Grace Episcopal Church, The Rev Kate Ekrem, Rector
Good Friday, March 21, 2008
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42; Psalm 22
Today's sermon offered by the Rev. Dr. Katherine Mitchell, Deacon

The events of this day are absolutely and totally shocking.
He is dead! Jesus is really dead!

We gather here tonight to recall the death of Jesus Christ, remembering his sacrifice for us that he died so we might live.

What an awful way to die. There are probably few more painful ways to die than to be crucified. Death in this manner is excruciating and causes immense suffering.

You will recall that Jesus cried out from the cross, "My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?" In those moments just before death, Jesus calls out to God for help…, comfort…., anything … to let him know that God is there with him.

But Jesus is met with is utter and deadly silence…..

John, today's Gospel writer, goes on to write that Jesus crucified - died on a cross - and now lies in a cold tomb in silent blackness.

On the day of his death, even though forewarned, Jesus' disciples know nothing of the future. All they know, understand, and experience is the unbelievable grief, uncertainty, and emptiness that consume each of them. They know all too well that their beloved leader is gone, no more to be their teacher, friend, fellow traveler and companion in life and ministry.

I can only imagine that the apostles and other disciples must have wondered,
"Why didn't God answer Jesus?"
"Why doesn't God hear our despair?"
"Why,… no, how can God be so silent?"

The disciples walk away from Golgotha, utterly and completely dejected, believing they know the answer for God's silence. They now know that God has forsaken them in their time of need just as God abandoned Jesus. For the disciples, their world is just as dark and silent as the tomb that Jesus now lies in.
Now I don't pretend to know or even understand why God does not immediately respond to Jesus' pleading cries, much less to the disciples despair. But I suspect that God feels helpless because there is no answer… no response …that can possibly do justice to the dejection and hopelessness that Jesus and the disciples experience. Sometimes, maybe, just maybe, silence is the only appropriate response. Yes, silence may be the only response possible!

In my work as a hospital chaplain I see a lot of suffering, aching agony, anguish, and torment that is physical, emotional, and spiritual. Suffering through death did not begin or end with Jesus and I can assure you there are many people who will share with you their stories of despair, hopelessness, and grief as the result of personal experience or watching loved ones suffer in pain and distress.

When I encounter these experiences, I often feel I should have something to say in the face of such grave, undisputable suffering, but in fact, I am all too keenly aware that there are no easy, or really for that matter, any answers or responses to suffering and brokenness that provide any real measure of comfort. What I mostly find is that in the midst of all this suffering, all too many times I find myself at a complete loss --- loss of what to do, loss of what to say, and at times, even a loss, a grappling of what to feel, knowing all too well that I have nothing to offer in most cases except silence.

Like Jesus and the disciples, patients and their family members often share they feel they too have been abandoned by God, especially when God is silent, seemingly doing nothing as they wait in uncertainty, anxiety, and fear for something that will ignite a flicker of hope in the darkness and silence which surrounds them. So, at such times, I sit in the silence with patients and their families waiting to hear God's voice.
But then I think…maybe God's silence is in reality saying and telling us something that we can't hear, understand or comprehend at the time.

Is it possible that God's voice and Spirit is especially present in that very palpable silence … in the silence that lies between this Good Friday night and tomorrow night as we celebrate the resurrected Christ in our Easter Vigil?

As is often the case, the only way to get through something is to go through it. Jesus had to go through death, darkness, and silence before his resurrection. Likewise, perhaps we too must go through the darkness and despair of our own Good Friday, and into the silence of Saturday before we get to our own Easter.
In silence, now we join with Jesus, the disciples, and all other Christians throughout the world as we wait for God's response.

Amen.