Today is Saturday of Holy Week.

Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”  

Assist me mercifully with your help, O Lord God of our salvation, that I may enter with joy upon the contemplation of those mighty acts, whereby you have given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Today’s reading is from Psalm 22.


My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
    Why are you so far from saving me, 
    so far from my cries of anguish? 
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, 
    by night, but I find no rest. 
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; 
    you are the one Israel praises. 
In you our ancestors put their trust; 
    they trusted and you delivered them. 
To you they cried out and were saved; 
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 
But I am a worm and not a man, 
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 
All who see me mock me; 
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say, 
    “let the Lord rescue him. 
Let him deliver him, 
    since he delights in him.” 
Yet you brought me out of the womb; 
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. 
From birth I was cast on you; 
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 
Do not be far from me, 
    for trouble is near 
    and there is no one to help. 
Many bulls surround me; 
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 
Roaring lions that tear their prey 
    open their mouths wide against me. 
I am poured out like water, 
    and all my bones are out of joint. 
My heart has turned to wax; 
    it has melted within me. 
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, 
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 
    you lay me in the dust of death. 
Dogs surround me, 
    a pack of villains encircles me; 
    they pierce my hands and my feet. 
All my bones are on display; 
    people stare and gloat over me. 
They divide my clothes among them 
    and cast lots for my garment. 
But you, Lord, do not be far from me. 
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.


For Christians, this day is known as Silent Saturday. God is silent on Silent Saturday. Jesus, the one who called out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is forsaken and left for dead.  
The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, when we remember that we are dust, and to dust we will return. And the day after Good Friday, we sit next to the tomb of Jesus, where his body lies, beaten and crucified.

Silent Saturday is the day we sit with injustice all around the world and recognize that for too many,  it feels as though God is dead. God cannot be found. God cannot be heard. God cannot be seen.

We Christians too quickly rush past Silent Saturday, rush past the forsakenness of the world, rush past those who cannot seem to find God. Kierkegaard called this quietness .... this is what he calls the Sickness unto Death. That is the world for so many. Sickness unto death. We Christians shouldn't rush through Silent Saturday too quickly. Remember that it is still night. The joy comes in the morning.

This week, we have entered into the experience of the disciples. You were with Mary when she washed Jesus’ feet with perfume. You were with John as you sat at the Last Supper. You were with Peter as Jesus washed your feet. You were with Jesus’ mother, Mary, and John, at the cross. I want you to choose one of those disciples and sit with them on this Silent Saturday, and consider what they were feeling and experiencing on this day after Jesus' death two thousand years ago.

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that I, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.