wHo'S on First? Easter/virus baseball

In the late 30's/early 40's, comedians Abbott and Costello did a comedy sketch eventually titled "Who's On First" (Wikipedia). It was a play on words where the baseball players names are pronoun/phrase "nicknames".

This year, 2020, many sport seasons were cut short and/or not starting on time due to the Covid-19 virus. Large gatherings of people for sporting events, concerts and festivals have been called off. The pandemic caused by the virus has rippled into cancellations of May and June events as major planning for Spring and Summer happens right while all of this is happening too.

It is also Easter weekend. A time when many of us would be attending church to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A time when many of us would be having dinner with family and friends. A time to celebrate Spring and nicer weather. However, many of us are under Stay at Home orders. Our celebrations will be different this year for many of us.

The above events are what (2nd base!) got me thinking about what I'm about to write. I have also heard people struggle with faith especially at a time like this or when some other event rocks their world. I do too. Still. I don't know (3rd base!) all the answers. Still. Too much of the time I still find myself overthinking God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible.

It is when I overthink, I start to question something I have stood on most of my life. Faith. To some this is going to be too simplistic. To some this will be filled with theological/non-Biblical holes. Honestly, I don't know that much about baseball other than a comedy sketch and watching some of my nephews games. 

I often hear people say, "How could a loving God let "x" happen?" We often refer to God as our Heavenly Father. When a person has not had a good earthly example of a father, this can be a major sticking point to belief in God. I hear people say that the Bible is full of archaic information and too many rules. However, we follow rules everyday. Traffic lights. Employment. Safety. Rules to Stay at Home when we'd rather be out, even if we have nowhere currently to go.

So. Take a walk with me in your mind to your local baseball/softball field.

The rules. The Bible. How do you play a game without rules? How can everyone play by the same guidelines if each team and/or each player made up their own rules? We may not like it. We probably won't like all of it. Doesn't make it less of a rule. The basic rules of the Bible are the ten commandments*. If it has been awhile, it might be a good time to check out the Bible. It is more than just rules. There are more ways than ever to read and listen. Currently, in the United States, we are free to read it, search it or listen to the Bible whenever we choose. This is not true everywhere.

The team. Christians believe in the Trinity of God. How can one entity be three? A team contains more than one player. The trinity of God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The other team. In this game, it is called spiritual warfare. Playing to win. The battle of good and evil. In today's world, we water it down to good and not so good. Everybody wins. If we are "good", we will get to go home, if you believe in that.

Umpire. God. We may not like the decision. We can question. We can argue. Umpire makes the final call and coaches and fans have to live with it. In a world of instant replay, wow does this come into question. Maybe more than it used to. Depending on which outcome one wants, we can find info to "prove" what we need to see to make us feel better.

The coaches. Other Christians. Want you to join our team. Encouraging. Cheerleaders. Help us learn the rules of the game.

The fans. Rooting for a team. May or may not understand the game that well. Sometimes embarrassed to let their friends know which team they root for. Coaches can be fans too. They might be sitting right next to you. (May probably will be eating snacks from the concession stand)

Home. Heaven. Christians believe that this life we live is not ALL there is. We believe that we will get to spend eternity with our team in Heaven if we accept Jesus as our Savior.

I'm trying to think of a baseball way to explain hell. I'm not being real successful. Right now, the only way I can think of is if you REALLY don't like the game of baseball, but you are told you HAVE to play whether you want to or not.....the umpire doesn't MAKE you spend time forever playing baseball. You can question the umpire, in fact it is encouraged. You can disagree with the umpire, that's OK too. You've had time to decide if you want to play. That is your choice. That is free will. We have the choice to walk.

The World Series. EASTER On Good Friday, the other team thought they had won. They had KILLED the home team. They sent them to the dugout. The coaches and some of the fans were brokenhearted. On Easter Sunday, the home team rose up and the world was never the same. 

In this game of life it may be the 3rd strike in the bottom of the ninth. Are you running home? You can be in the stadium as a fan. Or not. BUT you are always invited to get on the field and play.
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*Ten commandments are found in Exodus 20 BibleGateway.com

John 11:24-26 (NIV)
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Revelation 21:5-7 New International Version (NIV)
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Alarmed

I was sitting in a parking lot when I heard it. It wasn't the first time. It won't be the last. Sometimes it's even my fault!

