The Pulpit Speaks: April 8-14, 1961

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.

Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, He is not here. (Mark 16:6) Sir, if thou hath borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him and I will take Him away. (John 29:15)

A few days ago a little boy was sent to Sunday School. He was given a nickel to give to Jesus. Upon his return, he gave the nickel back to his mother and said, “He was not there!”

This boy was like many people living in the days of Jesus and even our own day – we expect to find Jesus where we have put Him. On Easter Sunday morning, this woman went to the tomb looking for Jesus. You can imagine how she felt when she was told that He was not there. How tragic it must be for us to wake up one day and find that Jesus is not where we left Him.

In many instances – in fact, far too many instances – we operate with Jesus on the basis of our conveniences. We put Him where we can go and get Him as soon as it is convenient.

In the life of this boy, it was most tragic that, in his search for Jesus in his Sunday School, he failed to find Him. This little boy – full of enthusiasm – set out to go to school and see Jesus. Maybe he was looking for the wrong thing. This is the for many of us.

In all probability, this woman had been up all night. This was one of the longest nights she had ever endured. Her anxious moments dragged by slowly. She waited for daybreak so that she could go and anoint the body of Jesus. What a great disappointment it must have been not to find Jesus in the tomb. All she had sought to do at this point was in vain. Burdened down with spices and perfumes, she had come to put the finishing touches on the body of Jesus.

Then she she did not find Him, she turned to a man whom she took to be the gardener and asked him what disposition he had made with the body of Jesus. Today the very fact stares us in the face: what have we done with Jesus? It is very evident that many of us have done nothing with Him.

This young boy goes to Sunday School in hopes of seeing Jesus. Not only did he fail to see Jesus, but he also failed to see anything that resembled Him. He saw nothing that would impress upon him to give his nickel. So when he went back home, he told his mother that Jesus was not there. This adds the bitterness to our day and time. Where many people have gone to find Jesus, they have failed to find Him. Each day of our lives, each action we have, and each utterance we make so reveal Jesus to someone.

We are told in John that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Today, the Word must once again become flesh and dwell among us. Everyone with whom we come in contact must see in us a challenge to want to live better and nobler. We are the flesh that today is God’s challenging point to make people reach out for the better life.

We live in a day when quantity of living is foremost. We must move to a day where quality is foremost. The sole salvation of today’s living is wrapped up in the fact that all that we do, people will see first in us a Christian and the other things will become secondary. Unfortunately for many of us, the things that should be secondary have become primary and those that should be primary have become secondary. This is true to the extent that, instead of people seeing us as Christians, they see us as intellectuals, economic figures, or social beings. The whole idea of Christianity is secondary in much of our thinking and not only have we put our Jesus in a tomb to be there until we find it convenient to go back and get Him, but we have also allowed ourselves to grow minus the influence of Him. When people come into our presence, they go back home without having seen Jesus. How tragic!

The little boy went back home from Sunday School and said, “Mother, Jesus was not there!” What a sad commentary on our Christianity! I noticed in our  papers this week a woman walked twenty-seven miles out of a thirty-seven mile journey to get her child out of a hospital because none of her neighbors had the time to take her. How can people see Jesus if all our Christians act like this? Oh, how I wish I could have been in her neighborhood. I would have gladly carried her to the hospital to get her son. I would have been glad to reaffirm her faith in God. I would have been glad to let her see Jesus in me. But you don’t have to go to Winston-Salem to let somebody see Jesus in you. You can do it in your home, neighborhood, on your job, or wherever you are. You can do it today.

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