Lent 46 Saturday

So Friday has come and gone and now it's Saturday.  The disciples are left sitting stunned....wondering what on earth they are going to do now.  Its all over.   It all came to nothing and they have to work out how to carry on from here.  They are deep in grief.  They don't understand.  It all looks very grim and scary and impossibly sad.

We all go through Saturday at one point or another.   We all live through times when God seems to have gone forever and we cant see any future or hope.  We wonder what we are going to do now - there is no point any more.  Perhaps we feel like this because some tragedy has befallen us.   I know of people who's faith has been so badly shaken by the breakdown of a marriage that they feel they will never be able to trust God again.  I know someone who lost almost their entire family in a house fire.  Their Saturday probably lasted for a long time.  It's hard to imagine isn't it?   I know several people who have lost children - so difficult to see Jesus  when you have prayed and prayed for a miracle which hasnt happened.   Saturday is grim.   God has gone.  You are on your own.

And the thing is that, with the benefit of hindsight, we know Sunday is coming and Jesus is about to rise from the dead and the disciples will be filled with insurmountable joy and faith and belief.  But on Saturday nobody knows that.  On Saturday you believe that Saturday is how its always going to be.    And the truth is that sometimes the situation of Saturday might be permanent.  We might always be a bereaved parent or a divorced spouse or the victim of a crime or an accident. We might always be in a difficult marriage or have caring responsibilities which severely restrict our own plans.  We

can't kid ourselves that Sunday is going to come and set all our wrongs right  - but we can be assured that after the aloneness and isolation and grief of Saturday, Sunday brings the presence of Jesus back to us.  And with the return of Jesus comes the return of hope, of purpose, of faith and vision and yes, even joy.

And as it was 2000 years ago in Jerusalem, and as it is for each of us in our personal Saturday experiences, so it is with the world which is waiting and groaning for the return of the Lord.  The world is currently experiencing Saturday.   We are grieving at the state of the nations and wondering what to do next.   It is hard to see God and many believe He has gone for good ( if indeed He was ever here at all)   But Sunday is coming.  Jesus is coming back.  In person. Just like He did the last time.  And with Him He will bring passion and fire, hope and faith, glory and power, judgement and mercy and a fierce and holy love.

Don't lose heart - either about your own Saturday or the Saturday the world is currently experiencing.  Hold on.  Sunday is coming.