Friday, April 22, 2011

In the Night

At last night’s Life of Christ our team closed with Andrew Peterson’s In The Night followed by Be Still My Soul with readings from Matthew’s version of the Garden of Gethsemane and ending with:

…may Your will be done….

There’s a verse in Peterson’s song (and all the lyrics and the video are below) that goes like this:

I remember how they scorned the son of Mary

He was gentle as a lamb,
gentle as a lamb

He was beaten, he was crucified, and buried

And in the night, my hope was gone



My part was to give a few last words and then blow out the last candle.  Inspired by that verse I had thought through exactly what I wanted to say:

And then after He prayed
He was betrayed and arrested and denied
He was beaten and ridiculed and spat upon
And the next day they nailed Him to a cross
Where He hung in shame and humiliation
And from noon until three there was darkness across the land
But even in the darkness hope lived on
Until Jesus cried out:

Eloi, Eloi,
Lama sabahthani!

And gave up His spirit and our Hope was gone
(at which point I blew out the last candle)

That’s what I planned to say – and mostly what I said – but when I got to “they nailed Him to a cross” the weight and the reality of it all (that we’d been building toward all evening) got to me and I could barely get the words out.

I drove home (and I’ve spent a good bit of this Good Friday) thinking about the reality of it all.  So often I am consumed with white papers and staffing strategies and budgets and all the “stuff” of ministry.  It’s easy to lose that which is of first importance:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried [and] that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
1 Corinthians 15: 3 - 4

On this Good Friday – in the midst of white papers and budgets and staffing strategies I am reminded again of what is of first importance.

The rulers of earth could not control Him

They did not take his life
He laid it down

All the chains of death could never hope to hold Him

So in the night my hope lives on



In the night my Hope lives on.


I am weary with the pain of Jacob's wrestling

In the darkness with the Fear,
in the darkness with the Fear

But he met the morning wounded with a blessing

So in the night my hope lives on



When Elisha woke surrounded by the forces

Of the enemies of God,
the enemies of God

He saw the hills aflame with angels on their horses

So in the night my hope lives on



I see the slave that toils beneath the yoke unyielding

And I can hear the captive groan,
hear the captive groan

For some hand to stay the whip his foe is wielding

Still in the night my hope lives on



I see the armies of the enemy approaching

And the people driven, trembling, to the shore

But a doorway through the waters now is opening

So in the night my hope lives on



Like the son who thought he'd gone beyond forgiveness,

Too ashamed to lift his head
but if he could lift his head

He would see his father running from a distance

In the night my hope lives on



I can see the crowd of men retreating

As he stands between the woman and their stones

And if mercy in his holy heart is beating

Then in the night my hope lives on



I remember how they scorned the son of Mary

He was gentle as a lamb,
gentle as a lamb

He was beaten, he was crucified, and buried

And in the night, my hope was gone



But the rulers of earth could not control Him

They did not take his life
He laid it down

All the chains of death could never hope to hold Him

So in the night my hope lives on



I can see the Son of Man descending

And the sword He swings is brighter than the dawn

And the gates of Hell will never stand against Him

So in the night my hope lives on.  

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