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Going for the Goal Line
Epiphany 5 | OT 5
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| Alex Gondola |
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Contents
"Going for the Goal Line" by Alex Gondola
"A Seat on Bill" by John Sumwalt
"The Church Still Lives" by Constance Berg
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Going for the Goal Line
by Alex Gondola
Sports and religion are often perceived as rivals. Clergy types (like me) complain about how superstars such as Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods are marketed like minor gods. The salaries paid to professional athletes (tens of millions of dollars!) are outrageous -- think of what could be accomplished if that much money could go to charity. And what about fans who spend more time watching sports than they do attending worship? We can put sports ahead of everything, including marriage, family, and God. That's idolatry. Still, do sports and religion have to be rivals?
On this Super Bowl Sunday, let's consider some connections between football and faith. A few are humorous -- for example, here's some football imagery applied to worship:
* "Blocking" is talking too long with the pastor at the door after church, holding up the line.
* An "extra point" is what you get when you tell the preacher the sermon was too short.
* "Interference" is talking during the prelude.
* "Illegal motion" is leaving before the service is over.
* The "passing game" is what latecomers do when the person at the end of the pew won't slide over.
* A "quarterback" is what a cheapskate wants after putting a half-dollar in the offering plate.
* The "two-minute warning" is when people look at their watches during the sermon. (from Humor For Preaching And Teaching, Baker Books, 1996)
But there are also serious parallels. For one thing, faith and football both require commitment. Players understand the saying "no pain, no gain." Likewise, the apostle Paul employed athletic images to describe our spiritual journeys. Paul writes: "Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned (with the victory wreath).... That is why I run straight for the finish line; that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches. I harden my body with blows and bring it under complete control..." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27a TEV). "No pain, no gain" was a byword for Paul.
Football and faith also both rely on grace -- not the grace of a quarterback weaving through a field of tacklers, but "grace" as a power that comes from beyond ourselves. Many great players will tell you that they can't do what they do on their own. There are moments when they feel "captured" by a higher power....
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