- Psalmody: 1 Peter 2:2a; Psalm 81:1; Matthew 26:32; 1 Cor. 5:7b, 5:8a, c; Matthew 28:2b, 5a, 6a; John 20:27b
- Lection: Ezekiel 37:1–14; 1 John 5:4–10a; John 20:19–31
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Beloved in the Lord, during our 40-day Lenten journey, we prayed that with cleansed hearts we might be prepared joyfully to celebrate the paschal feast in sincerity and truth. The Church has long used that time for such preparation to lead up to the feast, and in Her earlier centuries did so in a very intentional way for converts who were being incorporated into the Body of Christ. As the Gospel would be proclaimed, consciences burdened by sin, and desire for the Savior enlivened, souls were called out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ. Those converts would enter a time of teaching, of catechesis, they would become catechumens, who Christian learning would intensify as the Lenten Spring approached the paschal feast of our Lord’s Resurrection. The goal was to prepare them for the life into which they were to enter officially by the waters of Holy Baptism; a Baptism that would take place at the Great Easter Vigil during the holy night that ended with the dawn of Easter morning. At their baptism in the Vigil, the newly baptized would be robed in white, just as the tradition continues to this day for infants brought to those saving waters, and the new babes in Christ, desirous of the sincere milk of the word, would continue all Easter week in those garments of pure white until the Saturday following when they would finally set them aside under the admonition, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Then, on this Quasimodo Geniti Sunday, all the newly baptized would gather with their brothers and sisters in their ordinary attire to set forth into collective, ongoing lives of repentance and forgiveness. This tradition is why the Service of Holy Baptism is retained in the Easter Vigil even though there be not an actual baptism. It is a refreshment, a renewal of vows among all those baptized into Christ that we renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways. It is a vow to what we believe. It is a vow, that having heard the glorious truth of the crucified and risen Lord once again, that having been reminded that into His death and resurrection have we been baptized, that we will celebrate the feast with intentional sincerity, and not with religious emotionalism or heartless adherence.
Let us make that sincere vow to the Lord, to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to ourselves, because without every Easter bringing about in us an increase of faith and perseverance, we are prone to stray again like fearful sheep whose shepherd has been struck and is no longer seen.
The holy evangelist St. John writes in chapter twenty events that came at the setting of the sun on the same day of our Lord’s resurrection, yet the disciples did not look to the evening light, but assembled with the doors shut for fear of the Jews. Just as we recounted where we’ve been, remember the same for this collection of hearts shackled not with joy at the close of the day, but with fear. Yes, recall the horrific events of the darkened Friday past, but the promised Third Day had come. That same day at evening, being the first day of the week, being the eighth day, the first day of the New Creation found in the victorious Lamb Who had risen from His rest in the tomb, that same day much had happened to restore lost hope. Already the women had gone to the tomb early in morning, found the large stone rolled away, and received word from the bright angel not to be alarmed. “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” Also, Peter and John had raced to the empty tomb and found nothing but the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Also, Mary Magdalene had seen the risen Lord, mistaken Him for the gardener, and went and told those who had been with Him. And, two were joined by Jesus on the road to Emmaus, recognized Him in the breaking of the Bread, and raced back to Jerusalem to tell the Eleven that they had seen the Lord. All of these things make for much restored hope. They are ingredients of Resurrection rescue of hearts out of the pit of despair, anguish, and fear. Yet, fear, doubt, and distrust of the Word of Christ do not let hearts at peaceful rest remain thus. Evening had come, more in the hearts of the disciples than in the setting of the sun. Again, they were not looking to the evening light, but to the darkness into which it shone.
Every high and holy day brings about such temptation for wayward hearts. This is a trustworthy saying among us to this day and shall remain for as long as the Lord allows this fallen world to remain, for our hearts shall remain fallen with it. Easter is to renew within us the joy of prayers, the joy of singing, the joy of the Lord’s Supper, the joy of faith, the joy of the Faithful, risen Lord Jesus. But as quickly as Easter comes, just like swift Christmas, so does it pass in time and int the quickness our sinful hearts return to the worries, cares, pleasures, idols, and lusts that we may have successfully laid aside in Lenten repentance and especially in Resurrection joy. Yet, repentance and joy aren’t given to be a warm, passing Spring rain among us. We have renewed our baptismal vows for our benefit and for that of the world. You, the Holy Christian Church, the Bride of Christ, His own Body raised from the dead just as He is risen, lives and reigns to all eternity, you are made to be light shining in this dark place. The Lord Jesus says, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Yes, He has sent His Word. He has established His Church, but His Church is His people Who are called and established by Spirit, Blood, and Water, as proclaimed in His everlasting Word. His Church is His people who, by His grace, believe the Truth in joyous feast and in repentant fast. His Church is His people who distinguish themselves from the world and its ways as within closed and locked doors, yet not gathered here in fear, but in hope, faith, and love. As the Father has sent Christ, raised from the dead, Christ also sends you. He sends you into a life that doesn’t mindlessly scroll past Easter like it’s a news headline, Facebook post, or YouTube Short that is of value only to our need to be told what to think that day and to our emotional addiction so hooked and dependent on what the screen idol has to decree unto us. Christ sends you into a life freed from information and entertainment slavery, into a life that lives in the reality of Easter, for it is every Lord’s Day that you encounter the risen Lord. It is every Lord’s Day that He shows Himself to you again. It is every Lord’s Day that He actively looses sins among the repentant as you grow discontent with spiritual infancy and fight to keep your feet upon the paths of righteousness; as you live as though life is truly found in the hands and side of the risen Lord. The Truth has been proclaimed. Christ is risen! … Our sincerity in the eternal paschal feast into which we have been baptized, into which we have been raised awaits us every time the Lord Jesus comes in His Divine Service saying, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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