Saturday, April 15, 2006
From AscensionNYC
Holy Saturday
Psalm 27
Lamentations 3:37-58
Hebrews 4:1-16
Romans 8:1-11
This is the bleakest day of the church calendar. As we follow the story of Jesus's life, it's the only day with a whole twenty-four hours that Jesus is not with us. The Holy Saturday liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer reflects this: "There is no celebration of the Eucharist on this day," says the rubric. Can you imagine being one of the apostles or disciples? Generally, they were people of great faith, but what were they to think with the big stone covering the tomb entrance?
Lamentations captures the pain, as the writer howls to God in this wonderful image: "Thou has wrapped thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through." And worse, whose fault is it if God has turned away from us? "We have transgressed and rebelled, and thou hast not forgiven."
I find two possible responses for us in today's Old Testament readings (interestingly, this Daily Office does not provide a Gospel.):
One -- on the day Jesus descended to the dead -- is the message of the night of his birth: "Fear not." From Psalm 27: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" From Lamentations: "Thou didst come near when I called on thee: thou didst say, 'Do not fear.'"
The other consolation for us is, for lack of a better expression, the presentness of God's presence. "I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." "Thou has taken up my cause, O Lord, thou has redeemed my life."
The older I get, the more I believe the kingdom of God is about the here and now, that it's not something we experience after we die, but something more like a continuum that we can begin to sense and work for now.
One of the most-asked Easter questions remains why Jesus had to come back to us. Why didn't he just soar off and live at the right hand of God, and wait to greet us when we get there?
What today's Old Testament lessons are telling us, it seems to me, it that Jesus still had a role to play in the here and now. That the present is important. And so, on the evening before Easter, we read these words: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the Lord!"
Lamentations 3:37-58
Hebrews 4:1-16
Romans 8:1-11
This is the bleakest day of the church calendar. As we follow the story of Jesus's life, it's the only day with a whole twenty-four hours that Jesus is not with us. The Holy Saturday liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer reflects this: "There is no celebration of the Eucharist on this day," says the rubric. Can you imagine being one of the apostles or disciples? Generally, they were people of great faith, but what were they to think with the big stone covering the tomb entrance?
Lamentations captures the pain, as the writer howls to God in this wonderful image: "Thou has wrapped thyself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through." And worse, whose fault is it if God has turned away from us? "We have transgressed and rebelled, and thou hast not forgiven."
I find two possible responses for us in today's Old Testament readings (interestingly, this Daily Office does not provide a Gospel.):
One -- on the day Jesus descended to the dead -- is the message of the night of his birth: "Fear not." From Psalm 27: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" From Lamentations: "Thou didst come near when I called on thee: thou didst say, 'Do not fear.'"
The other consolation for us is, for lack of a better expression, the presentness of God's presence. "I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." "Thou has taken up my cause, O Lord, thou has redeemed my life."
The older I get, the more I believe the kingdom of God is about the here and now, that it's not something we experience after we die, but something more like a continuum that we can begin to sense and work for now.
One of the most-asked Easter questions remains why Jesus had to come back to us. Why didn't he just soar off and live at the right hand of God, and wait to greet us when we get there?
What today's Old Testament lessons are telling us, it seems to me, it that Jesus still had a role to play in the here and now. That the present is important. And so, on the evening before Easter, we read these words: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the Lord!"
Isabel Spencer