A car alarm blaring in the not too far distance. Loud. Annoying. Continuous....until the owner pushes the right button and shuts off the annoying blare. I'm sure when car alarms were first produced they served the purpose intended. The alarm is aimed to protect your car from being stolen. Occasionally helpful as a personal way to find the vehicle if a person is not good at remembering where the car is parked. (eh hem)

B E E P

Since car alarms are now just part of the way we do our daily business, the alarm seems to be mainly ignored by anyone else around the car. If the noise continues long enough, someone might mention it to a nearby business to see if the owner can be located. Overall though? Ignored.

I went to some Easter productions over the weekend. The Good Friday service was worship music interspersed with the life and death of Jesus those last days. The thing that hit me the most? A steady heart beat. The slowed heart beat with labored breathing. The heart beat. Stopped. Not like you would hear in a hospital, hooked to a monitor, an alarm might trip, flat line, a steady beep....until the machine is turned off.

This time? No hospital. No monitor. The heart beat. HIS h e a r t  b e a t  just....stopped.

I didn't know how alarming that would be for me as it brought me back to the living room and the final days of our dad the year before. He had fought Melanoma cancer 4 times. This time he was losing. It took almost a month in all for him to let go. The day after mom's 75th birthday. 52+ years married. 5 kids. 9 grand kids. 1 great grandson. That day the Hospice nurse left saying it probably wouldn't be long. A few hours later, I checked for a heart beat with a stethoscope I am not qualified to use. I expected to hear that steady, but slowing thump thump. There was nothing.

I had not had anyone THIS close to me die. I had heard the alarms of others as they shared their stories of grief in the classes I had attended knowing what was coming for our family. I had seen the blips of posts on FB and obituaries as others lost loved ones. I could ignore and be rather blissfully unaware....until that day.

B E E P

The other Easter production showed creation, Adam and Eve (BEEP), Noah (BEEP BEEP) , Abraham, Joseph, Moses (LET MY PEOPLE GO BEEP BEEP BEEEEP).

JESUS

Some of the miracles portrayed. (BEEP BEEP BEEP) Palm Sunday where the people cheered for their King that was the King they needed, but not the King they wanted. Jealous leaders that were claiming to teach about God, but didn't know God. Supper with friends the disciples. Betrayed. Arrested. Falsely accused. Whipped. Beaten. Crucified. The slowed heart beat with labored breathing. IT IS FINISHED.

Put in a tomb. A rolled away stone. A glorious morning. Tell the story. Then.

Fast forward to now. The alarms are sounding. Do we hear? Do we ignore? Do we tell others? Do we just quiet the alarm and go on about our day? Do we go to church, sing a song, join a Bible study, listen to Christian radio?

Do we write a blog?

BBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ephesians 1:17 (NIV) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Mark 16:6(NIV) “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Who is that man?

I meant to write this AT Easter, but life stayed busy. The fog of grief is not easy to get out from under. Planning a funeral is like planning a big party, but the guest of honor doesn't attend. It is a sad occasion with glimpses of laughter clouded by tears. There is paperwork. SO much paperwork. And decisions. Some minor. Some major. Not all can wait until the fog clears. We move slowly through dealing with life without dad, and the world spins on while it feels like a bomb dropped in our family.

I kept thinking what else is there to be said at/about Easter? SO many things have already been said/written. BUT amazingly enough when glancing back there is a link for me this year that I have not felt before. An innocent question recently that reminded me of long ago.

"Who is that man?" asked a 5 year old at our dad's visitation. I had wondered if it would be too overwhelming for the grand kids and other children that would come to see us. While death is a part of life, it is not one that is easy for us as grown ups to process let alone share with children that have questions we may not even be ready to answer for ourselves.

I thought he was looking at my brother so I started to explain that man was my brother like he had his brother along.

"No," he said. "Who is that man lying in the box by the flag?" He meant our dad. I explained it was our dad's body, but he wasn't there anymore. I don't like to say sleeping because that seems like it would make kids scared to go to sleep.

We knew dad's life journey was coming to an end. He had battled melanoma cancer that returned more times than he could fight. We had some time to process at least a bit before that day. While it was painful for us as his children to start grieving. We, as parents, were also worried about how our kids would deal with losing "Grandpa Bob".

I started to explain death to them as a butterfly. The caterpillar goes into that cocoon. When it comes out it is not the same. It breaks out of the cocoon and it is set free!

Each of us are body, mind and spirit. Our spirit lives in our body, but when it is time, we leave this body behind and we are set free!

A long time ago, many people were asking that same question: "Who is that man?"

He was a carpenter's son, he understood things that teachers couldn't explain, he gathered a group of disciples around him, he traveled around doing miracles, healing people, talking about His father, and telling stories that had a deeper meaning. People started to think He was the king they had been waiting for. They welcomed him to town by waving palm branches and saying "Hosanna!"

