The Gospel of Baseball: We Did Everything Right but Win

Tommy Lasorda, former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, once said:

No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference.

Therein lies today’s lesson and a beautiful picture of our spiritual life. We struggle with the tension between the person we are and the person we want to be. We struggle with sin in our lives: sometimes persistent, chronic sin that we think we just can’t lick; sometimes unexpected sin that just appears out of nowhere like a summer shower and ruins our day:

For some, every sin is a blotch on our quest for perfection. Maybe, if we just work a little harder, we could yet reach perfection. (Hint: Go re-read last week’s sermon: "When Full Effort is Too Much".) For others, every sin is another brick in the wall we fear we are building that separates us from God. One day, we think, the wall will be so high, so long, and so thick that we should just stop trying to reach God. Just give up.

Sinlessness is not in our spiritual DNA. It’s not going to happen in our lifetimes, and we are fooling ourselves when we think that we’ve got it (1 John 1:8-10). On the other hand, sinfulness is not what we were created for. The bumper sticker read, "Be patient! God is not finished working on me yet." We might be a work in progress, but God’s expectation is that we join him in his work (on us!) and take our spiritual growth and purity seriously (1 John 3:1-3).

I’ve used the differences between football and baseball to illustrate spiritual truths. Let’s look at perfection as portrayed by the New England Patriots and the Boston Red Sox:

If the Patriots begin their season 8-0, sooner or later, somebody will start looking at the schedule and say, "Gee, their schedule is looking pretty easy. If they can get by this team here, and catch a break there—why, they could go 16-0!" A perfect regular season! Then just a bit of luck here and there in the playoffs, and they’d be 19-0! [1] Improbable, but it could happen!

On the other hand, if the Red Sox begin their season 8-0, nobody in their right mind is going to say, "Gee—they could go 162-0!" No team will ever come close! [2] What made the 2004 Red Sox special was not that they were perfect; rather, they did most everything right and tended to win.

Could this possibly be a picture of grace (and a hint towards perfection) for us? Like the 2004 Red Sox, you are going to have days when everything goes right and you win; you are going to have days where everything goes wrong and you lose; what happens on those days in the middle when you can go either way is what makes the difference.

Matthew 5:43-48

Commentary

v43-44 There is an interesting shift in verb tense between v43 and v44. v43 is literally translated, "You have heard that is was said, ‘You will love your neighbor and you will hate your enemy.’ The future tense is the style used in the Old Testament for legal requirements. On the other hand, v44 is literally, "But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies! And pray on behalf of the ones persecuting you...!’" The verb tense here is a direct command. This is an intentional shift, I think; Jesus is saying in effect, "We’re not talking about hypothetical legal situations here. We’re talking about non-negotiables."

v45 Pay attention to the "that." The litmus test of God’s children is that they love their enemies.

v45-47 v45b (how God loves) is contrasted to v46-47 (how even stereotypical evildoers know to love). As God’s children, we should bear a family resemblance in how we love.

v48 The word "perfect" here is teleios, which can be translated complete, whole, perfect, or finished. The sense is not so much being perfect as being what you were meant to be. How will your sense of v43-48 change if you use "complete" or "whole" in v48 instead of "perfect"? [3]

Application

Earl Weaver, former manager of the Baltimore Orioles, said of baseball, "This ain't a football game, we do this every day." [4] Football is a game of intensity played once a week, while baseball is a game of steady play, enacted every day of the summer. Similarly, our spiritual journey is a marathon, not a sprint; it is an everyday affair, not a one-hour-on-Sunday business.

You might be able to be perfect for a minute, an hour, or even a day (maybe not, but maybe so). But can you do it again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that? [5] Over the long haul, we will all have successes and failures. To paraphrase Lasorda, the best Christian will stumble here and there, while the worst Christian will occasionally get it right; what matters is what happens in between.

I’m not talking about salvation. I’m not talking about earning a ticket to heaven. I’m talking about getting perspective on a spiritual life that you can be happy about, feeling that you’re going in the right direction. I’m talking about discipleship and being transformed day by day into the person you were created to be (Romans 12:2).

