Lamentations 3:37-58
Psalms 27, 88, 95
Hebrews 4:1-16
Romans 8:1-11
Hebrews 4:13
“And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”
As we spend this day of waiting for what we know will be the glorious resurrection tomorrow, I have often wondered what state Jesus was in on this Saturday. We all remember the telling words of Jesus from the cross in Mark’s Gospel - “Today you will be with me in Paradise” – and I wonder if that is where Jesus was, even if only for a short time. We too may hope to be for a short time in Paradise but there may be a big difference for us. Before or perhaps after, we enter Paradise there is, according to St. Paul, a time when we must “render an account.” This is indeed an awesome prospect. Can we all explain satisfactorily the things we have done (or left undone), the things we have said or thought throughout our lives?
When I was young I was taught to think of God as omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (present in all things). This idea is, of course, echoed in the opening collect of the Holy Eucharist service “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known and from you no secrets are hid.” So God will already know what kind of life we have lived and whether we are worthy. This should be yet another awe inspiring thought, that we can run but we cannot hide, as the saying goes.
On this Holy Saturday, as we prepare, can we find time to confess our sins, and to ask for forgiveness as if tomorrow was to be our day of our judgment? We know that when we truly repent we are forgiven and so perhaps the process of “rendering account” may not be so terrifying after all. That is my hope.
Ron Merrett