Take time to be quiet, perhaps light a candle.
Be still and know that I am God
Let us pray
Loving God, be with us as we join in fellowship in our own homes. Open our hearts to awesomeness of your love, made real for us through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. May we never lose the wonder of the cross. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Hymn verse
Christ, in our darkness risen,
Help all who long for light
To hold the hand of promise Till faith receives its sight.
Words from the cross
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
(Luke 23: 43)
Reflection
We know what happened after that first Good Friday, but let’s think for a minute how Jesus’ followers must have felt.
They didn’t (yet) have the joy of Easter, only the devastating loss of their friend, their mentor and their hopes. Easter Saturday must have been a very sad and strange time for them.
Spend a moment thinking how they must have felt.
Those who had listened and understood a little of what Jesus had said may have held just a glimmer of hope, perhaps? Their hearts might have wanted to hope, but would they have dared in the light of Jesus’ brutal death?
At the moment, we are in something of an “Easter Saturday” time.
Covid-19 has unleashed itself and brought about the devastation of Good Friday. We are in a strange tension now between ongoing grief and fear, and daring to hope for an end to this pandemic.
The verse of our hymn dares to promise of brighter times after despair, and Jesus’ promise of God’s kingdom to the thief, a sinner, brings that hope alive!
With coronavirus, we cannot yet celebrate Easter—the new life which will emerge beyond the outbreak has not yet been realised. But, today is the day to hold on to hope, trusting that this new day will dawn.
Is there part of your life which is in its ‘Easter Saturday’ phase? The bombshell has happened, but you are not quite sure what the fallout is, or what the future holds?
Let us hold on to HOPE. We are promised that the new day will dawn, and we will emerge stronger from it; closer to each other and closer to God.
Action
If you have one, plant a bulb. As you bury it, think of Jesus in the tomb. And as you water it, and wait, think of the hope which will surely emerge.
Go outside (keep your 2 metre distance!) and look at the trees and the gardens. Look out for the buds, the hints of green beginning to show and reflect that, despite what is going on, there is the certainty that winter is passing and the new life of spring is on its way.
Let us pray
Faithful God,
Be with us at this time of uncertainty and in all our times of doubt. As we look at the seasons come and go, help us to remember that after Good Friday comes Easter Sunday and all the hope and joy that this brings.
May our trust in you hold firm as we hold on to your hand of promise.
We offer these prayers through Christ our Lord.
Amen