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Sermons

"A WINNING ATTITUDE --
A SERMON FOR FOOTBALL
(AND OTHER SPORTS) FANS"
EPISTLE SCRIPTURE TEXT:
I CORINTHIANS 9:24-25

DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 10, 2010

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
MESSAGE: The fall season is always the highlight of the year for football fans. You've got football in full swing at every level - high school, college, and pro. Since coming to Los Alamos from Texas, I've discovered that folks here aren't quite as insane about football as the folks in that state, but it's still, by a wide margin, the #1 sport of interest here. At the high school level we go more than a little crazy over the Hilltoppers - especially when they're in contention for a state title, which has been pretty much true every year I've been here. The New Mexico Lobos are the area team of choice for college gridiron fans, but frankly they haven't given us much to cheer about in recent years. At the pro level, fans seem to be pretty evenly divided between the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys. Despite the fact that they're closer to us geographically than Dallas, the Arizona Cardinals don't seem to have much of a local following.

Personally I'm not that big a football fan. I've been to a handful of Hilltopper games during my years in Los Alamos and have somewhat enjoyed them. College football interests me slightly since my alma mater, Michigan State, often fields a team worth following. As to pro football, I employ it as a sleep aid. On Sunday afternoons I can turn on an NFL game and within less than a quarter I'm guaranteed to be fast asleep in my easy chair.

Have you ever stopped to consider that the term "fan," which we routinely employ in reference to following a sport, is simply a contraction of the word "fanatic?" While in Texas I quickly learned that you could make disparaging remarks about someone's spouse - and probably get away with it. You could dare to criticize their pickup truck and, if you ducked fast enough, live to tell the tale. But venture to say an unkind word about the Cowboys, and you're as good as dead in that state.

I have a friend in Albuquerque who's sort of a Jekyll-Hyde personality when it comes to sports. His regular job is as an expediter for a public utility in New Mexico. He's basically a paper-pusher. A more refined, soft-spoken individual you'll rarely find. But put him in the bleachers of a stadium and you've unleashed a maniac. I once saw him deck a guy twice his size because the man politely asked him to be a little quieter. Frankly, I'm afraid to go to a game with him; I might accidentally say the wrong thing.

Certainly there's nothing inherently wrong about being a fan - of football, or baseball, or skiing, or whatever sport excites you. It's natural to want to see your favorite athlete or team win - and to put your personal energy and commitment behind that win. The same goes doubly for those who are actually players in a sport. Without a winning attitude a man or woman in sports is doomed from the outset. Unless you believe in your team - 100% -- and in your effort on behalf of your team - also 100% -- you probably shouldn't be playing the game.

Now, shifting perspective, I share a very different strand of my personal experience with you. Some years ago I served a congregation in Albuquerque which consisted primarily of older, retired persons. During my tenure there we were fortunate to have a goodly number of newer, younger folks join that church - but they soon created quite a controversy. Following a particularly well-done, moving anthem by the choir one Sunday, some of these new folks began, spontaneously, to offer a round of applause. About half the congregation joined in - but the other half didn't. And before the week following was out, I'd had at least 20 calls and visits to my office by irate, long-term members who demanded that I make a public announcement the following Sunday that clapping was absolutely forbidden in that church.

The realm of religion - and the realm of sports. Two very different kingdoms. In the first, any display of emotion whatever is likely to be viewed with suspicion. In the other, shouting, screaming at the top of your lungs, and letting yourself go completely is not only considered appropriate - but you're likely to be branded a "stick-in-the-mud" if you don't join in the rowdiness. In the realm of religion, if we're exceptionally brave, we might occasionally dare to say, "Now please don't take me wrongly, and I truly hope I don't offend you by asking, but you're welcome to come to church with us next Sunday - that is, of course, if it's not too much trouble, and you don't already have anything else planned." In the arena of sports, it's "The New Mexico State Aggies are the greatest and, fella, if you don't believe it, you'd best head out of town on the next bus leaving!" On Sunday afternoons, not even World War Three could keep most of us from watching our favorite team play. On Sunday mornings, the very slightest excuse is justification for missing church. In football, a "fan" is a title of respect. In religion, a "fanatic" is just about the worst accusation that can be leveled. In sports, we want to win. In religion, do we really care?

