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April 11, 2009

The Day With No Name

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READ: Romans 8:18-25

If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. —Romans 8:25

In Louisiana, a woman lies buried beneath a grove of 150-year-old oak trees in the cemetery of an Episcopal church. Only one word is carved on her tombstone: “Waiting.”

A friend of mine knows an elderly pastor who delivered a stirring Good Friday sermon titled “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’.” In a cadence that increases in tempo and volume, his sermon contrasts how the world looked on Friday—when the forces of evil seemed to have triumphed—with how it looked on Sunday. The disciples who lived through both days never doubted God again. They learned that when God seems most absent, He may be closest of all.

The sermon skips one day, though—Saturday—the day with no name. What the disciples lived through in small scale, we now live through on cosmic scale. It’s Saturday on planet earth; will Sunday ever come?

That dark, Golgothan Friday can only be called good because of what happened on Sunday. Easter opened up a crack in a universe winding down toward decay. And someday God will enlarge the miracle of Easter to cosmic scale.

Meanwhile, we wait in hopeful anticipation, living out our days on Saturday, the in-between day with no name.

It’s Saturday. But Sunday’s comin.

Dark was the night—sin warred against us!
Heavy the load of sorrow we bore;
But now we see signs of His coming—
Our hearts glow within us, joy’s cup runneth o’er! —Camp
© Renewal 1941 Norman Camp.

God took the worst deed of history and turned it into the greatest victory.

Bible in One Year: 1 Samuel 17-18; Luke 11:1-28

Jesus Christ said, “I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.” John 10:10

All I Need to Know About Life I Learned from the Easter Bunny

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
Walk softly and carry a big carrot.
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There’s no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
Some body parts should be floppy.
Keep your paws off other people’s jellybeans.
The grass is always greener in someone else’s basket.
An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.
To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell.
The best things in life are still sweet and gooey!
______
~~~~~ Chocolate Rabbit
I got a chocolate rabbit For an Easter treat, A great big chocolate rabbit Good enough to eat. So I ate his ears on Sunday,
His nose I finished Monday. Tuesday I nibbled on his feet. I ate his tail on Wednesday Thursday I kept on,
By Friday he was going, Saturday he was gone. Oh, I loved my chocolate rabbit From the moment that he came,
And if I get another one, I’ll love him just the same.
~~~~~
A friend was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands.
He grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him aside.
The Pastor said to him, “You need to join the Army of the Lord!”
My friend replied, “I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.”
Pastor questioned, “How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?”
He whispered back, “I’m in the secret service.”

God Bless You! HAPPY EASTER!