A New Day Dawning – April 20, 2025, Easter Sunday!
Isaiah 12:2-6, Matthew 27:62-28:15
April 20, 2025 – Easter Sunday!
“A New Day Dawning!” That’s the title of this sermon. And yes, I was thinking about how that would look on the sign! (It’s all about “curb appeal!” Right?) And I have to give my usual “disclaimer.” But it’s not so “usual” this time. Usually, when I borrow a sermon title, or it’s inspired by something or someone, I say so. This time I have to say that it’s not just one person or one source. I googled that phrase, and found that a lot of people have used it! There are books, and songs, and lines from songs that have those words.! If you know the song “10,000 Reasons,” you know there’s a line in there, “The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning…”
I want you to think about that phrase today. “A New Day Dawning.” And when we use the word “day” like that, it means more than one revolution of the earth, doesn’t it? It means more than just one cycle of the sun and moon. I could say to you, “Back in my day, we used to do things differently.” And if I said that, I wouldn’t be referring to a specific day on a calendar, would I? I would be referring to a “time” in my life. And if I was referring to some new change in the world, I could say to you “It’s a new day.” And you’d know I wasn’t talking about a specific 24 hour time period.
So the word “Day” can mean “a time.” And it can mean “an age.” We sing the song here that I first learned at Kirkwood, called “Days of Elijah.” And that means “the age of Elijah,” or “the time of Elijah.” It doesn’t mean specific days we could pin down on a calendar.
I say all that because Easter is a new day that has dawned! There was a time we used to do Easter sunrise services. Back in the “day,” right? And when we did that, we could literally watch the sun rise, and think about that first Easter when the women went to the tomb of Jesus at sunrise. And I think seeing the new day dawn like that meant more than just another turn of the earth! It was a new day!
That’s how I’m using this idea today. The dawning of that first Easter long ago, was a new day. Things were changed. It was a new time! It was the start of a new age. In fact, it was such a momentous change, it was such a new age, such a new day, that we literally started counting time all over again!
Think about it. Whenever you put an event on your calendar, whenever you fill out a check, whenever you reference the year ahead, or look back to a previous year, you’re thinking in terms of this event. You’re thinking “Anno Domini – The Year of Our Lord.” We’re now in “ The Year of Our Lord 2025!” The year we’re in marks the number of years, the amount of time, since this new day dawned! That’s how important this new day, this new time in history was – and still is!
I’ve mentioned before that in recent years, those who would seek to remove religion from our world have tried to get “AD” changed. They want us to use “CE,” meaning “The Common Era,” and “BCE,” “Before the Common Era.” And no, I never do that! I always use “AD!” But the funny thing is, they didn’t – and probably couldn’t – change the actual numbers! The numbers are so imbedded in everything in our world! So even without the letters “AD,” the numbers still point to Jesus! The “Common Age” is still the age that started with the day of Jesus’ resurrection! So think about that the next time you use a calendar, or write a check. (Or look up something in the document history on your computer!)
Two-thousand and twenty-five years ago, a new day dawned! Three days prior to that, the forces of evil thought they had won! The disciples thought the forces of evil had won! I always try to imagine what they were going through once they fled the garden on Thursday. Peter, at least watched the trial. John, was there at the cross. Judas, well, for whatever reason he did what he did – and people have suggested many reasons – he saw a lot of what happened that night. And he was filled with regret and remorse! And the others? Maybe some were there, but the Bible doesn’t tell us. Either they were, or they were in hiding. And eventually they all were in hiding! But wherever they were, we can only imagine their anguish, and their fear, and the intense sorrow they were going through! They were devastated!
And then, we can only imagine what they were feeling, when – in the midst of all their sorrow and devastation – these women came back from the tomb with their story of angels! Luke brings out some of their feelings in his version of this story. He tells us that the women’s words seemed to the disciples “like an idle tale” – a fairy tale – utter nonsense, as one version says it! “And they refused to believe them.”
We don’t have the disciples’ words from that moment, but we can imagine they were words of anger. How dare these women say such things when they were in the depths of fear and despair! It was almost a mockery of what they’d all been through! And yes, Jesus told them he would be raised in three days. But they didn’t believe it. So, they weren’t just hiding out and counting the days. “It’s almost here, guys!” Remember, we know the story, but we need to be careful not to put our understanding on them. So no, it is not as though they were just waiting around for the miracle to happen! They didn’t believe it when he said it. And they didn’t believe it when it happened! And who can blame them!
So there they were. They had already seen one sunrise, with no change. Now a new day dawned. And it was a new day! They didn’t know it yet! But they soon would.
John gives us the first hints of that in his Gospel. He tells us that he, John, and Peter ran to the tomb. And I love how John is quick to tell us who was the faster runner! He got there first! And when Peter caught up to him, they went into the tomb together. “And,” John tells us, “they saw, and they believed!” Though I doubt they knew all that it meant and all that it was going to mean. John even says, “For as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise from the dead.” Of course not! The “scripture” hadn’t been written yet! They were told it would happen – by Jesus himself. But they didn’t know it, meaning they didn’t understand it. And they didn’t believe him, any more than they believed what the women had just told them!
But soon they did! And soon they learned that Easter was a new day dawning! And we’ll look at those stories in the weeks to come. But the question for us today is, is it a new day for you? Ask yourself this, the fundamental question in Christianity. “Do you believe it?” Think about that. The resurrection, and the atonement for sin it represents, is hard to believe sometimes, isn’t it?
Sometimes it is easier for us to believe the resurrection, because we have all the testimony of the last two-thousand and twenty-five years. But it’s also easier because we didn’t see Jesus as he died. We didn’t see how terrible his wounds and injuries were. Mel Gibson tried to give us an idea of that in his movie “The Passion of the Christ.” Do you remember that? Some people thought that portrayal of the crucifixion was “too bloody!” And perhaps it was. But as a colleague of mine once said about it, “On the other hand, too many of us probably have a ‘cleaned up’ version of the crucifixion in our minds.”
So, it is hard to believe that a man could come back from the dead – a death like that – and after three days! But a moment ago I said the resurrection and the atonement it represents is hard to believe! Do you think maybe sometimes we do believe in the resurrection, but maybe not so much that second part? The atonement, and the forgiveness of our sins, is hard to believe, too, isn’t it? Sometimes that’s the hardest part! How could our sins be forgiven? We need to believe that today!
At funerals you often hear these words in prayer. “We thank you, God, that in rising from the dead, Christ destroyed the power of death, and opened the way to eternal life.” I heard those words just the other day, at the funeral of an old friend. And it made me think about Easter! “In rising from the dead, Christ destroyed the power of death, and opened the way to eternal life.” And that means you and me! The power of sin over us is gone! We have been redeemed! A new day has dawned!
Let us be sure we know that! Especially this Easter day! And let us also remember the last part of that prayer. It says this. “Help us to know that, because he lives, we shall live also, and that neither death nor life, nor things present nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from your love in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
And so, “The Lord is Risen!” (“He is risen, indeed!”) Indeed, a new day has dawned on the world! And may we know for certain, that new day has dawned on us! Amen?
Prayer
Eternal God, help us to believe that our Lord is risen. Dispel all doubts and fears in us, and show us once again the light of the new day in our lives. Help us to live in the hope that he gave us in rising from the dead, and defeating the powers of sin and death. In all these things we give you thanks and praise, now and always, in his name, Amen.