"Will Things Ever Be the Same?": A Sermon from Easter Sunday

Will things ever be the same?  “Will things ever be the same on the other side of an Easter when the churches stood empty, wondering where we’d gone?” This question was posed by a Bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2020, when churches all over the world were “closed” due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The longer that church buildings were closed, the more anxious we became. What if, by the time we re-open, folks never come back? Or what if, by the time we re-open, things in the church will be forever changed? What if it doesn’t feel like the church we knew and loved prior to the pandemic?

Well, here we are, three years later. And much of our anxiety was well-founded. Here at Christ the King, we have parishioners who never made it back to us after we re-opened. Some have told me that they prefer the convenience of the livestream option. Others decided to take advantage of the hot real estate market and sell their home at the beach and move somewhere where the dollar goes a little bit further. Others simply got out of the habit of going to church and have never come back.

So, the answer is no, things are not the same as we were prior to 2020. And a lot of that has to do with the covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, a lot has changed, but not all for the worse. For those of you who aren’t with us regularly, the minute you drove up and parked your car today you noticed that a lot has visibly changed here – whether it is the new school building, the labyrinth, or the bell tower, or many new faces that you don’t recognize. And a lot of things have changed in ways that aren’t as easily seen this morning – like the deep spiritual growth that is happening to those who have been participating in our children’s, youth, and adult Christian formation programs throughout the week and on Sundays. There has been notable spiritual growth happening in the lives of many of our parishioners – myself included - over the past few years. And it’s been exciting to witness and experience.

Again, things are not the same as we were prior to 2020 – as a church or as individuals. Some of the change has been heartbreaking; some of it has been life-giving.

So, if we return to the original question - “Will things ever be the same on the other side of Easter?”- the answer is “no.” And the thought of somehow remaining the same after any Easter – that first Easter or any that followed – seems odd to me. Nothing has ever been or is supposed to be the same after Easter.

One of the most prominent themes of the Bible is profound change. God’s people are always being called to transformation. Humankind was never the same after the Fall. God’s people were never the same after they experienced slavery in Egypt or exile in Babylon. And the world was never the same after God became incarnate in Jesus Christ and suffered death on the cross for our redemption. And the world was never the same after Jesus rose from the dead, asserting his dominion over the powers and principalities of the world; asserting his dominion over sin, death, and evil; asserting his dominion over the cosmos. Time and time again our scriptures tell stories of new, transformed life emerging from catastrophe, whether it be slavery, exile, or crucifixion.

For us as Christians, all transformation is rooted and grounded in what God did on that very first Easter. The Easter proclamation that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead so that we all might have life, and have it abundantly, is about things never being the same again.

Speaking of transformation in Christ - three of us here today – Garret, Whip, and Owen – will be forever changed after this Easter. Because today, through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, they will become a new creation. In this foundational sacrament of the Church, they will be grafted into Christ’s Body – our Body – the Church. They will have a brand new – and much larger family.

In the Early Church, baptisms only happened on Easter Day, because there was no better day to celebrate a person dying and rising into new life. The sacrament of baptism is first and foremost and Easter sacrament. It embodies what we believe to be true, and these candidates will, before our very eyes, reenact Christ’s death and resurrection at this font that holds in it both death and new life.

After Garrett, Whip, and Owen are baptized, everything will, on the outside, seem to be the same as usual. They will look the same, and on Monday they will go back to work and school or whatever their Monday routine is. But in a few moments, they are about to undergo the most transformational, important moment of their entire lives – past, present, and future. Because in a few moments, each of them will enter into the depths of the baptismal waters and die with Christ. I always say that babies who cry during baptisms are the ones who truly get it. The waters of baptism are harrowing, because in these waters we die…we join Christ in his death. We die to our old selves.

But they will not remain dead in the water. They will not remain in the tomb. Just as God parted the Red Sea waters for the Israelites, and just as God rolled away the stone of Jesus’ tomb, God will raise Garrett, Whip, and Owen out of the baptismal waters and into new life in Christ. Immediately after that, they will be “sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.” By the power of the Holy Spirit, the three of them – and those of us participating  - will never be the same after this Easter.

When framed this way, we are being invited to remember that the emptiness of the tomb – and the harrowing waters of baptism - lead to the abundance of new, transformed, eternal life. As an Easter people, our alleluias are proclaimed just as the echoes of weeping are fading. The empty tomb doesn’t mean that Jesus is dead and his body has been stolen. The empty tomb means that Jesus is alive, and everything has been changed forever. And one of the best ways that we remember and proclaim this great Good News is through the sacrament of baptism.

In our Psalm today, the psalmist proclaims “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Mary Magdalene lived into these words boldly and faithfully. She was never the same when she encountered her Risen Lord. She became Christ’s first preacher; Christ’s first evangelist; the first bearer of the Good News of the Risen Lord to the world.

 The Christian Church has faced persecutions, plagues, economic recessions, scandals, and countless other hardships. But the Church has steadfastly persisted through the ages. The Church, like the psalmist, has declared, “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” And Garrett, Whip, and Owen are about to boldly join in that proclamation. They are choosing abundant life in Christ. Our foundational story – the truth upon which we stand and shout “Alleluia!” – is a story about death being overcome by life; evil being overcome by good; injustice being overcome by justice; hate being overcome by love. Indeed, ever since that first Easter, things have never been the same. Thanks be to God!