Embracing Silence: Faith and Community on Holy Saturday

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Psalm 22:1-2, 3-5, 11, 16-18, 27-28, 30-31**
- "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief."
- "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them. They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced."
- "Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me."
- "My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing."
- "The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him. For royal power belongs to the Lord. He rules all the nations."
- "Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done."

#### Observation Questions
1. What emotions and experiences does the psalmist describe in Psalm 22:1-2? How do these verses reflect the feelings of abandonment and despair? [33:58 ]
2. In Psalm 22:3-5, what shift occurs in the psalmist's tone, and what historical events does he recall? [34:38 ]
3. How does Psalm 22:16-18 prophetically describe the crucifixion of Jesus? What specific details are mentioned? [35:58 ]
4. According to Psalm 22:27-28, what is the ultimate outcome for the nations and the earth? How does this contrast with the earlier verses of despair? [36:40 ]

#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the experience of Holy Saturday, as described in the sermon, parallel the emotions expressed in Psalm 22? What can we learn from this about dealing with times of spiritual silence and uncertainty? [31:47 ]
2. The sermon mentioned the importance of community during times of doubt and confusion. How did the disciples support each other on Holy Saturday, and how can we apply this in our own faith communities? [41:25 ]
3. Reflecting on Psalm 22, how does the oscillation between despair and praise help us understand the nature of faith and trust in God? How can this pattern be seen in our own spiritual journeys? [33:58 ]
4. The sermon emphasized the practice of silence in prayer. How can we cultivate this discipline in our daily lives, and what benefits might it bring to our relationship with God? [47:38 ]

#### Application Questions
1. Think about a time when you felt God's silence in your life. How did you respond, and what did you learn from that experience? How can you apply those lessons to future times of spiritual silence? [31:08 ]
2. In what ways can you lean on your faith community during times of doubt and confusion? Share a specific instance when the support of others helped you through a difficult period. [41:25 ]
3. How can you incorporate the practice of silence in your prayer life this week? Set aside a specific time each day to sit in silence and listen for God's voice. What challenges do you anticipate, and how will you address them? [47:38 ]
4. Reflect on the tension between despair and praise in Psalm 22. How can you remind yourself of God's past faithfulness during your own moments of doubt? Share a personal story where recalling God's faithfulness helped you. [33:58 ]
5. The sermon highlighted the significance of Holy Communion as a reminder of Christ's sacrifice and the hope of the resurrection. How does participating in Communion impact your faith? How can you make this sacrament more meaningful in your spiritual life? [54:42 ]
6. Identify a specific area in your life where you need to surrender to God's will, even when His plans are not clear. What steps can you take to trust in His sovereignty and find peace in the unknown? [31:47 ]
7. How can you use the language of the Psalms to express your own experiences of suffering and hope? Choose a Psalm that resonates with you and write a prayer or reflection based on its themes. [33:58 ]

Day 1: Embracing God's Silent Invitations
In the stillness of Holy Saturday, believers are invited to a deeper trust in God's sovereignty. This day of silence is not an absence but a profound presence, asking for reliance on God even when His plans are not immediately clear. It is a time to reflect on the nature of faith, which encompasses not only the joy of resurrection but also the peace that comes from surrendering to God's will. In the quiet, one is challenged to find solace in the knowledge that God is still in control, and that this silence can be a sacred space for spiritual growth and introspection.

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Psalm 46:10)

Reflection: How can you use moments of silence today to deepen your trust in God's plan for your life? [30:28]

Day 2: The Discipline of Silent Prayer
Silent prayer is a spiritual discipline that opens the heart to hear God's voice. By quieting the mind and focusing on God's presence, one becomes more attuned to the subtle ways He communicates. Silence is not empty; it is a space brimming with the potential for divine encounter and revelation. This practice encourages believers to listen for God's whisper and to ask Him intimate questions, fostering a deeper discernment of His voice and presence in their lives, even in perceived silence.

"But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." (Habakkuk 2:20)

Reflection: What specific time and place can you set aside today for silent prayer to listen for God's guidance? [47:38]

Day 3: The Strength of Spiritual Community
Community is vital in the Christian journey, particularly during seasons of doubt and confusion. When personal faith wavers, the faith of others can provide support and sustenance. Just as the disciples leaned on each other during their uncertainties, believers today are called to draw strength from their spiritual community. This shared faith experience helps to uphold individuals and guide them back to the truth of God's promises, reinforcing the power of a faith-filled community.

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Reflection: Who in your community can you reach out to for support or offer encouragement to today? [41:25]

Day 4: Scripture as Language for Suffering and Hope
Engaging with Scripture, particularly the Psalms, provides a language for the believer's experiences of suffering and hope. Identifying with the psalmists' raw emotions and their ultimate trust in God allows individuals to find words to express their own spiritual journey. These scriptural encounters remind believers of God's faithfulness throughout history and offer a way to articulate both the struggles and the steadfastness of faith.

