Luke 18:1-8
Committed to God’s New Day
James Sledge October
20, 2013
Last
Saturday I was watching the football game between Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
It was a pretty exciting contest, and Ole Miss was looking like they might pull
off a big upset. But Texas A&M had come back to tie the game. Then with
time running out, they moved the ball down the field to set up a potential game
winning field goal on the last play.
Time
out was called, and the field goal unit prepared to come out on the field. As
the TV cameras panned around, trying to capture the intensity of the moment,
one camera spotted the Texas A&M quarterback gathered with a small group of
teammates. They were in a sort of semi-circle with their helmets off. Each was down
on one knee, holding the hand of the player next to him. Then the quarterback
said something and bowed his head. He seemed to be leading the group in some
sort of prayer.
I
couldn’t hear them, of course, so I don’t actually know what they were praying
about. There had been an Ole Miss player carried off the field on a stretcher
earlier. I suppose they could have been praying for him, but I doubt it. I feel
pretty confident they were praying for their teammate to kick the ball squarely
through the uprights. And when he did just that a few minutes later, they ran
onto the field rejoicing, their prayers answered.
One
of my least favorite moments in sports is the post-game interview where a
winning player thanks God for the victory. I recall one boxer some years ago
who went so far as saying he could feel Jesus in his fists helping him knock
the other guy out. With such eloquent spokespersons, no wonder Christian faith
is struggling.
Actually,
I don’t think Christianity has much of a problem because of people who thank God for the home run they hit
to win the game. It would be easy enough to dismiss such utterances, that is if
they didn’t fit into a larger pattern of seeing God as a cosmic sugar daddy, or
seeing religion and faith as consumer items intended to make our lives a little
bit better.