Today is Saturday the 26th of May,
It is a day of massive 'achievement' and 'advances' in women's health and rights in Ireland because the 8th Amendment to the constitution has been repealed, and with it, the only protection of the life of the unborn has been removed from our constitution.
It's apt that this has happened on a Saturday, with the vote on a Friday. I think we can still see the sovereignty of God at play.
Good Friday, as it is now known, was not good the day it happened. The Apostles were confused and feared for their lives, the women who followed Jesus were shocked and in mourning, and the leaders of the country celebrated the death of one who stood in the way of their political agendas.
There is a lot to compare here, but obviously that bad Friday was to become Good Friday because on that day Jesus died on the cross, paying the penalty for our sin so that we could be right and in relationship with God again. It's hard to see yesterday as ever being called Good Friday from this vantage point, at this point in time. But I know God better than that.
The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday has had various names, I'm going to call it Dark Saturday. On that day hope was gone, there was mourning, weeping, fear, confusion, devastation on the one side, and shouts of joy, celebration, victory, and success on the other side.
Today feels very like that day. It feels like a devastating blow was dealt to the land of saints and scholars yesterday and as we watched Christian Ireland die, we who follow Christ are left like those who followed Christ on that first Dark Saturday, all while the leaders of our country celebrate and shout for joy.
I think our Dark Saturday will be longer than the one in the first century, but it ends the same way. God is sovereign, God is in control, God is still on the throne. Sunday's coming!
We don't know how to deal with this new Ireland. It has been a long time since Christians in the West have had to live in societies more akin to the Roman Empire Jesus lived in than the Ireland our great grandparents lived in. But we have to learn.
That is, I think, where our attention as the Irish church needs to turn now. The church flourishes in places where it is not the norm. The death of Christian Ireland opens up new opportunities for the Christians of Ireland that we have to find and use and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through new and, admittedly more difficult, terrain.
One of the heartening things I have heard many yes voters saying throughout this campaign as they tackled my no views on my Facebook and in private messages and conversations is that they want to see an Ireland in which there is no need for abortion, but they believe there is a present need for abortion.
That's something we can agree on.
Some people I spoke to voted yes, in fact many people voted yes, because they see the pain people are going through and want to help. That's a noble reason to vote. Of course, I believe that this vote will only cause more pain, when people begin to see abortion isn't the holy grail they were looking for, when this thing that has been held up as the answer to so much pain proves to be unable to live up to the hype it has been given.
Abortion has been raised high and it's going to fall from it's height.
As Christians we know that true hope, true comfort, and true healing from pain lies in Jesus Christ. He is the light of the world, the healer of nations, the prince of peace. It is Him that hurting people need.
I called today Dark Saturday, and I like that analogy. You know why? Light is so much more powerful in darkness.
While Leo and the government and Together for Yes celebrate the 'light' they have brought to Ireland, we know that the true light is found in Christ. Everything that man does to bring light to situations is like having a battery powered torch. The batteries are just going to run out. When they do, the people of Ireland need to be able to see a true light source, one they cannot notice right now because 67% or so of them are looking at the torch (and the other 33% are looking at the torch too).
So, how can the church shine brighter in this darkness?
We can be the church!
All we have to do to reflect the light of Christ is to let the light of Christ shine through us.
Practically what I think that means is not shouting about the result, not giving out, not calling it rigged, not saying Ireland is evil.
I don't think that's light.
Grace is light. We need to be an alternative lifestyle. That's how the church has always been effective and we have so many more opportunities to do that in Ireland today.
- We can get married instead of co-habit.
- We can stay celibate until marriage.
- We can not have abortions when we get pregnant.
- We can support children's charities and disability charities and adopt unwanted children.
- We can confess our sins when we do fall and not try to hide and cover things up.
As well as this we can show the love, grace, mercy and compassion of Jesus towards the people of Ireland. Ireland isn't evil, it's just lost. God doesn't hate the people of this country, He wants them to know Him.
Our reaction to today can create more darkness, or it can shine the light of God's grace into this country so that when the torches blink out, the light that is left is the true light, the light of God's grace for the people of this country.
I mourn for the lost little ones but I'm also really hopeful, because I know the God I serve, I know He is good, He is kind, He is loving, He is merciful, He is gracious, He is powerful, He is in control, and He is moving in ways we haven't seen Him move.
I also know He is just, and I am so thankful that the just punishment I deserve for my sin was laid on Christ and the justice of God was satisfied in Him and in what He did on the cross and I want to see that reality for more and more of my own people. That's why I came back to plant Calvary Limerick, my desire is to hear praises in the Irish language when we are in heaven and I believe that on this Dark Saturday we have the opportunity to shine brighter than we have before.
Grace is, as always, the way forward. And our God is the source of grace upon grace.
It's a Dark Saturday, but Sunday's coming!
~