Loving your enemies is not just a litmus test for children of God, loving your enemies is the arena where Christians are being developed. Just as a lousy team will probably when a third of its games, even a spiritual idiot can probably return love for love. What makes a difference between losers and champions is returning love for hate.

Now this doesn’t come naturally. Even mature Christians struggle with this. Jesus may pray for his persecutors (Luke 23). Stephen may pray for forgiveness for his persecutors as well (Acts 7). But Paul, on the other hand, is frequently intolerant of the Judaizers who annoy him. Just as a good team will probably lose a third of its games, even a good Christian will stumble a times.

We are so performance-based, when the Bible speaks of perfection, we think we have go 162-0.

But what if cultivating the habits of our heart is more important than the actual outcome?

What if the discipline of dying to self and letting God lead you in loving your enemies is more important than the actual end result? (Hint: Jesus and Stephen love their enemies—and die! Maybe the spiritual act of sacrificing yourself is more important than a happy ending.)

What if your satisfaction came from the joy in following God’s direction rather than from any notion of arriving at perfection?

Thomas Boswell, sports columnist for The Washington Post, illustrates this perfectly:

The most common error of novice reporters is their tendency to watch what happens, rather than study the principles under the action. You don’t ask, "Did that pinch hitter get a hit?" In a sense, that’s a matter of chance. The worst hitter will succeed one time in five, while the best hitter will fail two times in three. Instead ask, "Given all the factors in play at that moment, was he the correct man to use in that situation?"

Only then will you begin to sense the game as a team does. If a team loses a game but has used its resources properly—relived its starting pitcher at a sensible juncture, used the proper strategy during its rallies, minimized its mental and fundamental mistakes, had the proper pinch hitters at the plate with the game on the line in the late innings—then that team is often able to ignore defeat utterly. Players say, "We did everything right but win."

If you do everything right every day, you’ll still lose 40 percent of your games—but you’ll also end up in the World Series. Nowhere is defeat so meaningless as in baseball.

(Why Time Begins on Opening Day, p 294).

Points to Ponder

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (James 1:22ff) The only discipleship that counts is that which changes what you do, and psychologists say you learn more from what you do than what you hear or read. James goes on to say you will be blessed by doing, so ...

Could it be that the spiritual transformation you want in your life will come after you put what you know into practice, not before? For example, could it be that you will become merciful after you begin to love your enemies (as opposed to loving your enemies after you begin to feel merciful)?

Remembering that being whole is another definition of teleios, consider the saying, "You are not fully healed until you are healing others." How do you think that fits with today’s verses?

If loving your enemies is a mark of spiritual maturity, where is the place where you need to grow up?

My blessing for you today is from James 1:2-4:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

End Notes:

1 - It’s never been done, of course, but it could happen. The 1972 Miami Dolphins went 17-0, but since the advent of the 16-game regular season, the best record has been 18-1, by the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the 1985 Chicago Bears (but all you Patriot fans would remember that!). The 1948 Cleveland Browns went 14-0, winning the AAFC, but the NFL does not recognize AAFC records. The Chicago Bears went undefeated during the regular season in both 1934 and 1942, but lost in the championship game each year, to the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, respectively.

2 - The best ever was the 1906 Chicago Cubs who went 116-36, winning 76.3% of their games. The 2001 Seattle Mariners also won 116 games—albeit in a 162-game season—so their winning percentage was "only" 71.6%. (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_gam3.shtml)

3 - Here are all the other NT instances of the word teleios. Perfection in most of these cases means something like, "being what it was created to be." Read & decide for yourself!

Matt. 19:21 "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions ..."
Romans 12:2 "Then you will be able to test & approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing & perfect will."
1 Cor. 2:6 "We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature ..."
1 Cor. 13:10 "when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears"
1 Cor. 14:20 "Stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults."
Eph. 4:13 "...until we all ... become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."
Philippians 3:15 "All of us who are mature should take such a view of things."
Col. 1:28 "...we may present everyone perfect in Christ."
Col. 4:12 "... that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured."
Heb 5:14 "But solid food is for the mature, who ... have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
Heb. 9:11 "When Christ came as high priest ... he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle"
James 1:4 "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature & complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above ..."
James 1:25 "the perfect law that gives freedom"
James 3:2 "If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man ..."
1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear ..."

