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I look forward to the season of Easter all year, but this year instead of rushing to the celebration, I want to pause and consider the dark hours before that Easter morning.  Scripture records that on the day Jesus was crucified from noon until three PM darkness came over all the land.  The disciples found themselves in darkness, wondering what would happen.  Would the temple guards and Roman officials come after them next?  How would they go on without Jesus?  What were they supposed to do?  Their sense of sadness, loss, anger, fear, frustration and disappointment must have been great.  The hours from the last supper to Easter morning would have seemed like an eternity.  Darkness is not hard to imagine.  We too have experienced loss; loss of loved ones, loss of job or income, loss of purpose or direction. The economy looms over us like a storm.  In the last few weeks I have attended several meetings discussing budget cuts.  How are we going to accomplish the ministry God has called us to?  Where is the money going to come from?  What is happening in our world?

Most often when we read about darkness in scripture it is in contrast to light.  Jesus said he was the light of the world.  The gospel of John says, "the light came into the world and the world has not overcome it."  Light and dark, good and evil, two sides in an epic struggle where good wins.  It is the makings for a great Hollywood movie, but is it really the story of the Bible.  I know that the Bible says in the end God will triumph over evil and darkness, grief, suffering, sickness will be eliminated forever.  But is that the full message?  The promise of a future without suffering?  The hope of the Gospel is not just looking forward to a heaven without pain.  The hope of the Gospel is knowledge that God is with us now, in the midst of the struggle, in the darkness and in the light.

Life is hard so how can we know that God is with us in the dark times of our lives?  The first words of the Bible are these:  "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."  In the beginning, when there was nothing except darkness, God was there.  On the cross, when darkness covered the land, God was there.  And in the form of Jesus Christ, God has experienced loss, pain, suffering and injustice.  He knows the darkness we face, for he has faced it himself.  In hindsight we know the resurrection is coming, but when all we can see is the darkness we can still be assured that God is there with us in the midst of it.  Yes, someday God's light will overcome the darkness and there will be no more suffering, but now, right now, today, in both the darkness and the light of our lives, God is with us!  He is risen!  The Light has come into the world and the darkness has not overcome it!  He is risen indeed!