A group of religious leaders were asking the same question: "Who is that man?" He says he is the son of God. That he can tear down the temple and rebuild it in 3 days. He is getting too powerful. We must stop him! They found a way to get Jesus out of the way. They took him to higher ups that found him not guilty.

They wanted death by crucifixion even if it meant letting someone worse go. The same people that welcomed Jesus to their town with a parade were now shouting "Crucify him!" and they did. They hung a sign over his head to tell the world who he was: Jesus, King of the Jews.

He was later placed in a tomb with a large stone and guards in front of it. On the 3rd day, when some of his friends came, they were met by an angel: He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. (Matthew 28:6 NIV)

"Who is that man?" JESUS He was and is who He claims to be.

This year, the promise of eternal life became more obvious for our family.

It is BECAUSE Jesus died, that we are changed, we can have everlasting life and we are set free.

BLESSED EASTER!

For When It Hurts

We can KNOW all the right information, but when we hurt? We are not always thinking or focusing on the information we know. Our feelings/emotions can get in the way. We hurt and that is the only thing right then that we are sure of.

As the world seems to continue growing darker and fear continues to try to invade our hearts, minds and spirits, we need a little/lot of peace on Earth, joy, and HOPE.

Hope as defined by dictionary.com:

to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence

to believe, desire, or trust:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

It is easy to feel hopeless or less hopeful than we normally would when life seems to block our view of the Jesus of Christmas (birth) and Easter (death and resurrection). Sometimes we focus on one based on the time of the year. In order to see the BIG picture though, we need to remember both. 

Maybe this year has been less ideal than most. Our family dealt with death more close up than we had in a long time when my father-in-law passed away in August. One life ripples into so many others. Sometimes in ways we are not even aware of until much later. He was a husband, father, grandpa, brother, uncle, friend.....

I am finding comfort in remembering that God sent Jesus into this corrupted world to bring hope not just for then, but for now too. Jesus came as a baby. Innocent. He grew up. Made friends. Lost friends. When he lost one of his close friends to death:

Jesus wept. John 11:35

We don't cry alone. God did not intend the world to be this way. A world with pain and suffering. My heart hurts when I see my children hurt. How God must feel the pain of His children and want to step in with comfort. We, like our own children sometimes push us away, sometimes push Him away. To do it on our own. Too proud to acknowledge dependence on somebody else. 

God sent Jesus to this world because the alternative is that we would live our time on this fallen sphere and then we die. God sent us Jesus so that we can live with the assurance that THIS? This is not all there is. He sent Jesus to experience what we experience. For when it hurts.

John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

If you are hurting right now more than normal? The following is my prayer for you. Make it your prayer too. 

Ephesians1:17-19 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. 

Amen and Amen!

The Value of Empty

Usually, if something is empty, it is not worth much. In the age of foreclosures due to the economy, mortgage companies move pretty quickly if the house becomes vacant because of the inevitable loss of value as upkeep is not being provided. The more you use of something, the less there is until eventually, the package is empty and discarded or recycled. Once a package becomes empty, the value is gone.

After Jesus was crucified, he was taken from the cross and brought to a tomb. A large stone was rolled in front of it. Guards were sent to watch so that the disciples would not be able to take the body and claim that Jesus was no longer dead.

The Guard at the Tomb
Matthew 27:62-66 ⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ "Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' ⁶⁴ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first."

⁶⁵ "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Per Websters: Empty - not occupied or inhabited

Thankfully for us, what Jesus said was true. He did rise on the 3rd day. The tomb that was prepared for him could not hold him captive. Death's grip and sin in the human race could not keep him there. He died and rose to break those bonds once and for all.

Matthew 28:2-6 ² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay<sup>.


The tomb is EMPTY. The King is risen! Time to adjust our view from where God isn't to where He is. Because the tomb is empty, WE don't have to be. God will fill us with His holy spirit. All we have to do is ask.

Thomas did not accept the fact that the tomb was empty....until he actually saw and felt the scars on Jesus. May you be blessed and recognize the value of an empty tomb as we celebrate Easter and a risen King!


John 20:29</sup> (NIV) Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Do you know how much?

Even though I love a good bargain, I'm not thinking how much as in dollars and cents. Maybe sense.... How much do you sense God around you, in you, through you? Honestly, I have to admit lately, not as much as I'd like....but I've been trying to handle everything on my own again. Usually, when Easter is coming up, I can feel God pretty strongly. This year just seems to be zipping by though and it seemed to sneak up.

