Silent Saturdays

Luke 23:50-56 NRSV

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.

It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.

The women who had come with him (Jesus) from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

All one needs to do these days is turn on the TV, read a newspaper, or step outside your front door to know that we're living in a troubled world. But during this Holy Week we are reminded that the source of our hope is to be found in the life, death and resurrection of this revolutionary named Jesus. If we didn't know anything else about Jesus we could examine just this last week of His life and still come to the conclusion that He's worthy of all praise, honor and adoration that we could possibly give Him. WBecause on Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. An act of political protest which turned upside down the idea that the Roman Empire had any real sovereign authority or military might over Jerusalem and the people of God.

Because on Monday Jesus went to the Temple and flipped over tables and drove out the money changers and dove sellers because they had not only corrupted the house of God but they were taking advantage of the poor and the marginalized.

Because on Tuesday Jesus commanded us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, and our soul and our mind. And then to love our neighbors as ourselves. He said if we'd just start there that we would win.

Because on Wednesday while the plot to kill Him was put into play Jesus spent time being a loving friend to Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany.

Because on Thursday Jesus turned the idea of what it means to be a leader upside down when He set out to behave as a servant to wash each of the Disciples' feet, even the one who would eventually betray him.

Because on Friday we understand the agony and anguish of Jesus laying down His life on Calvary's Cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sin once for all time, so that we and anyone who came before or will come after us will never have to be slaves to sin and death.

And of course, because of that moment fo' day in the morning on Sunday, when the angel rolled the stone away and scripture was fulfilled all the way from God's ironclad promise to the serpent that He would send a redeemer to save His people and crush the serpent's head in Genesis 3:15  down 40 and 2 generations that whosever would simply believe in Jesus would not perish but would have everlasting life.

So, by looking at this week alone we can see that Jesus is worthy of all the praise, honor and glory.

But, wait. We skipped a day. 

In the chronology of Passion Week Saturday always seems to get short-changed. In Catholic and other liturgical traditions Silent or Holy Saturday is observed with a somber mass or liturgical service but in our churches not much attention is paid to that day of the week. Our theology and tradition often wants us to rush from the sorrow and sadness of Good Friday to the joy of Resurrection Sunday without ever truly wrestling with the very real pain, anguish and doubt of Silent Saturday. 

But there is much we can gain from a closer examination of this day of the week so I'd like to talk with you on the subject, "Lessons from Silent Saturday."

What's fascinating about this text in Luke is not so much of what's written as is what's not. Look again. We just read the end of chapter 23 but chapter 24 immediately picks up with the morning of the resurrection. We see Joseph of Arimathea and the women, they had just witnessed Jesus' horrific death and now and they were attending to His body. Can you imagine how distraught and out of their minds with shock, grief and sorrow they must have been? But at the same time they had to be cognizant of time constraints because after all it was the day of preparation for the Sabbath and the Passover. Jewish tradition dictated that each family must thoroughly clean and sweep their homes to remove any foods or products that contained any yeast or leaven, down to even the breadcrumbs on the floor. They also had to make sure their meals were prepared in advance since there was to be no labor on the Sabbath. And their hearts also had to be made ready for worship.

So, here they stood at the intersection of profound and palpable grief abbreviated and stifled by their need to get home to take care of their religious obligations. The disciples and those who had loved Jesus had to go on with their lives and get their hearts and their homes prepared for worship as if none of this had ever happened at all.

This text is interesting because none of the Gospels record anything happening on that Saturday. Each one goes straight from burial to the resurrection. No proclamation from Heaven. No angel sent to comfort Mary or the Disciples. Not even a narration of what was happening in the spiritual realm after Jesus had died. Just silence. 

Sure, Mother Mary and her family and all who loved Jesus had hope and faith they would see Him again, but their unbearable grief was even met with silence.

