The Silence In-Between

We have a tendency to want to jump straight from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday.

We don't know what to do with Saturday.

We don't like Saturday.

Saturday is a day of silence. Of misunderstanding. Of confusion. Of doubt.

Even Scripture doesn't tell us anything about Saturday. Good Friday ends with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus placing Jesus' body in a tomb (John 19:38-42). And then moves right into the account of the women coming to the tomb on Sunday and finding it empty (John 20:1-18).

Friday's despair becomes Sunday's celebration.

But, what about Saturday?

The silence doesn't mean that God wasn't still working out His plan that day. But, for Jesus' followers, the day wouldn't have been easy. Nothing was going the way they thought it should.

Confusion. Pain. Despair. Grief.

The companions of the day for many.

It's uncomfortable to sit in Saturday. So, we try to rush past it. Get through it as quickly as possible.

Bu, even though Scripture doesn't tell us explicitly of the actions of Jesus' followers on that day, we still know they walked through it. 

Saturday was the Sabbath. A day of rest. A day where they could do nothing but sit and wait and question what had happened. They had to wait until Sunday before they could do anything again.

Truthfully, Saturday is a place we often live in our everyday lives. We walk through times of pain and confusion. We have seasons when God seems silent and we wonder if He's paying attention to what's happening in our lives.

In John 20, we say what could maybe be a glimpse of what Jesus' followers did with their Saturday. Verse 19 says, "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together . . ." 

The disciples were used to being together, eating together, doing life together. They continued to be together. They shared their experience. Instead of being alone in their confusion, pain, and grief, they were together.

So, what do we do with Saturday?

How do we handle the pain and confusion of the silence that seems to fall?

We hold to the truth that God is still working, even though we can't see it. And we hold to each other. We don't attempt tp get through it alone.

Living Social Justice

So, if we're supposed to be involved in social justice, as I wrote last week, what does it look like for us?

How do we actually make it a part of what we do?

How do we do it well?

In many ways, I think this is a bigger problem than we realize. Unfortunately, we haven't always done this well in the church. And in our struggle to figure out how to do it, we've actually done harm - mostly unintentionally.

I think our struggle to figure it out and do it is actually the reason why it might seem easier to try to avoid social justice and try to separate it from what we preach.

But, I also think the fact that it's so difficult at times is exactly why we need to be intentional about being hands on with it. We can't try to separate it from the gospel or leave it for professionals. We need to be involved ourselves.

I also wonder if part of our struggle with how to do as that we often think it has to start with changing to laws of our society. And that seems impossible or overwhelming, so we don't try. Or, we don't like how people have tried to do just that in the past and don't want to be associated with that, so we do our best to avoid those associations.

But, what if that wasn't where we were supposed to start?

What if we have it backwards from how we're supposed to be doing it?

What if it was supposed to start with us in the trenches doing the work, being involved with people?

I'm not saying we should be quiet and not say anything. I'm not saying that there aren't issues where we need to make our voices heard. But, I do think our voices will be better heard and considered if our actions reflect what we're saying. When we're living what we talk about, our voices are ones that people can't ignore as easily.

So, it has to start with our daily lives, with our interactions with people. We start with loving people - all people. We love even those who are living lifestyles that we disagree with. We earn the right to speak about those things, by loving people first.

Where can we make a difference for people as we go about our daily lives?

I believe that if we claim to be Christians, then we need to be involved in these issues, just as Jesus was. And Jesus' example in the gospels is one of loving people and caring for them even when His society saw them as other. We start with the people in our paths and put that love in action as we interact with them.

As I've wrestled with this, I've realized just how important it is that we all begin with the little things. For me, it can become too easy to think I'm off the hook because of where I work. But, nothing could be further from the truth. I may work where this is part of our every day life, but if I'm not living it in all of my life, I'm missing out on what intends for me, and my voice is silenced.

Who are the people on periphery of your everyday life that society, or your upbringing, or your thinking has taught you to see as other?

How can you change you interactions with that person now?

What about Social Justice?

Is social justice part of the gospel?

Should the church care about it?

I've watched with interest over the last few weeks that debate that has begun about the role of social justice and the gospel that we, as the church, should be preaching.

