"The Lenten Pilgrimage" - Day 40

April 3rd

Holy Saturday

     “The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, ‘Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’  Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.’  Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.’  So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.”

      Matthew 27:62-66

     All is quiet now.  Death is entombed.  The grain of wheat has fallen into the ground, and died.  Strong hands have sealed the entrance with a stone.  All has been made secure. 

     This is the in-between moment in the story that embodies humanity’s surest hope, after God’s greatest act of love, and before God’s most breathtaking display of power.  

      If we sit here quietly for a few moments, we may recognize the landscape.  We’ve been here before.  In the wake of defeat, longing for victory.   In the grip of despair, hungering for hope.  Stifled by the darknesses, straining to see the light.  

     Stuck in a sealed tomb, wondering if resurrection is real.

      And so today, our 40 Day Lenten sojourn comes to an end in the place that our faith has prepared for us, in-between what God has done in the past, and what God will one day do…

Prayer

     Lord Jesus, our souls sit with you in this in-between time.  Because we know the story well,

     even as we sit in darkness, death and despair, the echo of light, life and hope can be heard

     in our minds.  And yet in this moment, we do confess the toll that the in-between moments

     have had on our lives.  We remember well the times when we have found ourselves waiting,

     trying to find our way in that space between what God has done, and what God will do.  And 

     so as we gather our hearts and minds on this Holy Saturday, we pray.  Waiting once again in 

     that fragile and fruitful place of faith.  In your holy name we pray.  Amen.  

"The Lenten Pilgrimage" - Day 39

April 2nd 

Good Friday

     “It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’  Having said this, he breathed his last.  When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’  And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts.  But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”

     Luke 23:44-49

     The pilgrimage that began in ashes now ends in stunned silence and tears.  Words fail us here.  We bow our heads, mute before the cross.  No matter how many times we've made this journey, standing before the cross topples every defense we've built against the soul-piercing power of God's love.

     Regardless of how thoughtful our theology, no matter how confident we are in our religious doctrines, here in this moment before the cross we are dumbfounded once again by the reality of God's suffering love that defies our best logic or deepest understanding.  Standing at a distance with the women we feel our hearts breaking at the sight of so great a love.  

     Theologians have given us many ways to interpret the cross.  There are numerous theories of atonement that offer many ways to speak of how God saves through the death of Jesus on the cross.  And since no one theory can adequately explain God's saving work through Christ on the cross, we can find value in the different theological perspectives.  Yet even if we were to gather the best wisdom from every theory, the sum total would fall short of approaching the ineffable mystery of God's love revealed in the cross.  

     And so on this Good Friday, we simply stand with those who bow and weep at the cross. 

Prayer

     Lord Jesus, our Lenten journey has brought us to this moment.  And as we have made this

     pilgrimage we have been reminded of our own propensity to deny, desert and betray you.  

    The failings of your first disciples are our failings too.  Standing before the cross we feel

    a myriad of emotions, shame, grief, regret, fear, despair.  Yet somehow, we have the sense

    that what you have done on the cross reaches deeper than all of our most painful and 

    broken emotions.  There is something about this day, something in your suffering that makes

    us know that you are with us in our deepest places of suffering, grief and shame.  Mystery of

    mysteries!  In your cross, we find healing and wholeness.  This we do not understand.  It is a 

    paradox beyond our ability to comprehend.  We marvel before the message of the cross.  We 

    marvel in the face of your love for us.  Thank you Christ of the cross!  In your holy name we 

    pray.  Amen.