Why Should the Disciples Wait Three Days for Jesus to Rise Again?

In the flow of church life, events come and go. When our church building was in a neighborhood in South St. Paul, the church held an annual Thanksgiving meal for the residents living near the church property. When the church moved to our Robert Street location, we left the neighborhood. Hosting a Thanksgiving meal for commuters on 494 did not have the same appeal.

I grew up in the Baptist church and have served as a pastor in three Baptist churches. Before moving to Minnesota, I had never attended a Good Friday service. I never attended because Baptist churches didn’t hold Good Friday services. That’s what the Catholics and Lutherans did.

The New Testament gives the church only a limited admonition for when it meets. The first is implied. The church is to meet regularly on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2), that is, the Lord’s Day, so called because Sunday is the day Jesus rose from the grave. The second is direct. When the church gathers, the members of that local church are to make every effort to participate in the gathering (Hebrews 10:25). Beyond that, there seems to be a good deal of freedom for when the church meets. For reasons unique to churches, some local assemblies may meet more than their Sunday gatherings, but none should meet less.

No Good Friday Services for Baptists

In my Baptist heritage, we met more. In addition to our Sunday morning gathering, we came back every Sunday night. We never took a week off. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July, you name it, we held a church service. In the middle of the week, we met again on Wednesday nights. On the yearly calendar, we convened for a weeklong evangelistic meeting in the spring and another weeklong revival meeting in the fall. A missions conference filled one more week of our annual church calendar. Baptists liked those week of meetings. They were good for the church and good for our efforts at reaching our family and friends with the gospel of Jesus. What we didn’t do was meet on Good Friday.

Our resistance to a Good Friday meeting was born from our reticence to resemble anything Catholic. And there’s good reason for reticence. The Roman Catholic Church does not teach the gospel of grace. It is not the protestant churches that left “the holy catholic Church” but the church at Rome that left, but let’s save that for another time.

One of the Good Friday practices of the Roman church is retracing the Stations of the Cross. Historians suggest the ritual has its roots in the 15th century when pilgrims walked the Via Dolorosa, the path some believe Jesus took over the course of the day of his death. Since most will not make their way to Jerusalem, local Catholic churches make the exercise possible by creating stations around a church sanctuary. At a particular station, a congregant might make religious signs, offer prayers, and engage in other acts of worship. Baptists and other evangelicals reject the practice for a myriad of reasons including the breaking of the second commandment.

In error, more than a few later Baptists rejected the premise that Jesus died on Friday. I remember this from my youth. Instead of reading the Bible plainly like we all should do, these Baptists needed to concoct a timeline that had Jesus in the tomb for three, 24-hour days. To accomplish the feat, these wrongly contended Jesus died on Thursday, and some fools even preached he died on Wednesday. For them, the concept of a Good Friday service conflicts with the New Testament because in their thinking, he didn’t die on Friday. B may not only stand for Baptist but also for Bizarre.

Our Good Friday Worship

Two decades ago, our pastors thought we were missing out on an opportunity to gather the church for a unique kind of worship service, a Good Friday service. As all worship services should be, the Good Friday service focuses on the Scriptures, specifically the passion narratives of the gospels. Each Spring we turn to a different gospel. Church members read aloud as we follow our Lord’s steps from the Upper Room to his burial. It is a moving experience for the church to read the Holy Spirit’s record of our Lord’s death. Interspersed between the readings, we sing hymns old and new that express our response to what we read. I preach a sermon from the passion text we read, and then we leave the building, somewhat somber as we reflect on our Lord’s sacrifice.

An important aspect of our Good Friday worship is the tension we feel as we wait for Sunday.

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior, 
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

When we gather on Easter Sunday, the tension releases. So, we sing…

Up from the grave he arose; 
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; 
he arose a victor from the dark domain, 
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign. 
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

But our tension is not fully released because we are waiting for our Lord’s return. We long for Jesus to come to us and right all the wrongs instituted by our fall. In addition to all a Good Friday service does for us as we reflect on our Lord’s passion, in my opinion, Good Friday services help us as we “wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). With confidence that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, we live with the same confidence that he will return.

