As a preacher, you, like Paul and the other apostles, can bring people to faith. Think about how you relate to the great themes of today’s readings—hearing, accepting, and following the word of God; being in God’s hands; sometimes suffering to be a Christian—and how you can help your hearers enter more deeply into these realities.

The old trick question about the lifeboat puts most of us in a lose-lose situation. In various formulations, the question goes like this: If two people you dearly love, value, or have allegiances to were on a sinking ship, and there was only room in the lifeboat for you and one other person, who would you save? Who gets left behind?

Jesus said: “My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand.

I recently started taking horseback-riding lessons. On the first day, my teacher Karen said, “You’ll ride Echo. She’s very sensitive.” Oh, great, I thought. I had only ever ridden old nags before. But Echo is a young thoroughbred—and what a difference.

A friend was talking about a time she was sorely tempted toward revenge. A person at work had hurt her and now it was in her power to turn the tables. She found out something about this co-worker that would have deeply embarrassed the woman, and my friend savored the possibility of spreading the news.

The companies that most often appear on Fortune magazine’s list of the top 100 companies to work for don’t necessarily have the best opportunities for growth, the most competitive salaries, or the most generous benefits packages. A common thread of companies that appear on the list year after year is an appreciation of the good work being done by each employee.

There seems to be a primordial instinct in most human beings to support the underdog. We read about it in fairy tales like “Jack and the Beanstalk.” We see it in sports with the lithe receiver avoiding the onrushing linebacker twice his size. It happens in politics when the candidate without the clout takes on the political powerhouse and wins.

As our Easter celebration of new life continues, we look to God’s mercy and ask for God’s pardon.

Whoever will passionately love Jesus, hidden in the forces that make the earth grow, that person the earth will lift up, like a mother, in her huge arms, and allow that person to contemplate the face of God.