By Doug Redford
In February 2018, the Winter Olympics were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. During the coverage, a chaplain to the athletes was interviewed.
“What’s it like to cover the Olympics?” the interviewer asked the chaplain. “How would you describe it?”
“It’s like being a part of one wedding and ten funerals,” the chaplain replied. “You have the celebrations and the triumphs of the medal winners, but then you have all those who don’t win, who’ve put in so much time and effort to get to this stage—and they come short of what they hoped to achieve.”
That’s not a bad picture of what our world is like now. Celebrations happen for a variety of reasons, but there is also an abundance of tragedy and heartache. And it seems like the tragic events outnumber the happy ones by a 10-to-1 ratio, possibly more.
This past week may have been unusually difficult for you. Some sort of bad news (not necessarily funerals, but unplanned obstacles and headaches) has occurred nearly every day. Maybe the content of the nightly news has taken a toll on your soul. Problems seem to outnumber blessings, 10 to 1. Especially for those who reside in urban areas, death seems to be the common ingredient in most every news story.
At Communion we remember an event, the death of Jesus, that appeared to be hopelessly bad news to his disciples. The two men traveling toward Emmaus expressed it well: “We had hoped that he [that is, Jesus] was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). As with the disappointed athletes mentioned earlier, it seemed that Jesus had put time and effort into achieving something significant, only to come short of what others hoped he would achieve.
But here we also remember another event that revived the hopes of those two discouraged men. It was news that transformed their funeral demeanor to one of wedding-like celebration: the realization that the person who had been traveling with them was none other than the one whose demise they had been mourning. Jesus had indeed risen!
Don’t allow the deadness of this world’s thinking distract you from the grand wedding plans Jesus has for his bride, the church. Remember his promise to complete the good work he has begun in us (Philippians 1:6). He will see to it that we don’t fall short (Jude 24), but that we join him in the ultimate celebration and triumph of the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).
Doug Redford has served in the preaching ministry, as an editor of adult Sunday school curriculum, and as a Bible college professor. Now retired, he continues to write and speak as opportunities come.
Thank you, Doug Redford. Your communion message is much appreciated – I will share it tomorrow with my church along with my thanksgiving for your sharing of this message.
Thank you Doug,
I really enjoyed it and will be sharing with my church tomorrow morning!