The debate began with a statement from some well-known Christian leaders and scholars saying they didn't believe that social justice was a part of the gospel that the church should be proclaiming. Shortly after this statement was published, other Christian leaders and scholars began to talk about how the gospel is incomplete without social justice (here and here).

There are wise and godly men and women on both sides of this debate. People whose thoughts and writing I turn to when I'm wrestling with an issue myself - to help me think it through and form my thoughts based on Scripture. I've spent time reading the arguments on both sides of the debate. And I went back to Scripture to see what it says.

Ultimately, it's God's Word where my understanding needs to come from. As I was studying Scripture on this topic - Jesus' words and actions while He was walking on this planet and at how the early church lived their faith - I came to what seems to me to be the conclusion that makes the most sense to me.

What we often call social justice today is absolutely a vital part of the gospel. If the gospel we're preaching doesn't include this, or even intentionally ignores it, then we're presenting an incomplete gospel to those we're trying to reach.

If this is true, then the church should be at the forefront of these issues in our society.

Not as a political force.

Not in the same way that our world might tell us social justice should look.

But as the hands and feet of Jesus doing the work.

These days the term social justice can divisive. There's more than one definition people throw around for it. I want to be clear on what I'm saying, so before I go any further, I'm going to explain what I mean when I use it.

For the purposes of the rest of this post, social justice is about being involved in caring for, providing dignity, and providing opportunity for those who are commonly seen as less than in our society - whether because of homelessness, addiction, mental health struggles, poverty,r ace, sexuality, or any other way we separate people into groups. It' snot about taking away from one person or group to give it to another. It's about opportunity and removing barriers for people - through education, support, etc. It's about loving and caring for those in our society who need help.

When I look at Jesus' teaching in Scripture, I see a focus on helping the poor and caring for those seen as less than in His day. Jesus treated every person He encountered with dignity and love - whether lepers (Luke 10:11-19), or the woman who was unclean because she had been bleeding for 12 years (Mark 5:25-34), or the Samaritian woman at the well (John 4:1-26).

All of these examples are of people Jesus' society would have said He could ignore and treat poorly, but Jesus didn't do that. He gave them His time, His attention, His healing.

In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks this clearly on this:

"Then the righteous will answer him: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?
The King will reply: Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:37-40)

I'm not sure where it could be more clear that we need to be involved in these things.

We also see the early church was involved for caring for the poor among them and in their communities. Wee it described in Acts 4:34-35. In Galatians 2:10, we see a conversation between Paul and the apostles that placed and importance on caring for the poor.

Finally in James 1:27 we have the clearest words on this:

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Two things listed that God is looking for in us, and the first is about caring for the poor and defenseless in society.

I see no way around it. Social justice is a vital part of the message of the gospel the church is to be proclaiming to a broken and hurting world. We cannot separate the two.

We may all have different ways we're involved in this based on how God has created us. But, we have no excuse not to get involved.

If you're still reading, I realize I probably stepped on your toes a bit with this. I know studying this stepped on my own toes too. But, I think this is too important an issue to just stay quiet on. Sometimes we need to face the uncomfortable truths we say we believe and see if our actions match them. Whether you agree with me or not, we have to wrestle with this and figure out what it looks like for our lives.

The Light that Draws People

"We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."                  -Madeleine L'Engle



I've been thinking a lot lately about how we share the gospel in the culture we live in. A culture with massive and ever growing divisions among various groups of people. The dividing lines we draw seem to be becoming more and more pronounced.

So much of what we hear today is about discrediting "the other side." About telling people they're wrong and we're right. Most people seem to just want to prove themselves right, at everyone else's expense.

And that has an influence on how we share the gospel with people. If we get caught up in the anger and the drawing of lines and trying to prove we're right with everyone else, then our gospel message is compromised. It will affect our ability to be heard - really heard, rather than just being more noise.

That's where I think the quote I opened this post with is so important. Our light shining in the darkness of this world is the way forward. It doesn't mean we don't talk about our faith. In many ways, I believe it means we clearly speak the gospel message, but we also have to do so in a way that makes people want what we have. Our speaking and our living have to come from a place of love, because that's what will attract people to the source of the light we have.



"We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."                  -Madeleine L'Engle