“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31, NIV)
Welcome to Masters Week.
No, you didn’t need me to remind you. The news is everywhere. But I was quite interested to discover recently that it has not always been this way. In the 1950s, the members at Augusta National worked hard to drum up interest among the locals, even though the golf world’s eyes were already turned toward the greats of the game who gathered there each year. The members worked with the city to organize a parade and a pageant, hoping this would encourage ticket sales. It’s quite a story in light of what the Masters has become.
Now here’s an interesting question for you on this day after Easter. Among your friends, which needs more trumpeting: the celebration of the resurrection or the commencement of the Masters? If you spend a lot of time around golfers, it might well be the first.
Greater still are the workings of God in his kingdom, including the signs we really should not be missing—signs that the Son of Man is on his way.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 open the door on some end times understanding. I say “open the door,” because when it comes to knowing details of the future, it’s hard to walk through the door very briskly. Jesus himself said only a few lines later that only the Father knows “the day and the hour.” There are many unknowns.
But Jesus also encouraged a watchfulness that should be the trait of every disciple. We are not to go about our days casually, sinking into the couch for a weekend of major championship viewing as though nothing of greater importance could be happening around us. Surely, an honest assessment of the day’s headlines reminds us of this. But greater still are the workings of God in his kingdom, including the signs we really should not be missing—signs that the Son of Man is on his way: “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:44).
And then there is the role we play as trumpet-sounding heralds. We do not blow the ultimate trumpet of Christ’s return, but we can all “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5) among our friends and neighbors. We can say: “Here’s something that has certainly caught my attention…” Then we can go on to describe the saving work of Jesus in our hearts and the transforming work of the Spirit in our minds. We are people made new, and we can announce this newness to others. You might say it’s our trumpet-calling.
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Jeff Hopper
April 5, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.