It’s a not-so-Trivial-Pursuit

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Once there was a professor at a local university whose wife reminded him at breakfast one morning that the movers were coming that day to move their belongings to their new home.

She told him that he should not bother coming back to the old house after his classes that day, but that he should go “home” to the new house after work.

But, being the absent-minded professor that he was, the husband forgot, and went to the old house after work, finding it as she had said – empty. He could not remember anything about the conversation with his wife that had occurred that morning, and as he was trying to figure out what to do, he saw a young child playing out in the back yard of the old home.

He went to the back porch to ask the child for some help. That young boy looked into the face of the professor and said, “Oh, Dad, Mom said you would forget!”

The other night, I found myself thinking about this professor and his own absent-mindedness. I began searching for a check that I thought I had misplaced.

I checked my wallet. I checked the pockets of the pants I had worn for the past three days. I checked every satchel I had even touched in the past three days. I could not find that check anywhere.

It was then that my bride came up to me and said that I had already deposited that check in our account at the bank. I had walked into the main banking center, sidled up to the counter, and deposited the check as pretty as you please. I had even entered the deposit in the checkbook!

My bride is now referring to me as the one with the “Old Timers’ Disease!”

You know there are some things worth remembering and some things that are not. A lot of money has been made, whether it is on television shows such as “Jeopardy” or “Millionaire” by remembering worthless information and trivial facts and figures.

But when you talk with people about really significant things they should know, and ask them questions that they should most definitely have answers to, often it seems, they falter.

This past weekend was for me the most significant weekend in the entire year. It is bigger than the Fourth of July. It is bigger than Thanksgiving. It is even bigger than Christmas, insofar as the reason for celebrating this event is concerned.

Yet, when you ask people why we celebrate Easter, oftentimes they will come up with some sort of mish-mash about Easter Bunnies and Easter Egg Hunts, and chocolate candy rabbits and bonnets and the like. They may even mention hot cross buns and ham dinners, and family reunions.

And somewhere in the midst of all that some may even mention that Jesus rose from the dead!

Some say that it is not important that Christ was raised from the dead, but I am here to tell you that THAT is something worth remembering!

Those words spoken to Mary on that first Easter Sunday morning are all-important: “He is not here! For He is risen!”

We cannot forget those words, and the impact they have had down through the centuries, because without them, and without the truth they represent, we are lost and “of all men most to be pitied!”

In 1 Corinthians 15:17, we read that “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” In other words, the one thing that is worth remembering is that Easter gives us the greatest victory we will ever have in life because of what Christ has done for us!

He grants us forgiveness for our sins, and He gives us a reason to hope for tomorrow.

There are many I know who do not want to admit that they have no hope for tomorrow, or that they have any need for forgiveness for their sins. But if we are honest with ourselves, we all know we have a need for those things in our lives, don’t we?

In fact, I have only heard of one person (other than Jesus Himself) who thought he was perfect. It happened during a church service when the preacher asked for all perfect individuals to stand up right where they were.

One old man in the back stood to his feet. The preacher thought for sure the man had misunderstood him, so he made the statement again. “I would like for all those people who think they have never sinned to rise to their feet right where you are! Everybody else sit down or remain seated!”

The man did not sit down. He remained standing.

Finally, the preacher said, “Everyone who is absolutely as perfect as God Himself stand up!” That man stayed erect and did not sit down. The preacher was sure he had misunderstood, so he asked him directly, “Sir, are you sure that you understood what I was saying?”

“Oh, yes,” came the reply. “So you are saying that you think you are absolutely perfect, without any sin whatsoever?”

“Oh no,” the man said. “I am standing here as a proxy – for my wife’s first husband! From what she tells me, he was the most perfect man ever to walk the face of the earth!”

Jesus was perfect, and in His life, in his death, and in His resurrection, He has given us the message of Easter – that there is hope for tomorrow, and that for those who trust in Him (alone!) there is forgiveness! The main reason we are concerned about tomorrow is that we worry that all of our sinful ways will finally catch up with us, and that we will have to somehow ante up!

But for those who know and trust Christ for our eternity, this passage and others gives us the assurance that He will forgive and cleanse!

Now THAT’S not trivial and it’s worth remembering!

God bless…

Chuck Tabor is a regular columnist for the News Journal and a former pastor in the area. He may be reached at [email protected].

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Chuck Tabor

Contributing columnist

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