I don’t know if you have ever found something
surprising on your doorstep?
The day before Palm Sunday I opened the front
door to find a box of 92 ‘Huggies’ which as you probably know are baby’s nappies. There was no note to explain who had
left them there or why so as you can imagine there was some anxious thought in
the Manse as we tried to work it all out.
It was on the Monday of Holy Week that all was
revealed. A gentleman from another
congregation approached me before the service and confessed that he was the
leaver of the nappies. He knew
about my connection with the Preshal Trust and thought I might be able to find
someone who could put them to good use.
If only he had left a note in the first
place! But in a sense it was
appropriate to have an experience like that at Easter. That was a time when explanations were
needed for strange events. The
friends of Jesus had seen him tortured to death. They went to His tomb the third day after this to find the
stone at the entrance rolled away and the body gone. They were completely baffled but soon there was an
explanation. An messenger from God
was on hand to explain that Jesus had risen from the dead and very soon they
would see him.
This was the best news they could ever have at
the time but it is the best news that has ever been received in the history of
humankind. Reflecting on the
Resurrection years later the Apostle Paul described it as ‘the guarantee that
all those who sleep in death will also be raised.’ The Resurrection of Jesus happened in time and in space and
is God’s assurance that death is not the end but a way into a new existence
where everything that has ever made us cry is abolished.
On Palm Sunday I read a letter which many
people found profoundly moving. It
was written by a young Iranian pastor named Farshid Fathi imprisoned in Iran
for his faith. He is in the middle
a six year sentence but after that the future would still appear to be
unclear. When he heard of the the
massacre of children in the Sandy Hook Elementary School he wrote a letter to
the stricken parents in which he said:
‘I am sure these high walls
cannot stop my prayers for you. Before this tragedy happened, I was thinking
about my suffering that I'm going through because of my Lord Jesus Christ,
especially being far from my lovely kids. But when I imagine how hard your pain
is I forget my sufferings. Because I know by God's grace I will see my kids at
the latest in 2017 when I come out from prison. But unfortunately you have to
wait a bit longer. So I would like to express my deepest sorrow for your loss.
I believe we will have enough
time in heaven with our lovely children forever. There is no gun there, there
is no prison, and there is no pain.’
There were strange events on Easter morning but the
explanation is the greatest truth we will ever come to know.
