I
have thought churches which believe the Gospel should have a Dark Saturday
service. It would be devoted to the desolation of the disciples. Why? Because
we forget the enormity of what happened in their lives. In so doing, we have
lost our grip on the enormity of what would have happened to us had there been
no real, physical, immortal resurrection of the One in whom they placed their
full trust.
The
moment we entered the setting for the service we would abandon all idle chatter.
Greetings would be solemn if at all. We would take our places in silence and
sit (like we usually do anyway) in our own separate space apart from others.
There would be no singing, no announcements (please, NO announcements), no
welcome and no invitations to come again.
The
speaker, if possible, would be one who recently lost a loved one through an
accident or a short illness which took them quickly in the midst of robust activity.
It would be especially worthwhile if there had been no chance for a last
“good-bye.”
That
may sound grim. My point is, from years of walking with folks through the
valley of death, it is those from whom a loved one has been yanked away
abruptly who have the best understanding of what the disciples would have felt
immediately after Jesus’ crucifixion. They are the ones who speak most
eloquently and most bluntly about the horror of loss and the absence of any
feeling of hope. I say, “feeling,” because I have watched with awe as these
same people, who have trusted Christ, can anchor themselves on revealed Truth
in the midst of being jerked and thrown about by emotions of anger and despair beyond the comprehension of most who try to “comfort” them.
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