A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak at our high school’s National Honor Society (NHS) Induction Ceremony. The night was especially sweet for two reasons: the chapter sponsor was a teaching colleague for many years and several of the young men and women being inducted were former fourth students of mine. To see them tall and lovely, on the verge of adulthood was a delight.
These wonderful young people were the stars of the evening, so the number of positive comments about my speech was surprising. Even more surprising was the big story in the local paper the next day. Must have been a slow news day because the reporter, who either tape recorded the event or knows shorthand, quoted most of my speech in the article.
Still, I didn’t think much of it until Easter Sunday, when our pastor completed his year long series on Mark by preaching the last section of the book, 15:42 – 16:8. First, he explained that the oldest manuscripts of Mark end at Chapter 16:8. The rest of the chapter was tacked on later because otherwise Mark ends rather abruptly. Then he explained Mark ended so abruptly because we are the end of the story. We are to take the gospel and do what the early believers did – live the truth and use it to write the stories of our lives of faith.
The similarities between his sermon and my speech were obvious, and once again I was grateful for the opportunity to speak truth to those sweet, young adults who are choosing how to write the stories of their lives. You can compare the NHS speech and the sermon if you like. The speech can be found at the Boone News-Republican website. You can listen to the sermon by going to www.graceccboone.com and clicking on the link to the right that says “04/04/10 – Mark 15:40 – 16:8.”
Be sure to look at the young people in the newspaper article photo. They are the future.
