Purify my heart
Let me be as gold
And precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold
Pure gold
Refiner’s fire
My heart’s one desire Is to be holy
Set apart for You Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You My Master
Ready to do Your will
From Refiner’s Fire Brian Doerksen
Today we mark the 40th day of the season of Lent(not counting Sundays!) and we turn back the pages to Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the journey. As we received the Imposition of Ashes, the sign of the cross traced on our foreheads, we were reminded of the “uncertainty and frailty of human life”. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. We also embarked on our observance of a holy Lent.
On this Holy Saturday, about which scripture has nothing to say, it having been a Sabbath day, we can imagine that the events of God’s Friday marked the end of hope, for the disciples. Jesus was dead, and they were in mourning and frightened of repercussions because of their association with the Crucified.
Most of us have experienced grief, as a loved one has died, and we have been forced to say goodbye. Whether their death was sudden or prolonged, a gentle passing, a pain-filled agony or the result of senseless violence, the sense of personal loss is acute. Numbness, relentless tears, sleeplessness, despair, even anger, drain us emotionally. People try to be kind, but really, grieving is the lonely walk of the heartbroken, and is a different path for everyone. Time does make a difference but our lives have been forever changed.
The disciples had no understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ words to Martha, when Lazarus was raised from the dead, “I am Resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live…” John 11:25” We do. And not only do we know what happens next in the story, we know that it never ends. Because of Jesus Christ, because of His life and ministry, His death and Resurrection, our lives are different. The New Life in Christ is rich with blessings. Our Resurrected Lord calls and empowers us to trust in God now, as the Spirit works in us to do Kingdom work, and to have faith in the promise that life of a different kind, eternal life, continues, when we say our goodbyes. For we believe in the Sonrise!