Living In Sunday

LIVING IN SUNDAY

THE STORY CHAPTER 27 / Matthew 27:62-28:10

INTRODUCTION… Some People Live for Certain Days (P)

Each of us has something in common… we all are slaves to time and we experience life on a day in and day out basis. We give the days specific names so we can help mark the passage of time. Some of us live for certain days…

Depending on your personality type… some people often live for Mondays. Mondays are the start of the work week and signal a new week of possibilities and the ability to get things done. Mondays often have holidays which make it kind of like a weekend step-brother. For example, “From 1971 on, Memorial Day has always been on a Monday which signals the unofficial start of the summer, BBQs, movies, and mattress sales” (Allan West). There’s even Monday Night Football to look forward for some. Some people… and Garfield the cat… don’t like Mondays, but overall it’s a pretty good day.

Tuesdays are the absolute worst day of the week. By the very nature of its place on the calendar, it is the black sheep of the week. Tuesday used to be great, but it has fallen away. Ed McMahon once said, “there was a time when people didn’t go out of their house on Tuesday night at eight o’ clock because Milton Berle was on.” That was back in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Tuesday now is relegated to specials at restaurants where you can get good deals on combos like at Your Pie and many times kids eat free at Cody’s Roadhouse, TGI Fridays, Beef O Brady’s, Dennys, Fazolis, IHOP, Moes, and 27 other restaurants (coupondiva.com). Poor Tuesday, it’s the Kids Eat Free Day.

Wednesdays are many times a day people live for. Camels certainly do! Wednesday signals the mid-part of the week and brings with the dawn a ray of hope that the ever loved weekend is right around the corner. As a shameless plug, NBCC has a wonderful fellowship meal and different groups that meet on Wednesday to give you a spiritual boost in the middle of the week and hopefully encourage you in your walk with Jesus Christ… for many that is an essential part of the their week.

Thursdays bring with it the hope of its big brother Friday and for those who like to party and drink… every Thursday night is “Ladies Night” at clubs and bars. I suppose that is why Fridays (the day after) in many places is not a great day for employee production and work completion. I seem to notice that Thursdays is also the night where good TV has lived. Some people live for good TV and Thursdays is a great night for that. Some very famous TV shows have made their homes on Thursday Nights: Fame (1981-1983), The Cosby Show (1984-1992), Hill Street Blues (1981-1987), Cheers (1983-1993), Family Ties (1984-1987), LA Law (1986-1994), ER (1994-2009), Friends (1995-2004), and The Office (2007-2013) (wikipedia.org/wiki/Must_See_TV).

Ah then there are the Fridays. Fridays are the days for paychecks, High School Football, dates with that special person, it signals the end of the school week, and even blockbuster movie premiers. Fridays the traffic on the roads is the worst because people are in a rush to get to what is often the freest part of their lives… the weekend. Friday reigns supreme in the week as the most favorite because what happens right after. And what happens right after Monday through Friday is the Weekend which holds the precious days of Saturday and Sunday.

Last time we were in The Story, we looked at chapter 26 which is all about Jesus’ last week on Earth. He concluded His physical life and His ministry with a week that is unimaginable for most of us. There were no days of eating free or TV shows or movie premiers or ladies nights at the local tavern. There certainly was no pay check on Friday. In fact, Friday was the day Jesus paid out for all of us.

1 Peter 2:21-24 reminds us of this fact, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. 22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

The Friday that Jesus died on the cross for you and for me is the most significant Friday that has ever graced a calendar. Period. Yet, we must understand that Jesus Christ did not STAY DEAD and time marched on while Jesus was in the tomb. The people that were left behind… Mary the mother of Jesus, the other 65 Marys mentioned in the Gospels, the disciples, the other followers of Jesus… all had to endure a weekend that was unlike any other. They had to live through Saturday and Sunday.