It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in church, whether a few days or many years, there is always something new to see.  Something new to think about and to learn.  Some people think that pastors and others who study theology know everything there is to know about scripture and about the Christian life.  They think this because some people act like they do.  However, for the rest of us, the Christian life is one of continual insight and understanding. 

(Now, to be clear, I don’t want you to hear me saying that we are somehow privy to some sort of new revelation from the Holy Sprit that somehow changes or contradicts what has been revealed through God’s Word.  What I am saying is that  God’s Word is so simple that a child can understand it and yet so complex that one could spend an entire lifetime studying it without ever fully grasping its grandeur.)

Today is Good Friday, a day where we remember the fulfillment of God’s promise to redeem the world.  We listen and sing and watch as Jesus makes a brief journey from inside the city of Jerusalem out to a hill where he is nailed to a cross and raised up as the sacrifice for the sin of the entire world. 

It struck me tonight that the life of a Christian is one of constant anticipation.  We are continually watching and waiting.  The church year begins with Advent in December where we watch and wait for the birth of the Christ child while simultaneously watching and waiting for Jesus to return on the last day.  After that we watch and wait during the seasons of Epiphany and Lent as Jesus preaches and teaches and heals, restoring the kingdom of God. 

Then we arrive at Good Friday.  A day of pain and anguish, shame and guilt, death and destruction.  The sins of the entire world from the beginning of the world until the end of time were heaped upon Jesus’ shoulders.  Then with a simple phrase, “It is finished”, the sins were forgiven, the debt wiped clean. 

We leave the service like the disciples likely left the cross, in silence.  Convicted of our sins, sorrowful for the pain and anguish that Christ endured on our behalf.  We return home to watch and wait, anticipating the joy that will flow from the empty tomb on Easter morning. 

In a few weeks we will see Jesus ascend back to his father in heaven.  His mission completed, his glory restored.  He leaves us behind to watch and wait with great anticipation that day when he will return again. 

Come Lord Jesus!


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Easter has arrived! What a joyous day of celebration. This week we'll hear Peter preach the good news about Jesus to a Roman soldier. Paul writes about the new life that we live in Christ because of his resurrection. Finally, we'll hear Matthew's account of Jesus' resurrection.

First Reading: Acts 10:34--43
Epistle Reading: Colossians 3:1--4
Gospel Reading: Matthew 28:1--10

You may have heard the question asked before, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"  It is sometimes asked in order to be silly and other times asked as a metaphor for a situation where two things are related and one is trying to figure out which thing came first.  

Today is what is known in the Church as Good Friday.  It is the day when we remember Jesus being crucified on a cross, dying, and being placed into a tomb. It is a somber day of reflection and remembrance as we prepare for the joy that comes on Easter Sunday.  

I stopped by the mall today to grab food from Raising Cane's which just opened yesterday.  I hadn't eaten there since I left Texas and was excited to see that one was opening here in St. Louis.  It struck me while I was at the mall that you would have never been able to tell that today was Good Friday by all of the hustle and bustle there.  The whole place was busy and people were coming and going, seemingly oblivious to what today signifies.  Now I'm sure that many of them are non-Christians who may not know or even care about Good Friday.  But how about the Christians? Is this just another day to "clock in" at Church if you feel like going?  Or is it a day for more than that?  Do the Christians even know the significance of this day?

It got me thinking about how the trend in many churches is to play down the significance of many historic practices.  In my own church body, the practice has become to celebrate "Passion Sunday" the week before Easter rather than simply "Palm Sunday".  On Passion Sunday a church will briefly talk about the Palm Sunday processional, but the rest of the service will be focused on the passion week account of Jesus' last days.  More than one cynical person has said that we do this because people don't show up for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services anymore and they need to see Jesus die before they can come back on Easter and see him rise again.  Whether this is the true motivation or not, I have no idea.  

It makes me wonder, though, if we downplay the significance of these events because people lost interest in them or if people lost interest in them because we downplayed their significance.  I think a lot of times we want to believe that it is the first one and that we're just catering to people where they're at.  I wonder sometimes if it isn't the second one.  If we, as a church, are responsible for peoples' interest or lack of interest in what God has done for them and if we have created a generation of people who don't see much difference between their "Church life" and their "home life".

I don't have an answer for this and I think it is something that would be hard to prove either way, but I think it is worth thinking about.