Rejoice! He Is Risen From the Darkness

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

Over this Easter weekend, I’ve shared my thoughts and a sister’s thoughts about the days leading up to the resurrection.

With the current Corona virus situation, our church is meeting online like so many others. We need to help stop the spread of the Corona virus, and this sacrifice strikes at our heart. You either understand or feel cheated. Those who feel cheated complain because they can’t gather together in a church building. The church is not a building. It is a gathering of Christ’s followers, no matter how that gathering occurs.

This pandemic opens the door for us to reach people who normally don’t go to church. They may find comfort in our church’s online worship celebration. People all over the world can find it. (You can find my church’s virtual worship videos here on YouTube.

Is it wrong to not gather in the way we’re accustomed?

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus warned his disciples they would be scattered:

“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”John 16:32-33

Take heart. He overcame the world. He is stronger than a pandemic. He expects us to love each other as He loves us. If you love your brothers and sisters, you will scatter to your home until it’s safe to re-emerge, just as Christ emerged from the tomb.

In preparation for this unusual Sunday, our minister asked each of us to videotape ourselves filling in this sentence:

Because He Lives __________________________.

It might not surprise you to know my video was too large to email to the minister! I had a message, and I tried so hard to share it in as few words as possible. I had to try several times before I got it short enough to send him.

Unlike the confines of file size and email limits, I can share it here.

What did I want to say?

Because He lives, we have the example of how to approach the darkness. Jesus knew the darkness was coming. He knew about the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, yet, he continued to walk toward it. He showed us that it was OK to be afraid, anxious, and nervous because he experienced those emotions on the night he was betrayed.

He went through the pain and suffering, anyway.

He gave us the example of what happens when we do go into the darkness and do embrace our fears. On the other side is a beauty and joy we can’t begin to imagine.

He is the lion and the lamb. He guides us through our fears and sweeps away the darkness to greet us with open arms: the same arms he spread on the cross to sacrifice himself in our place.

We are free. We are forgiven. We are blessed.

Because He lives!

Hallelujah! Christ Jesus Lives!

NOTE: If your church offers an online worship experience, please feel free to list it in the Comments of this post, so any soul seeking His Word can find it.

Because He Lives!

 

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

Treasures In the Darkness

The other day, a woman I know shared this with me in response to the Corona virus situation. What she said moved me so much, that it drove me to write this about Good Friday.

I asked her if I could share her words on this blog. She agreed but asked I not share her name. She gives her words to God’s glory, not her own. I hope they move you as much as they moved me. They feel perfect for the dark Sabbath that fell between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Image by Three-shots from Pixabay

Isaiah 43:5 – “I will give you the treasures of darkness….”

God is speaking to His anointed – in this instance Cyrus, who allowed the Israelites to return from captivity in Babylon to their homeland of Israel. But perhaps it has a message for us today. “I will give you the treasures of darkness.”

Treasures of darkness. There are treasures in the darkness?

We are in a time of darkness – our nation, the world, maybe even personally. Darkness. A time of moving slower, feeling insecure, unable to see clearly. Darkness is a time of lurking shadows, blurry images, uncertainty about where the path leads. It causes us to feel insecure, unsure, and perhaps a little anxious and afraid. Let’s look closer.

“The LORD says He would dwell in the thick darkness.” 1 Kings 8:12
“Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” Exodus 20:21

I always thought that God dwelt in unapproachable light, but it seems apparent that He dwells in darkness as well. Remember the Psalmist who asked, “Where can I go from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.” It seems there is no place where God is not present. You know – Omnipresent.

So we can take comfort in the truth that God is present with us in this darkness. God caused a plague of darkness that could be felt to fall upon Eygpt, out of which His people would soon be delivered. God gave Moses the 10 commandments in the thick dark cloud on Mt. Sinai. God strengthened Jacob when he wrestled with God in the darkness and wouldn’t let go until he was blessed. God caused a deep darkness to fall on the world for three hours while Jesus hung on the cross, but out of that darkness our Redeemer emerged. Treasures of darkness. Treasures of guidance and direction, of strength and blessing, of the promise of deliverance, of the Divine enactment of salvation. What amazing treasures we find in the darkness!

Notice that a treasure is not usually something that is shining in plain sight – easy to spot. Treasure is in places of mystery, often hidden – unless we purpose to search for it. In this time of darkness, a lurking plague, an unseen enemy – what treasures might we find? The key word is “find” – we have to seek to find.

In a sense, it feels like the thick darkness of Good Friday, followed by the lingering darkness of Holy Saturday. We are living in a “Saturday” time right now, but let’s prepare to join Mary and the other women as they make their way to the tomb on that Sunday morning. They had no idea how the stone could be rolled away; they knew they didn’t have the strength or power to do it – but they went to the tomb, prepared, anyway.

We don’t know what the next days and weeks will bring; we don’t have the power to roll the stone of Covid19 away, but we can prepare ourselves during this time of darkness and uncertainty until an Angel of the Lord comes to roll the stone away.

Until then, what treasures might YOU find in this darkness?

The Salvation of The Cross

Happy Easter everyone!

It’s become a tradition to share this every Easter. Please enjoy and share it.

Rejoice!

The Workbench of Faith

Image courtesy of bela_kiefer/freedigitalphotos.net

Last year, one of our church members recited a poem during service that struck me to the core.  The poet, Mark Meadows, wrote and recited this poem with his church on the day he accepted Christ as his savior.  I listened to the words amazed at their simplicity and beauty and knew I wanted to share it here. Mark Meadows kindly gave me permission to share his poem on this blog.  Mark, also, indicated that he doesn’t mind if people share it, so feel free to pass this along to others.

(This is a revised repost of my Easter post last year.)

All of Me

Oh Lord, here alone I stand
Reaching out to touch your nail scarred hand
I take myself back to the time that you were on that tree
Thinking, Lord, of the love and the blood you shed for me
All alone…

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