Jesus the borrower
By Pastor Ron Otto, Lincoln Christian Church

[March 24, 2024]   I grew up in a time when neighbors borrowed from one another. Not so today. If we don’t have it, we go out and get it. It’s funny how times have changed, very little borrowing happens anymore. But there was a time when we not only knew the names of our neighbors, but we were also welcomed to borrow in a pinch.

I can still remember my mom sending me to the neighbors to borrow a cup of sugar because she was in the middle of baking and ran out. I can remember my dad loaning out a lawn mower to the guy up the street to help out because his refused to start. It was a time of borrowing.

Then the thought hit me the other day, Jesus was a borrower. Not sure I remembered them all but here is my list: Jesus borrowed a stall to be born in, a manger to lie in, he borrowed a boat to preach from, a hillside to deliver the Sermon on the Mount, he borrowed a boy’s lunch, he borrowed a house several times, the last week of his life he borrowed a colt, he borrowed an upper room, he borrowed a cross, and finally, he borrowed a tomb. The one that owned it all gave it all up and lowered himself so deep that he had to borrow everything he needed for ministry. And in the end, he would borrow a tomb too.

I love that! I needed to hear that. I have stood by too many graves and if it were not for the reality of the resurrection, I couldn’t make it another day in this world. Jesus borrowed a tomb for just a few days and then turned our world upside down. He defeated the grave. His resurrection means our resurrection too. We will also just be borrowing a grave for a short time. Because of our connection to Jesus, we too won’t need that grave for long. And that my neighbor, is why we celebrate Easter. Come join us as we will find out how we too, can just borrow our grave.