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Today is a day to rejoice and be glad. 

 I know, the way life has been going lately, today probably doesn’t seem like a day to rejoice and be glad. It’s 2020 after all. And while we may be looking forward to rejoicing and being glad in 2021 or 2022 or whenever this is all going to be over and done with, we’re pretty sure that today is not the day to rejoice. We’ll rejoice and be glad on that day, but not today. 

 And our reading from Isaiah seems to be telling us the same thing. It talks about a great day when the Lord of hosts, the Creator of heaven and earth, will throw the feast to end all feasts. “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” It will be the feast to end all feasts because on that day the Lord “will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people will be taken away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” The Lord, the Creator, who in the beginning spoke and by the power of his word filled creation with life, will put his power to work again. Like a monster who chases down its prey and swallows it whole, the Lord will swallow up death, gobble it down, so that death will be no more. And we will rejoice in the Lord. “It will be said in that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” 

 But that great day seems like a future reality, like 2021 or 2022 feels. Some fuzzy unknown date in the future, but not today, because death is still the covering that is cast over all peoples and the veil that is spread over all nations. Death covers us all. 

 Yes, we all die. But death isn’t just something that happens at the end of life. Death is something that covers all of life. 

 All of us, I imagine, mourn the death of someone we love. It might be a brother, a friend, our parents or grandparents, even our children or grandchildren, someone whose life was a gift. Death has stolen them away. And we carry their death around with us. Every day of life is a reminder of their absence. Death is, so to speak, alive and well, in the midst of our lives. 

 And we all feel it at one point or another. Death steals and robs and destroys God’s good creation. The aches and pains of old age, recurring cancer, COPD, chronic back pain, joints that refuse to work, that’s the power of death pulling us in its direction, keeping us from living the life we had imagined for ourselves, making our lives painful and frustrating, and holding us under its futility and frustration. 

 Death, in fact, is something we take for granted. That’s why we worry when someone we love leaves home. Will they be safe? There are no guarantees, and no life is ever completely secure. 

 Death is still the covering cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. And so, it’s easy to hear that day as if it were a day far off in the distance, a time we will rejoice and be glad someday, but not today. 

 But today is a day to rejoice and be glad. Not just that day in the future, but today is a day to rejoice and be glad. Because the Lord’s victory over death has come to us in the waters of baptism. 

 The Lord, the Creator, has already acted to swallow up death by raising his Son, Jesus, from the dead. Jesus died like all of us. It wasn’t a fake death. They hung him on a cross until he suffocated to death. And like our parents, grandparents, brothers or sisters, friends, or children even, Jesus died. And his dead body was taken down from the cross, wrapped in burial linens, and placed into a tomb. But the Lord, the Creator, made good on his promise ahead of time—when no one expected it or saw it coming. For Jesus, the Lord swallowed up death. On that first day of the week, the women went to the tomb expecting to anoint Jesus’ dead body. But when they got there they saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. And there was a young man dressed in a white robe who said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” 

 The Lord, the Creator, has begun his work of swallowing up death with Jesus, his Son. Jesus is risen from the dead with death behind him once and for all. Jesus will never die again, death no longer has dominion over him. Death has been swallowed up by the Lord. 

 And in baptism, Jesus’ victory over death is given to us. As Paul says in Romans, chapter six. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? 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. 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.” 

 Jesus has been raised from the dead, never to die again. And in baptism, we have put on Christ. He has gone ahead of us into death so that just as he was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so too will we be raised from the dead. In baptism, our fates and our destinies are now tied to him. And so, in baptism resurrection is now the life to which we belong. Even though death is seething all around us, we know that it will not have the last word but must and will give way to the resurrection. Jesus has been raised from the dead, never to die again. And baptism gives Jesus and his resurrection to you. 

 And yes, we may still be surrounded by death. But your baptism is at work daily to consume death in you. 

 We feel death at one point or another with the aches and pains of old age, recurring cancer, COPD, chronic back pain, joints that refuse to work. But our baptisms say, “Christ is risen! And you belong to him. And no matter what the pain, no matter how debilitating your suffering is, it must and will give way to Jesus and the resurrection of the dead.” 

 We carry with us those we love who have died. And every day is a reminder of their absence. But baptism says, “Christ is risen! And those who are baptized belong to him! And no matter how terrible the loss, no matter how lonely the absence, it will not last forever. It must and will give way to Jesus and the resurrection of the dead.” 

 We worry about the people we love when they leave home, and are hard pressed every day by the uncertainty of life. But baptism says, “Christ is Risen! And those who are baptized belong to him! And no matter what it is that threatens those we love, it will not have the last word. It must and will give way to Jesus and the resurrection of the dead.” 

 Yes, death is still the covering that is cast over all peoples; the veil that is spread over all nations. But we have reason to rejoice and be glad today and every day. Because, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen (suffering, uncertainty, death) are transient. But the things that are unseen (the resurrection of the dead) are eternal. Yes, death is still the covering that is cast over all peoples; the veil that is spread over all nations. But we have reason to rejoice and be glad today and every day because Christ is risen, and you belong to him. 

 In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

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Today’s Reading…

Isaiah 25.6-9

⁶ On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷ And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸     He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the Lord has spoken.
⁹ It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”