The 77th Academy Awards will be presented this Sunday night. Comedian Chris Rock will host for the first time, causing network officials and censors some discomfort. There is already much speculation about the tightest race in years. Who will win? What will they wear? What will they say? More than 40 million people are expected to watch.

The winners will each receive something called an "Oscar," though no one knows why. One possible answer is that early on, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences librarian said the statuette represented her Uncle Oscar.

An Oscar weighs 8.5 pounds and stands 13.5 inches tall. It depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film. It takes twelve people twenty hours to make one of the 50 statuettes produced each year. The Oscars are then shipped in unmarked cardboard boxes for security reasons. Security isn't always effective, however--a few years ago they were stolen and found nine days later next to a dumpster.

Quick: who won last year? Which movie? Which stars? The year before? How long will you remember this year's winners and losers? Sunday's Academy Awards brings to mind an issue which will still matter long after the Oscars are done. A question I am asked nearly every week relates to the question of rewards in heaven. Someone asked me again after Tuesday's Men's Bible Study: how can it be heaven for everyone if some people have greater rewards than others? On the other hand, how can God be fair and reward everyone the same way regardless of their service on earth?

As we continue the Lenten season's remembrance of Jesus' death and resurrection, let's think this week about what his sacrifice has done for us in eternity. Jesus promised the thief on the cross, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). What was "paradise" like for that convicted felon? What will it be like for you and me? Why does it all matter today?