Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let them with gratitude join in the Feast!
And anyone that arrived after the sixth hour,
let them not doubt; for they too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let them not hesitate; but let them come too.
And anyone who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let them not be afraid by reason of their delay.
For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to the one that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to the one that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and to another He is gracious.
He both honors the work, and praises the intention.
Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!
Let no one grieve at their poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that they have fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.
He descended into Hell, and took Hell captive!
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
“You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below.”
Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!
St. John Chrysostem wrote that sermon over 1500 years ago in the city of Constantinople.
I love preaching his sermon on this day.
Something fundamental to the Universe has changed.
Death has died.
Hell is done away with.
What does this mean?
That life is liberated. Life itself has been set free, life was imprisoned but has now busted out.
Jesus, the name, the person, in whom things start to happen, things become unstuck, who wakes us up, who raises us to stand upright, who busts us out of prison.
The great prison break.
Today we proclaim the wonderful and strange thing that has happened, and is happening.
How do honor this person who is the event of life itself?
How do we share this good news in a way that brings life rather than destroys it?
So often proclaiming the Gospel is done in such a way that it is used to imprison and poison the world even more.
How do we proclaim the gospel in such a way that it really is good news through and through? Not just sort of good news, but real and true good news. How do we carry this gift of life itself in such a way that life is liberated rather than bound and gagged?
Is Jesus good news to us today?
We should ask ourselves that question. Is Jesus good news to me? Is Grace Church good news? Am I good news?
What are we bringing about in this world? In our lives? Is it just more of the work of death, and binding and destruction?
Or is something new and good happening in the world because of our lives?
Jesus. The name, the person, the power in whom we are set free to live, to worship and to sing praise.
He is where we must begin, he is where we find our beginning.
Over this next year let us ponder this good news and how we live it together, and then lets see what new life arises in his name.
Jesus is risen.
Jesus is Lord.
God is busting out everywhere, life has been set loose.
Who knows what will happen next?
May our lives be that good news to the world and for the world.