Friday night at 7 pm is our Tenebrae service. Tenebrae means shadows, and as we read Matthew’s account of the Passion of our Lord, we will experience the growing shadows of sin and this world’s darkness gathering around the cross.
It’s Holy Saturday and we await Easter morning and the good news that Christ is indeed risen. Easter has not been cancelled! This year’s celebration is different, no doubt, but Jesus comes and the resurrection is sure and all the alterations of life about us are but temporary. This will all pass. “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Ps. 30.5) Let’s not let our isolation and anxiety steal Easter of that joy!
A suggestion for each of us: Sunrise tomorrow, April 12, Easter morning, occurs at 7:05 AM (so says the internet gods). How about each of us rise, go out into our yards, put down our coffee, and lift our hands to the sky and shout “Alleluia!” If that’s not in your comfort zone, simply open your hands to the heavens and take a moment of silence and whisper to yourself, “Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!” God will hear both even if the neighbors don’t. It’s Easter — the day of our faith. We can all be together as the sun breaks the dawn; if not at the church, then out on the lawn. (I just made that little rhyme up!) I invite you to join me in the morning and I hope you might.
I hope that you might take a few minutes to watch our daily devotions that were offered during Holy Week. They are all available through our website. If you’ve not had a chance to view the Tenebrae service, take a few minutes to remember the drama of Good Friday and reflect on the love and grace expressed by God for us on that day. https://youtu.be/ZOaadi8KvIw
Our Easter service will premiere in the morning at 8:45. Since you will already be up — having gone out on the lawn and shouted your Alleluias! at 7:05 — pick your coffee up again, take a seat, and join us in worship at 8:45. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ5NaLZAMVY&feature=youtu.be
Rhonda and I hold hope that each of you will have a marvelous and meaningful Easter. I know it’s different — but this altered celebration is not all bad. Reach out to those you love and remember well God’s presence on this holy day. If you need a friend, call one. Know that on Easter new breath is breathed into our lives and the joy of God’s love in Christ Jesus is ours. We pray it be so for each of you and for our world.
I miss being in your company and seeing your faces. Care well for yourselves and for each other.
Tenebrae (Latin for “darkness”) is a liturgical service intended to impress upon the minds of worshipers the drama and sacrifice of the crucifixion of Jesus. It is characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles situated on the hearse (a 15 candle candelabra). The loud noise at the end of the service after the Christ Candle has exited signals the “closing of the book” or “the closing of the tomb.” Do watch until the very end to experience the entire service.
