In-between times

If you visit Sheffield city centre this weekend you will most likely see a huge cross outside the Townhall. It marks the Christian festival of Easter, as a visible public sign of the civic and the spiritual combining.

This year the cross will be attended by Christians from all points of the city on Good Friday. Scores of Sheffield folk will begin a guided prayer-walk from starting locations like Parkwood Springs, Beauchief Abbey and Attercliffe along the river valleys to join in the city centre at noon. On Easter Sunday the cross is traditionally adorned with festive cloth and the public is invited to think or pray.

On Easter Saturday the cross will simply hang there - like an awkward party guest, as shoppers bustle by and children shout. That empty awkwardness is like a prophetic voice to us all.

We live in in-between times. The world is changing rapidly, new global challenges rise up frequently, like pandemics or wars, which threaten the usual existence of regular folk like you and me. In-between times can be scary times. They are times of uncertainty, times of flux and change. Like the time between the invasion of Ukraine and a resolution. Like the looming cost-of-living crisis for next two or three years, before things might settle again.

The empty cross on Saturday of Holy Week speaks that God knows about in-between times. Christian hope is founded upon the faith that Jesus was executed on a cross of Friday, and resurrected from the dead on Sunday.

How do you and I react and cope in unsettling in-between times?

I encourage you to stop and think carefully about the ancient, historical account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. The bible says that Jesus was radically counter-cultural. He chose the path of suffering, of giving-away himself. The ultimate example of service to others, not self-service. That is why Jesus is the only one qualified to the claim of saviour.

Today there are many competing versions of the good life. Some people are so passionate that they take radical, angry action to publicise their causes: like protesters glued to roads, or even suicide bombers.

In times of flux, wondering or worrying about what I should do next or what matters most, I have always drawn tremendous comfort from Jesus promise, demonstrated by a barren cross, “I am the way, the truth and the life.’