The Last Possession

This week my boys and I were talking basketball.

ACC tournament.
SEC tournament.
Who we think might get into the big dance and who might win it all.

I love this time of year. March Madness is one of my favorite sports seasons. Most of the games stay close. They come down to the final minute… sometimes the final possession. One shot. One rebound. One defensive stop. And suddenly everything changes.

There’s something about those moments that pulls us in. The tension. The possibility. The sense that what happens next really matters.

In many ways, Lent is like that.

As we move through these weeks leading toward Easter, the story of Jesus begins leaning toward its final possession. The tension rises. The stakes grow clearer. The road is moving steadily toward Jerusalem.

And what strikes me every year is how Jesus walks into those final moments.

Not with panic.
Not scrambling for a last-second play.
But with courage, clarity, and love.

Jesus knows where the road is leading, and he keeps moving forward anyway.

That’s why the services of Holy Week matter so much.

On Maundy Thursday, we remember the table where Jesus shared bread and cup with his friends and gave them a new commandment: to love one another.

On Good Friday, we gather at the cross and sit with the weight of the moment when love poured itself out for the world.

These are the final possessions of the story. The moments when everything seems to hang in the balance.

And yet, we already know something the disciples did not.

The final possession is not the end of the game.

Grace still has one more play.

So as the brackets fill up and the games get close this March, I hope you’ll make space for these sacred moments of Holy Week too. March 29 - April 5, come lean into the story with us. Wave palm branches.  Sit at the table. Stand at the cross. 

Because what happens next changes everything.

With Gratitude,

Rev. Rodney Whitfield
Senior Pastor