4 - Weaver is famous for baiting umpires, salty quotes, and winning baseball. A favorite Earl Weaver story has him arguing with an ump, who offered to let Weaver see the rule in the ump’s rulebook; Weaver retorted, "That’s no good. I can’t read Braille." (Although baseball may illustrate some spiritual truths, most ballplayers and coaches do not!)

5 - In all fairness, when Jesus says, "Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matt. 6:34) he is counseling against thinking past the present moment. When we look at the future stretching out before us and wonder how we are going to deal with perfection and sin—e.g. forgiveness, forbearance, and mercy, or fidelity, gossip, and anger—it can seem overwhelming! Meet God in the present—wrestle with God and yourself in your present struggles—and leave tomorrow for another day.

However, the point I was trying to make is that for brief, fleeting moments we might be able to get it right on our own, but over the long haul perfection is quite beyond our capabilities, and we need God to do a work in our lives.

The Gospel of Baseball: When Full Effort is Too Much

On May 24, 1952, before a game with the New York Yankees, young and promising Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall engaged in a fistfight with Yankee’s infielder Billy Martin. Afterward the game, Piersall fought with a teammate in the clubhouse. With weeks, after several other incidents, Piersall was demoted to the AA Birmingham Barons. Shortly thereafter, Piersall was sent to Westboro State Hospital in Massachusetts for "nervous exhaustion." Although Piersall returned to the Red Sox the following year—starting in the outfield with Ted Williams and Jackie Jensen through 1958 and playing in the majors through 1967—he continued to struggle with inappropriate and bizarre behavior, e.g.:

• permanently hurting his arm in a throwing contest with Willie Mays,
• running back and forth in the outfield during a Ted Williams at bat,
• running around the backs backwards (albeit in the correct order) to celebrate his 100th home run, and
• fighting with managers, players, and fans.

In his autobiography, Fear Strikes Out, Piersall blamed much of his condition on his father, who pressured him to excel as a ballplayer when he was a young boy. This is not a diatribe against fathers; rather, it is counsel against all those voices in our heads that urge us to work 110% at life, at marriage, at work, at church, and even with God. We have taken verses like, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength" (Mark 12:30) and, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door" (Luke 13:24) and made them into a false gospel whereby salvation is earned by our hard work. [1]

Matthew 7:15-23

Commentary

The parallel accounts are Luke 6:43-46 plus Luke 13:22-27. I strongly encourage you to read these in their full context because Luke & Matthew have slightly different arrangements and emphases. [2]

v15 Only in Matthew does Jesus warn of false prophets. We tend to think of a false prophet in terms of the Antichrist (Rev. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10). However, false prophets were considered a past and present danger as well (Luke 6:26; Acts 13:6; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1). An earmark of a false prophet is lying. The false prophet may advocate idolatry, or may presume to speak on behalf of God without being authorized by God to speak. In either case, preaching a false salvation is more a mark of a false prophet than falsely preaching of calamity (Jeremiah 28).

v17-19 A better translation might be: "In the same way, a good tree makes beautiful fruit, but a rotten tree bears evil fruit. A good tree does not make evil fruit, not a rotten tree beautiful fruit. Each tree not making beautiful fruit is cut down and into the fire it is thrown."

v20 By the pronoun references (them & their), we conclude that the false prophets (v15) bear noticeable fruit (v16, 20), i.e. evil fruit.

v21 If a false prophet presumes to speak for God without authority, then a false believer may be one who presumes to speak to God without being in a bona fide relationship to God.

v22 Spectacular works are deceptive. A false prophet may perform miracles and claim authority, yet was never commissioned by God. A false believer may claim the name of Jesus (the phrase "in your name" being emphasized repeatedly) and yet not have the mark of Jesus, i.e. the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14).

v23 The vocabulary in the Greek is different than v19, but the implication is nevertheless clear. The producers of evil fruit in v19 are the evildoers in v23.

