Were You There?

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Good Friday was quite an event in PB’s dad’s church. Seven pastors from local congregations gathered to preach on the seven last words of Jesus from the cross. Each speaker was allowed ten minutes. But if you know anything about pastors, you know ten minutes doesn’t cut it.

That service was a marathon—
a true experience of long-suffering.
It definitely was not the day to volunteer for nursery duty.

In between each message there was a hymn or special music. One year, a man with a deep baritone voice sang an old hymn with incredible depth of emotion.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh – Ooohhh – Oh.
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

As his voice soared, my heart trembled.
For a moment, I was there.

I still find myself there, in the cast of characters that were eye-witnesses:
Malchus and Pilate and Barabbas;
Simon of Cyrene, the centurion, and the thief;
the Pharisees, Joseph of Arimathea, and Mary Magdalene.

As Holy Week approaches, I’m preparing a series of ten reflections called “Were You There?” I’ll post five of them here, from Monday, April 7 through Friday, April 11, and five more the following week, ending on Good Friday.

Come with me over the next two weeks
and see if you can’t find yourself there, too.

Today, Baseball

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Today is Opening Day for the Major League Baseball season—
a national holiday in our household.

Today, we eat hotdogs.
Today, we wear our team T-shirts.
Today, we gather in front of the TV for the first pitch.

Today, all 30 Major League teams have legitimate dreams of glory.
Today, all 780 players have hopes of a break-out, record-setting season.
Today, 162 games lay before us, stretching from March to September.

Today, Dodger fans by the thousands will buy tickets starting at $144.
Today, Marlins fans by the tens will purchase tickets for $8.

Tomorrow, fifteen teams will be undefeated
and fifteen teams will have a losing record.

What a difference a day makes.

Play ball!

Rest Assured

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It’s the first day of spring.

It doesn’t look like it.
It doesn’t feel like it.
But it’s the truth.
And I believe it.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

Recently I was with a friend who expressed a concern. She was worried about her faith. Did she have enough? What if she didn’t? How would she know? What would happen if she came up short? From her perspective, it didn’t look like she had enough faith. And it didn’t feel like it.

We talked it over and I reminded her that it doesn’t take much. God is happy to work with a tiny amount of faith, even as small as a mustard seed. (Matthew 17:20) She was quiet for a few moments, then said, “Well, then……..I guess I’m ok.” Yes, my dear, you are ok.

We all need a little reassurance from time to time.
We’re in good company.

When God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, Moses was a bundle of doubts and fears. “Who am I?” “What if…?” “Suppose…?” “Why? Why? Why?” He finished with, “Please send someone else.” (Exodus 3-5)

When God called Gideon to lead an army against his enemies, Gideon whined, “But, why…?” “But, how…?” “But…me?” Then he put God through a string of tests, just to be absolutely sure he heard from the Almighty correctly. (Judges 6)

Even John the Baptist had his doubts. John—who introduced Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) John—the one who witnessed a voice from heaven declaring, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17) This same John sent a message to Jesus, “So, are you the one or should we look for someone else?” (Matt. 11:2)

These heroes of the faith needed assurance. They hadn’t gone off the rails or shipwrecked their long-held beliefs. They just needed to be reminded of truth they already knew down deep.

On those days when doubts and fears creep in,
turn to the Word of Truth.
And rest assured.

Today is the first day of spring.
It doesn’t look like it.
It doesn’t feel like it.
But it’s the truth.
And I believe it.

Watch Your Mouth

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When I was a senior in high school, there was a group of sophomore boys who followed me around like puppy dogs. They were like little brothers and I considered it my responsibility to keep them on the straight and narrow path. We had a lot of fun together—their company saved me from dateless Friday nights and girlfriend-drama.

My self-appointed mission was to clean up their mouths. Every time a curse word was spoken in my presence, I admonished them with the words, “Watch your mouth.” Unfortunately, my big-sisterly advice only seemed to make them swear more. They loved getting my dander up and died laughing at my predictable reaction to their unwholesome talk. Upon my high school graduation, my groupies presented me with a t-shirt emblazoned with—you guessed it—WATCH YOUR MOUTH. I was quite touched.

The Apostle Paul knew some people who needed similar advice.
“Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is helpful for building others up
according to their needs.” Eph. 4:29

The word “unwholesome” is used in only two other ways in the Bible.
1) As rotten, putrid fruit (“No good tree bears bad fruit.” Luke 6:43)
2) As stinky, dead fish (“They threw the bad fish away.” Matt. 13:48)

This makes me think about my own word choices.
Or maybe I should say, my own choice words.
Do I only say what is helpful?
Do my words build others up?
Am I mindful of their needs?

I sure wish I still had my t-shirt from 1977.
I need the reminder to watch my mouth.

Don’t let even one rotten word seep out of your mouths.
Instead, offer only fresh words that build others up when they need it most.
That way your good words will communicate grace to those who hear them.
Ephesians 4:29, The Voice

Interruption

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I am interrupting the regularly scheduled Thursday morning blog post due to
walking on sandy beaches looking for shark’s teeth every morning,
sitting by the pool with a book every afternoon,
and generally being lazy bums.
See you next week.
If we come back.