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure." (Psalm 40:1-2)

Reflection: What Psalm can you read today that resonates with your current spiritual season, and how does it speak to your experience? [33:58]

Day 5: Communion as Remembrance and Hope
The sacrament of communion is a profound act of remembrance of Christ's sacrifice and the hope of resurrection. Partaking in the breaking of bread and the sharing of the cup unites believers with the body of Christ, past and present. This sacred act anchors the faith community in the reality of Christ's love and the promise of eternal life, proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes again.

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." (1 Corinthians 11:26)

Reflection: How can participating in communion this week be a meaningful reminder of Christ's love and sacrifice for you? [54:42]

All right, so we are continuing. We have one more week left in this series where we are looking at the last week of Jesus's life before Easter, what we call Passion Week, before his resurrection, and how that parallels into the life of prayer.

If you'd like to follow along and read the scriptures and the quotes, you can do so by going to the sermon notes tab. Click on "Worship" and then find the sermon notes there.

So today's message is using the day of Holy Saturday to parallel into our prayer life. We've been going deeper and deeper into this idea of silence in this series. What do we do when God's not there? But Holy Saturday is the epitome of silence.

See, there are times in life experiences which really become problematic for us because God does not speak. He does not act. He does not give a word through another person. He does not open or shut a door, and oftentimes that becomes our test. It also becomes a space for spiritual growth. We can either grow closer to God or our faith can suffer the most.

So as we look at what is really the most mysterious day in Christianity, the day of Holy Saturday, we're going to try to figure out how we can grow from it and how it can help us in our prayer life.

If we're not careful, we can skip over Holy Saturday in Holy Week. Good Friday has a lot of importance because it's the day that Jesus hung on the cross and died, and Easter, of course, is very important to us. It is the most important day in our Christian season, our year, and in the lives of Christians. It is the day that Christ rose and overcame death. But Saturday is easy to pass over.

I want to read a quote for you:

"In our fear of unknowing, we leapfrog Holy Saturday and rush to the resurrection. We race disconcerted to make meaning and find beauty where there is simply none. Yet from dusk on Good Friday to dawn on Easter Sunday, God allowed the whole of creation to remain in a state of chaos and despair."

Last week, we focused on Friday. We looked at the prayer that Jesus had on the cross, the words that he gave to God when he said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" That feeling of Jesus verbalizing feeling abandoned by God. If Jesus felt abandoned, then we ourselves shouldn't feel bad if we feel abandoned by God.

But there's so little we know about Holy Saturday; we tend to just skip it. So I want to invite you today to just sit for a bit with the unknown and the unsettled as we try to live in a little of this space of in-between.

Now to start, I want to invite you into Psalm 22 because what I didn't share with you last week is that when Christ said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" he was quoting Psalm 22.

Now, this is a long Psalm, so I'm not going to read every verse of it. I'm going to pick some key passages out of the chapter, but I would love for you to go home later and read the entire thing.

There’s a pattern in it of the psalmist crying out to God, of suffering and despair, and then worshiping praises to God, and then back to the despair and back to the praises.

So I want you to see some of that in here, starting in verse one:

"My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief."

You hear the pain and the hardship in that. But if we move on to verse three, we get the flip side:

"Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted you, and you rescued them."

So do you hear the flip? You've got someone who feels abandoned and alone but yet remembers the history of trust and praise.

"They cried out to you and they were saved; they trusted in you and were never disgraced."

The psalmist is remembering the history of Israel and that although this person feels alone, the history says that God shows up.

If we jump down to verse 11:

"Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me."

Back to the suffering.

Then verse 16:

"My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet."

Can you picture that for Jesus on the cross? He's surrounded by his enemies, and his hands and feet have been pierced.

"I can count all my bones; my enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing."

We didn't really expect the book of Psalms to be a book of prophecy, did we? But this tells exactly how Jesus was treated as they threw lots for who got Jesus's belongings on the cross.

If we go back down now to verse 27:

"The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him; all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for royal power belongs to the Lord; he rules all the nations."

The psalmist has been talking about how the enemies are everywhere but remembers that everything belongs to God and he will rule all.

Verse 30:

"Our children will also serve him; future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born; they will hear about everything he has done."

It's my thought that for Jesus, as he quoted the beginning of this Psalm, that he was remembering all that was in it.

You see, every Psalm, all 150 in the Book of Psalms, every first verse is unique, and it was not uncommon in the Jewish culture for them to say just the first line to call the entire Psalm because they knew the Psalms by the first line.

So when Jesus said just the one, it was him bringing the entire Psalm to his mind. I imagine for someone who knew the Bible quite well, as Jesus did, that he was not just remembering the psalmist crying out to God in agony but remembering the praises that the psalmist did.

