Conrad Askland

MVPC E-devotion
Vol. 6, No. 14, September 21, 2006
by Steve Weber, Minister

Yes, It’s True, Life is Not Fair
Once again the world of sports is delving into the world of theology. Someone once said the game of baseball is about as close a metaphor for the spiritual life that one can hope for. It is a game played within boundaries, it has no game clock, and when the umpire says, “You’re Out!”, you’re out. And as I confessed last week, we pastor types seem to appreciate a good, slow game of baseball as much, if not more than you’re average bleacher bum.
But it is not baseball I reuminate on this day, but that other American pastime, football, and in this case, college football. Last Saturday the University of Oregon Ducks won a quacker of a game with gridiron juggernaut, Oklahoma, and the loss has not gone down easy for the Sooners. It all started (or ended) when the replay official failed to notice that an Oregon player touched the ball before it had traveled ten yards during an onside kick. The Ducks were in the midst of a comeback in the game’s closing minutes which resulted in an upset 34-33 victory over Oklahoma. The video replay revealed that Oregon did indeed touch the ball. Oregon went on to recover that onside kick, and then score the game-winning touchdown on the ensuing possession.
It’s a bummer when even the striped shirts fail to uphold the rules, ask a Seahawk fan still fuming over a certain, recent Super Bowl loss. Oklahoma is so bent out of shape by the officials’ video blunder that the university president has become involved to the degree of threatening legal action if the game is not ruled a forfeit. While it might seem a university president has other concerns more prevalent than a Saturday afternoon ball game, it is no secret that this single loss could mean huge financial losses later on down the road when it comes time to determine who plays in which prominent bowl game. If this loss means Oklahoma goes 9-2 instead of 10-1 the payoff will be noticeable in a lesser bowl invitation (Remember my first career was at the sports desk so bear with me if I regress a bit here).
So today I read this: “Maybe now those people at Oklahoma understand what I was talking about,” Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight told The Oklahoman. He was referring to a basketball game a few years ago when Oklahoma benefited from a botched call against his team. Knight himself called for a forfeiture to no avail. The game stood. “Had Oklahoma forfeited that game against us like I suggested, they would have gotten far more positive publicity out of that than if they had gone to the Final Four that year. Now I guess the ‘duck’ is swimming in the other pond.”
He’s pretty clever. And he’s right. The duck swims in the other pond all the time. Credit does not always fall to those who deserve it. The promotion does not go to the disciplined, hard worker. The prized role in the school play does not always go to the talented. Good grades do not always go to the intelligent. Parents do not always spread attention and recognition the same to their children. As many times as I have stood on both sides of a games sidelines – playing and watching – there is usually someone who can’t understand how the game ended with that result.
I have never been in favor of instant video replay in sports. It has led only to the belief that every call in the game must be the correct one. So now we have games where the call itself has become as important as the sport itself. What have we lost? I believe we have lost some good theology for our lives.
Theodicy is a word in the dictionary which means the vindication of divine justice in the face of the existence of evil, or in my terms, that God has not abandoned us even when life treats us unfairly. What this means is that as human beings we will need to come to terms with suffering to some extent. There will come a day when the game ends and the scoreboard may read that we have lost. Even unfairly. What then? Sue someone, or ask the question: Who am I as a loser?”
As Helmut Thielicke wrote out of the devastation of Germany at the end of World War II: “No one will ever come to the truth and thus to a trustworthy bridge over the abyss of Nothingness who has not faced doubt, despair and shipwreck … The one who knows what faith is must also have stood beneath the baleful eye of that demonic power against which we fling our faith. Faith is either a struggle or it is nothing.”
Maybe our time and our culture needs to ask the question: What’s wrong with losing once in awhile? I once heard a coach say we learn more from a loss than a victory. Thinking back on some of the teams I’ve played on, we should be geniuses by now. But I would agree. Losing is not a loss. Only in the eyes of the world who cannot understand how losing something, even our own lives for the sake of Jesus Christ, can be anything but a foolish life strategy and we really ought to review the video tape and make it right.
How strange that when God Himself entered the human stage he would say that to really win in life we must lose ourselves for His sake. Then he allowed himself to be the ultimate loser. And he just took it. No replay. No official to overrule it. He just took the loss.
Can I? Justice is such a built-in response mechanism. Yet, the experience of living and the truth of the gospel seems to point to a life that sometimes looks like failure.
I think I’ll go play some tennis and see if I can sort all this out.
See You Sunday,
Steve Weber, pastor
Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church
Mount Vernon, Washington
360-424-7675
www.mvpres.com
* Two Sunday Morning Adult Classes – While the kids are in class, adults now have two options. “A Chosen Vessel” is a video portrayal of the life of the apostle Paul. It meets in Good Shepherd Hall. YAD is a young adult discussion class now based around the Nooma series of thought-provoking questions about the Christian life. It meets in the Calvin Conference Room. Join us for The Path, our Sunday morning education hour at 8:50 a.m. in Good Shepherd Hall.
* Small Group Leader Training – A group of leaders will begin training this Sunday and small groups will be up and running the first week of October. Have you signed up yet to be in a group this fall? Brochures are available in the church office and there is still time to register.
* Youth Groups This Sunday – Our youth program now under the direction of Andy Thor will begin this Sunday with Junior Highers from 4:30-6:30 and Senior Highers from 6 – 8 p.m.