Rev. Doug Gray
February 9, 2020
A Seahawks fan, an Eagles fan, a Chiefs fan, and a Patriots fan are climbing a mountain and arguing about who loves his team more. The Seahawks fan insists he is the most loyal. 'This is for the Seahawks! ' he yells, and jumps off the side of the mountain. Not to be outdone, the Eagles fan shouts, 'This is for the Eagles!' and throws herself off the mountain. The Patriots fan is next to profess her love for her team. She yells, 'This is for everyone!' and pushes the Chiefs fan off the mountain.[1]Yes, last week was Superbowl Sunday! And fans all over are wishing there was still football! At first blush, football seems to have nothing to do with today’s passage, but as we scratch the surface, we may be surprised. Jesus has a lot teach us about being fans.
First, God is more important than team membership. A while back I went to a Christian men’s conference and I had a wonderful time! There was a lot of singing and worship, some great speaking and praying. But I have to say my favorite part was talking with people. When I would start a conversation, whoever I was talking to would throw in some good “churchy” words and expressions—grace, anointed, gifted, worship, Praise the Lord!—and maybe mention when they were saved or how. Then they would look at me, to see how I would respond, and almost everyone did this. I finally realized that they were waiting to hear if I used the right words in response, kind of like a sign/counter-sign thing. If I didn’t say the right words, then I wasn’t one of them—I wasn’t a “real” Christian. The Pharisees are doing that kind of test with Jesus in our passage today. As I mentioned, the Pharisees were one of the up-and-coming religious groups in Jesus’ time. They were the ones who took God seriously, poring over God’s Word, trying to make God part of every moment of every day. One of the things they focused on was staying ritually “clean.” Where the Bible says that only the priests have to wash their hands before eating, the Pharisees encouraged everyoneto take holiness as seriously as a priest would. Actually, I like the idea of everyone taking God more seriously. But I wonder if part of the reason the Pharisees ask Jesus why His disciples break the tradition of the elders, is because they want Jesus and his team to be members of their fandom. Do what we do, and you’re in. Wear your Patriots jersey. Put on your Patriots hat. But how do you know you’re a real fan? What else do you have to do to prove you’re part of the team? Push people off of mountains? Where does it stop? Jesus says one place it should stop is when being part of a group or having a tradition is more important than what God wants.
Second, what we say matters, because what we say comes from the overflow of our hearts. A while back, one of my children came into the room and did something irritating, and I snapped at them. And they looked at me with a hurt look, and I paused—as I should have done beforeI said anything—and realized that I was angry about something that wasn’t any of their doing…and I had taken it out on them. Anybody else have something like that happen? Whatever is going on in our hearts—good, bad or indifferent—we are going to express that in what we do and say. If what we do or say doesn’t come out right, we need to ask ourselves if our hearts are right with God. Jesus talks about this when He quotes Isaiah, “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they’re worshiping me, but they don’t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy.” In his book, Leadership by the Book, Ken Blanchard (the author of One-Minute Manager) writes, “Jesus’ message is not just for the mind. It’s directed at the heart…The underlying message in all his teachings is about character change…rather than asking us just to do [or say] kind things, [Jesus] wants each of us to become a kind person. When that happens, everything we do will be stamped with kindness even when we must disagree with someone…”[2]When I snapped at my family, I knew my heart wasn’t right with God, and I had to apologize. Is God glad when we do or say something kind? Sure…that’s good! But what God really, really wants is for us to become someone who wants what God wants—love that sacrifices, courage in the face pressure, peace when others are coming unglued, joy that cannot be taken away. Rather than all the ugly side of humanity, the overflow of our hearts will be a sweet, refreshing source of grace to everyone! God wants our hearts to be in a right relationship with God. God wants us to have a heart like Jesus had.
One of the time-honored traditions around sports is a little trash-talking of the other team—like telling jokes about each other’s teams. Since every team does it about the other team, mostly we take it in stride, right? Do we know where it crosses the line, when it moves into being mean or mean-spirited? We wouldn’t really do some of the things in the joke, like pushing someone off the mountain. Do we know where it goes over the top? I’ve been talking about sports teams, but we should also mention that this applies to politics, especially these days. Does someone have to say the right things in order for us to listen to them or for us to share what we really think? Do we have traditions about party or ideology that we put ahead of what God would want? Do we speak our mind out of anger or fear, lashing out at someone unfairly? Yes, God is beyond our politics, but by founding our lives on Jesus’ teachings, it gives our politics a place to stand beyond our tribal parties. Let me be clear: I am not taking a political stand for the Left or the Right, but Iamtaking a political stand—that we have to be able to listen to one another, and we need to talk about what God would want based on the Word of God, not just what we think or what our party says we should think. This week at the National Prayer Breakfast, our President told us he didn’t agree with Jesus’ teaching that we should love our enemies, and he mocked those who do. Jesus prayed for His enemies and eventually died for everyone, including His enemies. This week at the State of the Union, the President refused to shake the hand of the Speaker of the House, and the Speaker of the House tore up the President’s speech. Those decisions are also not loving our enemies. Do I understand everything has a context? Sure, but our nation—we—can’t live or function in a state of all-out war, of using our most extreme statements and actions as fundraising tools. We have taken the idea of party or team beyond where party or team loyalty is meant to go. Whether it’s football or politics, if Jesus is right, then our hearts can only be right if they belong to God. Our founding parents got it right when they said, we are one nation under God. Jesus would go farther I think—He would remind us to help even a Yankees fan or a Chiefs fan in need. Because at the end of the day, we are more than Yankees and Red Sox, Republicans and Democrats—we are all children of the most high God.
Now I recognize that because I mentioned politics, some of you are mad at me and may not hear another word I say. I have tried to speak gently about this idea of Jesus being our all in all, first in our thoughts and hearts. C.S. Lewis is famous for saying that “a fanatic is someone who won’t change their mind and can’t change the subject.” I don’t want you to think I’m a fanatic or even merely a fan. Jesus was not looking for fans. Jesus was looking for followers. More than anything, God longs for our hearts to beat in time with God’s heart. By most political standards of his day, Jesus was a fool for being on God’s team first, and He died for it. The promise to us in this time is: if we belong to God’s team first, if we love steadfastly even our enemies, if we refuse to lash out in fear or anger, and if we show grace to all (especially those who are different from us), then we will find the path to new life. But it all begins with us—and letting God transform our hearts. Yes, there is Someone Who is beyond our politics and our teams, and God proved it by dying for even His enemies on a Cross.
[1]source: http://www.jokes4us.com/sportsjokes/nfljokes/atlantafalconsjokes.html
[2]Ken Blanchard et al., Leadership by the Book: Tools to Transform Your Workplace(NY: William Morrow and Company, 1999), pp. 40–41.