Good Friday 2020
There is
really not much more to say after this reading we’ve just heard, (the Passion
of Christ According to John, chapters 18 & 19), save this:
Today we
are separated, kept apart by a virus pandemic. Many of our life experiences and
rituals have been affected, especially those experiences and rituals
surrounding death.
We are no
longer able to visit our aged or infirm loved ones as they near death if they
are in a hospital or nursing home. Although some arrangements may be made for
the next of kin in some of these places, it is only in the very final stages of
dying, often too late to communicate our presence and our love with certainty
that our loved one is aware that they are not alone in that moment.
Today we
are denied what are normal mourning rituals as well. Funeral are verboten, and
even graveside services are limited in size and scope. We are not able to give
or receive the comfort and support that is so important at times like these.
As Jesus
hung on the cross, most of his loved ones were hidden away in the upper room,
his followers scattered for fear of their lives. Jesus died alone, forsaken on
the cross. He shares our experience of isolation in that moment. And yet, he
gives us hope.
That hope
first comes in the awareness that we are not alone in our grief or in our
dying. As Jesus took on flesh to join us in our humanity, Jesus dies alone and
forsaken so that we might know we never will be; we are accompanied through
every moment of our lives and our death by a God who loves us so fiercely, that
he is there with us, suffering alongside us, comforting us with the promise
that this is not all there is.
While our
story today is one of death and sorrow, we cannot forget that the resurrection
looms just around the corner. We can’t go there yet, it’s important for us to
linger in the shadows of the reality of the cross for a time, but for those
living on this side of the cross, Jesus’ own death brings promise.
Jesus dies
on the cross but is not defeated, and neither are we. Jesus will go on to glory
showing us the way to everlasting life. Jesus demonstrates that this suffering
and loss will not be the end of us, and it will not go on forever, but instead
will give way to the new life that is ours through the love and steadfast mercy
of a God who will welcome us all home.
While
living through loss without the blessing of final goodbyes and without the
essential and comforting rituals we have come to expect, we are reminded that
these losses will not have the last word; one day we will come together in our
mourning and in our celebrations, in our sorrow and in our joy.
The good
news is that in wherever we are along that journey, we are never alone.
Amen.
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