One of the most ancient rituals of the Christian Church is the Great Vigil of Easter.  As with all true rituals, this celebration of the resurrection afforded the community the means to remember, celebrate, and enact the Easter story.  Unfortunately, in our modern culture we tend to approach rituals as memorials — a mere recounting of an old story or a remembrance of the historical past.  Yet, the “magic” of ritual is that it enlivens our lives — enabling us to identify our story with the larger Story.  And this is the essence of the Easter celebration.

The question that modern Christians must consider is “What exactly are we celebrating?”  Yes, there is the theologically correct response of the bodily resurrection of Jesus.  But why are we celebrating it?  If you read the gospel accounts of the first Easter morning, there really isn’t much to report or celebrate.  There are no eyewitnesses to the resurrection.  In fact, no one even suspects that Jesus has been raised from the dead until well after the fact.  The first inkling that something allegedly happened is three days after Jesus’ death when the women discover an empty tomb.  And remember, the women didn’t come to the tomb to verify a resurrection — they came to anoint a body.  An empty tomb is the last thing they’re expecting to find.  The male disciples certainly weren’t expecting anything since they didn’t even bother to learn where the tomb was, much less visit it after the internment of the body.  So, the resurrection, as it is recounted in the gospels leaves us with as many questions as it may answer.  The question before us modern people is what are we, some 2,000 years removed, to make of this event?  And, most importantly, what significance, if any, does Easter have in our lives?

Despite all of the questions that are unanswered, Easter smacks of the Divine.  Easter smacks of the Divine because it is nothing less than the ultimate paradox.  And paradox, you see, is the primary language of the Divine in the world.  Recall, for a moment, the teachings of Jesus as they are recounted in the gospels.  The hallmark of Jesus’ teaching is paradox:  you must lose your life to save it; the first become last and the last become first; give and it will be given to you; you must deny yourself if you are to find yourself.  Yes, the teachings of Jesus are full of paradox.  And on Easter we have the greatest of all paradoxes — the dead being raised to life.

The mystery of Easter is what is enacted at the Great Vigil of Easter.  The Vigil begins in the dark with the lighting of the new fire.  A single candle is then lit from this fire — the Paschal Candle which is the symbol of the light of Christ.  The gathered community then follows this solitary light into a dark church.  Amazingly this single candle emits enough light for the community to make their way into the church.  After giving thanks for the light of Christ coming into the world, the flame of Paschal Candle is shared with all who are present.  And this is when those gathered participate in the miraculous — as individuals receive and share the light one with another the entire church becomes illuminated.  And it is important to note that despite sharing the light of one’s candle with others, no candle’s light is diminished or extinguished.  Candles that shared their light burn as brightly as they did prior to sharing their light.  During this ritual we experience that a single flame easily becomes a 100, a 1000, a million or an infinite number of flames without becoming diminished or exhausted.  This is a paradox.  This is a miracle.

Through this ancient liturgy, we not only catch a glimpse but actually participate in the mystery and miracle of the Dream of God.  Suddenly, through our actions, we witness and experience the meaning of the paradoxical teachings of Jesus.  Through our actions we begin to perceive how it is possible that in sharing our lives, our talents, our resources — losing our life, so to speak — we actually gain life; how when we give of ourselves to the other, we are not diminished but actually flourish — collectively illuminating our world; how when we share our resources we can’t help but gain and profit as others are benefited.  This, you see, is the essence of the Easter — willingly participating in the abundance that is life. 

So, what’s the catch?  The catch, if you will, is that an Easter life must be chosen.  And choosing to live an Easter life necessarily effects a permanent change in your life.  For you see, once you choose to live your life in accordance with the values of the Dream of God — being willing to “deny one’s self” — one can never really go back to the self-serving values and ways of society and culture.  To choose the Easter life is to be willing to “lose your life.”

There is a story told about Graham Greene, a distinguished novelist of the twentieth century that demonstrates this reality.  Being a devout Catholic, Greene sought an audience with Padre Pio, a Catholic priest and mystic who was esteemed for his piety and selflessness.  In fact, Padre Pio was canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church in 2002.  Because of Padre Pio’s renown, Greene had to wait three years for an audience with the priest.  It is said that on the day of his appointment Greene arrived early and attended the Mass that Padre Pio was celebrating.  After observing the priest in prayer, Graham Greene left the Mass and returned to England without meeting with Padre Pio.  When asked later about his not keeping his appointment with the priest, Greene responded, “I was not prepared for how that man would change my life.”

Likewise, when we are confronted by Easter, the question with which we must grapple isn’t about the believability of the bodily resurrection of Jesus.  The question we must answer concerns whether or not we are willing to allow our lives to be challenged and changed.  For you see, the Easter life is not a life of belief but a life of faith.  And as the great mythologist Edith Hamilton so accurately observed, “Faith is not belief.  Belief is passive.  Faith is active.”  In other words, the Easter life is not the intellectual assent to the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Jesus — or, for that matter, any other creed or doctrine.  Easter is always about how we will live our lives, each and every day.  To embrace the reality of Easter demands a change of our worldview and values — the giving up of our egotistical and self-centered way of being in the world and embracing an interdependent world where the divine is immanent and life abundant.  The question posed by Easter is rather straightforward:  Are we willing to be raised to newness of life?