What about Saturday

Growing up as a baptist believer, I never gave much thought to Easter Saturday or Holy Saturday as liturgical churches call it.  I knew the emphasis of Good Friday, that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. And I know why we celebrate Easter Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from the dead.  But I never gave much thought to Saturday.

In fact, I have often wondered, why Jesus did not rise from the dead on Saturday, instead of Sunday.  I know the prophecies, but God could have had the prophets speak that on next day or second day, He rose again.  Again, I know that three days ensured that everyone knew that Jesus was in fact dead, but having endured the beatings, the torture, and a spear driven through his side, I am not sure people would have questioned it.  (Yet as I write that statement, I know that people have questioned whether Jesus was really dead or not.)  My point though stands if people did not believe he really died and rose again on the third day, the second would not have made much of a difference.

So again, I ask why Saturday?  I think there is a very important lesson that we can learn about Saturday.  God is still in control of our Saturdays, just as much as He is on our Fridays and Sundays.  Let me explain.  We all have Sundays.  Sunday is the day that God manifests Himself in great ways.  On Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.  We all have mountaintop experiences (Sundays) when God moves in tremendous ways.  We know His presence with us and it is wonderful.

We also have our Fridays, days of suffering, days of doubt, days of hurt and pain.  Yes, on Fridays, we may even question God's love and presence with us.  But we know He is there.  As C.S. Lewis said, Pain and suffering is God's megaphone.  In the deepest of valleys, when everything else is gone, I know and have felt God's presence. 

Saturday is the in between day.  It is not a mountaintop and it is not a valley. We spend most of our lives on Saturdays.  There are no great manifestation of his presence and there are no great trials.   But even there, God is in control and He is a part of our life.  On Saturday, God is quiet but He is still there.  On Saturday, we may not see Him move, but He is still there.  On Saturday it may seem like He is silent, but He is still speaking.  He speaks on Saturday in a still small voice.  Our job is to listen for Him.  We seek Him on the mountain, and we most definitely seek Him in the valley.  But we also need to learn to seek Him on the plateaus and in the meadow, and on the plains.  He is there, and He is in control.  It is Saturday, are you listening.  Think about it.

What makes Good Friday good

Riding to school this week, my daughters asked the question, why do they call this Friday good?  Now they knew the answer for just a second after they asked, one responded because Jesus died on the cross for us. That is true, that is what makes it good.  But looking at the events that day on the surface still makes it difficult to understand why we call it good.

Crucifixion is one of the most painful, horrific deaths that anyone could face.  It was so bad that it was illegal to crucify a Roman Citizen.  It was a means of death reserved for slaves and for those who rebelled against Rome.  As I said, it is a cruel form of execution.  It is an agonizing and slow death.  Death typically results from shock, exposure and ultimately asphyxiation.  Hanging from a cross constricts the diaphragm, now allowing the person to breathe.  The one way to take a breath is to release the pressure on your arms by pushing up against the nails that have been driven into the feet.  This would require continuous work that could go on for days, until exhaustion overtook the victim or mercifully the legs were broken and the person suffocated.

The criminal would have a certificate of his crime placed over him.  The criminal was indebted to society and everyone must know the crime the person was paying for with his death.  Jesus' crime, Pilate wrote, "The King of The Jews."  He was an innocent man according to Pilate, but was condemned to die for being an insurrectionist who dared to call himself a king.

An innocent man died a monstrous death, why is that good?  It is good because another certificate was placed on the cross.  A certificate placed there by God the father.  For you see, on the cross a divine transaction took place.  The one who was innocent of any crime against the state was also innocent of any sin against God.  Yet in that time between the 6th and 9th hour, a darkness covered the earth as God wrote the certificate of the crime, the sins of humanity.  In those dark moments, the full weight of all the crimes of all humanity was placed upon Jesus.  Every murder committed by hand or by words, every stolen merchandise or look of lust, every vile act or thought, every hidden crime or those exposed to the world were placed upon Jesus as if He was guilty of them all. 

