One of the most important events that takes place on Easter Sunday isn’t narrated within any of the four gospels. Instead, it takes place inbetween verse 18, which we looked at last week, and verse 19, the first verse of today’s scripture.
Last Sunday, on Easter Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene encounters the Risen Lord. And Jesus commissions her to go and tell the other eleven disciples the good news of the resurrection. John, as we saw last week, already believes in the resurrection, based on the evidence of the empty tomb.
Last week, Augusta National played host to the most prestigious of the four major golf tournaments, the Masters. And I was deeply moved by the press conference that Masters-winner Scottie Scheffler held afterwards. Because like so many championship-caliber athletes, he used his platform as an opportunity to bear witness to his faith in Jesus Christ and to glorify God. He said, “The reason why I play golf is: I’m trying to glorify God and all that He’s done in my life.” He went on to say that as important as his golfing career is, his “identity isn’t a golf score.”
He said his wife reminded him of this truth before he began the fourth and final round last Sunday—enjoying a three-stroke advantage over his nearest rival.
Brothers and sisters, I hope it’s not covetousness on my part when I confess that I really, really want an Atlanta Braves World Series ring. The Braves had the ring ceremony last Saturday in which they handed them out to the team. And these rings are awesome!
Among many other things, the rings have a total of 755 diamonds—44 of which are configured in such a way to pay tribute to Number 44 Hank Aaron, who died last year. On one side there’s a pearl in reference to the famous pearl necklace that Joc Pederson wore. The top of the ring has a lid that opens to reveal an engraving of the Truist Park stadium with micro LED lights that light up.
The week before last, the Duke of Sussex, otherwise known as Prince Harry, and his wife Meghan made headlines again. You may remember that they resigned a couple of years ago from being full-time members of the British Royal Family and have been living in sunny southern California—instead of England—ever since… So… Go U.S.A.! I bet Harry doesn’t even blame us anymore for fighting our war for independence! But meanwhile, back in dark and dreary London, the rest of the Royal Family was attending a memorial service for Prince Philip, Harry’s grandfather. And Harry wasn’t there… He and his wife remained in California… as Royal watchers around the world fretfully observed.
And the reason Harry gave for not attending? Since he no longer lives with the rest of the Royal Family, he’s worried about his safety: he no longer has the same security team protecting him—the equivalent of our Secret Service. When Prince Harry goes to England, he no longer has the same level of protection that he used to have.1
Almighty, gracious Father, since our whole salvation depends on our true understanding of your holy Word, grant that our hearts—freed from worldly affairs—may hear and understand your holy Word with all diligence and faith, so that we may rightly discern your gracious will, cherish it, and live by it with all earnestness, to your praise and honor, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
We are nearing the end of March, and I have one question for you: Is your bracket busted?
Blessed Lord, you have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning—grant us that we may in such a way hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer (1552)
I want to describe something that happened to me and my family just before Christmas last year. My wife, Lisa, my son, Ian, and I were driving back from a restaurant in Lavonia. We had just celebrated the completion of Ian’s Christmas band concert. I was behind the wheel. It was dark. Highway 17 is a divided highway at that point. We were approaching a bend in the road up ahead, visibility wasn’t great… when suddenly I saw a fast approaching car, coming toward me, in my lane, on the wrong side of this divided highway! I looked in the lane to my left—and thought, “Can I get over?” Naturally, I couldn’t… there was a car right beside me… So I tapped the brakes and let that car pass, I swerved over into the left lane. And the fast approaching car passed us by without incident.
The following paragraph comes from an article on the Encyclopaedia Britannica website:
It used to be a standard trope in action movies, although you don’t see it much these days: a patch of apparently solid ground in the jungle that, when stepped on, turns out to have the consistency of cold oatmeal. The unlucky victim starts sinking down into the muck; struggling only makes it worse. Unless there’s a vine to grab a hold of, he or she disappears without a trace (except maybe a hat floating sadly on the surface). It was a bad way to go. Quicksand was probably the number-one hazard faced by silver-screen adventurers, followed by decaying rope bridges and giant clams that could hold a diver underwater.1
If you are of my generation or older, you will no doubt remember a song that was all over the radio back in the spring of 1985. I’m talking about the song “We Are the World” by USA for Africa, a group of American pop and rock stars. This was a song recorded for charity. The proceeds from the sale of the record went to famine relief in Ethiopia. Not long ago, my boys were watching a “making of” video on YouTube about the song, and I was struck by a rather glaring error in the song, which I promise I had never noticed before… and maybe you haven’t either. It’s from the lines that Willie Nelson sings… He sings:
Last Saturday, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was just getting under way, some allies in the European Union were offering to give Ukraine President Zelensky safe passage to Germany. There he could be “president in exile” while Russia did whatever they were going to do—and most of us probably assumed it wouldn’t take long for Putin and his vastly superior military to quickly overcome Ukrainian resistance. Regardless, if Zelensky took up the E.U.’s offer, he himself could remain safe.
And Zelensky refused. He said, “Thank you, but the war isn’t in Germany; the war is here… in Ukraine.” In other words, “I’m called to be the president here. I’m called to be commander-in-chief here. I’m called to fulfill my purpose here. So it would be inconsistent with my calling to be anywhere other than right here, in Ukraine.” For all I know, he was signing his death warrant; I pray that he wasn’t. But to his credit, here is a man who seems perfectly willing to die—if that’s what his particular “calling” requires.
I don’t know about you, but last week, on three different occasions, I had the rare privilege of spotting a truck in town that represents a certain brand of hot dog… This truck is actually in the shape of a giant hot dog. I’m referring, of course, to the Oscar Mayer “Weinermobile.” It’s ridiculous and funny and I absolutely love it… And I promise each time I saw this truck, I laughed at loud. It brought a big smile to my face. I mean, how can you not laugh when you see that thing coming?
And it is a rare privilege to see the Weinermobile, especially in Toccoa, because there are only six of them in the entire U.S.!
