"Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness
of your King! ... This is the night when Christians everywhere ...
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness. This is the
night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant
from the grave...O God, how wonderful your care for us! How boundless
your merciful love! To ransome a slave you gave away your Son! O
happy fault. O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great
a Redeemer! Most blessed of all nights, chosen by God to see Christ
rising from the dead!"
The mystery of what we celebrate tonight is summed up beautifully
in the first two sentences of today's epistle. "Brothers and
sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through
baptism unto death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of
life."
Let me share an experience and a dream I had last week. My niece,
Michele Turner, had accompanied her son, Timmy, to Indonesia to
bring relief to survivors of the Tsunami. She was telling me about
this ordeal, describing the boat they used, the supplies they took
and gave to the people, the living conditions, and especially the
beauty and dignity of the people they visited. (I was visiting Michele
in California to baptize two of her grandchildren the next day.)
That night I had the following dream.
I was in a boat (like the one Michele had described) with many members
of my family when it capsized. I shouted out: "Don't worry
about losing any of our stuff; just make sure everyone gets safely
to shore!" Then I dived down deeper to grab my great grand
niece (Mackenzie Nicole Turner, one of the babies I was to baptize
the next day). I took her in my hands, lifted her up, and shot up
out of the water saying the words: "I baptize you in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
Believe me, the actual baptism of Mackenzie Nicole the next day
was not that dramatic, although I did baptize her by immersion.
The image from my dream, however, has helped me to realize what
redemption really means: being snatched from the jaws of death and
raised up to life, the life that belongs to God alone! And now we
belong to God forever and possess the joy that no one can ever take
away from us. No wonder we rejoice so gladly and triumphantly! Happy
Easter!