MEDITATION 15 April 2017
Matthew
27:57-66 Holy Saturday, Year A
May my
words be your Word and my heart rest in you as I speak, O Lord. In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Welcome to Holy Saturday, possibly the
least-attended service of the church year. I’ve often wondered why this very
early church tradition has been mostly lost. Oh, sure, the service is listed in
the Book of Common Prayer, but in an Internet search for Episcopal Holy
Saturday services, I turned up lots of Easter Vigil services in the evening but
only one during the morning of Holy Saturday. Maybe it’s because clergy have
enough to do in Holy Week already and don’t want to add anything. And who could
blame us, right? Holy Week, after all, is a sort of marathon of faith and a
test of clergy stamina. Or perhaps, what I think might be closer to the truth
is that most of us simply don’t like the idea of waiting.
Waiting is a waste of time, something
boring to be got through or endured. And Holy Saturday, once Christ is in the
tomb, seems a waste of time also, especially since we know how the story ends.
Let’s just skip over the whole thing and go straight to Easter. Some people do
this by staying away from even Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. Why
belabor the point, right? We all know Christ suffered and died on the cross.
Why dwell on it?
Well, because, because…frankly I don’t
know why except that my heart tells me waiting, especially learning to wait for
God to act, is a good and right thing to do. In the midst of our impatience,
God can teach us both patience and wisdom and cast out fear with love.
In the fourth century CE there is a sermon in Greek on this very
subject of waiting and what might be happening as we wait. The unknown author
wrote about Holy Saturday, “Something strange is happening – there is a great
silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps
still because the King is asleep.”
So shhh, do not awaken the King before
he is ready for us. On this Holy Saturday, as we begin our hustling and
bustling and preparing, remember the great silence and stillness. Remember to
wait. Remember the King still sleeps in the tomb. Remember this day is a day of
Holy hush, of silence and waiting for the Resurrected One. AMEN.
The
Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2017
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