I have a tradition of preaching John Chrysostom’s Paschal Homily, with mild tweaks and updates to bring it into context, every Easter Vigil. Thus, this sermon is based on John Chrysostom—specifically, on the version prepared by André Lavergne.
Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways. Thousands of years ago a preacher named John Chrysostom gave a sermon on Easter that still can’t be beat. In fact, it continues to be read in Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches every Easter Vigil.
This year we will join with our Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic siblings in hearing Chrysostom’s message. I’ve built on the work of other translators who have brought it from Greek into English, and only made a few changes to modernize the language.
I think it’s particularly fitting to read such a traditional sermon as we welcome our sister Alice into the community of Christians, because it reminds us that Alice has joined not just our church here on the Upper West Side, not just the Episcopal Church in the United States, not just the Anglican Communion, nor even just the Christian church as it exists in the world today. Alice has joined the communion of saints, living and dead, that stretches behind us to the dawn of time and before us to the Day of Judgment. They will walk with her, as they walk with all of us, and guide her her whole life through.
We can hear these words, which come to us from approximately the year 400 B.C.E., in their power and their majesty and their glory, today just as much as on the first day they were written.
So, in more-or-less the words of John Chrysostom:
The Lord is risen! (He is risen indeed!)
Does anyone here love God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Does anyone here work hard to help others, with gratitude for what they’ve been given? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!
Is anyone here tired of fasting and deprivation? Let them now receive their reward!
If anyone here has worked since the first hour of the day, let them receive their due.
If anyone only made it to work after the third hour, let them with gratitude join the feast.
If anyone arrived after the sixth hour, the Altar Guild might have something to say about it, but don’t worry: you won’t be left out.
If anyone dawdled until the ninth hour, never doubt: you’re still invited.
If you only made it here at the eleventh hour, don’t be afraid you were too late!
God is gracious and receives the last the same as the first. God gives rest to the one who came at the eleventh hour, just the same as the one who’s worked all day. God accepts all offerings based on our good intentions, and honors all our good deeds, however inadequate.
So let’s all enter into the joy of the Lord, the joy of this Easter Day!
First and last alike, receive your reward. Rich and poor, rejoice together!
Whether you kept a holy Lent or not, it doesn’t matter. Whether you got baptized years ago, or were baptized tonight, you’re welcome! Whether you came to church every Sunday or whether this is your first time in years, who cares? Celebrate!
We’re having a champagne toast after the service. In the morning I’m told there will be the traditional big ol’ cake in the shape of a lamb. Nobody will go away hungry. Feast royally, for the calf, as it were, is fatted: partake of the banquet of faith, both literal and figurative, and enjoy the bounty of the Lord’s goodness!
Let no one grieve their poverty, because God’s universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one lament their sins, because forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, because Jesus’s death has set us free.
Jesus destroyed death by living through death.
He destroyed Hell when he went down to Hell.
He put it in an uproar just at the moment it thought it had him.
Isaiah foretold this: he said “You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below.”
Hell was in an uproar, because Jesus abolished it.
It was in an uproar, because Jesus mocked it.
It was in an uproar, because Jesus overthrew it.
It was in an uproar, because Jesus took it captive.
Hell took what it thought was just another body, and it discovered it had tried to take God.
It took Earth, and it discovered it had tried to take Heaven.
It took what it saw, and it was defeated by what it couldn’t understand.
O Death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen and you are cast down!
Christ is risen and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen and we all are liberated!
Christ is risen, and the tombs are emptied of their dead! For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of them that have fallen asleep.
To Christ be glory and power to the ages of ages. Amen!
Last modified on 2026-04-05