Holy Fire

Scripture: Vigil of the Resurrection, A.D. 2014 A

Sermon:

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN.

Light rising from the darkness. Life rising from the tomb. These are the quintessential symbols of our Easter joy. These are the signs of our Resurrection faith.

In Jerusalem stands the holiest church in all of Chirstendom. In the West we call it the Holy Sepulchre; our eastern brethren call it the Church of the Resurrection. It encompasses both the rock of Golgotha, upon which we crucified our Lord, and also, some hundred yards away or so, the tomb from which He rose. On every Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, the Patriarch of Jerusalem or another Orthodox archbishop enters Christ’s tomb to pray. He is examined beforehand by Jewish Israeli authorities to prove that he has no fire-starting implement of any kind. Then humbly he kneels at the marble slab over Jesus’ grave.

Hundreds of Christians surround the tomb within the church, standing in darkness, rumbling in anticipation. The Patriarch claims that as he prays, an otherworldly light rises from the slab and miraculously ignites his twin bundles of 33 long, thin candles strapped together as a torch. Lamps around the tomb, and candles in the hands of pilgrims outside, begin to burst into flame spontaneously, as people cry out in shock. The Patriarch emerges from the tomb with his twin flaming bundles and the crowd explodes in joyous exultation. The fire passes from candle to candle, and thousands of witnesses every year claim that it is a cold fire—that in these early minutes it melts wax but does not harm the faces or hands of the faithful as they pass their flesh over the flames.

The Miracle of the Holy Fire is a pious Eastern Orthodox tradition that may be the oldest continuous Christian ritual on the planet, going back at least to the Fourth Century. Every year it is televised throughout eastern Christian countries, and the flame lit inside the Holy Sepulchre is sent to Orthodox communities throughout Europe and the Middle East. It is a powerful, unforgettable event at the climax of Holy Week. And it may also be a fraud.

Western Christians have long been skeptical about the Miracle of the Holy Fire. At least one pope denounced it as a lie. From ancient times, magicians have utilized white naphtha to cause the delayed spontaneous ignition of candles and lamps. It is an easy trick to replicate. There are politics and egos involved too. If God grants the Eastern Christians such a miracle, why not His children in the West? But then, if it is a fraud, it’s a darn good one. The Holy Fire has occurred annually for well over a thousand years, and every year pilgrims weep with joy to touch the fire that does not burn. They say it is the power of the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit Who alighted upon the Apostles as tongues of flame. They say that it is the fire of God’s love, which appeared to Moses in the burning bush that was not harmed.

Fire has long been our symbol for God’s Spirit, the biblical fire that ever burns yet never consumes. The fire that is light and warmth and life without any sort of harm is the fire of divine love. Candles are a symbol for Jesus, that love made flesh. This very night we began our own worship with a “new fire,” crafted from flint and steel, so that the sparks kindling this shared light would leap from the stone just as Christ leapt from the tomb. This light dispels our darkness as Christ dispels all fear.

The word “Easter” literally means “shining” or “east”—that is to say, dawn, since the shining sun rises in the east. What a perfect word for Christ’s Resurrection, as He rises, alive and glorious, the Light of the world, from Jerusalem in the East! I do not know if the Miracle of the Holy Fire is a genuine manifestation of God’s power, or if it is but a pious metaphor, a flame crafted from nothing by the arts of Man in order to instill in us wonder for God and for His redemption of Creation.

All I know is that the idea of God lighting a candle should be no obstacle to those who believe in the far greater miracles of the Incarnation and Resurrection. To say that God became Man is an astounding leap of faith. To say that this same Man then died on a Cross, lay three days in a tomb, and rose again with death defeated—why, that is so astounding, so astonishing a claim, that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we could ever hope to believe it. Yet by that same Spirit, we find it now impossible not to believe.

Perhaps that is the true miracle of the Resurrection: not that it happened long ago and far to the east, but that it brings new and eternal life to us here and now, today, this very night! We look to the risen Christ and believe—not that we have no doubts, of course, but we see the risen Christ and we trust in Him, even if we cannot trust in ourselves.

We are all of us slaves to sin. We have all of us walked in darkness. Tonight our Light has dawned. From the depths of despair, from the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Christ has arisen, glorious and triumphant. He has fulfilled the promises given by God to Adam, to Abraham, to Moses and the prophets. He has crushed the serpent’s head and blessed all nations and harrowed the dark heart of hell. He has died our own death for us, that we need never fear death again! And He has baptized us with His own eternal life, already here begun.

Tonight this fire warms us, comforts us, reminds us of promises fulfilled and so many joys to come. Tomorrow morning a greater light will arise, the mighty sun shining in the east, to herald the arrival of spring, and warmth, and new and abundant life. But the sun is just a symbol, a bauble lovingly crafted for us by a crucified hand. Its light points beyond itself to the true and supernatural Light of Christ, the risen Jesus beyond the heavens, as far brighter than the sun as the sun is than the candle.

Christ is Risen. Life has won. And all the beauties and joys of this world, the miracles of life and light and warmth, the songs of choirs both natural and preternatural, they one and all hail the victory of Christ, our God and our King!

And thanks be to God, brothers and sisters, for the true light—the true fire—now burns forever inside of you, of me, of all of us. Eternally. This is the dawn of Resurrection.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! In Jesus’ Name. AMEN.