WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
Are you looking forward to Easter? With the advent of April, we can certainly say that we have already had our showers, so bring on the flowers. At least, we’ll be looking for the Easter Lilies of Easter. April is most often the month of Easter observances. First there is the quiet somber silence of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Then with Sunday comes the brightness of the resurrection morn and triumphant songs like “Up From the Grave He Arose.” But what about that day in between, Saturday? For Jesus’ disciples, Saturday was a day of turmoil and despair. The Gospel writer, John, records, “The disciples were together (in the upper room), with the doors locked for fear of the Jews” (John 20:19). It was not a good time for these men. Death had come to their leader. Jesus was now lying in a sepulcher, and he wouldn’t be back. What was the future for them? Saturday was not a good day for these men. But, as Tony Campolo said in his memorable sermon, “IT’S FRIDAY, BUT SUNDAY’S COMING.” Saturday is the day in between. It is a day that symbolizes our present moment in time. We live in a world that is straddled between life and death, earth and heaven, despair and hope. As you approach another Easter season, let your life of Saturdays not fear, for you know that all the Saturdays of life will one day give way to the Sundays of eternity. That is what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me, will live even though he dies” (John 11:25). There is a tomb in rural Louisiana, beneath which lies a grandmother buried there some 150 years ago. On the tombstone is written a single word—a word that says it all—“WAITING!” Indeed, we all “wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13). So let us continue to sing the words of the hymn: “He arose the victor o’er the dark domain; and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!” Pastor Mike
FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
