See the stone?
We have been bombarded with so much negativity that we have actually come to believe that everything bad is sensational. Magazines try to dish up the worst of people's problems and thrive on taking pictures of stars exposing their crooked life styles. Magazines sell on the thrill of exposure and bringing stuff into the open that should have been kept hidden. The society we live in gets bombarded with negative news on television and good news just doesn't sell. As we are flying all over the world, in most of the airports, especially in America, the airports are scattered with televisions bringing the latest and greatest in news from all over the world. Bad news sells really good and if newspapers don’t print it they would be out of business within the week.
The same tendency has crept into the church. Preaching has to be about the world and every newspaper is used to be a fulfillment of the latest prophecy. I can guarantee you that John did not have “The New York Times” in mind when God showed him the revelation of Jesus Christ. Pastors and ministers sneak in this deception and bombard the people with the negative as they proudly proclaim that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Darkness has become a greater sermon than preaching the light. With fear they are trying to motivate the people into a decision for God knowing full well that fear sells. They are no different than most of the newspapers you can buy at the street corner two blocks away from the church building. People leave the church in doubt and without hope that they will ever make it and with questions about God’s goodness. According to the preaching, they just heard God has forsaken us and satan is ruling the world. It must be this bad because everything around them proves it to be true.
I reject with totality the thinking that is prevalent in most churches today. I want you to read this scripture and then read what I have to say!
John 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
No days were ever any darker in the history of the world than the three days after Jesus was crucified and died. The disciples lost all hope. They were scared and hiding away from the authorities. Jesus was dead and everything He told them looked like it was lost. They believed He was the one. Now He was dead, the one that proclaimed that He is life. Where did they miss it? Now their lives were in danger because they chose to believe this prophet from Galilee. Can you imagine what they must have felt and experienced?
Mary went to the tomb early on the first day of the week to finish the dressing of the body. It was dark outside. Maybe she was still afraid to be seen and wanted to do it before the sun would shine and reveal what she was up to. In the dark she saw something. The stone was rolled away. The darkness did not prevent her from seeing the miracle of the resurrection. In spite of the darkness, she saw something else. When we look at the world today we see darkness. The problem is that most people are more drawn to the sensationalism of the darkness than the power of the light. People are more drawn to the negative than they are drawn to the light. What are you seeing in your darkness today? Can you discern the stone that was rolled away or do you still only see the darkness? I would be stupid to ignore the darkness but it is more foolish to ignore the light. People are entertained with the darkness while the reality of the light is waiting to set them free.
I believe there are some Mary’s out there. They struggle to deal with what they think is reality, but they are about to encounter the greater reality. Darkness has come but so did the light and the darkness could not overcome the light. You don’t need a lecture on the darkness to understand why it is there. People get schooled in darkness and they still struggle with it. To get rid of darkness you just need to switch the light on. Light does not battle with darkness. When the light comes on darkness dissipates. Scientist have proven that darkness does not exist in itself because darkness is the absence of light. God is light. He exists and when He shows up darkness flees. What do you see?
Look again at what she saw. It was the first of the week. In essence it was the beginning of a new day. We are living in a new day and though darkness is still covering us, the stone has been rolled away. We just need to see the stone before we see the darkness.