In those moments the punishment for those crimes was placed upon Jesus.  That punishment was not the nails of iron that pierced his hands and feet.  It was not the crown of thorns that tore his brow.  It was not the agony of struggling for breath.  His punishment was the piercing, tearing, suffocating wrath of God placed upon His only begotten son.  As a lamb led to the slaughter, he was silent.  He did not cry out because of the whip, or the thorns or the nails, He cried out in agony because of the wrath, saying My God, why have you forsaken me.

And so Jesus died not because of shock, or exposure, or even asphyxiation.  He died because he gave up his life.  The debt had been paid.  He said, It is finished, paid in full.  Then he gave up his spirit to the father.  No one took his life, he gave it, and He died.  But on the third day, He rose again.

So on the surface.  Good Friday looks bad.  On the surface, Good Friday is the day the evil triumphed.  On the surface, Good Friday is a day of defeat.  But in reality Good Friday is the day that good triumphed over evil., it is the day of victory.  It is good.  Think about it.

Where is God When it Hurts?

I know from the title, you may be thinking that this blog is an attempt at a Theodicy (an attempt to reconcile suffering in this world with the goodness and love of God).  I may save that for a different post.  I am writing a this post as a refection upon what God taught me yesterday about how he sometimes answers prayer.

This has been a very trying time for our family and in the midst of some struggles, I prayed that God would surround us with his love and speak to our hearts the words of comfort and peace that we need at this time.  This is not an unusual prayer for me, I have prayed it many times when families and individuals are going through times of suffering.  However, as I prayed this prayer yesterday, God dramatically showed me how he sometimes answers that prayer.

Not long after praying this for my family, I was informed that some members of our church (I'm the pastor) called a prayer meeting so that they could  gather around my family and pray for us.  At 7:30 last night, people gathered around my family and prayed with us through a difficult circumstance.  As the prayers were lifted and the hands were laid upon us, I could hear my heavenly Father say, "do you hear my voice, do you feel my touch."  In that moment I realized what it really means that the church is the body of Christ.  The church as they lifted up prayers to heaven, were His voice bringing comfort to our souls.  Their hands laid upon our shoulder, their embrace was His embrace bringing peace to weary souls.  In that moment, I could sense God saying, "I have answered your prayer."

We live in a society that is quickly isolating us from each other.  We can do almost everything without really interacting with other people.  We can bank, we can shop, we can order in food, we can even play games with each other without ever seeing each other or talking.  (Confession time, I love Words with Friends.)   However, if we are not careful, we can isolate ourselves from God because we are isolated from each other.

The church must always remain counter cultural.  The body of Christ cannot afford to isolate ourselves from each other.  You may ask how can we do this we meet with each other every week.  That is true, but how often do we allow others to get really close?  We go to church each Sunday saying to one another "I'm fine."  Many walk around with private pain.  It is difficult to allow others to be close to us.  It is difficult to be vulnerable.  But that is what we are called to do.  Jesus said, This is how all men will know that you are my disciples, by your love one for another.  That is difficult.  C.S. Lewis said,

 “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

As difficult as it is to be vulnerable, it has its reward.  When I am vulnerable then the body of Christ has the opportunity to be the hands, the feet, the voice of Christ in my life.  When I love and allow others to love me, I can feel the warm embrace of my heavenly Father.  That happened to me this week.  And I will always cherish that moment.  Think about it.

What is the Church?

As many of you may know many Christian institutions are rightfully upset that they must adhere to the new laws requiring institutions to provide coverage for contraception and abortion inducing drugs.  (See Here).  Churches are exempt from this provision but institutions run by churches and Christians are not.  A part of the rationale for this is that the government argues that a church should only operate internally to promulgate and express religious belief internally.  If a church opens its doors and decides to offer its service to the public then it is no longer functioning as a church. 

According to the government, a church only operates behind closed doors.  Wow, that definition is radically different from what the founder of the church said.  Jesus said that we are called to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick and in prison.   When we do these things for the least of these, we have done it for Him.  Jesus commanded the church to go and make disciples of all nations (not just geographically but ever people group)  It sure sounds to me that Jesus intended for his church to leave the building and be the church in the world.

Which definition does your church follow?  Does your church follow the definition of the government, so that everything happens within the four walls?  Or does your church follow its founder’s definition, so that the church is both gathered and scattered?  Think about it.