From the Disciples' point of view their hopes and dreams for a revolution, the overthrow of the Roman empire and a new and eternal kingdom were sealed up in a silent tomb. Although Jesus told them He was going to rise again, from a purely human standpoint it was unclear just how Jesus was going to pull this off. C'mon Jesus. How? We know the Disciples were struggling with the silence because later in chapter 24 we see two of them walking on the road to Emmaus. Even after hearing news of the resurrection they were still reeling from the crucifixion that had taken place two days prior. They were reasoning among themselves whether or not to believe that Jesus was actually resurrected because they had not yet heard the voice of Jesus themselves.

We tend not to talk about it a lot but there are times on this Christian journey when it seems like God is silent. Situations and circumstances come and knock us to our knees and we find ourselves looking for answers or for direction, or for comfort for just a sign that God is listening. But sometimes we're simply met with silence.

In times of crisis there's something unnerving about that. After all we know the hymn..."and He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. Alright, you know the song. What about, "...speak to my heart Holy Spirit." We're used to God talking back. In a whisper, in a shout, in a message, in a song, through scripture, through nature or even the words of a stranger. We have a highly communicative God. So what what do we do when God goes silent?

When we have mothers and fathers in our communities losing children way too soon, sitting in unbearable grief and we're asking God, "why?" And we're met with silence.

When we've turned down our plates and laid on our faces and went to church anytime the doors were open trying to hear from God about a situation in our lives? Yet it seems like God ain't even clearing His throat?

What about when we consider what happened in Ferguson and is still happening in Flint and a whole lot of places in-between and it seems like no matter how many crooked cops caught on video or how many politicians are caught red-handed purposely doing harm to black and brown and poor people, it seems like the Empire is still winning? Yet God seems silent.

So God where are you in this silence?

Three things we can learn: 

1. God's silence teaches us about intimacy with God --

As mentioned earlier, Jesus was good friends with a set of siblings Mary, Martha and Lazarus. And the four had been in relationship for some time as each of the Gospel writers recorded that Jesus loved them and called Lazarus a friend. When word came that Lazarus was sick Jesus didn't come right away. By the time Jesus arrived Lazarus had been dead four days. Mary and Martha were well aware of who Jesus was and what He could do. Jesus was the One who opened blinded eyes, an unstopped deaf ears and made the lame to walk. This was the one who could stand in the street and speak a word and a servant could be healed, and they knew He loved them, so what then were they to make of this silence? 

Before Jesus started on the way to see about Lazarus He said to the Disciples, "Lazarus is dead, for your sake I'm glad I was not there so that you may believe."

Two things are happening here. 

First, when Jesus arrived in Bethany, Mary and Martha both said to Him that they knew Lazarus wouldn't have died had He been there but nevertheless, we know whatever you ask of God He would give. They had total and complete faith in Him even in the midst of Jesus' silence about the death of the one they all loved. 

Secondly, Jesus was pushing the Disciples toward a deeper level of faith and trust in Him. Through the raising of Lazarus they came to an even greater knowledge of who this Jesus was.

Oswald Chambers wrote in My Utmost For His Highest, "When you cannot hear God you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible -- with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation."

Sometimes God's silence comes because He can trust us and wants to bring us into greater intimacy and revelation of who God is.

2. God's silence teaches us to respect the mystery of God --

About 15 years ago a father figure and mentor of sorts, Bishop T Cedric Brown, and I were sitting at the dining table in his home. I was closing in on 30 at the time and we were talking about the fact that almost every one of my girlfriends (who wanted to be) were either married or engaged. And at that time I hadn't had a real date in about 6 years. So look, I had some querstions for Jesus. I couldn't have been more eligible. I was good and saved, committed in ministry, not one but two jobs, educated, approachable and fine as all get out (yaaaaaassss, honey! Sundays were slay days back then). 

His nickname for me was me Rose, he said, "Rose, just because nothing's happening doesn't mean nothing's going on. I was like, what's THAT supposed to mean? He went on and said, just because you don't see or perceive any movement or progress concerning your situation with your natural eyes doesn't mean that nothing's going on behind the scenes in the spiritual. 

In times when it seems like God is silent, we need need to respect the mystery of God.

