It's Friday; But Sunday's Comin'

Last Sunday morning I was at worship in National Community Church, meeting in the lower level of Union Station in DC. We were singing “Blessed be Your Name,” a wonderful song by Matt Redman, with words from the book of Job. I was so moved I couldn’t continue singing, and just stood there, weeping. Later, reflecting about those strong emotions, I remembered Tony Campolo’s account of hearing a sermon he heard, preached by an African-American preacher. Campolo describes it like this:

For an hour and a half he preached one line over and over again..."It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'!" He started his sermon real softly by saying, "It was Friday; it was Friday and my Jesus was dead on the tree. But that was Friday, and Sunday's comin'!" One of the Deacons yelled, "Preach, brother, Preach!" It was all the encouragement he needed.

He came on louder as he said, "It was Friday and Mary was cryin' her eyes out. The disciples were runnin' in every direction, like sheep without a shepherd, but that was Friday, and Sunday's comin!"

The preacher kept going. He picked up the volume still more and shouted, "It was Friday. The cynics were lookin' at the world and sayin' `As things have been so shall they be. You can't change anything in this world; you can't change anything. But those cynics don't know that it was only Friday. Sunday's comin'! It was Friday, and on Friday those forces that oppress the poor and make the poor to suffer were in control. But that was Friday! Sunday's comin'!

It was Friday, and on Friday Pilate thought he had washed his hands of a lot of trouble. The Pharisees were struttin' around, laughin' and pokin' each other in the ribs. They thought they were back in charge of things. But they didn't know it was only Friday! Sunday's comin'!

Campolo continues, "He kept on working that one phrase for a half hour, then an hour, then an hour and a quarter, then an hour and a half. Over and over he came at us, "It's Friday, but Sunday's comin!" By the time he had come to the end of the message... he had me and everybody else so worked up that I don't think any of us could have stood it much longer. At the end of his message he just yelled at the top of his lungs, `It's FRIDAY!' and all 500 of us in that church yelled back with one accord, `SUNDAY'S COMIN'!

Weeping and shouting in worship? Isn’t that emotionalism? Manipulation?

Well, of course, it can be. There are times and places where a crowd is whipped into a frenzy for the sake of those who are doing the whipping. But if one never weeps or shouts about God, then obviously there is nothing to shout about. Or perhaps we haven’t been paying attention. Certainly, the Christian faith is far more than emotions. But just as certainly, it isn’t less!

May you sing and dance, laugh and shout, and weep ‘til your heart breaks with joy!