Readings:
Acts 10:34-43;
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24;
Colossians 3:1-4;
John 20:1-18

Collect:
God of glory,
by the raising of your Son you have broken the chains of death and hell
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Reflection

Every year here in the Watling Valley we hold an outside service at dawn on Easter Day. There’s something incredibly moving about gathering in the half light. It’s usually still, quiet – and cold! We light a fire in a fire pit, and as the light gradually grows around us we say prayers and sing a hymn or two. The culmination of the service is when we share the bread and wine of Holy Communion together and light the large Paschal candles, which will be used in our churches for the whole of the coming year, until Easter comes round again. This ceremony is something that takes place in many Christian churches, all over the world, sometimes following a whole night’s vigil in church. As the centuries have passed, the tradition of a Dawn Service has grown and in some places it’s really quite a spectacle. 

This way of marking Easter goes back to the earliest days of the Christian faith, when the followers of Jesus gathered to commemorate the story of him rising from the dead, the Resurrection. The account of this mysterious event can be found in the pages of the Bible, in each of the four gospels. We’re told that very early on the Sunday morning after his Friday execution, the women who were Jesus’ friends went to his grave to perform some of the rituals they hadn’t been able to do at the time of his death. Instead of finding a sealed-up tomb they found it had been opened and there was no body in there!

That must have been bewildering, terrifying even. The accounts get a bit mixed up after that (hardly surprising), but it would appear that Mary Magdalene then has this weird encounter in the cemetery, when she meets Jesus himself, walking around, talking and looking very much alive. 

After that several more of his friends and followers meet the Boss, and the stories suggest he was no ghost, but as alive as anyone. Well, who knows what it was like to be there and experience it, but there’s no doubt that it absolutely transformed Jesus’ rag tag bunch of scared followers into a movement that eventually spanned the globe. That movement now includes us! I wonder how you have encountered the risen Jesus in your life? 

Still, shenanigans in a graveyard at dawn – sounds a bit dodgy doesn’t it? But think of the symbolism. Many of us fear death or have seen too much death thank you very much or are grieving for a loved one. Many of us feel lost and confused, bewildered and frightened. Many of us are longing for a new dawn, a new start, for all kinds of reasons. This year our Dawn Service is being held actually in St Mary’s graveyard. Everyone is welcome, and we hope folks will bring little candles and lanterns to light the whole place up. 

As we gather, at dawn and at our other services later in the day, we’re remembering what’s at the heart of Easter. Death doesn’t have to be the whole story of our lives, nor does fear, nor does being lost. The light does come, the morning does break. Life will return, there can be a new start, there is hope. 

Happy Easter.

Sharon Grenham-Thompson