Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
John 20:20b
This past spring vacation my family and I took a trip to
Washington, D.C. When we head east for our vacations, we enjoy worshipping with the fellow
saints of the Pittsburgh Mission. However, of the four times we have worshipped there, we
have managed to arrive on time only twice. The first hint of the punctuality problem can
be found on a sheet we saved from Faith Church's monthly newsletter. The final paragraph
of the sheet which gives directions to the Pittsburgh Mission's place of worship reads,
"Please do not call Rev. Mahtani to ask for directions on the phone. Pittsburgh roads
are complicated and it is best to follow written directions." Trust me. It's true.
I could explain how my wife/navigator and I managed to
become lost, but it's a long story with about as many twists and turns as a Pittsburgh
"pike." Let's just say we arrived at church early for the Easter morning worship
only because I mistakenly thought it was the weekend when we were supposed to set our
clocks ahead an hour. For planning purposes we then timed our return trip to our hotel. It
took 35 minutes. That evening we left 55 minutes before church started just to make sure
we arrived on time and yet managed to arrive 20 minutes late! I now know the way whether
eastbound or westbound on Highway 376. Trust me. I do. No, really, I do!
On Easter morning I was convinced we were already fifteen
minutes late and still had not found the school where the Mission meets. As the
frustration mounted I turned to my wife/navigator and said, "Boy, I hope Rev. Mahtani
has a great sermon because so far this has been no day of rest." Finally we found the
school, and I dropped off my family so they could begin worship while I searched for a
parking spot. I parked a block away and walked to the school only to find my family still
outside because the doors were locked and nobody from the Mission was in sight! That is
when we discovered our time change snafu. Suddenly, instead of being twenty minutes late,
we were forty minutes early! Too bad I couldn't put those forty minutes in the time bank
for use that evening.
The first time my wife and I went to Pittsburgh was in
November of 1986. My wife's sister, Ellen, was seriously ill and went to a hospital in
Pittsburgh for a heart and lung transplant. We went to visit her with some family and
friends a few weeks after her operation. After three and a half years Ellen returned to
Pittsburgh one last time. From there she passed into glory. Because of these memories,
Pittsburgh became associated with sickness, sorrow and death. Part of the difficulty in
staying there then was that there was no place to hear solid Reformed preaching.
In 1999 my family and I took our first trip east. We
decided to leave on a Saturday so we could worship in Pittsburgh and have more time to
sightsee. That Sunday happened to be Easter. My wife and I could not help but remember our
previous trip to the city and what had happened there. Our memories were quite a contrast
to the sermons by Rev. Mahtani on John 20:15-18 and Prof. Dykstra that evening. The text
for the evening service was Job 19:25-27, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and
that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine
eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." Those
beautiful sermons about the hope of all believers certainly gave us a new perspective of
Pittsburgh.
During our visit this year I thought of how God is able to
call His people from different backgrounds and yet make them members of the body of
Christ. If we "typical" PR's of the Grand Rapids area were to compare the Roman
numeral outlines of our lives to the Roman numeral outlines of the saints in Pittsburgh,
there would be many differences. Yet, the saints in Pittsburgh desire their own
established church for the same reason we are thankful for ours: the preaching of the
Word. Sermons based solidly on texts from the Bible are becoming as rare as a Michigan
tourist in Pittsburgh who really knows his way around the town.
As it turned out, our first "sightseeing" stop
was the building space rented by the Protestant Reformed Mission of Pittsburgh. The
building is very convenient for the work being done, and the Mission office's location
provides a visible presence on a busy road. Although Rev. Mahtani knew we were leaving for
D.C. Monday morning, he made it clear (very enthusiastically, I might add) that if we were
in Pittsburgh on a week night, we were welcome to come to the Mission office and
participate in any class, discussion or work activity which was taking place there. By the
way, if you would like information on our Pittsburgh Mission, it can be found on the
Internet at www.prca.org. From there you go to "News and Views."
For the remainder of the week we continued on our trip to
Washington D.C. I saw many things there which I could relate to my students. I enjoy
teaching history and science, and there were plenty of sites and museums which would be
helpful for teaching. We visited Ford's Theater, the battlefield at Manassas, and the Air
and Space Museum, to name just a few. I took extra brochures to laminate and use in the
classroom. Also, the weather was pleasant and the blossoming cherry trees around the
Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial were spectacular.
Still, when I revisit Spring Vacation 2002 in my memory,
the highlight was the Easter Sunday sermons. The text for the morning sermon is quoted
above. The saints worshipping there did not physically see the Lord, but spiritually we
heard Him and we were glad. Despite its frustrating beginning, Easter Sunday in Pittsburgh
was truly a day of rest.
I have "lost" in Pittsburgh. I lost my
sister-in-law there, and I have lost my way several times, but through the preaching of
the gospel I found fellowship and reason for hope and joy.