Sermons at St. John’s Presbyterian Church

Theology of Sport

Transcribed from the sermon preached June 17, 2007

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

Scripture Readings:  Proverbs 10:1-10, Matt 5:33-37, I Cor 9:3-6,15-27

Ill gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death…lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Do not swear at all.  Simply let your yes be yes and your no, no.

Early in the week I called my mom to confirm my dad’s flight times.  My mom is the talker and arranger.  They were not at home so I left a message.  The next day I came home from work, got a plate of food and sat down in front of the TV to watch the third game of the NBA championship.  The veteran champion San Antonio Spurs had won the first two games against the Lebron James led Cleveland Cavaliers. Virtually no team comes back from 3 down, so if there was any hope, this first home game was it.  I turned on the game with 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Cleveland had been down the whole game, and with a highflying, drive to the basket by Lebron, they took the lead.

Just then the telephone rang.  Knowing it was my mom with important family information, I put down my fork, got up off the couch, turned off the TV and answered the phone.  Just kidding.  My wife answered the phone. Feliciana proceeded to talk to my mom for the next four minutes, basketball time.  Then, Feliciana, seeing that I had finished my dinner, passed me the phone.  Since we were making pick up arrangements for my dad, I decided, “Maybe I should talk to dad.  Put him on the phone.”

“He doesn’t want to talk, he is watching the game.”  “Good, I don’t want to talk to him either.  I’ll call you back in 1:34. "

Like so many, I picked up my love for sport from my father.  Two-time South Dakota state champ in the mile, a masters from USC in phys ed., a Rose Bowl fanatic, track, cross country and football coach for 40 years, season ticket holder and diehard loyal fan to the losing LA Rams and Arizona Cardinals, my dad is one of the biggest sports enthusiasts I have ever met.  Through the years, most of the lessons I received from my dad were in a grass field, or in the car on the way to or from a grass field.  Not that my dad reserved sport sermons to sporting events. 

We heard them in front of the TV, at the dinner table.  I got one within fifteen minutes of picking him up from the airport.  I have heard an endless stream of proverbs. One I didn't hear from Dad was give 110%. But I did hear "never cheat, be a good sport, give a hundred percent, and no matter what happens, you can be proud.”   As you might imagine, this old school, Great Depression born guy doesn’t think much of chest pounding and choreographed end zone dances.  “Don’t swear you will do this or that, let your game be your yes, let your game be your no.  No need to boast, especially before a game.  Practice hard, eat well, get lots of rest, and let your game do the talking.  If you cheat you may win, but you will know you cheated, and that is losing in the bigger game of life.”  I could go on and on regurgitating proverbs my dad has fed me, but I do have a sermon to preach.

We know all the conditions we need to place on such a sermon as this, a father’s day sermon on theological lessons from sport:  Not all fathers are sports fans or athletes, too many were absent or taught bad lessons, and too many dads avoid relationship and feelings by talking about sports.  Competition is too important in our culture and often has a negative influence.  Our culture is sports obsessed and we watch too much TV.  We need to turn off the game and talk about our feelings.  All things worthy of note, part of the truth.  But in a church that plans events around Cal home football games, I think most of you can appreciate the blessings and lessons of sport.

In this morning's passage, Paul makes use of a sport analogy.  Paul is writing to Corinth, the cosmopolitan, pluralistic home of two shipping ports and the Isthmian games.   The games were held every two years on the isthmus in honor of Greek god Poseidon, god of water and sea, horses and earthquakes. Both men and women competed in these popular pan-Hellenic games. For those more interested in the arts or who wanted a mix of physical and intellectual competition, musical and oratorical contests were held at the same time in a theater on the isthmus. ⁽gbgm-umc.org/umw/corinthians/city.stm⁾

Paul is in a bit of a competition himself against the teaching and authority claims of others.  There is a question of whether he should remain the head coach of the Corinthian church.  Paul offers an argument for his ethical standards and his authority holding sway in the church.  His has two main points: powerful freedom comes through discipline, and the team is more important than the individual.

Most immediately he is responding to a group I will now refer to as the “smart crew”.  The smart crew loved the idea that they were “Free in Christ.”  Saved by grace through Jesus Christ, we are free from the law.  The smart crew decided that the grace of Christ freed them from strict adherence to cultural norms and laws.  Some of this crew were women and slaves, and with their new found spiritual power and freedom in Christ, pushed back against the oppressive norms of society.  Others were boasting of their qualifications and rights to authority in the church. 

Some in this smart crew decided they were free to eat the meat that had been sacrificed to idols.  Being smart as they were, they knew that idols were meaningless, and therefore the sacrifices made to them were meaningless.  Thus even though there was a law which forbid eating meat sacrificed to idols, since the idols and sacrifices were empty of power, Christians could, by the grace of God, freely to eat of the meat. 

