Sadness

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I encountered two very sad things this week.

First, there was a woman at the church pot luck (I've seen her there many times) who said that she doesn't believe God has a plan for her life. She has nothing in this life but a litany of sorrows.

I didn't know what to say!How do you answer that?

How sad, to believe that God's love for you is less than perfect! How sad, to believe that God doesn't want you to have life and joy, or to think that somehow His power isn't enough to care for you!

The other sad thing was just a few minutes ago. A trio of Jehovah's Witnesses came to the door, with an invitation to their Easter day service (though JWs aren't allowed to celebrate Easter). I politely told them that we would be quite busy at our own church. But one thing struck me after I had closed the door... They said that they wanted to invite me to a "celebration of the death of Jesus". Now, I will be celebrating Jesus's death... on Good Friday. Easter is for celebrating his resurrection, and the hope and promise of resurrection that is shared by all believers. But a quick search confirmed what I suspected, from an official description of JW beliefs: The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ.

How sad, again! To believe that Christ did not rise from the dead!
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1 Cor. 15:14-17)
Lord, heavenly Father, you are the Living God. You are not the God of the dead, but of the living. Lord, call out to your sheep who are lost and wandering. Lord, put words in the lips of your followers, that they may answer the lies and deceptions of the world that steal hope and give sorrow.

Lord, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ, that he died on the cross for our redemption, and that he lives now. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, to guide us and comfort us.

Amen.

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