Eternal Life

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…” (John11:25)

 

Eternal Life

 

A pastor was concerned that there would be parking problems during his church’s Easter services, so he asked a funeral director for help. “I’d be delighted to make sure people park in the right places,” the undertaker said.

Sure enough, on Easter Sunday, the funeral director was in the parking lot directing cars. Nobody parked in front of the doors, because there was a big sign that read, “No parking here. Funeral in Progress.”

It is sad but true that many church services are not much more than funerals in progress. Without a hint of life, the congregation drudges through the order of worship and reminisces about the good old days. Like English teachers, they’ve figured out how to make the past perfect and the present tense.

When you spend your whole life looking through the rear view mirror, you miss future opportunities. If Jesus is alive and well, that ought to be evident when we worship. He is the expert at bringing the dead to life—and that includes churches. He is the resurrection!

Of course, the majority of folk don’t expect Jesus to show up at church on Sunday, and they might just have a coronary if He popped in and surprised them. Wouldn’t it be great if we all acted like we believe what we believe?

A beloved pastor had been with the same congregation for many years. Regardless of how hard he tried, he never seemed able to awaken them to the things of God. Then he died, but left this note for his church folk:

                        Tell my congregation as they mourn

and shed wild tears,

                        That I am no more dead right now,

                 than they have been for years!

—Mark Wilson