Why should the disciples wait three days for Jesus to rise again? Why not three hours or overnight? I suspect part of the reason is to teach all disciples to wait for Jesus’s second coming.

So, like those first disciples, we wait for him. By his grace we commit to live faithfully to him until the day.

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Friday Gives Way to Sunday

I am at the point in my life where death is a more frequent escort. A significant number of my older family members have gone into eternity. Many of my teachers and some of my peers have passed away. Like every other human, I’ve always been around death, but as I age, I discover death is more often around me.

Death is an intruder to God’s creation. As Bible readers, we know death’s birth began in the Garden of Eden when Adam rebelled against God bringing on the whole creation and all his descendants the termination of physical life and the inevitability of eternal death. God created humanity to live forever in a reality where all experiences were only joyful. Death brought to life by sin ended garden life for Adam and Eve and for the rest of us.

But death’s victory is temporary. In the fullness of time, God sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Savior. Like Adam and those between our Lord and Adam, Jesus died. We know our Lord’s death was not the outcome of his sinful, rebellious life; instead, our Lord’s death was his voluntary receipt of the condemnation due to us. Satisfied with our Lord’s work, God raised Jesus to life again, and true to his word, God will raise to life again all who sleep in Jesus. Death’s temporary hold on our Lord’s followers has given way to God’s permanent gift of eternal life.

The Scene in Jerusalem

Before the close of day, his disciples will take him from his cross. Bloodied and bruised, his heart stopped, our Lord has breathed his last. The duty of his followers is to prepare his body for burial, a routine task performed for the recently deceased. They lay his body in the tomb before the Sabbath begins, intending to return when the Sabbath concludes. But there will be no need for them to complete his burial rites. Friday gives way to Sunday. He who was dead lives again and is the first of all who follow him.

Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Foll’wing our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Clap and sing and dance and laugh, Christians. Jesus Christ has conquered death! He will bring those you love who have breathed their last to life again. And if his return is after your death, he will do the same for you. He died, and in your salvation, you died with him. Now, he lives, and you will live too.

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Murder in the Church: The Killings at The Covenant School

Brenda and I attended a Christian elementary school very much like The Covenant School of Nashville, Tennessee.

Like the Covenant School, our school came from the heart of a local church who desired “to assist Christian parents and the Church by providing an exceptional academic experience founded upon and informed by the Word of God.”

Before Monday, March 27, 2023, few outside Nashville knew anything about the small, private, Christian school in Tennessee’s largest city. We wish the name was still unknown to us, but after the murders of three children and three staff members, our wish is impossible.

We should consider the murderer’s motives and her narrow hit list, her past connection to the school and her current identity as male. None of this is irrelevant. All of it reveals the deep depravity in the heart of humanity. Someone else can do that research and provide commentary. I want to head in a different direction.

Weep with Those Who Weep

I do not know anyone at The Covenant School nor at Covenant Presbyterian Church. Yet, I feel like I know them all because they are my brothers and sisters. I know the murdered nine-year-old girls. They exit minivans each Sunday morning and come into our church building. I know their moms and dads, their brothers and sisters. I know the three assassinated faculty. These faithful servants of our Lord died with him a long time ago when they gave themselves to Christian education. My mom was one of them. I’ve worked alongside them in the local church for many years.

The dead and the surviving are my people, and I am overcome with emotion – joy that the Lord has brought to himself those that are his and deep sorrow for parents without children, husbands without wives, brothers without sisters, aunts without nieces, a local church where every member is suffering, and dozens of young children whose innocence was shattered as gunfire rounds hit bodies near them.

For them I pray to our Father in heaven, that he would come to the aid of my brothers and sisters, that he would give them sleep at the end of the day, that he would, both now and in the days and years to come, remember them in their grief, that he whose son was murdered on a cross would extend never ending grace in all its aspects to those who lost at the hand of a murderer, that they would not lose heart in the promises of our God, and that they would be faithful to the end – for the glory of our God, for the testimony of the name of Jesus, and for the good of their souls.

