Saturday, April 23, 2011

A Bare Bones Easter Vigil Homily

St. Francis Episcopal Church, Great Falls, Virginia
The Rev. Benson E. Shelton, Assistant Rector
23 April 2011


(Section: Genesis 1:1-2:4a)
In the beginning of the heavens and the earth
There was only darkness.

In the poetic words of Johnson:

“As far as the eye of God could see
Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights…”
(J.W. Johnson—“Creation”)

All was dark.
All was silent.
All was still.

There were no song-birds to sing.
There were no creatures to crawl.
There were no plants to pray to the beauty
Of a dying sun.

Then, the Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the ears of creation stood at attention.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the face of creation lit-up.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the body of creation began to stir.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, there was Light.


(Section: Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13)

Then, the clouds came.
“The Fountains of the Earth burst forth.
And, the windows of heaven were opened.”
As far as the eyes of Noah could see,
Water covered everything.

All was water.
All was lost.
All was dark.

Outside the cold, hard, wooden-walls of the Ark

There were no song-birds to sing.
There were no creatures to crawl.
There were no plants to pray to
the beauty
Of a dying sun.

Then…
The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the ears of creation stood at attention.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the face of creation lit-up.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the body of water began to stir.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, there was Light.
(RAIBOW HAND MOTION)

(Section: Exodus 1-8,4:10-31, 15:20-21)

Then, the light of the Sun beat down
On the over-burdened backs
Of the Hebrew people

As Pharaoh’s Phalanx backed them
Before a Body of water—
The Red Sea.

As far as the eyes of Moses could see,
Water covered everything.

All hope was lost.
All were cut-off completely.
All was darkness.

There were no songs to be sung.
There were no paths on which to crawl.
The Israelites were planted and praying
In the presence
Of a dying sun.

The Phalanx of Pharaoh would soon be
Falling upon the Hebrew People....

Then…
The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the ears of Moses stood at attention.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.

And, Moses stretched out his staff
(ARMS IN BROAD ORANS)

 And, the walls of water lifted-up.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the body of water began to stir.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, there was Light.

And, Moses led his people through
The valley of water
On dry ground.
(Section: Ezekiel 37:1-14)
But, the valley in which the Prophet
Ezekiel found himself,

Was Dry as a dusty, old, tomb.

As far as Ezekiel’s Vision could cast,
 Bones covered everything.

All was lifeless
All was dry
All was darkness

Then, God asked the prophet Ezekiel:

“Mortal, can these bones live?”
“Mortal, can these lifeless bones live?
“Mortal, can these dry bones live?

Ezekiel eeks out an answer:
“Uhm, Uh, uhhm only you know, Lord.”

Then, the Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the bones began to rattle.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the bones came together.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, the body of bones began to stir.

The Lord spoke his Word into creation.
And, there was Life.

(Section: Matthew 28:1-10)
This Easter Vigil Night
We are presented with the same question:

“Mortal, can these bones live?”
“Mortal, can these lifeless, old, rickety-bones live?”
“Mortal, can these dry bones live?”

Unlike the Prophet Ezekiel we know
The answer to this question

Because we know the rest of
This stirring-story:

When Mary Magdalene
And, the Mother of Jesus
Saw Jesus, the Messiah,

Nailed to the cold, hard, wood
Of the cross they knew the Son
Had died:

“Darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights…”

All was lifeless
All was dry as dust
All was darkness

The Word of God was Silent.
The Song of God had Ceased.
God, the Father Almighty,
Was Speechless.

“The Son of God was Dead,
And we killed him.”

In the words of those dry, dry, bones of Israel:
“Our hope was lost; we were cut-off completely.”

But, then, the wind began to stir...
And, as the Sun began to Fall
God, the Father Almighty,
(BREATHE IN)
Caught his breath.

And, as Mary Magdalene
And the other Mary
Made their merry way to see
The dry, dusty tomb
Of Jesus:

God the Father spoke his Word into Creation.
And, the Ears of Creation stood at attention.

God the Father spoke his Word into Creation.
And, the Face of Creation lit-up.

God the Father spoke his Word into Creation.
And, the Body of Creation began to stir.

God the Father spoke his Word into Creation
And, there was a Life.

God the Father spoke his Word into Creation
And, the Earth began to tremble.

God the Father spoke his Word into Creation
And, that heavy stone rolled away.

God the Father spoke his Word into Creation.
And, there was Light.

And, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
Came to the dry, dusty tomb
Of Jesus:

The Tomb was empty…

Amen.

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