Application

The temptation is to read these verses as an apocalyptic warning—watch out for the Antichrist and the false prophet! However the verses before & after this section—in fact, the whole Sermon on the Mount—are concerned with the present-day reality of the kingdom of God. Where is God at work in your life? Where is God yet to enter into your life? Since v15-23 is preceded by an exhortation to enter through the narrow gate (v13-14) and is followed by an exhortation to take Jesus’ words and put them into practice (v24-27), it is a mistake to think that v15-23 is simply a futuristic warning.

Rather, v15-23 is primarily a warning that not every good work, not even good work done in the name of Jesus, is inspired and approved of by God. False teachings come in many different flavors, but today let’s talk about pragmatism. American pragmatism has trained us to believe that we are defined by what we do. Get introduced to somebody, and when they ask, "What do you do?" (a telling statement itself) we usually respond with an occupational description. "I’m a teacher, a nurse, a mason, a pastor, etc.," or, "I’m retired," or, "I’m a stay-at-home mom." (Why do we allow ourselves to be defined like this?)

We have been trained to believe that better means doing more. By this logic, working 50 hours is better than working 40 hours. Taking a promotion (with more responsibility) is better than the status quo. Double-tithing at church is better than tithing.

Conversely, we struggle with doing less. We are willing to accept more responsibility, but we are loathe to give up responsibilities. Giving up responsibilities feels like failing.

Defining ourselves by what we do is a false gospel; it is a rotten tree and will bear evil fruit. Where have your reaped evil fruit in your own life from this false gospel? Deep in our hearts, we know that it pragmatism is a lie—it does not work, & it does not even satisfy. So why do you keep trying to perform?

What if, instead of doing, you focused on being?

In our panic to define ourselves by what we do, we rush out to act. Frequently we end up trying to work in Jesus’ name when God has never called us to go. When you rush to act, do you end up painting God out of the picture? Is there not place left for God to do some new, unexpected thing?

In reaction, we fear to act, afraid to be outside of God’s will. We wait to know God’s will perfectly. Do you end up playing guessing games with God? Are you so afraid to guess wrong that you end up doing nothing?

Both of these reactions—rushing to act & being fearful to act—and the false gospel of pragmatism behind them deny the sovereignty of God, i.e. the power of God to enter into our lives, to command of the good and the evil in our lives, and to re-create us into some new thing.

"Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10)

Instead of rushing out to act, can you give control to God and ask him to act?

Instead of being fearful to act, can you ask God to put you where you need to be and to give you passion for what he would have you do?

Can you believe that God is in control and will put you where you need to be, with whom you need to be, and will give you the passion to work in his name ... if you step out of the way & give him the chance?

Points to Ponder

Relax! Living in the kingdom of God is fun once you stop trying to do it all yourself. Thomas Boswell, sports columnist for The Washington Post, says of the balance between effort and relaxation:

Assume everybody is trying reasonably hard.

Of all the factors at work in baseball, effort is the last to consider. In the majors, you seldom try your hardest; giving 110 percent, as a general mode of operation, would be counterproductive for most players. The issue in baseball is finding the proper balance between effort and relaxation. Usually, something on the order of 80 percent effort is about right. Few players have trouble revving that high. Many can’t get down that low. (Why Time Begins on Opening Day, p 292)

Relax doesn’t mean don’t try! All those verses that talk about making every effort (see endnote #1) tend to focus on taking the work of the Spirit in your life—especially purity, peace, and unity—seriously. Sin in our lives should not be ignored, and it should be dealt with seriously (Romans 6). However, ask God, through his Spirit guide you. You know how it works when you try to deal with personal sin on your own (it doesn’t work, does it?) so let God Spirit work on you—especially by re-directing your thoughts & passions.

