Romans 6: 3 – 11
Matthew 28: 1 – 10
A homily by: Fr. Gene Tucker
Given at: Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Saturday, April 23, 2011
“BOUNDED ON ALL SIDES BY THE WATER”
(Homily texts: Exodus 14: 10 – 15: 1 and Romans 6: 3 – 11)
Ever think about the nature of water?
Of course, it’s necessary for life to exist. Our human bodies, we are told, are mostly made up of water.
But water can also be the agent of death. It certainly was for the ancient Egyptian army who dared to venture into the dry space between the walls of water in the Red Sea as they pursued the children of Israel.
St. Paul seems to capture both aspects of the power of water. In Romans chapter six, he says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” And just to make sure we get the point, he continues: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
Paul seems to be outlining a process much like the one that took place at the Red Sea: There, the ancient Israelites passed through the waters to new life on the other side. We, too, pass through the waters of baptism, defying their life-killing powers, only to emerge on the other side as new creatures in God.
You’ve heard me say on many occasions before that the early Church lived this out dramatically in the way in which converts were baptized: After a three year period of preparation for baptism (called the Catechumenate), those to be baptized entered the waters unclothed , and were completely immersed in the river, stream or pond. They then emerged from the waters and exited by another way, and were clothed in white garments, signifying their new purity in Christ.
These threads all come together during the Easter Vigil. In the ancient Church, the Vigil lasted all night, until the rising of the sun on Easter Sunday morning.
Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea was recalled.
Christ as the Passover Lamb, the one who was sacrificed on the Cross at the great festival of Passover, the one of whom not a bone was to be broken, just as God had instructed the ancient Israelites to do whenever they observed the Passover meal, is remembered.
“Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us,” we say in our Eucharistic liturgy. For Christ’s blood acts as protection from the powers of death, just as the Passover lamb’s blood, smeared on the lintels and the door posts of the Israelites’ homes in ancient Egypt, stayed the hand of the angel of death.
So we are bounded by water on all sides, yet we live.
Having come through the waters, we find ourselves, as did the ancient Israelites and the early Church’s baptismal candidates, in a new place, a new land. We are citizens of a new kingdom, and can never go back to the life – or the place – where we were before.
Sometimes, it’s important for us to remember that we are citizens of a new kingdom, the kingdom of God. We have been redeemed from the powers of sin and death, ransomed by the blood of the lamb, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
As citizens of this new kingdom, we offer ourselves thankfully to Him who came to save us, to redeem us, recognizing that the Lord Jesus Christ has led the way into the waters of baptism, setting them aside for holy purposes for all who come to Him in faith, for He has also entered the veil of death, but lives forevermore.
Thanks be to God!
AMEN.