You see, for most of us, when we are somewhere in the in-between places, we live between the cross and the resurrection. We either tilt towards the cross of living in the things that Jesus did for us, remembering all of our sin and carrying the guilt of all we've done wrong, and we live there too much, or we live so much in the resurrection that we forget what he has done.

We forget the sacrifice; we forget what he has conquered, and we don't remember where we have been.

But Saturday represents the space between. Saturday represents the uncertainty, the silence, the confusion. For the followers of Jesus, they didn't know what was going on. They did not know what was going to come. They feared for their lives, and it was their day of worship.

Remember, on Friday, they had to take Jesus down from the cross and get him buried before the sun went down because on Sabbath they could not do anything.

So they woke up Saturday morning, and they had to honor the Sabbath. They had to get up and go to their houses of worship. Some went to the temple, and some went to synagogues. Only the very special people worshiped in the temple, and the rest went to synagogues.

They had to act like everything was normal because we do know that many of them had to gather secretly behind locked doors because a little bit we're told about this day. They were being hunted, and they gathered together scared.

They worshiped so that people would not think that they were afraid publicly, but they gathered to protect themselves. They wanted to look normal, but they grieved and they questioned. They were trying to figure out how the God who sent the Messiah could allow the Messiah to be killed.

Was he really the one they thought? What was happening? How could Jesus allow this to be happening to himself if he was the one they thought he was? And they didn't know what to do.

When we think about this in our own lives today, we forget how much doubt and confusion had to be in this space on Saturday. So many times we pick on Thomas after the resurrection for still being in a place of doubt, but they all were doubting and confused on Saturday.

But the truth is that when we have faith, sometimes we carry our own faith and we live into our own faith. But most of the time, our faith isn't enough, and we need the faith of others to carry us through.

We see in scripture many times that it's other people's faith that does amazing things. Jesus healed people not because of the faith of the person but the faith of the friends. He told the disciples that they couldn't heal because their faith wasn't enough.

Our first thing to realize in this struggle and in the silence and in the in-between places is that when we don't have the strength, when we don't have the faith, when we don't know where to go, that's where the community comes in.

Because we may not have the faith, and we may be in a place of doubt, but other people may be stronger than us in this moment, and it's okay. Allow them to be the strength we're without.

Many of you are probably like me, and you remember watching the witness of the life of Mother Teresa. After she died, the Vatican collected the journals of her life, and most of her life she doubted her worthiness and her calling in life, and she doubted her faith.

It's hard to believe of someone that we saw so much good come from and someone that the world would all agree is the most recent Catholic saint. But the Catholic Church states to this day that the path of doubt and faith is the most maturing process in Christianity.

I'd like to read another quote for you, but this one comes from C.S. Lewis. He says this:

"When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing him, God, so happy that you are tempted to feel God's claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to him with gratitude and praise, you will be, or so it feels, welcomed with open arms.

But go to God when you need, when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside.

Have any of you felt like that? That when you desperately needed God, you did not find him there? After that silence, you may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become.

There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. Was it ever inhabited? It seemed so once. And that seemingly was as strong as this.

What can it mean? Why is he so present a commander in other times of prosperity and so very absent a help in time of trouble?"

See, friends, this is the paradox: we feel God's presence so much when life seems to be going okay, but when we desperately need him, we can't seem to figure out where he is.

When we desperately need a word, we can't hear. For the disciples, they gathered together to gain support from one another in their struggle. It is believed they gathered back at Bethany, the same place where they were at the day of Palm Sunday when Jesus came into the city and everybody shouted, "Hosanna!"

The same place where Mary washed Jesus's feet and poured the perfume upon him. The same place where Simon the leper was healed.

See, this place, this house where they had so many wonderful memories, just outside the place where they lost him, must have at least had some comfort because it had positive memories.

The reality is that for us, we must find places that help us feel rooted and connected to God, either a place where we have a memory or we're grounded for some reason.

But oftentimes, we don't get still enough to feel the connection. It's hard. This year starts my 10th year as an appointed pastor. That's mind-blowing for me that it's year 10. I feel like we just left Kentucky in graduation.

But out of all the years I have now served, I hear over and over people say, "I never hear God speaking to me."

So I want to do an exercise with you. We've been talking about the silence and embracing the silence. So today, we're going to embrace the silence a little bit.

And I'll be honest, this will be the most uncomfortable thing for me to stand here while you sit, but we're going to embrace the uncomfortability together.

So for a moment, if you would, you can open your eyes, you can close your eyes, you can stare at the floor, you can do whatever you want. But I just want you to sit, and I want you to say your name in your head to yourself.

It should sound like your own voice unless you're really creative and you can create character voices. If so, I envy you because I'm not that way.

But if you can imagine your own voice being said to yourself, that is the whisper that you can hear when you hear God.

