April 9, 2023 - He is Risen

     I had intended to wait until after church today to write the blog for Easter Sunday, but the day began with something that I had in no way expected.
     After reading the final of the 43 devotions from our “Six Weeks to the Daybreak” devotional guide, I decided to email the missionary for prayer for the day.  I have two email addresses, one for work and one for church. 
     To get to the church email, I must open the work email first.  At 5:45 on Easter morning I had an email in the work email inbox.  I couldn’t help but open it.  It was far from a normal work email.
     It was from a man named Joe Rosenberg who is the owner of a company from which we buy can liners. 
     I learned early in life that folks whose last name ends in “berg” are often of Jewish descent.  There was a clothing store in Cynthiana when I was growing up called Goldbergs.  Everyone in town, even a 7–8-year-old boy, knew that the Goldbergs were Jewish.
     My first encounter on Easter Sunday morning is with a man of Jewish faith.  His email simply said, “Have a Good Weekend” with an emoji smiley face.
Joe and I have spoken at length about faith.  Just last year he had the privilege to spend time in Israel.   He told me about standing and praying at the Wailing Wall, the holiest of all sites for a Jew.  As a faithful Jew, I’m sure that he celebrated the Passover over the weekend.
     Because of his view of not working on the Sabbath, his email was at 10:42 p.m.  The Jews believe that the day ends at sundown and a new day begins then, not the next morning like we do.  That’s because the Genesis account of creation has this at the end of each day: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”  To Joe the Sabbath was over and Sunday had already begun.  In his mind he was emailing me on Easter Sunday morning.
     Joe knows of my faith in Jesus as the Messiah and he knows that I am a pastor.  He couldn’t bring himself to say to me, “Happy Easter.”  Instead he writes, “Have a Good Weekend.”  I’m pretty sure that I knew what he meant.
     I have prayed for Joe on more than one occasion.  He is a man with a heart for God.  I am praying that there will come a day when he is what we call a “completed Jew,” one who has come to believe that Jesus truly was and is the Messiah.
     May there come a day when by faith he can say as we say, “He Is Risen.  He Is Risen Indeed!”  I invite you to pray with me for Joe.