This is the Day

Psalm 118: 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.




I have a lot of favorite scripture verses, and I love them for very different reasons. For example Micah 6:8 is going to be a call to action that will always tug on my heart. Acts 2:42 describes my ideal version of how the church community can live. 1 Corinthians 12:27 reminds me of how our uniqueness is essential to the community of faith. 

But Psalm 118:24 holds a special place in my heart.

On a Sunday morning, this is the verse that comes to mind as worship begins. I love to start a service by saying "This is the day that the Lord has made" and being joined by some folks in the congregation as we finish the quote "Let us rejoice and be glad in it". It calls to mind sunlight and warmth. It makes me think of a congregation of folks who are joyfully gathered in celebration of love for God. It makes me think of a celebration like the joyful procession on Palm Sunday (this Psalm is part of the lectionary for this coming Sunday).

But sometimes I am not feeling glad, or I don't want to rejoice. Sometimes I'm running late and getting there cranky. Sometimes I'm tired. Sometimes the news lays stark the realities of the evils of war. Sometimes I wake up to news of another shooting. Sometimes I am just not glad in the day, or in anything really.

Jesus entered Jerusalem to acclaim and celebration. 

Luke 19:37-38 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!"
 THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE!

Can you imagine the elation that was felt on that day? Can you feel the exuberance? 

It's very easy to rejoice and be glad on that day.

But the mood turned, the palms withered, and the world became much less joyful. Just one week after that the cross was erected, the betrayal was consummated, and hope was vanishing. Can you imagine the grief that was felt that day? Can you feel the agony?

What if that was the day where we declared that this is the day the Lord has made? Can you imagine what it would be like to hear that while your friend is up there dying? How can you read that as anything other than sarcasm?

Maybe you shouldn't say it on those days, but we need to remember that even on our worst days, when things look bleakest, it is still the day that the Lord has made. And that is some consolation.

I'm not saying that everything is always ok. I'm not saying that you aren't allowed to be sad, or angry, or despondent, or hopeless. A mournful day is a mournful day. But the day changes. Sometimes the day starts again with a new dawn. Sometimes the day starts again only after a long period of dark nights. 

But the journey from Palm Sunday to Good Friday is not the entirety of the story. The journey continues three days later, and the day was made anew. 

This is the promise of Easter, this is the reason that I can rejoice. We've seen the worst of the world, and we know that it won't be the last day. We have seen the way the world treats the righteous, and we know that it cannot endure. We are people of resurrection. 

The task for us is to avoid sitting in the premature rejoicing of Palm Sunday, to allow ourselves to feel the grief of Good Friday, but to remember that Easter follows.

I've seen the pictures from Bucha, I am grieving. I've read the stories of the evil and trauma. I am feeling Good Friday. I don't see the resurrection in this moment. 

So I will hope. I will hope that evil will be destroyed, that people will be consoled, that cruelty will have consequences, that those who abuse their power will be torn from their thrones. I hope this because I need to hope this. I hope this because if I don't, then I may be paralyzed with grief. I will not be complacent with the promise of resurrection, because right now we need to do what is needed to find our way out of Good Friday. To talk of rejoicing right now is to hit fast forward. It's resurrection without death, and is a disservice to true life.

Psalm 118:24 holds a special place in my heart because even when I can't bring myself to say it, it is still true. 

Tomorrow is a new day. Dawn breaks, life triumphs, resurrection happens.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

And we move forward in the hope that we will be able to rejoice and be glad in it.

Peace,
Jeff Fox-Kline

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