Back in the early days of Christianity, religious commitment was viewed from a radically different standpoint than it is today. When Jesus got ready to send His earliest followers out, two by two, to spread the good news of salvation, He first gave them a "locker-room pep talk." He told them how to dress out for the contest, what to do in this or that eventuality, and how to keep their morale up. And when they returned, with reports of victory on their lips, He said, "I saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven." The good team had gone out and played a great game. The opposition got "zapped." And the "Coach" was delighted.

When St. Paul spoke of the life of faith that one should live for our Lord on this earth, he likened it to an athletic contest, a competition of runners - literally a marathon. He spoke of conditioning, of bringing one's body into shape - under discipline, under control. Proper training is indispensable, says Paul. The Christian needs to learn - indeed to master - the Word of God. The believer should know it completely, instinctively, the way a team member knows his team's playbook. Proper equipment is important, too - the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness. But most of all, says Paul, Christians must possess a winning attitude.

In sports, men and women compete to receive a transient, short-lived prize. A bronze trophy to gather dust, a league championship certificate to turn yellow and brittle with age, a "Super Bowl ring" that no longer fits arthritic fingers a couple of decades later. But in the Christian faith, the prize is an eternal reward - the Kingdom of Heaven forevermore.

Back in 1966 my alma mater, Michigan State University, played a season-ending game against Notre Dame University for the so-called "national championship" of collegiate football. For three weeks before and at least a month after, I ate, slept, and lived that game - along with 50,000 other Michigan State Spartans, plus millions of American football fans coast to coast. The sportswriters termed it the "game of the century." Forty-some years later, in 2010, who remembers - who cares - about the names, the plays, the score of that supposedly greatest of all gridiron matches?

In the year 2100 -- and in the year twenty thousand - my score, and yours, in our walks of Christian faith will be remembered. They will make a difference, an eternal difference, in the eyes of Almighty God.

Friends, I've said before, in this very sanctuary, that we're not playing games in church. But if you choose to characterize life itself as a game, then we are playing that game here today. And in the game of life, I really want to win. I plan to give 100% effort, because I know the Coach has His eye on me. And I'm not about to disappoint Him. I know what this game really is. I know the rules, and I know which side I'm playing for. My soul is on the line, and I'm passing it to Jesus - so He can carry it over the goal - to eternal victory.

Now I fully realize that getting "cute" with all these sports allusions and metaphors probably doesn't appeal to all of you. And some of them are, admittedly, a bit contrived. But the point, I hope, is clear. The Christian faith is a God-given opportunity to be part of a winning team. Jesus Christ is winning a victory - and that victory is eternal life. It can be our victory as well, if we are willing to join His team. And once we're on God's team, His winning team, we have both the right and the responsibility to act as winners. We owe the Coach - our Lord - 100%. We've promised to serve, to witness, to give - and we are going to live up to those promises - because of who we are - and who He is. We are God's chosen people - His winning team - and we're on the way to the greatest victory of all time!

An incident occurred on the edge of the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a school that houses our region's most prestigious United Methodist seminary, the Perkins School of Theology. Highland Park United Methodist Church sits adjacent to that campus; it's one of the largest congregations in our denomination. Highland Park thus often plays host to student groups, extension courses and seminars. One particular group of students was meeting there for a week-long religion seminar - and they were studying a difficult book, the Revelation to John. Expert faculty from the nearby Perkins Seminary were the teachers of this class. Each day, as these students left class after absorbing all they could of John's recorded revelations, they would pass a janitor's closet down the hall, where one of the Highland Park Church's custodians could be seen through the open door, quietly reading a Bible in the confines of that closet. About the fourth day, one of the students stopped and peeked in. "What are you reading?" he asked. "I'm reading the Book of Revelations," this old janitor replied. "Do you understand it?" "Indeed I do," replied the custodian. "What do you understand about it?" the student asked, probably fishing for an opportunity to make a fool of the old man's intellect. "I understand that Jesus is gonna win!" was the reply.

People of Los Alamos First United Methodist Church, Jesus is gonna win! I invite you to join His winning team. But please understand that neither He nor I is asking you to watch the Christian faith. You really do need a winning attitude, because you're being invited to suit up, get off the bench, and actually play on the front line for your Lord -- for the rest of your life! Amen.

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