We have been this way before.
Once again, Jesus gathered us together in community. Once again, we left our betrayals and our brokenness at the foot of the cross. Once again, we were there when they laid him in the tomb. Once again, he proved to us that the powers of sin and death are as nothing compared to the power of the grace and mercy of our God.
We have arrived at this place by the telling of the story. And there are only a couple of required chapters. One of them is the story of the Exodus, the crossing of the Red Sea, the liberation of the Ancient Hebrews from their bondage in Egypt.
If you know that story, you know it is more a beginning than an ending. The same is true for us this night. *
We too have been set free, free from the bondage of sin, free to embark on a journey into the unknown with our Redeemer.
Where will we meet the Risen Christ along the road? What will we do with that most precious gift of redemption and new life?
We have been this way before, but what happens next is another holy mystery.
Beloved, we are God’s children now—redeemed, renewed. What we will be has not yet been revealed.
* This is, if memory serves (now), where I drew a total blank, said something halting and lame, and ended the sermon. Preaching with out notes at the Vigil? Much more perilous than doing so on Palm Sunday, apparently.
Photo from St. Paul’s, K Street, website.