<html><body>I made notes for this earlier in the week. Now to finish tomorrow's one ...<br><br>Happy Easter!<br><br>Bob<br><br><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">EPISCOPAL
CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER (b)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">ROMANS 6:3-11<span style="mso-tab-count:3"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:3"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>5<sup>th</sup> APRIL, 2015</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MARK
16:1-8<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>PSALM 114</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>“Darkness is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u>NOT</u></b> dark to you, O God.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>I have mixed feelings about this
liturgy – the Queen one of all Christian celebrations. I have mixed feelings
about beginning this early on a Saturday evening. It’s not just that the
Sabbath doesn’t actually begin until the sun sets, so we’re not really in the
third day when we gather as we did this evening. My amusement, my dis-ease, is
because it seems to reverse everything we’re representing in the actions – the
fire-kindling and candle-lighting, for instance – and in the readings and
prayers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>We began this evening by lighting
the new fire, the flame of the Resurrection, if not in broad daylight, then
awfully close to it. So we run the chance of missing the symbolism of the
newness of that first flicker of flame. We run the chance of not appreciating
how difficult it can be to start the kindling ablaze, then transferring it to
the Paschal Candle before it is passed, one person at a time, to everyone
present.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Of course, there<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u> IS</u></b> a plus to this.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>When I lit the kindling, when I swung the thurible and the smoke and
fragrance of the burning incense drifted among us, we could see what was happening.
I <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>DO</u></b> miss the mystery a bit,
though, and the excitement of seeing the first flicker against the darkness,
speaking from that powerful spark of the love of God which can never be
extinguished. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>THAT’S</u></b> what we
celebrate in this Great Vigil – an end to the waiting in the uncertainty, the
cloudiness of those hours from Friday afternoon until this moment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>There seems to me, at least, to be a
wonderful emotional and spiritual release. A huge, spirit-powered sigh of relief
that we’ve reached this point in the liturgy and the lights are back on, and
the familiar “Alleluia”s and “Glory to God”s have returned – not to mention
that, once again, my cope hasn’t burst into flames.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Yes, I miss not beginning in
darkness. And yet I was struck this year of what the hourly sequence can teach
us. The fire is lit, the candles burn, the bells ring and the electricity flows
through our bodies as well as the building. All is well. All <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>SHALL</u></b> be well!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Glance through the stained glass of
the windows of this holy room though, if you will, and see that it is now dark
outside. The coloured panels are less distinguishable than they will be
tomorrow morning. We’ll have to be at least a little careful at the conclusion
of the liturgy as we make our way to our cars and across this city.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>This year I was struck by what this
symbolism might suggest. The brilliance of the Light of Christ has been
captured by our eyes and carried into our imaginations, our souls. When we go
out of here, no matter by which door, we carry with us that light and all the
hope that that implies. We go into a world that can seem so dark, even at
mid-day. We go through schools, and workplaces, even homes, where the shadowy
gloom of uncertainty and challenges hang heavily in the air. We go from here
not to find everything made different, in its own understanding, anyway. We go
from here with a personal message to ourselves as well as to the world that God
is never absent, even when things seem cold, or dark, or lonely, or
frighteningly filled with uncertainty. The Light of Christ, thanks be to God, is
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>NEVER</u></b> extinguished, as the
opening of John’s Gospel states.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>This evening, then, is about seeing
the Light, and seizing it, and making it our own, and finding such comfort and
hope in it that we can face anything.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Carli and Samantha came into the
building with one attitude, perhaps, one frame of mind, Carli, at any rate,
excited, with questions, possibly even a little apprehension. All of this is
normal, is quite understandable. They and their sponsors have a feel for what
was about to happen. They may even have thought of themselves as the dry, unlit
kindling, waiting to burst into flame when the fire touched them. And touch
them it did. As the water fell across their heads and splashed against them; as
the ancient words were repeated; the Spirit <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u>DID</u></b> brush them, found ways in which to make Her Presence
known.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Carli and Samantha made a deliberate
point of placing themselves in such a situation and location that they could
make their commitment to follow in the company of Jesus, even knowing what we
remembered and did on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, even knowing the danger
and challenge that their commitment may bring.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Yet they, their families and friends
came to the waters of rebirth to make their vows to seek Jesus’ company
throughout the rest of their lives.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The water, the words, the oil – they
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>DO</u></b> make guarantees of the
Presence of Jesus and our partnership with the Spirit. But they <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>DON’T</u></b>, they <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u>CAN’T</u></b>, throw any sort of a wall around their recipients in
order to ward off disappointment, or tragedy. Yet Carli and Samantha <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>WERE</u></b> baptised. They, and their
sponsors, asked for it, accepting that God’s Loving Light would be with them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>So maybe the image of the conditions
outside is a good thing, at least tonight, at least once in a while. The lack
of sunlight, the coolness, the wetness, the shadowness of the night await us
all – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>THEY</u></b> wait for us to
bring the light, the hope, the joy, the excitement of what we’ve been
celebrating, so that every corner of the world may be illumined and enriched.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Darkness is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u>NOT</u></b> dark to God, not even – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u>ESPECIALLY</u></b> not even – the darkness of challenge, of disease,
of death, because all have been shown to us as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><u>NOT</u></b> being the last word.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The last words, as Deacon Peggy
proclaimed three times, is “The Light of Christ”. Now it’s our joyful privilege
to carry this everywhere we go.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<br><br><br><p>-----------------------------------------</p><br> Robert P Morrison<br>St. Alban's Episcopal Church<br>PO Box 1556<br>Albany, OR 97321<br><br>541-921-1076</body></html>