FROM DEATH TO LIFE

If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. (Romans 6:8)

Stretching back to the very beginning of the church, the Easter Vigil is our greatest and most powerful celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. Beginning in the predawn darkness outside the church, the vigil opens with the lighting of the Paschal Candle. A new light has dawned! Jesus has overcome the darkness of sin!

Led by the light of this candle, we all process into the church, ready to celebrate our redemption. A culmination of our Lenten journey, the procession reminds us of the Israelites’ desert journey to the Promised Land. It also calls to mind our own journey from earth to heaven. It is our way of telling Jesus that we want to fix our eyes on his light so that our own darkness will fall away and we can become more like him.

Tonight’s vigil is so much more than the celebration of a past event. It is a celebration of Jesus’ victory over death—and of our own victory over eternal death. It is a celebration of Jesus’ promise that anyone who hears his word and believes has eternal life (John 5:24). It’s a celebration of the amazing promise that we have died with Christ and are now raised up with him to a whole new life (Romans 6:4).

New converts will be baptized into the church tonight. They will be joining us in crossing from death to life. It’s a wonderful thing to see. But even though most of us were baptized as infants, we have the same call as these new converts: to nurture this precious gift of God’s life so that it comes to its full potential in us. We have all passed from death to life. We have all become citizens of the kingdom of God. And we are all called to live in the light.

So when you renew your baptismal vows tonight, make it a point to give your heart to Jesus in a new way. Thank him for having brought you from death to life. Praise him for raising you up to be with him in heaven. And tell him that you want to stand with him in this world as his light and his witness.

“All glory is yours, Jesus! You have rescued us from sin and brought us to eternal life. Lord, I give you my heart!”

--that in all things God may be glorified--