"Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!" So says the Church through the ages since the resurrection. 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 a season of Lent or before there were Maundy Thursdays or Good Fridays. Originally, the service held the evening before Easter was for baptizing new converts into the Christian faith. (Today my future daughter-in-law is being received into membership at Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Bronx - I wish I could have been there.)

         Lent and Easter traditions have developed over time. Lent, which is the forty day period before the Festival of the Resurrection, was formerly used to instruct those being baptized. In the century or two that followed, early Christians began recounting Christ's suffering, death and resurrection during those forty days. They began calling this time "Lent," from the Latin word for "spring." Lent ended with a joyful worship on the Festival of the Resurrection which later became known as Easter. But Saturday Vigil was the first worship day to set the stage for Easter Sunday.

          Easter Vigil in some churches is called Holy Saturday, recalling Christ's body lying in the tomb. For most of us, Holy Saturday is a time of preparation for Easter Sunday. Shopping, house cleaning and other last minute details consume our day.

         But there was another Saturday long ago when some soldiers were keeping a vigil. They had been ordered to make sure no one rolled away the stone to remove the body. This was boring, not a preferred detail, but perhaps they felt they could catch up on some sleep time. What could possibly happen? Some zealous followers overcome the trained soldiers? So what harm could come from a little sleep while watching a sealed tomb?

         Soldiers have told me that their life, similar to policemen, consists of long periods of boredom interspersed with short bursts of terror. You train and train for war, but spend most your time in peace. And when war comes, you forget much of your training and live on adrenalin and your instincts. As one told me, "You have a complete battle plan until the battle starts."

         We have many, many soldiers deployed all over our world today. My oldest brother has five members of his family in the military, and four of those today are in Iraq, with the fifth being prepared for Afghanistan. A sixth will be visiting us this weekend as she prepares to enroll in the Air Force Academy. In most cases, these brave men and women are there to suppress terrorists, to keep the peace. But in today's war there are no battle lines, no enemy uniforms, not even a clearly defined enemy. There are just short bursts of terror amid long periods of boredom.

         The soldiers were quietly doing their duty when the grave they were watching exploded open. With a dazzling light, an angel rolled away the stone, not to let Jesus out, but to show He already was gone. Christ arose from the dead from the inside out. He was in charge, and the first thing He did was to pay a visit on Satan, His old enemy. We know about it because He told His disciples, and they passed the knowledge along. And so today we say in the Creeds, "He was crucified, died and was buried, He descended into hell..."

         Perhaps you've heard the flap over the statue of the soldier in Littleton. People don't like the weapon in his hand, saying it glorifies violence. Weapons and soldiers don't make the world violent. Sin does. If there were no soldiers to defend our freedom, Americans would be enslaved. If we had no army, navy or air force, we'd have no freedom. Call that political talk if you wish, but it's the truth. We need our soldiers. And we have precious few monuments that honor them today.

         When He came back from hell, Jesus left the tomb. The Light of lights blinded the solders as the angel rolled away the stone. Matthew tells us the soldiers reported to the Chief Priests what had happened, and they were bribed to say His disciples stole the body. I wonder if the soldiers ever told their families. I wonder what they did later in life with that memory. But on the Saturday afternoon before it all happened, they were keeping the vigil, keeping watch.

          So now today we keep vigil again, and we have good reason. You might think we're waiting for Easter morning, but there's more to it than that. You and I are in a life-long vigil, waiting for Christ to come again, in His Second Coming. "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!" This Savior of ours, being risen from the dead, and He is the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep. He arose first, and when we trust Him as Lord and Savior, we too shall rise. He was first and our turn is coming, as the song goes, "On that great gettin-up morning, fare thee well, fare thee well."

         The day after the first Easter Vigil, the risen Savior began showing Himself alive. The first to see Him was Mary Magdalene. She thought He was the gardener, but then discovered a living man - Jesus! Later that day the Disciples were all together in the Upper Room keeping vigil, and it was a vigil of fear. They were waiting for the ball to drop, for more trouble to start. Or maybe they were waiting for things to cool off so they could leave town back to Galilee.

         Suddenly a woman burst into the room with the news, "The body's gone! An angel said He's alive!" Peter and John went and also found the grave empty. The rest of the day His followers kept vigil together because they didn't know what would happen next. And later that night, Jesus suddenly stood among them. "Peace be with you," (John 20:19) He said, and He let them touch his wounded hands and side. And then they knew it was the Lord!

         Our vigil is now our life. We wait for Jesus, not idly nor sleeping, but awake, His servants keeping watch. While we wait, we share the Good News or the good deed with those in need. We encourage each other, and bear each other's burdens. We try to love others as He has loved us. We say, "Christ is Risen!" and then we try to live those words all through the day. And we have joy in our hearts because our risen Lord loves us and wants all people to be saved.

         "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!" That's our message, that's our hope, for today and also for tomorrow. In about twelve hours, on Easter Day, many of us will return to church to hear the Good News. We'll say, "Christ is risen!" and others will respond, "He is risen indeed!" If Easter says anything at all to us, it is that Jesus is alive and will always be with us.

         Think about it - the pyramids of Egypt are famous because they contained the mummified bodies of Egyptian kings. Westminster Abbey in London is renowned because in it rest the bodies of English kings and nobles. Mohammed's tomb is noted for the bones it contains. Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., is revered for its honored American dead. But the Garden Tomb of Jesus is famous because it is empty!

         We rejoice in today and we look forward to the future. In the 1957 Oscar winning movie, "Bridge on the River Kwai," Col. Nicholson, a prisoner of the Japanese, is given the task of building a bridge. As a British engineer, he does his work carefully and well, even if it is to be used by the enemy. When finished, it is magnificent, but just as a train crosses it for the first time, he sees Allied commandos setting charges to blow it up. He can't allow this - his work will all be for nothing! Rather than a battle to be won for the Allies, he wants his work to stand.

         It is a great temptation for us to see only the short term of things, and not the long term. We want our passion, or pleasure, or possessions now. We only see what we want at the moment. Hence, we cannot always see the need for modern warfare. But soldiers are needed today, now more than ever.

         Death and sin are realities, but so it the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is for all eternity. His holy life, His tragic death and His glorious resurrection are the story of salvation. Satan fools us into thinking what we do in life is all that counts. But it's what Jesus did that really counts. Jesus sees beyond the moment. He sees the bigger picture that includes us in heaven. "Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!" Meanwhile, we keep the Vigil, and faithfully. To the Risen Lord be all glory and honor, now and forever, amen.

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  Epiphany logo designed and provided by Dale Bargmann at daleb@ecentral.com