Blog

Good Friday

Pastor's Ponderings

Dear Glen Mar,

It’s Good Friday today, the day we remember our Lord’s crucifixion—when Jesus was unjustly arrested, tried, convicted, and condemned by religious and secular authorities for being a threat to the powers-that-be. On this saddest day, a time when our Alleluias are buried, it may seem that the world is still full of shadows and crucifixions. As we grieve the death of George Floyd and pray for God’s justice to prevail, as we pray for our Asian-American and African American neighbors, as we pray for healing from the scourge of COVID-19, it seems crosses still dot the landscape and sin still holds sway.

But in Christ, in his life, death, and resurrection, we find God’s ultimate promise to us is not about empire or condemnation or oppression. God’s promise to us is “Yes and Amen.” Jesus came to love, save, heal, and free, and to proclaim that the crowds yelling “Crucify him” don’t have the last word. Sin and even death don’t have the last word. Like the ark carrying God’s promises over chaos waters, Jesus proclaims life even in the midst of death and all the storms of life that will always rage. And it is God’s love, salvation, healing, and freedom that the church is called to embody and to witness to. The Church is the body of Christ, called to be vessels, arks if you will, of Christ’s resurrection hope, of his mercy, justice and love.

So for today, for tonight, let us sit again in shadow, and witness the worst the world had to give to One who came to save it. Join us tonight in person or online as we sit together in gathering shadow. We can bear the shadows because we know they are not of God, and they will not prevail. Let us gather, holding our words of praise, our Alleluias, for another day, knowing that, in the words of the great preacher SM Lockridge, “It’s Friday. The earth trembles, the sky grows dark. My king yields his spirit. It’s Friday. Hope is lost. Death has won. Sin has conquered and Satan’s just a-laughin’. It’s Friday. Jesus is buried. A soldier stands guard and a rock is rolled into place. But it’s Friday. It’s only Friday. Sunday is a’comin!”

See you in Church,
Pastor Mandy

Next Post
Has Anybody Seen My Keys?
Previous Post
Holy Week is Here!