Holy Saturday

Today I wait.

I think of body broken and blood shed for me. I think of myself in the story: Am I with the women waiting by the tomb? among the disciples who have deserted, certain they must have been wrong? among those who jeered and mocked in the crowd? I decide I am with each of them, all of them, sometimes faithful and sometimes faithless, sometimes embracing and sometimes doubtful.

But mostly I wait. I wait because today it is His death I think about, but unlike the disciples so long ago, I can't erase the knowledge that this death is only the beginning, not the end. Tomorrow He will rise again in victory over sin and death! His death would be empty and meaningless if not for this most glorious day, the day we remember Christ's Resurrection. I try to focus on today but the excitement and anticipation is building too quickly; I am eager for tomorrow's joy.

In the meantime, I wait. But what do we do while we wait? This waiting isn't limited to Good Friday and Holy Saturday. No, we wait every day, wait for the day when Heaven and Earth will finally be one, when God's new creation will find wholeness and completeness as He intends it to. God's Kingdom fully come, here on earth...but for now we wait.

This wait is longer. Some days it, too, is filled with eager anticipation. Other times, we get distracted. We lose heart. We become apathetic. Some days we are the foolish and unprepared virgins. Other days we bury our talents in the ground. Too often we become the wicked servants. Our hope fails.

Do not lose heart, sisters and brothers. This wait may be long, but we must continue to do what our Risen Savior has asked of us: love God and love one other, serving faithfully in this in-between time.

Serve in love and faithfulness. It is all that is asked of us, but what a mess we make of it!

This idea of waiting is what I find myself thinking of on this Holy Saturday: waiting for tomorrow and waiting for the coming again of our Lord and Savior, the day when the birthing pains will be over. What am I doing during this wait? How am I loving? serving? Am I staying alert and prepared?

We are not merely passing fruitless time here in the waiting. There is much to be done.

Lord, may my time of waiting not be empty.