Easter Day Sermon

Rev David Paton Williams

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb."
 
The Easter story starts in the dark.  
 
It began with Mary getting up in the dark, pulling on her clothes against the morning chill,  stepping out into the street and making her way towards the garden tomb.  
 
As she walked along she was joined by other women - Mark names them in his gospel as Mary the mother of James, and Salome.  
 
They had been followers of Jesus since his days in Galilee,          and now, while the men slept or hid in fear, they walked through the darkness, with only their small oil lamps to guide them.
 
And as they walked along the sky in the east started to lighten, 
and the colours of dawn began to spread in the clouds.
 
A new day was beginning, but they couldn't notice it. 
They were exhausted and in their hearts it was still darkest night.
 
A new dawn was breaking but they couldn't see it or hear it 
- their eyes, their ears, their memories, were still filled with all the horror of what had happened to Jesus two days before.
 
The world was waking up, coming alive again, but they couldn't feel it. They were shattered, traumatised, wounded, cocooned by shock - their hearts dead.
 
It was as if, along with Jesus, they too were buried in the cold, dark tomb.
And then in the darkness a light shone.
Amidst the shock and trauma and pain, Mary heard someone calling her name. And in her isolation and loneliness she was met by Jesus.
 
There were no cameras or microphones to record the moment.
And I am sure they wouldn't have been able to anyway.
But it was no a less real experience, no less powerful, no less life-changing.
 
And then she is sent out as the first apostle - to tell others.
 
And we often picture Mary running back, but actually I can see her just walking along, sauntering almost, perhaps the odd skip, savouring the moment, lost in wonder and joy
.
And as she walked I imagine her hearing the dawn chorus of the birds, as if for the first time.  
 
Looking up into the trees and noticing
the branches flaming out with the red light of dawn; 
the leaves rustling as if with joy in the dawn breeze.  
 
Maybe seeing the world in a totally new light.
A new day had come and she was coming alive again.
filled to the brim, filled to bursting, like never before.
 
It was a new day, a new life, a new world.
 
And maybe she sensed that the world was celebrating with her, 
as if everything around her was sharing the same joy                 that was spilling out of her. 
 
And I wonder if a song rose up in her as she walked along. 
If she had known of Nina Simone, perhaps a song like this:
 
Birds flying high, you know how I feel
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel.
It's a new dawn; It's a new day; It's a new life for me
And I'm feeling good.
 
Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River running free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
......
And this old world is a new world, and a bold world for me.
 
Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine and I know how I feel
It's a new dawn; It's a new day; It's a new life for me
And I'm feeling good.
 
For Mary, it was a new, bold world, carrying her to share a message that even Jesus' closest friends couldn't believe at first - not until the new day dawned for them as well.
 
Because God's new day wasn't just something that happened once, in that garden for Mary and the other women.
 
After the sun had come up over the horizon
it would rise for others a few miles away 
and go on rising as the world kept turning.
And in the same way, the new day of life in Christ kept on rising. 
After Mary, it rose on Simon Peter who had repeatedly given in to his fears and denied his Lord; on Thomas who had been so wounded that he refused to believe unless he had tangible proof;
on Paul who had been an ardent, violent, persecutor of those who lived this new life. 
 
And it went on rising on people living around the Mediterranean, into Asia and Africa, and then into the remotest parts of Europe, on these shores.  And the new dawn of god's love in Christ keeps rising, day by day and generation after generation, and now it shines on us. 
 
But maybe we don't feel like that today. Maybe you feel that it is still night-time. That the sun has set and the day will never come?  If so, don't give up - Mary felt that as well. And the new day will come.
 
Maybe you feel so broken down by the pain in the world or in your own life. That sin and death seems to win out over love and life. If so, don't despair - Mary felt that as well. And the day will come. 
 
Or maybe you feel confused by things changing in you or around you, with the first signs of something new happening in your life, even something spiritual, and you are not sure what it all means? If so, don't worry - Mary felt that as well. The new day is coming.
 
Or maybe you are able to glimpse the light of God's love peeking over your horizon. Able, in that light, to see yourself as dearly beloved of God, met today by the risen Lord. 
 
If so, then rejoice with Mary and Peter and Thomas and Paul, 
with people down the centuries and people yet to come; 
and with the whole of creation. 
Because this is Easter and it is a new dawn, a new day, a new life. 
 
Alleluia Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed Alleluia!