This Holy Bulb of a Morning

Holy Saturday
April 4, 2015
Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Burlington, Vermont
The Very Rev. Jeanne Finan

This Holy Bulb of a Morning

Today is Holy Saturday.
What this means is that today, this morning,
on our journey through Holy Week
we are standing at the tomb.

Christ has been crucified.
His body placed in the tomb.
Everything we hoped for and dreamed of is over.
Done.
Finished.
And yet....

Holy Saturday, to me, is like a bulb.

Many of you know this even better than I do.

A bulb is not very attractive by most standards.
It’s dry and brittle.
It looks dead and lifeless.

Except you and I know the truth.
You and I know the rest of a bulb’s story.
We know that when this bulb is laid in the ground,
if we are patient,
if we wait,
this bulb will explode into life
and beauty.

This is resurrection.
When all that seems dead is alive again.

We have all been through those “dead” times in our lives.
Times of loss and grief and emptiness.
Times when we felt--or may feel right now--
that we are as dry and brittle as this bulb appears to be.

We all face times when there is really nothing we can DO
to make things better--
all we can do is wait.
Pray.
Be patient.
Hope and believe that life will come again.

Holy Saturday is the day we remember what it is like to wait.
What it is like to not know
what the future holds.

Holy Saturday is a day of waiting
but we are called to wait with faith, with hope
believing in the deepest parts of our being
that life will burst forth again.

Resurrection will happen.
Resurrection does happen.
Over and over.

But sometimes,
like this morning
we are given the task of waiting.

Many of us cannot just sit still all day.
We have things that must get done.
Flowers to put in place.
Altars to set.
Sermons to be edited and polished a bit.
Cooking and cleaning
in preparation for visitors that will soon arrive.

Our challenge is to not let busyness and worldly responsibilities
overwhelm us this day.
Out task is to keep at least a little corner of this day Holy.
As we work,
we are called to remember why we are doing these things that need doing.

We do this work because we know
there is something beyond the tomb.

I wanted to have a bulb to hold in my hand
as I preached this sermon,
to pass around so you, too, could feel
its dry and seemingly lifeless form.

So I went to Aubuchon Hardware near by home in Shelburne,
and I bought a packet of Stargazer Lily bulbs
(my favorite of all flowers).
But when I opened the package,
this is what I found....

Not dead and lifeless
but sprouting.
Resurrection already in process.

We have seen the face of resurrection before,
and we believe that we will see it once again.

We do this work to the glory of God.
In thanksgiving,
Whether we are working or waiting,
weeping or celebrating,
we know that God is with us.

On this day,
on this very holy Saturday.
On this holy bulb of a morning.
Amen.

God With Us, Us with God

Sermon for Holy Saturday 2014

God with Us, Us with God

On Holy Saturday we wait at the tomb.
We wait.
We pray.
We think about the death of Jesus
and we also ponder our own deaths.
Because we will die one day.
All of us.

Christ has died
but Christ has not yet risen.
On this day it is beyond our theological comprehension
that Christ will come again.

All we can do is show up, be present.
Ponder
and pray
and be present.

There is a story told by Joseph Bayly
in a book he wrote titled A VIEW FROM THE HEARSE.
Mr. Bayly lost three children to death over the short course
of a few years.

He writes this about comforting those who grieve:

“I was sitting, torn by grief. Someone came and talked to me of God’s dealings, of why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. He said things I knew were true. I was unmoved, except to wish he would go away. He finally did.

Someone else came and sat beside me. He didn’t talk. He didn’t ask leading questions. He just sat with me for an hour or more, listened when I said something, answered briefly, prayed simply, left. I was moved. I was comforted. I hated to see him go.”

Holy Saturday is not a day
to try to determine the WHY of or explain the crucifixion.
Christ has died.
That is all that we have on this day.

Holy Saturday is a day to be present.
To not get so overly busy with our preparations for Easter

(and yes, I know there are things that must get done this day)
but to take at least  a little time
to be fully present
sitting at the tomb.
Sitting with total emptiness.

Just as the word “Emmanuel” means GOD WITH US,
perhaps there should be a special term
for Holy Saturday that translates
US WITH GOD.

Us with God.
That we are willing
to show up,
to sit,
to be present
at the tomb.

Traditionally this day is known as the harrowing of Hell.
Hell used in this context is not a place of judgement
it is the abode of those who have died--
all the way back to Adam and Eve.
In the Apostle’s Creed we say that Christ.... suffered,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended to the dead...

Christ has gone down in the grave,
has gone down into the pit of Hell,
and reaches out to pull anyone who will grab his hand
out of that pit.

When we are willing to sit with someone
who grieves,
someone who feels they have lost everything,
someone who feels they have done despicable things
of which they are truly sorry
but cannot believe they deserve any kind of salvation--
ever,
our silent presence
is how we reach out,
offer a hand,
to help someone climb out of the depths of despair.
Out of the pit of grief and sorrow,
of fear and shame and hopelessness.

And just maybe
when we sit in the quiet of this Holy Saturday,
we will realize
that we, too, have been offered a hand
to climb out of our own dark pit,
to rise again--soon to rise again--
to the newness of life.

Amen.