Paul responds to the meat eating smart crew by admitting the truth of their point:  We are indeed free in Christ, and since idol sacrifice meant nothing, in theory, it would not be sinful to eat it.   But what if you, the smart one, were visiting the meat market with a new Christian who still believed idols had power?  Since willingly doing something one thinks is against the will of God is sin, you, the smart one, would be leading the other to sin.  If someone thinks they are cheating against God, they are cheating against God. And that is not smart.

So, just because we may have the right and the freedom as individuals to do something, that doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do.  Being free doesn’t mean we are free from responsibility for the Gospel and our neighbor.  Just because you are smart doesn’t mean you are wise.  Just because you are the best on the team, doesn’t mean you can skip practice.  It sets a bad example.

In Chapter 9 Paul uses himself as an example.  Right away in verse 1 Paul stakes his claim.  “Am I not free?  Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?  I’ve got freedom; I’ve got authority.  Paul is not only using himself as an example, he is also making his own defense.  Through both his freedom and authority he has the right to get paid for his work for the gospel, to get married, and to eat and drink as he pleases.

He says he is not writing this to get these things, to get paid in these ways. And, he is not boasting.  Well, he is boasting, but he has a point that is more important than merely seeing what a great guy he is.  Paul is not preaching for fame and fortune.  He is compelled to preach.  He can’t help himself.  He loves it.  He believes it, and he wants others to hear the Good News.

And in order to preach, to sell the Gospel message, to win other souls for Christ, he is self-disciplined.  “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to all, to win as many as possible.”  To those under the law I become as one under the law, to those without the law I become as one without the law…I have become all things to all people, so that by all possible means I might save some.”

Regardless of whose team you are on, giving oneself to the team will pay off for you as an individual in the end.  It is a fact in sport, as in all of life, that economic power creates a surplus of time, energy and money for the kind of professional excellence that beats the competition.  Economically powerful countries tend to have the best athletes and the Yankees, otherwise known as the “Evil Empire” wins a lot of World Series.  And it is true that there is a lot of hype around the superstar athletes who demand outrageous pay, are myopically focused on their next contract or highlight real, and get into trouble on and off the court.  Still I am constantly surprised by the unbridled joy and grace displayed by countless athletes, dancers and musicians.  Disciplined and selfless play continues to hold the trophy more often than not.  Cobie can score 80 points by himself, but his team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, while the disciplined, hard working, ball and salary sharing San Antonio Spurs methodically marched over Lebron and his crew in four games to capture yet another world championship.

And most of the time, the superstars are superstars for good reason.  We love to watch athletes display physical grace.  We also know that while some are born with extraordinary athletic ability, winners are also likely the most disciplined.  They are not only gifted, they have worked for hours on the basics so that they no longer have to think about them.  They become free because they made themselves slaves to their coach and to practice.  Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods…need I say more?  No, but in the tradition of my father I'll keep going.

  I can sit down at the piano and improvise to my hearts content, but all I will make is noise.  When someone who has disciplined herself to learn the basic rules of music then chooses to improvise, they get Jazz.  Undisciplined freedom is random. You may get lucky or, you may not.  Powerful freedom has a pattern.  It is not without laws but builds creatively on a foundation of law.

You have heard of the book, Zen and the Art of Archery.  A central idea of the book is the idea that through the discipline of years of practice, one rises beyond the rules to freedom and art.  Herrigel describes Zen in archery as follows: "The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him. This state of unconscious is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill, though there is in it something of a quite different order which cannot be attained by any progressive study of the art..."

While we may not be bound by laws, we are bound by principles of purpose, hard work and love.  So Paul says, the goal is not aggrandizement of self but to show the love and grace of Jesus Christ. To reach this goal submit to a disciplined life and take into consideration the people around us.  Even though we are not bound by the culture, we live within the culture that we may win those within the culture.

On a political note, what Paul is understands is the gradual, step-by-step method of a revolution.  Paul is not interested in going off on his own with a small group to live the perfect and pure life, totally free from the moral ambiguity of the world.  As Christ came in the flesh to live and be with us, so we are to live and be in the world.  The world is not as it should be.  There are all sorts of laws and rules that are unnecessary or need to change.  There are all sorts of people, in the Church and without, who don’t understand the beauty and freedom of the grace we find in Christ, but, if we are like Christ, we are here to serve them. We are going to keep doing some things and saying some things both in Church and society that may or may not be essential to the Gospel and our personal well being.  But, because we don’t want to lose people, we will not flaunt our freedom, and we will bring them along step by step. 

I can’t close without throwing in a qualification, an exception to the rule.  The perspective of both the Proverbs and Paul are coming from a relatively privileged position.  The Proverbs were likely written and used by the elite to teach their boys.  They are more meant for instruction on individual living than social analysis.  “A lazy hand makes a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth,” is a lesson given to a son with the privilege of choosing how hard he will work, and the privilege of being in a position where hard work is likely to pay off in personal reward down the line.  Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that this lesson that hard work pays off is not a lesson every child should have, no matter what its economic background.  But I am saying laziness is not the sole cause of poverty, and that poverty itself helps creates the kind of low self-esteem and disconnectedness that find no purpose and no team worth working hard for.