Easter Vigil
April 15, 2017
Ex.14:10 Canticle 8, Ez 36:24-28 Psalm 42:1-7
Rom.6:3-11 Luke 24:1-12
Lectionary Link
Why do we baptize infants and children who don't have the ability to choose to be baptized? We do so because we are confident that God always chooses us and is more graceful to us before we know and appreciate the wonderful gift.
The fancy name for the grace that God gives us before we choose it is "prevenient grace." It is the grace that we have before we understand or choose it.
But how does this unchosen grace work? First God's grace is given to us by the very fact of our existence. Our existence itself is evidence of God's grace. But how can we know it?
Knowing God's grace is what tonight is about. The Gospel of John tells us that in the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God. All things were created by the Word and the word became flesh and dwelled with us.
Our entire existence is known because we are people with words. When we see, we see things that have the names we have been taught. When we act, we act with body language which speaks as loud as words. And when we speak and write we use words. We live lives filled with words.
And since there are so many words in our lives, we need to know how use words with great quality, the quality of the very best human values.
Tonight in this Vigil we are celebrating the very best words of our lives. And we want those who are baptized to have our very best values. And what are those values? The first value is the hope of knowing that God will preserve our lives forever and we know that because of the resurrection Christ.
What are other best values? We have the best values of a very good heritage. The Bible story tells us about our wonderful heritage. There have been heroes and saints who lived their lives to preserve and hand on the wonderful knowledge of God. And we have read tonight some of the stories of our salvation history.
What are other values? We teach the value that God loves us. God forgives us. God cares for us. God is near to us within our heart as God's Holy Spirit. God also gives each of us special gifts. God asks us to find our special gifts and to share them with each other.
We gather as a church and we baptize because we want to keep the very best values alive and accessible. We as members of the church are to be examples of God's prevenient grace to each other and to those whom we baptize. We are giving and living the very best values of our lives to those who are baptized and to each other.
If you and I live graceful lives sharing the very best values of life, when our younger members get older it will be easy and natural for them to join to share these wonderful values with the person in their lives.
Remember you and I are called to be prevenient grace in each other's life. We need to be expressions of God's grace to each other so that we make it easy for everyone to choose and accept that God is our creator, God loves us, God forgives us, God gives us gifts, and God gives us the hope to know that what we can't finish in this life, we will finish in our afterlives?
Why, because God is the only one who is great enough to preserve us forever. On this night, we celebrate the preserving power of God.
So with great hope we celebrate tonight: Alleluia Christ is Risen. The Lord is Risen Indeed. Amen.
Ex.14:10 Canticle 8, Ez 36:24-28 Psalm 42:1-7
Rom.6:3-11 Luke 24:1-12
Lectionary Link
Why do we baptize infants and children who don't have the ability to choose to be baptized? We do so because we are confident that God always chooses us and is more graceful to us before we know and appreciate the wonderful gift.
The fancy name for the grace that God gives us before we choose it is "prevenient grace." It is the grace that we have before we understand or choose it.
But how does this unchosen grace work? First God's grace is given to us by the very fact of our existence. Our existence itself is evidence of God's grace. But how can we know it?
Knowing God's grace is what tonight is about. The Gospel of John tells us that in the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God. All things were created by the Word and the word became flesh and dwelled with us.
Our entire existence is known because we are people with words. When we see, we see things that have the names we have been taught. When we act, we act with body language which speaks as loud as words. And when we speak and write we use words. We live lives filled with words.
And since there are so many words in our lives, we need to know how use words with great quality, the quality of the very best human values.
Tonight in this Vigil we are celebrating the very best words of our lives. And we want those who are baptized to have our very best values. And what are those values? The first value is the hope of knowing that God will preserve our lives forever and we know that because of the resurrection Christ.
What are other best values? We have the best values of a very good heritage. The Bible story tells us about our wonderful heritage. There have been heroes and saints who lived their lives to preserve and hand on the wonderful knowledge of God. And we have read tonight some of the stories of our salvation history.
What are other values? We teach the value that God loves us. God forgives us. God cares for us. God is near to us within our heart as God's Holy Spirit. God also gives each of us special gifts. God asks us to find our special gifts and to share them with each other.
We gather as a church and we baptize because we want to keep the very best values alive and accessible. We as members of the church are to be examples of God's prevenient grace to each other and to those whom we baptize. We are giving and living the very best values of our lives to those who are baptized and to each other.
If you and I live graceful lives sharing the very best values of life, when our younger members get older it will be easy and natural for them to join to share these wonderful values with the person in their lives.
Remember you and I are called to be prevenient grace in each other's life. We need to be expressions of God's grace to each other so that we make it easy for everyone to choose and accept that God is our creator, God loves us, God forgives us, God gives us gifts, and God gives us the hope to know that what we can't finish in this life, we will finish in our afterlives?
Why, because God is the only one who is great enough to preserve us forever. On this night, we celebrate the preserving power of God.
So with great hope we celebrate tonight: Alleluia Christ is Risen. The Lord is Risen Indeed. Amen.
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