Ever wonder why the Yankees don’t win the World Series every year with the best talent money can buy? Some blame goes to owner George Steinbrenner, who infamously interferes with the team, trying to "psyche up" the players. The players say Steinbrenner’s tactics work for football, where nerves and intensity are important, but not for baseball. (By the logic of this sermon, I just called Steinbrenner a false prophet, but in your disdain for the Yankees I ask you to remember them as a parable of trying too hard.)

Rick McKinley, pastor at Imago Dei Community in Portland Oregon (and Donald Miller’s pastor) says:

When I first became a Christ follower, I was invited to a Bible study. I worked with a great guy who loved on me and taught me the Bible as we worked through a little study book. I ate it up. I wanted to show him how seriously I was really taking this. When we finished the first book, he mentioned that there was a second one in the series that we should go through.

Bring it on, I thought. I was all for it. I devoured that one and soon moved on to the next, then the next one after that, and the next one after that.

One day I got tired of the little study books. I wondered what number I would be working on in ten years. I had thought that getting to the next level would get me to a deeper spiritual life. I wanted to get the "deeper spiritual life" thing done and taken care of, then move on to new business. But there was no end to it. All I ever arrived at was a new level that needed reaching.

Now, you might recognize yourself in my spiritual striving, or you might not. But I see that kind of striving and competitiveness everywhere [even] in our churches. (p 56)

End Notes:

1 - There are eight verses in the NIV containing the phrase "make every effort;" however, there are three distinct Greek verbs which are translated as "make every effort" in the NIV. In the verses below, I’ve replaced "make every effort" with a more literal translation.

Luke 13:24 "strive to enter through the narrow door" ("agonize" might be the more literal translation)
Romans 14:19 "pursue what leads to peace" (the word is elsewhere translated as "persecute")
Ephesians 4:3 "be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit"
Hebrews 4:11 "be diligent to enter that rest"
Hebrews 12:14 "pursue living in peace with all men and being holy"
2 Peter 1:5-7 "be diligent to add to your faith goodness ..."
2 Peter 1:12-15 "... I will be diligent to see ... that you will always remember"
2 Peter 3:10-15 "... be diligent to be found spotless, blames, and at peace with him"

What are we supposed to be making every effort to do?

2 - For those who like to read the parallel accounts for greater insight—and I very much encourage you to read the parallel accounts—the sermon text today is a bit of a mess. The larger context for Matthew is the Sermon on the Mount (which is called the Sermon on the Plain in Luke). Although there are many topics in common between Matthew’s account and Luke’s account, the arrangement is frequently different—e.g. today’s text.

The immediate context for Matthew is the parable of the narrow & wide gates. This is the context for Luke 13:22-27 (which is not part of the Sermon on the Plain!) but not for the portion in Luke 6. For Luke 6:43-46, the immediate context is "Judge not" (i.e. last week’s sermon) which is also in Matthew 7; however, the wide/narrow gate parable is stuck in between! Both Matthew’s account and the Luke 6 section of the account conclude with the parable of the wise and foolish builders and the exhortation to put Jesus’ words into action.

As far as comparing Matthew and Luke:

Matthew 7:16-20 parallels Luke 6:43-44 and Matthew 12:33);
Luke 6:45 parallels Matt. 12:34-35 only (unless you see these two as a different spin on Matt. 7:22-23);
Matt. 7:21 parallels Luke 6:46; but at the same time,
Matt. 7:21-23 parallels Luke 13:25-27.

Looking at parallel passages in the gospels is part of what’s called synoptic criticism (criticism here just meaning analysis). What does Matthew’s account emphasize? What does Luke’s account emphasize? Frequently parallel accounts are identical, or nearly so. For something like today, where the parallels are not so straightforward, one might conclude that these were common topics for Jesus that appeared in several teachings in various contexts.

The Gospel of Baseball: Judge Slowly

So, the question is: Whatever possessed me to do a series of sermons with baseball illustrations? The original impetus came while reading Why Time Begins on Opening Day, by Thomas Boswell, [1] sports columnist for The Washington Post. Boswell said of baseball:

Judge slowly.

