Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!  The Easter Vigil service is one of the oldest liturgies of the church, going back to the First Century.  In fact, Easter Vigil existed before there was Lent.  Originally, this service held the evening before Easter was the time to baptize new converts to the Christian faith.  The forty day period before the Festival of the Resurrection was used to instruct those being baptized into the Christian faith.

          In the century or two that followed the Christian church developed the custom of recounting the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during those forty days.  They called this time Lent, from the Latin word for "spring."  Lent ended with a joyful worship of thanksgiving for the Festival of the Resurrection which later became known as Easter.  But even then, the Vigil was observed to set the stage for the Resurrection.  So it is appropriate that we observe Easter Vigil today with baptisms.

          On such a time as this, I am reminded of a song.  It's not about Easter, but about life with God.  It's not an old song but was written in 1985 by John Ylvisaker.  It's called "Borning Cry" and it conveys that wonderful image of living one's entire life in God's presence.  I debated singing it, but decided you'd just like to hear its words:

I was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.
I was there when you were but a child with a faith to suit you well;
In a blaze of light you wandered off to find where demons dwell.

When you heard the wonder of the Word, I was there to cheer you on;
You were raised to praise the living Lord to whom you now belong.
If you find someone to share your time, and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make the verses rhyme from dusk till rising sun.

In the middle ages of your life, not too old, no longer young,
I'll be there to guide you through the night, complete what I've begun.
When the evening gently closes in, and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been with just one more surprise.

I was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.

          This song seems to be about us, but it's really about God.  No matter what stage of life we're in, He's there beside us.  And He's not just there as an observer, He's guiding and directing what happens to us, and protecting us.  No matter what our time of life, God sees, guides us and loves us.

          How is God present with us our whole life through, nurturing us?  Is there any answer to that question other than the Church?  Yes, it's through Christ Himself.  As He once told His disciples, He is the Vine and we are the branches.  Whoever remains connected to Him will have life and bear fruit, but if we come loose from the Vine, we will become useless.

          You and I are branches on God's Tree of Life, and that tree has been growing and branching out for centuries now.  When we're baptized, you and I become the newest branches on that tree.  When we're joined to the Vine, we are called to grow and produce fruit for God, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness and self-control.  With such fruit we grow.

          But then we're called to help nurture other, newer branches that come along, like the little Pedro and Daniel and Nyssa soon to be baptized.  They become connected to us as we're connected to them, and together we grow into God's sturdy Tree of Life.  In this age of individualism, never forget that in Christ we're all connected together.  We belong to God, and we belong to each other.  Can you think of anything more important than belonging to God's Tree of Life?

          And now, as we belong to this gracious Tree, we are in a vigil.  A vigil is a time to keep watch, to wait for something that's about to happen.  When Jesus was born, the Bible tells us the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks.  They thought it was a vigil of protection, but it was a vigil before an angel concert.  As they dozed, suddenly the sky exploded with light and the Good News of the Savior's birth.

          Now we move ahead to a day when some soldiers were keeping a vigil.  They had been ordered to make sure no one rolled away the stone to take a dead body.  They were doing their duty when suddenly the grave exploded open.  With a dazzling light, bright like the sun, an angel of the Lord rolled away the stone, not to let Jesus out, but to show He already was gone.  Jesus arose from the dead from the inside out, and the first thing He did was to go visit His old enemy.  Sometime before dawn on the first Easter morning, the risen Savior descended into Hell and thumbed His nose at the old Evil Foe.  Satan had tried to kill Jesus, but He failed!

          Then the Risen Savior began showing Himself alive to people.  The first one was Mary Magdalene.  She thought He was the gardener until He spoke her name.  He really was alive!  That day the Disciples were together in the Upper Room keeping vigil.  Theirs was a vigil of fear.  They were waiting, but they weren't sure for what.  But suddenly a woman burst into the room with the news, "He's gone!  An angel said He is alive again!"  Peter and John ran to the grave and found their story to be true.  Then everyone kept vigil together again because they didn't know what would happen next.  Suddenly, Jesus stood among them.  "Peace be with you," He said, and they touched His wounded hands and side and knew it was the Lord.

          So now today we keep vigil again.  But this time we know why.  You might think we're waiting for Easter morning, but it's not that.  We're in a life-long vigil, waiting for Christ to come among us again, in the Second Coming.  Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!  For Christ, being risen from the dead, is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  He arose first, and when we trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, He promises we, too, shall rise.  He arose first and our turn is coming, on the day when He comes again.

          So our vigil is now our life.  We wait for Jesus, not idly, but as servants.  While we wait, we share the Good News and we share His love.  We tell others He is risen, and we bear one another's burdens.  We love them as He has loved us.  We tell the Good News so God can bring other branches into Christ the Vine, into the divine Tree of Life.  Our loving God wants all people to be saved and come to know the truth.

          Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!  That's our message, that's our hope, that's the glorious Easter Gospel.  Tomorrow morning most of us will return to church to share the Good News.  We'll say, "Christ is risen!" and others will say, "He is risen indeed!"

          In the meanwhile, we're keeping Vigil.  Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!  To Him be all glory and honor, even to eternity.  Amen

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.