The Three Days: Repose, Despair, Respair (Part 2)

 

The Three Days are ancient in Christian observation. For centuries the rituals and liturgies have cradled believers, opening safe space to relive the emotion fraught passion of Jesus and embrace the counter-cultural audacious Gospel. Immersion in this powerful series of events situates the faithful to be fully present in the world, and amid fear break-open fulfilment of God’s promises. Through these Three Days each sermon reflects on one of three responsive approaches garnered from the Gospel to navigate and care for the world as we know it. The responsive approaches are: repose, despair, and respair. 

 

Despair: A state of utter loss of hope or confidence

 

“Blessing,” station nine of the Stations of the Cross that is currently in the church hall, shows a hand in the pose of blessing. In the upper background, lined side-by-side across the width of the poster are women. The poster says that a great number of people followed him and among them were women.

 

As the Gospel continues, the women are lined side-by-side observing the despairing event of Jesus’ death. Or rather, the women are in repose – patient hope bearing Jesus’ suffering; this shoulder-to-shoulder presence is their responsive action of having love for Jesus and for one another. Sorrow, grief, and patient hope are companion to Jesus’ call of despair, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me.”

The Doctrine of Despair is described as losing one’s belief in God’s capacity to forgive. Medieval tradition called this the ‘sin against the Holy Spirit.’ Despair has been named as the sin against hope. At that moment as the sky turned as night, Jesus’ last breath of air is heavy with despair.  

 

The women present – the world- ache with the weight of Jesus’ sorrow and despair.

 

And yet, there is electricity in the air, between the women shoulder-to-shoulder.

For a moment their patient hope is overwhelmed by sorrow and despair.

 

Psychologist Gretchen Schmelzer describes the moment: Despair is a turning point. In a state of despair you see the bigness of it all – and because of that you are freed from a world of simplistic duality – of there being an easy answer, of it being this-or-that. Despair helps you hold the complexity, which is the only real hope of healing. 

 

In the depths of despair, despair has a seed of redemptive nature. Embraced despair has the miraculous power to set one free – to set humanity, the world, free.

In a few minutes we participate in the Solemn Reproaches, an ancient liturgical pattern that articulates an intentional decent into despair, naming human rebellion along side God’s continued acts of faithfulness.

 

Author Kathleen Norris describes despair, despair is when our lives are on the line and unwelcome changes obliterate our sense of God’s presence. In this despair, the women at the cross, us sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, are once again graced with the redemptive nature of despair, in bearing witness to the bigness of it all we are freed from a world of simplistic duality and of easy answers. We are gifted with a power to embrace and hold complexity – in Jesus’ last breath of despair- the world, humanity was given the only real hope of healing.

 

As we sit shoulder-to-shoulder at the foot of the cross, we welcome despair … that turning point … from death…… to …..