Addressing My Confusion

To myself I turn to the Scriptures to try to make sense of what has happened to my brothers and sisters. I am drawn to Paul’s words to the Corinthian church, to the Holy Spirit’s words to our church, to the Spirit’s words to me.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you (2 Corinthians 4:7-12).

I can read “that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” May God grant grace to live it.

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

What’s the hardest, most difficult, most exhausting, and most dangerous matter you will face today? Do you know the answer? It's the same answer for all of us. The answer is sin. There is no greater plague, no heavier burden, and no greater challenge before you today than sin. There is nothing with greater consequences and nothing that can bring you more pain. Sin offers nothing but momentary pleasure that metastasizes to deadly disease.

Today, you and I must fight against sin (Galatians 5:19-21).

• Fight against idolatry.

• Fight against envy.

• Fight against lust.

• Fight against immorality.

• Fight against contentions.

• Fight against lying.

• Fight against cutting comments.

• Fight against hateful thinking.

• Fight against angry outbursts.

• Fight against stealing.

• Fight against jealousy.

• Fight against meanness.

• Fight against laziness.

• Fight against addictions.

• Fight against worry.

• Fight against all attitudes and actions like any of these.

How Do We Fight Against Sin?

Start here, determine you will not sin. Remember Joseph living in Potiphar’s house? The text implies that she had been luring Joseph long before she propositioned him (Genesis 39:7). Joseph’s reply was a predetermined one. He was not going to sin with Potiphar’s wife. We do well to make a similar determination when we purpose not to sin. We articulate the purpose in statements like, “I will not have an angry outburst” and “I will not be argumentative.”

Take the steps the Bible advises. When sin presents itself…

• Flee youthful lusts (2 Timothy 2:22).

• Take to yourself the whole armor of God so you can withstand temptation (Ephesians 6:11).

• Hide God’s Word in your heart so that you do not sin against God (Psalm 119:11).

You can win this fight, Christian, because you are a changed person. The Holy Spirit gave you a new nature at your new birth. Our God has released us from our captor. Part of our inheritance is freedom from sin. Now go live in your freedom.

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Why I Am Not Leaving Minnesota Anytime Soon

We all know former residents of our state who have left Minnesota for one reason or another. Here are the facts:

• About 19,400 residents abandoned Minnesota between July 2021 and July 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 population.

• The number leaving the state was softened by 14,194 international migrations into the state. The state saw a net 5,206 migrations away from the area.

• On net, the state gained 5,713 people, as 64,821 births outpaced 53,204 deaths, boosting population.

I too have a desire to leave Minnesota but not for the reason you might think. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the cold. I never have been. As a child in Chicago, my hands and feet were always cold in the winter. My mom would bundle me in layers and put plastic bread bags on my feet inside my rubber boots.

We have had at least 1” of snow cover in the Twin Cities for more than 100 consecutive days with no end in sight. Today we woke to a morning temperature of 8 degrees. But the weather has nothing to do with why I want to leave Minnesota and nothing to do with why I am not leaving Minnesota anytime soon.

Minnesota has changed since I moved here at the turn of the century, and I want out. Both the data and anecdotes support my claim.

Minnesota’s Downward Spiral

Unlike many states, Minnesota government is flush with cash, to the tune of nearly $19 billion dollars. Our state legislature and our governor have no intention of returning the money to the people, and worse, have proposed tax increases on the citizenry. In a recent conversation with one of the hard-working men in our church, he expressed his frustration. He had recently completed his state income tax filing and owes the state a few hundred dollars. All year long his company has withheld his state taxes, but the withholding was not enough for our state. They demand he pay more. The few hundred dollars will mean nothing to the state but will be significant for this man. When he says, “I want out,” I sympathize with him.