Nine times out of ten, when we hear from God, we dismiss it as being ourselves or not from him.

Now I want you to sit in this space and realize that you're not crazy for having your self-conscious bring thoughts to your mind.

We're going to ask God questions and just give him a moment to bring answers. If you don't like the questions I'm giving you, you can ask God another question. That's okay.

But this is just so you don't have to come up with things from scratch.

The first question for us with God today is this:

"God, what is it that you like about me?"

Just take a moment and ask him. Get a thought. Don't throw it out thinking it's something else; just embrace whatever comes to your mind.

And I want you to ask God, "What's making you sad right now?"

And the last thing is this:

"If God could ask you one question, what would the question from God be to you?"

We're talking about Bethany on Sabbath. They would have had a meal together at Bethany.

And you know the disciples, they would have taken their bread and their juice or their wine and all of their meal and given thanks for it.

Jesus knew what he was doing when he told the disciples to do this in remembrance of me because when they were at that table and they broke that bread, everything from Thursday and Friday would have come flooding back.

We don't think about that on Saturday often, but part of the Sabbath process was to eat together.

For the first time, the church sat around a table and celebrated Holy Communion before Christ ever rose.

Today, as we embrace the stillness, I hope you heard a whisper in something from God and that you'll embrace those things.

Friends, we're going to take a moment and we're going to confess together.

So one thing God asks of us, it's the only requirement of this table, is that we confess our sins.

So would you join me now in this confession on the screen?

"Purifying God, we grow comfortable with our lives in the church and in the world. We do not always welcome the new life you offer in Christ, for you overturn our notions of power and protocol.

Sure of our righteousness, we are critical of others. Wanting to control our assets, we hoard the gifts you give us.

Forgive us, we pray, for seeking our gain at the expense of others. Help us bend our lives toward your own self-life of self-giving and sacrifice.

Fill us, our homes, and churches with the abundant love of Christ until all are made new. In Christ's name we pray."

Take a moment to lift anything to God in your heart that you want to add to your confession.

As you use your imaginations, I want you to picture those in hiding and in fear in Bethany as they ate their meal and they broke the bread.

And they remember Jesus saying, "This is the body broken for you. Eat this in remembrance of me."

And they took the cup and remembered Jesus saying, "This is the blood of the New Covenant poured for the sins of all people. Drink just as you eat in remembrance of me."

Friends, would you share this word of forgiveness with me?

"In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven."

"In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven."

Amen.

Father God, send your spirit upon this bread and juice and transform it into your body and blood so that we may be redeemed by your grace and transformed into your people as witnesses in the world.

We pray this in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Those who are going to help me with communion, would you like to come forward?

I'll serve my servers first. Just a word of instruction: as you come, you'll come up the center, and we'll give you a small piece of bread to dip into the juice.

If you like your communion not to be touched by anyone, we'll have prepackaged communion here in the center along with gluten-free.

Give us just a moment after we serve everyone, and we'll invite you forward.

"When we think about this in our own lives today, we forget how much doubt and confusion had to be in this space on Saturday... when we have faith, sometimes we carry our own faith and we live into our own faith, but most of the time our faith isn't enough, and we need the faith of others to carry us through." [41:25 ](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



"Many of you are probably like me and you remember watching and the witness of the life of Mother Teresa... Most of her life she doubted her worthiness and her calling in life, and she doubted her faith... the Catholic Church states to this day that the path of doubt and faith is the most maturing process in Christianity." [42:42 ](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



"We feel God's presence so much when life seems to be going okay, but when we desperately need him, we can't seem to figure out where he is... for the disciples, they gathered together to gain support from one another in their struggle... they gathered back at Bethany, the same place where they had so many wonderful memories." [45:39 ](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



"I hear over and over people say, 'I never hear God speaking to me.' So I want to do an exercise with you... I want you to sit and say your name in your head to yourself... that is the whisper that you can hear when you hear God... when we hear from God, we dismiss it as being ourselves and not from Him." [47:38 ](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



"Saturday represents the space between, the silence, the confusion for the followers of Jesus. They didn't know what was going on, they did not know what was going to come, they feared for their lives, and it was their day of worship... they had to act like everything was normal because... they were being hunted." [39:33 ](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



"Table and they broke that bread, everything from Thursday and Friday would have come flooding back. We don't think about that on Saturday often, but part of the Sabbath process was to eat together. For the first time, the church sat around a table and celebrated Holy Communion before Christ ever rose." [52:30 ](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



"Picture those in hiding and in fear in Bethany as they ate their meal and they broke the bread and they remember Jesus saying, 'This is the body broken for you; eat this in remembrance of me.' And they took the cup, I remember Jesus saying, 'This is the blood of the New Covenant poured for the sins of all people; drink just as you eat and remembrance of me.'" [54:42 ](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)