, but there is still plenty left, I encourage you as you leave tonight, or 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.