Does God Care about Football

Here I am again writing about the phenomenon known as Tim Tebow.  I thought last years post would have sufficed, but here we go again.  Let me say first, I like Tim Tebow.  I like the fact that he is living out his Christian faith and is unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is a nice young man who keeps football in perspective.  If you are not sure about him, check out this article.

But sometimes things get out of hand and we take things to far.  Does God care about football.  In one sense yes He does.  God cares about football in the sense that there are players who play for His glory.  That is these players play their best, follow the rules, and aspire to be great at their sport because they know that they can honor God with their skills and abilities.  I believe Tebow is one of those athletes.  But before you think that athletes are the only ones who can do this, remember God has given you a vocation (calling).  Your vocation may be a teacher, a mechanic, a janitor and yes even a preacher.  When you fulfill your calling to the Glory of God you honor Him as well.

But does that mean that God makes sure that Tebow wins games.  Quite a few Americans believe so.  Even witches are getting into the act.  There are a group of witches in Massachusetts casting a spell to send Tebow home from New England a loser.  Oh, what folly we choose to believe.  To believe that God helps Tebow win is just a teaching of the prosperity Gospel which teaches that God wants us all to be successful and prosperous.  Jesus came so that we can be healthy and wealthy.   No, Jesus came because we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God.  And the wages of our sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Yes we will all be healthy and wealthy one day when Christ returns, but not necessarily today.

So does God care about football.  Yes, because he loves His children who play football.  There are players on all teams who play for His glory.  Some of them will win, some of them will lose.  Either way God can be glorified in their lives.  The same is true for us.  We can be successful or unsuccessful, winners or losers, but God can still be glorified in our lives if we choose to continue to live for his glory.  Think about it.

New Beginnings

As we approach the new year, most of us begin them with resolutions to change something in our lives.  It is a perfect time to do so.  January is named after the Roman god Janus who had two faces one looking back and one looking ahead.  It is the time of year, when we evaluate the past and prepare for the future.  As we look back we see things that we do not like.  For example, we may not like our weight, our health, our relationships, our spirituality.  Therefore, we prepare for the new year resolving to do better, to lose weight, stop smoking, focus on relationships, spend more time in prayer.  There is nothing wrong with this exercise, it is good to be able to start over, to begin again.

As a Christian, we have the privilege of a new beginning every day of our lives.  Because of the cross and the forgiveness it provides us, we can begin again every day of our lives.  We can look back to yesterday and if we have had a bad day, we can focus on the cross and know that every sin that we have committed has been paid for by the blood of Christ.  We can confess each sin as well as our sinfulness for even as we live our lives we do so often unaware of our actions and in-actions that are sinful.  We can know that God still loves us and start again asking God to help us to develop the spiritual disciplines we need to live out who we are in Christ.

We can look back on good days as well and vow to start again because it is so easy to begin thinking that God is pleased with us because of our goodness rather than the goodness of Christ in us.  We can confess to God that even when I think I have a good day, my goodness is not enough for God to approve of me.  I can rest on Christ's righteousness alone for God's approval of me.  Otherwise, I risk developing a self-righteous attitude.

Each day is a new beginning for each of us.  Do you avail upon that grace in your life.  Think about it. 

Did Baby Jesus Cry?

Each Christmas we sing the words, "the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes," but do we stop to think if what we are singing is true.  It sounds so wonderful.  Jesus was God incarnate, God come in the flesh.  Therefore, Jesus was perfect .  In our minds, a perfect child would not cry.

Yes, Jesus was the incarnate Son of God. But incarnate means that Jesus was also fully human.  A fully human child cries.  For example, when a baby gets hungry, the only way he can communicate that he is hungry is through crying.  Therefore. the little Lord Jesus some crying he made.  In fact that is the greater miracle.

Why is that a miracle?  It is a miracle because Jesus was truly human.  God loved us so much that he sent his son into this world to experience everything we do.  He could have sent His Son and kept him separate from the hurts of this world, but He sent His Son to experience the hurts of this world.  Therefore, Jesus not only came into this world to save us, but to live through everything we do so that He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Oh, what a love that God has for us.

So the next time you sing, maybe you can change the words to, the little Lord Jesus some crying He made.  Think about it.