No, even more slowly than that.

Never judge a player over a unit of time shorter than a month. A game or even a week is nothing; you must see a player hot, cold and in between before you can put the whole package together. Sometimes, in the case of a proven player, a whole season is not enough time to judge, especially if there are extenuating circumstances. In ’81, Fred Lynn, traded from Boston to the Angels, batted .219 with five homers; the quick judgment was that Lynn was a Fenway Park hitter who would never be an All-Star away from it. In ’82, Lynn was healthy, made his technical adjustments at the plate and saw his stats go back close to their .300-with-power, Fenway levels.

The rush to judge is the most certain sign of a baseball outsider. (p 292)

Jesus’ words, “Judge not, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1) hung in the background. Indeed baseball, as a sport, does not rush to judgement about players. Many ballplayers languish in the minor leagues for years before arriving in the major leagues. Rookies are only slowly given respect—conventional wisdom is, “Wait until everyone has seen him a couple of times and then we will see how he does.”

In my first baseball sermon (“The Big Inning”) I said that one of the distinctives of baseball was its lack of a clock, and I compared this with the Biblical concept of time as an opportunity, or season, or crisis that is not governed by a timetable. There is something about being liberated from myopic timetables that tends to change our reaction to life—in this case, judgment—and I realized that baseball does illustrate much of what the Bible says about judgment, mercy, perseverance, humility, preparation, perfection, & stardom.

Matthew 7:1-5

Commentary

v1 The NIV translation of the verb tense and the sense of causality is misleading; it makes it look like each act of judgment leads directly to a future judgment. The sense of the verse (albeit not a word-for-word translation) is something more like, “The more you judge, the more you may come under judgment.”

v2 One consideration in these verses is, “Who is judging us?” God, or other people? Certainly God factors into the equation. But doesn’t the way we judge others affect how others judge us?”
The measure can be used to dole out all sorts of things. In the parallel account in Luke 6:37-42, we mete out judgment, forgiveness, and condemnation, to name a few. (Read Luke’s account. What do you pick up from Luke that you don’t get from Matthew?)

v3 “Plank” is way too small. “Beam” or “log” is more the right size (we’re talking extreme hypocrisy here).

v5 When we see clearly, our eyes have come into focus. Certainly if I went in for eye surgery, I’d be concerned if the surgeon could not see what he was doing. Likewise, aren’t we leery of people who deal with problems by shooting first and asking questions later? On the other hand, those whom we trust with our problems tend to be patient & kind, and slow to action. How do you tend to deal with problems?

Note: If we are to never judge, v5 is a non sequitor; it doesn’t belong here. If we are not to judge, v5 should have said something like, “Hypocrite, just deal with the plank in your eye, and leave your brother to handle his speck on his own.” However, by his own words, Jesus is telling us to intercede in other’s lives—albeit with patience, humility, and gentleness.

Application

The most pagan, Biblically-illiterate person I know can quote Matthew 7:1. In society, and for many Christians, this verse means "Never judge—not ever!" While I’m loathe to say that Jesus’ words do not mean what they appear to say, if Jesus really meant, "Never judge," what is the point of v2-5? Why go on about how we judge if we are not to judge at all? [2] John Calvin says of v1, "These words of Christ do not contain an absolute prohibition from judging, but are intended to cure a disease, which appears to be natural to us all."

What is the disease we tend to evidence when we judge?

Judge for Yourself ... Many places in the New Testament appears to invite us to judge—albeit responsibly—e.g.:

Luke 7:43 Jesus praises a Pharisee for making a correct moral judgment.
Luke 12:57 Jesus exhorts the crowd to use spiritual discernment/judgment
1 Corinthians 5:12-6:5 Paul urges the Corinthians to judge (and settle) internal disputes.
1 Corinthians 10:15 Paul urges the Corinthians to judge the significance of communion.
1 Corinthians 11:13 Paul urges Corinthians to make judgments (decisions) regarding propriety in worship.

Based on these verses, when should we judge?