Last week, our governor gloated for the cameras when he signed an executive order by which he commands access to so called “gender affirming care.” By the action, the governor has taken one more giant step to silence all dissenters who affirm there are only two genders and that puberty blockers and top and bottom surgery are immoral. When someone tells me they want to live in a different state where such wickedness is not promoted by the state government, I get it. I want out too.

Earlier this winter I watched from my living room window a bizarre scene. We live on a mostly quiet street in a mostly quiet neighborhood of a mostly quiet suburb. It was the middle of the day on a Saturday afternoon when an odd movement caught my attention.

Across the street from my house, a driver was trying to get his vehicle off a fire hydrant. He had taken the corner too fast, slid on the snow-covered road, and landed on top of the bright red plug. Forward to reverse, over and again, the car lurched but did not release from its captor. A few seconds later the man emerged from the car, walking away from the vehicle in the direction he came. That seemed odd. Why wouldn’t he stay with the vehicle waiting for someone to come help? He walked right in front of my house carrying a woman’s purse. That was all I needed to see. We called the police, and you guessed it, the vehicle was stolen and probably the purse too. The perp was getting away as fast as possible.

Carjackings are on the rise in Minnesota, so much so that our attorney general has launched an investigation into the car manufacturers.  Carjackers routinely use the vehicle while committing other crimes. Stealing cars for a joy ride is not the end goal, and carjackings are not the extent of violent crime in Minnesota. Recent killings at the Mall of America and a murder at St Paul’s Harding High School are the latest examples of an unsafe society. When people tell me they no longer go out after dark, I understand. When they say they want to move to a safer locale, maybe someplace rural, I get it. I want out too.

These are just a few of the changes in Minnesota over the last few decades. It’s not the same place where I raised my children. But I cannot leave, for the same reasons that Martin Luther and Martin Rinkart didn’t leave.

Shepherds Don’t Leave the Sheep

You know Martin Luther’s significant place in the Reformation, but do you remember that he was a pastor? And he pastored during a horrific time in European history. Briefly, the bubonic plague or Black Death raged across Europe before Luther’s time. Between 1347-1350, the plague killed one quarter of Europe’s population. The plague returned during Luther’s lifetime arriving in Wittenberg in 1527. Naturally, everyone who could leave the city did so as fast as they could. But not all could leave. Those without financial ability to relocate, those too ill to travel, and those with no place to go remained. Without holding hostage the consciences of any in the church, Martin and Katie Luther determined that they would stay despite the reality of the situation. They determined the brothers and sisters still in Wittenberg needed pastoral care. The unbelieving in the city needed a messenger of the gospel. At risk of their own health, they opened their home to the diseased and served those who remained. Shepherds don’t leave the sheep when trouble comes.

A century later Martin Rinkhart served as one of four pastors in Eilenburg, Germany. During his pastorate the Thirty Years’ War broke out. Historians teach that the Thirty Years’ War is the worst war ever fought on German soil, including the two World Wars. The war began in 1617. By 1637 the situation was so dire in Eilenburg that refugees fought in the streets over dead cats and birds. Dysentery and disease soon followed. The four pastors conducted ten or more funerals each day. Two of the pastors died from disease. The third fled for his life, leaving only Rinkhart to minister the Word of God to the city’s occupants. During his ministry, he conducted 4,480 funerals. His self-sacrifice is the stuff of legends. He gave away food and clothing, anything of his own possessions to relieve the suffering of the people he served. Later that same year, his wife died. He, however, survived the war and its aftermath. Shepherds don’t leave the sheep when trouble comes.

In 1636 Pastor Rinkhart wrote a hymn for his children to sing around the family meal, Now Thank We All Our God. All three verses are beautiful, but ponder with wonder the lines of the second.

O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us,
to keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
of this world in the next.

I won’t be leaving Minnesota anytime soon. As long as the Lord wills, as long as the Lord’s people are in need of a pastor, as long as the lost in the Twin Cities need the gospel, and as long as God gives me voice and strength, I’m staying because shepherds don’t leave the sheep.

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.