The Sounds of Silence

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

The weekend begins with the brutal, tragic, and paradoxically beautiful death of Jesus Christ. And then there is silence...

It is almost as if time stands still - everyone staring at the limp, beaten and broken body on the Cross. And then they watched as the body is taken down, placed in a tomb and then left alone.

Everyone, followers of Jesus, haters of Jesus, could do nothing but wait. And so they did: wait, wonder, hope. Is He the Christ, the Messiah? or is He nothing more than a false promise, a dream breaker, hope wrecker?

Today should be a day of contemplation for the Christian church. Today should be a day of wonder for the world at large. Who is this man called Jesus? And what does He want with me?

Truth is, we do not have to remain friends with the darkness. The sound of Saturday's silence is the rumbling of love that explodes from the empty cross of Sunday. This weekend we, the Church, must celebrate the hope of heaven. That is, the Kingdom of heaven is here and the world needs it just as much as we do and did. So what if...

What if today we started living the hope of tomorrow? What if we lived out the hope of heaven (the not yet) in the midst of the reality of earth here and now? I truly believe that as followers of Christ we can be history makers today--do you? Don't let Satan fool you, our human response to what God has done on our behalf makes a real difference to God--He (God) loves the whole of His creation. The God who is for us and with us in Jesus Christ wants us, by the Spirit’s power, to be for and with one another so that together, we the Church can be for the world.

Time for us to step into the sound of Saturday's silence so that the eruption of Sunday's glorious love will explode from our words, our actions, our lives! Time to say hello to the brightness and the beauty of the Cross - our old friend who has left the indelible vision of of heaven today in our mind's eye and on our heart!

The time is now for us to be the sweet melodic sound of redeeming love for a world swept away by silence...