St.Mildred's Church, Tenterden, Kent.
Easter 2006
Address by The Reverend Canon David G Trustram MA,
Vicar of Tenterden, at the Service on Easter morning
(all ages present together)
This beautiful county of Kent where we live has a proud motto – I’m sure many of you know it. It is the Latin word ‘INVICTA’ which means ‘UNDEFEATED’. Perhaps you listen to Invicta FM, our independent local radio station. In Maidstone there is the Invicta grammar school. The County Council meets in Invicta House. One of our local football clubs is the Folkestone Invicta. The word INVICTA is usually accompanied by the prancing white horse which is also a symbol of Kent.
Apparently it all goes back to the days of William the Conqueror, when the people of Kent fought so valiantly – presumably on their white horses – that instead of inflicting defeat on them, King William granted them a treaty, and called them INVICTA – the undefeated ones.
It’s a good motto for a county – it’s a good motto also for Easter Day. For Jesus. Undefeated. On Good Friday the world of evil threw everything it could at him – prolonged, acute physical pain, sadistic torture, betrayal, scorn, loneliness, despair. At the height of the barrage Jesus cried out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me ?’ – so complete and utter was his anguish. And when at last, after three hours hanging on the cross, it was all over, they hurriedly wrapped his body in a shroud and laid him in a tomb. For them it seemed he was totally and utterly defeated – it was the end of everything they had dreamt of and hoped for.
But then, on that first day of the new week, everything changed. It was incomprehensible. The huge stone had somehow been rolled back. The tomb was empty. The dead body of Jesus was missing. The dead body of Jesus was no longer dead. First, Mary Magdalene, then other disciples, then over 500 people, saw Jesus alive again. We are here because something amazing and wonderful has been revealed to us about the whole meaning of existence. The perfect love of God in Jesus was INVICTA – undefeated. Mankind’s ancient enemies of sin, suffering, evil and death had been confronted head on. Their power has been disarmed, and a new potential for faith, hope and love has been unleashed in the human heart. It will never be extinguished.
And that is the joy of Easter Day for us. We have Christ’s promise that through faith we share in his triumph. Not that this is a magic wand to take all our troubles away – but it is the certainty that in God’s universe love will have the last word.
It is my privilege as your Vicar, and the other clergy and ministers share in the privilege, to distribute Communion Sunday by Sunday. As I do so, I am very conscious of the sufferings and struggles in many people’s lives. There are those who have faced deep family struggles, and hung in there, and carried on loving when the going was tough. There are those who have lived with constant pain, and managed to remain cheerful and positive. There are those who have faced death calmly and even imaginatively. Others have faced problems of many kinds and stayed close to God in prayer and trust.
All of these are little Easters – signs that we too, with Christ’s help, are undefeated - INVICTA.
And even the church itself, which some in the world around us have dismissed as on its last legs and about to die, has this sense of victory in its heart. We do not know exactly what the future will hold, but we do know that we will never be defeated, because we have the love and joy of Christ in our hearts.
So, on this glorious and joyful day, we have a little glimpse of heaven itself, heaven where there is no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain. Christ is risen ! We are risen ! Alleluia !
Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more.
Death hath no more dominion over him.
This page published by Nick Hudd Holy Saturday 2006