Love Returns

Today is Good Friday. The darkest day in Jesus’ life.  A day shrouded in black. We drape a black cloth to cover what is underneath, and we hold solemn Good Friday services.  But as Christians we know what is about to happen.  We know that the earth will not hold Jesus, and we have expectation of celebrating the resurrection on Easter morning. Our grief is play-acting, because we know the rest of the story.  However, the full story will not be told, until all people are set free. Christians should be leading the charge, but they, too, are still wrapped in black and will not allow the glory of Jesus to shine.

So, this Good Friday, we are going to peek under the black drapes.

Love returned on Easter morning.

Not as anyone expected. It did not happen that way. Early in the morning a group of women gathered their spices and went to anoint the body of Jesus, as was their custom. They thought he would still be lying in the tomb where he was placed before the Sabbath.

The men thought so, too. But there was a surprise in store for all of them.

Jesus was not there! He was gone! All that was left was the linen he had been wrapped in.

Mary saw him first but did not recognize him. Then he called her name, and she cried out, “Rabboni!” Teacher.

There is a song that describes Mary and Jesus’ reunion. If you are like me, you have sung this song many times. In popularity, it is next to “The Old Rugged Cross.” But if you are like me, you had no idea that this song was about Mary and Jesus on the morning of His resurrection.

Certainly it is not a song that you will hear on Easter morning. Easter morning seems to be a day of singing resurrection songs and shouting out praise. This song is a comforting, worshipful song but I doubt that it is ever sung on Easter morning. It begins this way:

“I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, and the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.”

“In the Garden” was written in 1912 and is the story of when Love returned, and first made Himself known to a woman named Mary.

Love was lost for centuries in Christianity. We would like to think it has returned, but I do not think Christianity knows Love like it ought to.

Love is lost in what I found on the internet recently. It is the Bylaws of the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas and explains their doctrine. The Southern Baptist Convention of Texas broke off from Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1998 and took many churches with it. Those churches chose to be more fundamental in nature and are some of the largest Baptist churches in Texas. Look at it. I’ve underlined what they say about women. You will notice that they equate being a woman with sin because their very next sentence (that is always glued to women in ministry) is about homosexuality, which they consider to be a vile sin:

Section 1 Affiliation Qualifications. Any affiliate church must agree with the foundational beliefs of the SBTC set forth in its Constitution and Bylaws. …Any church which has taken action affirming, approving, or endorsing the practice of female senior pastoral service shall not be considered for affiliation or continued affiliation with this convention. Also, the SBTC will not consider for affiliation or continued affiliation any church that has taken action affirming, approving, or endorsing the practice of homosexuality. (Notice that homosexuality has again been placed side by side with being female. The Bible does not connect the two, but they do).

We pray for the return of Love. We pray that Love will return to women, as he did the first time. Will you join me in praying for Love to return as we live out our Christianity on this earth?

(Quoted from my new book “Women Equal-No Buts: Powered by the same Source.” Available on Kindle and Amazon.)