The Light, Shared

This service presents the story of Easter more fully than any other. Because Easter is not just about dawn, but about dawn sweeping away darkness; it is about being led to freedom from slavery; about resurrection after death. And in this great vigil we are led by the Light of Christ through that journey, that movement, that transformation from all that we are not by virtue of our own devices to all that we are by virtue of God’s grace. This night the Light of Christ brings us from darkness to light.

But even without this element of guidance or lighting the way along a transforming journey, light is a powerful image for Easter. It conveys enlightenment. The ability to see new things or know old things with a new clarity. Light also embodies hope, the dawn of a new day, the beginning of a new life. Enlightenment and hope are powerful pieces of the Easter message. Light also connotes power. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not, could not, overcome it, Saint John writes. Even the smallest flickering flame can be seen in the darkest night. In the confrontation between the Light of Christ and the power of darkness, the Light of Christ is unconquerable. Immensely powerful.

There is one more aspect of light as an image for conveying the Easter message that is worth remembering. And that is the way light can be shared. And, when it is shared, it does not lose any of its power or splendor. In fact, when light is shared it only gets brighter and more glorious.

Throughout the liturgies of these most holy days, we are reminded that the Christian life is a shared life. An individual life only comes into the Christian story as part of the life of the family of God, or as one hand or eye or foot functioning within the Body of Christ. Think about Maundy Thursday. The Last Supper was a shared meal, not one individual after another driving up to the take out window. And I’ve always imagined that more than the twelve were there. It was a gathering; the door was open and inviting. Plates and cups were passed from person to person. Conversation bounced around. A group of people, united by their love of Jesus, shared a meal.

And the emphasis on community is strong in that most solemn of liturgies, the Proper Liturgy for Good Friday. Listen again to the collect that breaks the silence as that service begins. "Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed…" Behold this your family. Not behold me, a sinner. But behold us, your family. Us. Gathered together this day. And this passage comes from the Good Friday epistle reading from Hebrews: "Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another." Meeting together is what Christians do: for mutual encouragement, to provoke one another in mission, to share a common meal. And to share the light of Christ.

To share the light of Christ. In our liturgy on this holy night, the light of Christ shines in the darkness; it leads us into holiness; but it is also passed from person to person, shared throughout the community of the faithful. The congregational candles and the way they are lit one from another is an essential part of this liturgy. Each one of us receives the light of Christ from someone else. And when I pass that light to Debbi or to Elliot the light that I bear is not diminished at all. I do not loose one photon of the light of Christ when I pass that light on to another person. In fact, the more we share the Light of Christ with others the brighter the whole world becomes.

So, there are several lessons to be learned. One is that each of us receives the Light of Christ from another. If you want to be aflame with the Light of Christ in your life you need to be here tonight to receive it from someone else in the Christian family. You can’t really light it on your own; you can only receive it. Which is why it is so important, as Hebrews says, that we not neglect to meet together. And no one who is here was refused the light. It was offered and shared with all who are here gathered. Being here is all that matters.

And, of course, the second lesson (or the second part of the same lesson) is that Christians are people who share the light with one another and with the world. We receive it and we share it. In one place in the Prayer Book the saints are described as the chosen vessels of God’s grace and the lights of the world in their generations. Remember that, in New Testament usage, all Christians are saints. All of us in the Christian community are the lights of the world in our generations. Not just to shine into the world’s darkness, but to share the light. To share the light with others in our generations, to light our neighbor’s candle. Others can only receive the Light of Christ if we offer it to them.

In his recent book Tokens of Trust, Archbishop Rowan Williams asks, "What is it that shifts people’s imagination and vision and hope?" What shifts people’s vision and hope to the vision and hope that Christ offers? What brings people to faith? He quotes the 4^th century pastor and theologian St. Ambrose who said, "It did not suit God to save his people by arguments." (Something all of us who are called to preach, especially at Easter time, should remember.) Most people do not come to faith through the persuasion of argument or logical proof, no matter how eloquent or powerful. "Faith," Williams writes, "has a lot to do with the simple fact that there are trustworthy lives to be seen, that we can see in some believing people a world we’d like to live in." If you live a life that burns with the Light of Christ, others will see in your life a world they’d like to live in. And when you pass the Light of Christ to another, both of your worlds will become brighter.

In the community gathered this evening, we all received the Light of Christ. Think gratefully of the person from whom you received it. Thank God they were here. Thank God you were here to receive the Light and to share it with others. Take it with you in your heart and life as you go forth this evening. You are the Easter dawn. May that dawn spread more and more brightly throughout the whole world as darkness is vanquished by this eternal flame.