This Is The Night....

Tonight, the "Alleluias" returned. The celebration of Christ's victory over the brutish nastiness that led to his crucifixion marks the beginning of the light that should be kindled in the hearts of all Christians. The bullies don't get the last word. The powerful don't get to gloat that they put down the rebellious and relentless messenger of love. The question, "Where is your God?" can be answered: Here with us.... again! So, take that!
I participated as a Eucharistic Minister and lector during the Great Easter Vigil at St. John's, which is one of my favorite services in the whole year. I was thrilled to be assigned again the reading from Exodus about the moment when Moses stretches out his hand, and God parts the Sea of Reeds and allows the Israelites to escape. There was one line in the text that really grabbed, particularly as one who is among the lesbian faithful in the Church. The Israelites were complaining (again!) and protesting to Moses that they would have been better off remaining slaves in Egypt rather than escaping to the wilderness:

But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.--Exodus 14:13-14

"The Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again." Those of us from the "other" status have faced so many Egyptians in our lives. I felt it again a few weeks ago sitting in the Leon County Commission meeting about the Human Rights Ordinance. All we want is protection from being fired or denied housing based upon our orientation... and there were three Pharoahs who, listening to the Egyptians, believed that the way to settle the issue was to put the lives of LGBT people up for a public vote.
So, when I hear Moses... a servant of God... saying "Stand firm. Don't be afraid. You won't be seeing these Egyptians again!", I hear a pledge of protection and an enormous amount of help to see that what is old will fade away... because a new thing is coming. I hear in that statement what all my elders in the LGBT community keep saying: the change we want to see is coming. Be still because God (and many others) are fighting for you.
That fight for Israel's freedom continued with Jesus Christ, the son of God. And his knock-out punch was to burst his three-days prison of the grave. This was done for the whole world, absolutely, positively every living, breathing piece of creation... be it flora or fauna or human being. For gay people, there is an enormous release when you contemplate the contempt Jesus experienced in the name of love... only to come out on top at the end. We know his struggle all too well in our own lives!

This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children
of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the
Red Sea on dry land.

This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered
from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness
of life.

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell,
and rose victorious from the grave.--BCP, pg. 287

Therefore, let us be glad and rejoice in it!!