Morning Devotional
Good Friday, 2003
“Lucky Dogs”
by Don Emmitte
“Lucky Dogs”
John 3:16
(A Good Friday Devotional)
April, 2003 - Don Emmitte

One of the great preachers of the modern era is S. M. Lockridge.  When asked to preach from the text that I have chosen this morning, he said that it was too broad.  He needed to narrow the text. He then proceeded to preach a two-hour message on the word “so” from this verse!  I promise not to go that long, but there is an important truth that is locked in that modifier. 

For God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16). 

Many years ago I heard Buckner Fanning, who then was the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church of San Antonio, tell a story about a classified ad he saw in a newspaper. It read: 

Lost: One dog. Brown fur, some of it missing due to mange. Blind in one eye, partially deaf. Limps because of recent automobile accident. Slightly arthritic. Answers to the name of "Lucky." Reward: $100.00. 

The first time that I heard that, I laughed. I could just picture in my mind this old dingy brown, skinny, mangy dog, arthritic, crippled, limping around, half-deaf, half-blind, and half-dead! And answers to the name of "Lucky?" But you know, he was lucky. He was a lucky dog because someone wanted him, someone was willing to pay to get him back, and someone loved him. He was a lucky dog because he was loved. I am a lucky dog! So are you! Someone loves you, even when He, more than anyone else, realizes that we don’t deserve it. 

That’s the story of Good Friday! Do you know that the first word from God is that He loves us? He doesn’t love us because we’re Methodist or Baptist or any other tradition. He doesn’t love us because of who we are, but because of who He is. It’s not about how big or small we are, or young or old, or rich or poor, or male or female. It is about who God is. He is a God who loves us with ALL of His love.  

He also loves us unconditionally. We are all so different from one another.  We are indeed unique, yet God loves us with no regard to those differences. 

When I was the associate pastor of the First Baptist Church of Tyler, one of my duties was to do a brief children’s devotional for our day care children.  One day after the service I was following a little boy and girl down the hall back to their classrooms and overheard their conversation.  The little boy was everything you would expect from a boy.  He had short hair and freckles and that special mischievous look in his eye that loudly declared, “I am all boy. Look out!” the little girl was everything you’d expect from the descriptive “sugar and spice and all things nice.” The little girl asked the boy, “If you could be any animal in the world, what would you like to be?” He answered, “I’d want to be an eagle.  Then I could fly into the sky and over the mountains.”  I thought that was pretty typical.  Then the little girl piped in and said, “Not me.  I’d want to be an elephant.  That way I could suck water into my nose and squirt anyone I wanted to!” 

Unique! And all loved by God enough to send His only Son to die on our behalf! He does loves us SO much! 

But, He also loves us as a friend. Remember the definition of a friend? A friend is someone who walks in when everyone else walks out. 

Spring is such a wonderful season. The blossoms come out on the trees. Plants of all kind begin to bloom. Leaves begin to sprout on the branches of trees with that wonderful bright green color. Birds’ songs are heard that have been silent over the winter months. It begins to get warmer. But what if spring was never to come. What if because of some astronomical disaster we all were caught in the grip of a winter that would not let go, and the earth remained dark, cold, wet, and barren for years on end. It must seem like that in Newfoundland these days. They have had over 600 inches of snow so far this season and it is still snowing. It just can't seem to stop. Winter keeps on keeping on. What if that was true all over the earth and would never end. In a lot of ways that would be like our world without Easter.  

It would be an Awful Friday world where Christ has died and remains dead. In an Awful Friday world, darkness wins over light. In a Awful Friday world, loveless power defeats the power of love. There is nothing to celebrate. In fact without Easter it definitely is an Awful Friday! 

We have to admit the world does seem like that kind of a Friday world in a lot of ways. The powers of evil seem to have conquered. Goodness incarnate remains stretched out on the cross. It is a world where greedy grasping bring dividends and where violence is perceived to be the answer to any sort of opposition. It is a world where sex, money and power rule. It is a world where our motivation for living boldly, caring deeply and loving passionately has been wrung out of us. A Friday world is a world of selfishness and self-centeredness. A Friday world is one where every day is "one of those days". We all have "one of those days". Don't we? We may choose to have them sometimes but they do happen. John Steinbeck once wrote: 

Some days are born ugly. No one knows what causes this, but on such day people resist getting out of bed and they set their heels against the day. When they are finally forced out by hunger or a job, they find the day is just as lousy as they knew it would be. On such a day, it is impossible to make a good cup of coffee, shoestrings break, cups leap from the shelf by themselves and shatter on the floor, children ordinarily honest tell lies...this is the day the cat chooses to have kittens and the housebroken dog wet on the parlor rug.

 

In a Friday world everyday is like that. It is a world where even your twin sister doesn't remember your birthday. And that's pretty bad! 

But we don’t live in a Friday world! Tony Campolo tells the story of a little preaching competition that he had with his pastor during services at the church where he attends.    Campolo tells how he preached the perfect sermon, perfect in every way. He had taken the congregation to the heights of glory. And as he sat down beside his pastor, Campolo patted him on the knee and simply said, "Top that." The older black pastor looked at him and said, "Boy, watch the master." 

It was a simple sermon, starting softly, building in volume and intensity until the entire congregation was completely involved, repeating the phrases in unison. The sermon went something like this: 

·       It's Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It's Friday; but Sunday's a coming.

·       It's Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, Father, forgive them. It's Friday; but Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" What a horrible cry. But Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's coming.

·       It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday's a coming.

 

When my boys were young they often would be “entertained” in church with drawing paper and crayons.  It kept them quiet and occupied.  I remember one of their masterpieces in particular. It was a drawing of me preaching.  I’m not quite sure where the imagined location was, since the background was unlike any church I have ever pastored. It was full of detail.  I was walking on the platform, which I often did, and out of my mouth was this “cloud,” (you know, the kind that cartoonists uses for words).  In it were the words, “God loves you, and that’s no joke!”  In the background was the choir.  There were men and women, though they all looked alike in the drawing.  They all had happy faces and smiles.  The women had those 70’s flip hairdos.  All alternating in a line were the smiles and flip hairdos of the men and women.  Out of several of their mouths were other clouds.  Some of them said, “right on!” Other’s said, “way to go!” And, of course the traditional, “Amen!” (Those must have been from the older choir members). The most unusual part of the drawing was the stained glass behind the choir.  It was a full-length picture of Jesus.  And, out of His mouth was a cloud too.  In it was the word in bold capitals, “AMEN!!!” You know, whenever you can get an “Amen” from Jesus, you’ve preached the truth! And, I can think of no other message more truthful than this one… GOD LOVES YOU! It is Friday, but Sunday’s coming!