Finding Saturday – by MVC Guest Author, Michelle Van Vliet
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. – 1 Peter 1:3
A different kind of Easter
Wow, Easter will be different this year! On top of not gathering with those we love, fears for our health and the health of others may be creeping in, and the economy is having its own dramatic response to this pandemic. While the weight of the world lingers everywhere, silently echoing in vacant streets, many of us are confused, worried, and a little doubtful of what the future holds.
Yet, this mandated pause leading up to Easter, also offers a holy invitation. When my kids were young, Friday and Saturday before Easter did not feel holy at all. These days were spent finding shoes that fit, pressing clothes, dying eggs, and practicing songs for the choir on Sunday. They were “Git-‘er-done” kind of days. I was often distracted and tired by Sunday. As I sang songs of a risen Savior, my heart was not resurrecting itself!
Holy Saturday
On Good Friday I paused to remember Jesus’ work on the cross. But then Saturday would arrive, and I’d be right back into the crazy, getting ready for Easter. Frankly, I really didn’t know how to do it differently. Have you ever thought about the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter? If it isn’t a “git-er-done” day, then what…? It turns out this day has a name and a purpose! Holy Saturday commemorates when Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb.
I am sure the disciples were not frantically distracted with shopping, or clothes to press, or eggs to color. After all, it was Passover. Coming off the heels of Friday, this would be a different kind of Passover. Traditionally, they were remembering their journey out of bondage from Egypt! How did they experience the day God went silent, Christ descended, Kingdom dreams were shockingly dashed, and a resurrection had yet to come? All changed in a matter of hours, and things did not turn out like they expected they would.
The disciples must have lingered in Friday’s story a bit, confused, saddened, perhaps fearful, as Friday silently echoed among them. Peter, full of regret; James and John, mouths agape and dreams of leadership now laying in a tomb; Mary, longing to be with Jesus, lingering at the tomb. All of this held in the silent pause of Holy Saturday – Where the work of the resurrection was still behind the stone.
“Saturday-ing”
At times, I relate to how the disciples may have felt, as circumstances take sudden turns and I must release my expectations. You probably feel similar right now. It often requires that we let go of something important. In these seasons, I find myself, in a “Saturday”; caught on a bridge, knowing where I’ve been, but I am not sure I can trust the path ahead.
Sometimes Saturday shows up in big ways like when my father passed away suddenly, or in smaller transitions like a new job or moving away from loved ones. As humans, we encounter many “Saturdays”, and must find a way to reconcile the past with the present, unsure of the future. It invites us to lay our story in the tomb and leave our doubts, our fears and our questions in the power of God, trusting He will be good as we let go and wait for Him. That is the silent work done at the tomb.
New Life
Even a simple pinecone bears witness to this as it releases otherwise dormant seeds in a firestorm, birthing a forest out of the ashes. I would venture a guess the disciples did not realize the work happening behind the stone. All they knew were the ashes. And I suppose we do not realize the work that happens as we wait either. We must be emptied before we can be filled, and we must be surrendered before our bondage can be broken.
While I longed for an internal resurrection so long ago, what I am now discovering is that we journey to Sunday’s dawn by way of the cross. As Dallas Willard said, “We were meant to be inhabited by God and live by a power beyond ourselves. Human problems cannot be solved by human means.” He was so right! Our problems cannot be solved by us. As we surrender to the pause, waiting becomes active. As the Divine One works on our behalf, out of the ashes, new life emerges. Oh, how I have been tempted to bust out of the process! Haven’t you? We must stay in this Saturday – every hour of it – before Sunday dawns. There are no short-cuts, just ordinary-remarkable happenings with a God who shows up along the way.
God will do for you and I what He did for Jesus three days after His crucifixion! If we remain “at the tomb” of our surrendered story while God works, we will live by the power of the Resurrection come Sunday.
What is your “Saturday”?
What must be emptied for God to fill you with His life? Prayerfully pour it out at the feet of Jesus, who emptied himself for you.
Let the grit of your struggle find the grace of His love.