Our cocoon season

Oct. 9, 2025

By Rev. Riz Prakasim

Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. — John 20:1

This month we begin a new sermon series called Emerge. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore transformation—not just as a nice idea, but as a deep reality of the Christian life. From creation itself to Mary’s courageous “yes” that brought Jesus into the world, to the sealed tomb where God’s power overcame death, transformation runs through our story. It’s part of our own lives, too, even when we can’t quite see it.

At the end of Jesus’ life, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus tenderly laid his body in a new tomb and rolled the stone shut. Mary came “while it was still dark” and found that something had already happened — something hidden, silent, and unstoppable. The first whisper of resurrection began in darkness.

Author Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us: “New life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.” Darkness can feel uncertain, lonely, even frightening. Yet it is also where God works quietly and powerfully. The dark is not only the place of endings—it is the womb of beginnings.

Think about the caterpillar. When it’s time to change, it doesn’t step neatly into a new shell; it becomes a cocoon, dissolving into something unrecognizable before forming wings. Transformation is rarely tidy. But everything needed for the butterfly was already there.

So it is with us. God has planted in each of us—and in our church—the seeds of who we are becoming. But there’s no shortcut to emergence. We must let go of what was, step into the unknown, and trust the Spirit’s hidden work.

We are in a cocoon season right now as a community, waiting and trusting as God shapes what comes next. These seasons can’t be rushed, but they are sacred.

Hear the good news: The dark is not empty. The tomb is not wasted space. The cocoon is not a dead end. This is where God is closest, knitting new life we cannot yet see.

Let’s walk this journey together, leaning on one another’s prayers, presence, and hope. When we emerge—individually and as a church—it won’t be a return to what was, but a transformation into what we were always meant to be.