Introduction
Mary goes to the tomb in the darkness before dawn. The story is very familiar to us, but in the aftermath of the attacks in Brussels, and in a world that seems increasingly dangerous, Mary’s encounter with the risen Christ shows us that the one who scatters the darkness of the grave rises while it is still dark. As we look at the events of this week, we do so with Christ, the one who offers hope in the midst of despair.
There are many people who are grieving this weekend – people whose loved ones never came home on Tuesday. For all of us, the world seems more unpredictable and chaotic after the events of the week. The voice of Jesus calling each one of us by name offers us a sign of God’s love and presence and an affirmation of the value of every human being, even as we stand by the tomb in the ‘darkness before the dawn’.
‘The emptiness spoke of violence’
‘No-one is safe.’ This was the message of those who bombed the airport and metro in Brussels. There are no easy answers to an attack on undefended people going about their ordinary lives.
People going not to work but to hospital; places usually crowded with people, now strangely empty; after the horror – silence.
The story of Holy week has brought us through the emptiness that falls across the world after the crucifixion. Holy Saturday is an empty space full of longing and hope; of desire and belief; of loss and of doubt. As we move into the joy of Easter we take with us the pain that is inescapably part of the whole story.
As we stand by the empty tomb with Mary, we know that the revolution of love is incomplete. Wherever there is hardness of heart, cruelty or fear, the work of Christ is not seen in all its fullness. Perhaps Sidney Spencer’s image The Resurrection, Cookhamcan help us reflect on the traumas of Brussels, and the hope of resurrection in the midst of darkness and of life as we know it.
Context
Resurrection happens as it is still dark. In the light of the resurrection morning, so much else stays the same. The darkness is just as real. Wars carry on being fought. People die. Lies are told. Equality is a distant dream, and so is equal pay. The poor are still with us, and are still suffering. We fail to care for the environment, and we do not love our neighbour as ourselves. In recent enquiries into child sex abuse, children were let down. Many people across the world are without homes and hope.
Like it or not, there is a lot of darkness around.
Reflection
Resurrection happens in the unexpected moment, in the unexpected place; in the space where all seems lost and our dreams lie broken at our feet. The light of the resurrection does not make the darkness disappear; it helps us to live in the darkness with hope.
In moments like these how do we learn to listen for the voice of Jesus calling us again by name, and hearing in this voice the sound of hope restored? Resurrection is now and not yet. In the Easter Day moment of joy, how alert are we to God’s ongoing call to us in Christ? How can we begin to understand resurrection as ‘work in progress’ – begun in the glorious light of the first Easter Day but worked out in daily life, in each moment and each decision, with the people we meet and those we love – and under pressure and in pain?
Reprisals, revenge and the way of love
For Christians, the Easter story tells us of a saviour who takes the violence and brutality of the world into his very self and overcomes it. How then should we pray for our troubled world?
Salvador Dali's image of Christ of St John of the Cross offers us a way of seeing the crucifixion as having a redemptive power within and for the world in a week where healing is so deeply needed.
Prayer
Keep a time of silence, remembering together the victims of the recent bombings in Brussels and offering up your questions, pain and hope to God.
Then, you could use this prayer:
Risen Christ,
in the darkness that so often surrounds us
as we wait by the tomb;
teach us to see you, and to hear you calling us by name.
May we walk into this day with hope,
and live in the light of your promise
that all shall be well.
Though the darkness threatens to overwhelm us,
help us to believe that you will scatter the shadows of the grave,
and bring us into the joy of a new day.
Amen.
You could use the poem ‘The Kingdom´ by RS Thomas as a meditation.
Questions
- How do we see resurrection in the ‘now’ of a broken world of suffering humanity and of our own struggles?
- When horrific events overtake our own lives and our communities, how can we affirm the unique value of each person known and loved by God? How do we respond in the light of the resurrection hope?
Action
Create a prayer tree by putting some large branches of twisted willow into a pot and add stones and sand to weight the pot and hold the branches firm. Give out leaf-shaped pieces of paper, and invite people to write or draw their prayers and questions on leaves, and then to tie them onto the branches of the prayer tree. Read Revelation 2.1-4, Isaiah 25.8 and Isaiah 51.11 meditatively as this is happening. If you have musicians you might also include some reflective music.
Young people
How do we see the resurrection in the middle of daily life – at home in school with our friends when we difficulty, death or challenge?
Diane Craven is a freelance writer and education consultant. She is currently a Licensed Lay Minister in York Minster.
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