Old Testament Text: Psalm 139:7-12New Testament Text: Luke 23:44-49

... and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. (Luke 23:44b)

In the rolling hills of northern New Jersey stands a small church with a large, stone cross cut into an inside wall. Now, it happened that one of the church's wealthier members didn't like the cross there and said it was an eyesore. He offered to give a huge donation to the church in order to take the cross out of the wall and replace it with a stained glass window.

But when he presented his idea to the church's leaders, they said to him, "We cannot do what you ask. The architect designed the church to have this cross; it gives strength to the wall. If you take away the cross, you will destroy the church."

In the church I attended as a boy, they…