Sometimes the true message of Easter can get to caught up in the egg hunts, baskets and the elusive Easter bunny.

The true message of Easter is that Jesus came to prove to us HOW MUCH we are loved! Even when the world tells us we are politically incorrect or a day when we are feeling unlovable, it does not change the fact that we were worth Jesus dying on a cross for us. Jesus didn't come to be an earthly ruler or a political activist. He came to spread His arms across the expanse of that cross and say, "THIS is how much I love you!"

Romans 5:16-18 (NIV)

¹⁶Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

I used to have a song I'd sing to our kids when they were little and we'd joke about how much do you love me.

I love you up to the sky and back....and around the world and back again.... I love (kid's name).

I picked up the CD "Freedom" by Mandisa at the library recently. I had heard a few of her songs on the radio. I had not heard the one entitled "How Much" (song below). When I heard it the first time, it was at one of those down moments where I needed a reminder and I SO needed to hear it right then. I got that tingly feeling that shivered through me as I let the words soak in. Hope it does that for you too.

Mandisa's How Much:

What about those 3 days?

Tonight, my mind is wandering about what happened those three days Jesus was dead and in the grave. It seems at Easter time we go from Friday and his death to Easter Sunday and his resurrection. I'm thinking we're overlooking a major reason Jesus was here. He came to beat sin AND death. His blood covered the sin of the world. His resurrection beat death, but how unless Jesus was still fighting for us those 3 days?

I know in the Apostles Creed it states: "He descended into hell" I have done some searching to find biblical references to this.

Matthew 12:40 (NIV) For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

So is the "heart of the earth" just the tomb? Or is it where all of us deserve to go because of our sin...where Jesus went to battle for our right to eternal life with God in Heaven?

1 Peter 3:18-22 (NIV) 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Ephesians 6 speaks of our spiritual armor and that our fight is against the devil's schemes and our struggle is with the spiritual forces of evil. Jesus fought against those powers and won!

Hebrews 2:14-18 (NIV) 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

When I have read about Gethsemane, I kind of assumed that Jesus asked for "the cup" to be taken away if possible because of the cross and the physical pain of being crucified. Maybe it was more because of the spiritual battle that would ensue after his physical death. He knew he would have to fight this battle while feeling forsaken by God, but on that 3rd day? He knew he was not forsaken.

Some really good info here: http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed.html and http://www.apostle.org/lectures/inthegrv.htm

For now, I'm going to think on these things with the anticipation of realizing that Jesus has suffered more and took on more than I have ever imagined. And He did it for me, for us.......

Gethsemane - Place of surrender

OK, honestly, I should have written about this around Good Friday time, but as I've warned you before: I procrastinate....and I didn't think of this until today when the word surrender came up yet again!

I'm also thinking of Easter a little differently this year. You know how at Christmas you kind of promise yourself to keep that giving spirit going into the new year or to really be "in the moment"? And then right around January 2 or 3 when everybody heads back to school and time gets short, you stop having that Christmas feeling. (If not, maybe it's just me!) ;) I would like to think of Easter that way this year. Not just a one day/weekend thing, but reminding myself throughout the coming weeks that Jesus rose from the dead and we serve a risen, living King!

While I was thinking about surrender, I got to thinking about Jesus in Gethsemane. He went there to pray before the mob came to get him. He knew what was coming. He'd been preparing for it for about 33 years. He took some of his buddies, presumably to keep watch and maybe even pray for him...yeah, they fell asleep....not once, but three times! Meanwhile, Jesus is going through some serious agony.

Matthew 26:36-46 (NIV) 36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"

Even Jesus had to surrender his will and let God's will be done. I take comfort in these verses. It shows a very human side to Jesus. He felt troubled and overwhelmed with sorrow. Mark 14:33 says in part he was deeply distressed. He asked for the burden to be taken away, but asked that God's will be done. If it is possible, take it away. "Not as I will, but as you will" "The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" If it is not possible, unless I do it "May your will be done". Jesus surrendered His own will so we would have the right to choose to surrender to God as well. Jesus knows how hard that is.

He knows the overwhelmed troubled feelings. Given a choice, we'd probably all ask for our paths to be a little (or maybe a lot!) smoother. However, knowing Jesus came out victorious should give us comfort that even as Jesus hung on the cross, God was waiting for him to come home. Same as He is for us....waiting....and watching us grow in the process.

Praying for Easter blessings that continue on throughout the year. May you feel God's arms around you when you're at your worst...and God's arms raised in victory when you're at your best! May you feel valuable because Jesus has paid the ultimate price for you. Easter blessings!