Easter
date posted: Apr 6, 2007
Good Friday
It’s early morning – Good Friday. By this time on that day, Jesus had been up through the night. All the officials had been summoned out of bed early, but Jesus had already been abused terribly. No civil rights for him. After all, what higher court can the Creator of the universe appeal to?
Tenebrae Service
I love the Tenebrae Service. It moves slowly enough to force us to linger in the terrible story.
All of our scripture readers read the text with passion and feeling.”
Esther Maddox closed hers with a snide Pilate voice, “Who do you think you are?”
Not Quite Easter
Those who don’t know Christ live entirely in a not-quite Easter world. We who do know Him live with one foot in a not-quite-Easter world. The distinction between this present age and the resurrection is not so clear for those of us who live in comfort. For others, however, the resurrection takes on much more importance. For those of our brothers and sisters around the world who live in poverty and persecution, the hope of the resurrection is front and center in their consciousness daily. Last Friday over dinner, Craig Hayward told me about a novel that he is using as part of his CORE 400 curriculum at Spring Arbor University. CORE 400 is a senior level core class designed to help seniors integrate their vocational calling with their world view. The novel is “Safely Home” by Randy Alcorn. I went home and was surprised to find the very book on the floor under a stack of books by my bed! (Must be God wanted me to read it!). I don’t usually read novels, but I picked this one up to find out why Craig was using it.
Though it is fiction, the story claims to portray an accurate description of the conditions among rural Chinese Christians who worship in illegal house churches. Despite some popular notions to the contrary, these faithful believers continue to suffer tremendous persecution and imprisonment. One scene described a worship service, held in a darkened house at 4 a.m. The scriptures were read from precious Bibles that had been hand copied from portions that had been smuggled in over the years. As the house pastor read the powerful promises of the resurrection, the hope of freedom and heaven, the little congregation moaned and wept. They had lost loved ones and suffered great poverty due to their faith. The word gripped them as they hung on every word.
We will read from Luke’s account of the resurrection first thing this coming Sunday morning. I wonder how the thing will grip me?