Okay, help me out Job. We know the story of Job, a righteous man who loved God who one day lost everyone and everything he held dear. A couple of his friends came around, supposedly to bring some kind of comfort but really they just wound up vexing Job. But in Job chapter 10 Job was lamenting about how he wished he was never born and his friend came back with this in chapter 11. He said, "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens -- what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave -- what can you know?" There are certain things in life that are simply God's prerogative; as hard as it may be we somehow have to work to make peace with the fact that some things we're not meant to know in this lifetime. 

It's like the analogy of a weaver creating a tapestry or a fine rug. Looking at the loom from the underside you see nothing but bits of string, all kinds of colors, dark and light and they're chaotically strewn all over the place with no apparent rhyme or reason. It doesn't look like anything. But the master weaver isn't looking at the piece from the underside. The weaver sees the masterpiece from the top. Whenever we're faced with the silence of God we have to respect the mystery of God.

Lastly, but very simply...

3. God's silence doesn't last forever --

After that Silent Saturday that later in Luke 24 after the Resurrection that Jesus did appear to the larger group of the Disciples gathered in Jerusalem and the first thing He said to them was, "Peace be with you." And He began to help them set aside their fearful hearts. Ain't it good to know that when God does finally break His silence the first thing He wants you to have is His peace? Just like trouble, silence doesn't last always and Silent Saturdays always and eventually have to give way to joyful Sunday mornings.

I want to tell you this and then I'll close. On January 27th my mother told me she needed to talk. I knew she had just undergone a battery of tests. She told me her test results and mri's came back and revealed a mass on her brain. She already beat cancer two years ago so the doctor's immediate suspicion was cancer had some how made it to her brain. Horrible diagnosis by itself, but to make matters worse my mom watched a close friend pass away from brain cancer less than a year ago. Being a woman of faith, my mom didn't panic but began putting her affairs in order.

Me? I was scared but I began expecting to hear from the Lord because that's just how God and I roll. I've been on this journey long enough to know how to quiet myself to hear from God. So Lent came and I was fasting and reflecting and praying and trying some new devotional readings but God wasn't saying anything. I came to some of the Caravan services to hear a word and clearly God was talking to other folks in the pew, but I couldn't hear God saying anything about my mama. The woman who introduced me to God was facing a life or death situation and yet God wasn't saying nothing. I would've given anything to hear that still small voice who has soothed my umpteen of my broken hearts and worried situations time and time again in the past. But this time that voice was inexplicably and painfully silent. I was feeling some type of way -- like, for real God? -- because I get up Sunday after Sunday exhorting the people, screaming into the microphone declaring God's goodness, and teaching and encouraging the teenagers in my Bible class to lean on God but in this moment when I needed comforting, I needed a word of encouragement, when I needed to hear from my God the most...all I could hear was deafening silence. I was a wreck inside. All I knew to do was to ask others to pray.

My mother had brain surgery last Thursday afternoon. She was cut from above her right eye to just above her left ear where the surgeon removed a 2-inch tumor from her left frontal lobe. As my sister and I walked into the ICU after the surgery my mother opened her eyes and started talking to us, just like she was waking up from a quick nap. By 8am the next morning my mom had been out of her bed and walking down the hallways of the ICU. By noon she was off all IV fluids with only a regular Tylenol for pain, and less than 48 hours after having brain surgery ol' girl was laying on her living room couch chopping it up with one of her girlfriends and watching re-runs of Law and Order SVU. And by the way, the surgeon said he saw no signs of cancer.

I want you to encourage you that even when God is silent, God is still working miracles. 

Even when you can't find God, God's still on the job.

Even when it seems like there's no way out, God is still a way maker.

Even when you can't see that help is on the way, God is still a very present help in time of trouble.

Even when the diagnosis comes, God is still a healer.

Even when the justice system fails, God is still on the side of the oppressed.

Even when it looks like Empire will win, in Christ we still have the victory.

So my question is, will you trust God on the Silent Saturdays in your life?