It is the beginning of Easter. This is not a time to take risks with liturgy, to add to the gospel. For Jesus died, was buried, and rose. He suffered for us.

Lamentations is a prophecy and teaching and messianic. We have details of how Joseph of Arimathea prepared the body of CHrist, And we have a motivation that comes from our salvation.

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;
let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope;
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.

For the Lord will not cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

(Lamentations 3:19-33 ESV)

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

(John 19:38-42 ESV)

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

(1 Peter 1:10-20 ESV)

What is the attitude we should have? We are not Christ. We share in his ministry, and that includes his sufferings. We can expect to be shunned. We are not of the spirit of this age. For Holiness is now an offence, and truth hate speech.

But Christ shows us something more. This is not the end.

Since growing into my 50s, I have found myself focused more and more on the Christian belief in eternal life. Life after death. Living forever.

It is in looking at life in a box of 70-90 years that one struggles to find meaning. The absurdity of life is not that it is, but that it ends, which I think is what Camus struggled so hard with.

Winning and losing are fun and entertaining and exciting in the training up to the event and during the playing of the game. But once it’s over, the moving hand writes and having writ, moves on.

The question is always, “What’s next?”

Personally, I can’t wait to find out. But in the meantime, there is important work to do.

And this work is simple. It is to stand. Let the world rage around us, with their stupid issues. On a day when everyone is criticizing the New Zealand Prime Minister because we kept our current flag.

There are far more important things. Our time on this earth is short. So let us approach it as a season, and train for it: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is better to be disciplined, better to hope on the LORD, and to imitate Christ.

For Christ is righteous when we are not. Christ is faithful when we are not. And he will bring us to his home, which will truly be ours. For he has adopted us within the family of righteousness by his blood.