We tend to rush to judgment, and when we judge, we tend to pile judgment upon judgment and insist on seeing the judgment through to its consummation.

What would happen if we judged slowly?

As a husband, parent, child, boss, and pastor, my experience is that people learn (and change, based on what they have learned) best when they are not in a environment of criticism. Many times we can know exactly what needs to change in someone else, but for the sake of the other, we must try to let them come to judgment on their own.

Points to Ponder

Are there times when we should rush to judgment (e.g. mercy)? Can we overdo mercy by being too merciful too quickly?

In baseball, conventional wisdom is that the average hitter needs 3,000 at bats in the minor leagues before being ready for major league pitching. Few players—even stars—go directly to the major leagues without spending time in the minors. What if your favorite star was judged quickly and never had the chance to practice in the minors? What lesson can you take away from this?

My suggestion for this week: Instead of just offering up criticism, ask the person, "So, how do you think that is working out?" If the person does not see what’s happening as a problem, they are probably not ready for criticism. If they express dissatisfaction, wait for them to ask something like, "What do you think I should do?" If they never ask, any judgment on your part will probably not be appreciated. (And even if they ask, please try to be constructive! Give a compliment before offering up a criticism!)

End Notes

1 - Boswell is perhaps most famous for his list of 99 reasons why baseball is better than football: http://baseball-almanac.com/legendary/libvf100.shtml .

2 - Hyperbole (exaggeration for effect) is a characteristic Semitic way of speaking which is commonly used in the Bible. Hyperbole gives arise to much confusion when we try to interpret certain passages literally. For example, when Jesus says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26) that’s hyperbole, not a command to despise your family!

Similarly, in Matthew 7:3-5, one could never actually have a plank in one’s eye; it’s exaggeration for effect. Jesus is describing how we botch judgments. v1 ("don’t judge") is the gateway into this whole hyperbolic illustration. Jesus, in effect, says, "You miss the big picture so badly when you judge, you’d be better off not judging at all, and I’ll tell you why ..." Eugene Peterson’s translation in The Message conveys this sense very well.

The Gospel of Baseball: Regulars, Stars, and Super-Stars

The occasion for this sermon is the MLB All-Star game on Tuesday, July 10th. I used to be a big fan of the All-Star game, but I had the misfortune of rooting for the American League during a time when the National League team seemed to always win (between 1963 and 1982, the NL won 19 of the 20 All-Star games). Now I rarely, if ever, watch the All-Star game, since it has become less of a contest to see which league is the best and more of a pageant (i.e. expanded rosters, the compulsion to play the entire roster, recent lackadaisical play, the tie game in 2002, & extraneous events—like the Home Run Derby).

The question for today is: What makes a baseball star, a star?

Is potential talent enough ... or do you need to have demonstrated your ability? [1]

Is steady play over a long period of time sufficient ... or do you need to have done something spectacular? (On the other hand, does spectacular play at one point make up for mediocre play the rest of the time?) [2]

How much does popularity count? (Remember, we’re talking sports here ...) How much does sportsmanship count? [3]

How does stardom translate into our spiritual lives? This is no joke! Many (Most? All?) of us struggle with the feeling that we are not good enough in our spiritual walk. We look around, and we can point to others whom appear to have their spiritual lives in order. What makes a Christian a star?

The sermon texts for today appear to give to very different—and contradictory—answers to how we are to live our lives: Are we supposed to let others see our faith at work or not?

Matthew 5:14-16 versus Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon ideas come from strange places sometimes! Rachel Ferland was looking at alleged contradictions in the Bible, and the above pair of verses is cited on an atheist web site as a contradiction.

Is it?

Commentary

In order for the pair of verses to contradict each other, the "acts of righteousness" in 6:1 must refer to the same thing as the "good deeds" in 5:16. Regrettably—for those looking for a contradiction—they don’t ... not exactly, anyway.

The NIV editorialized a little bit in translating 6:1—the words "acts" doesn’t appear in the Greek. A better translation for 6:1 might be: "But take heed your righteousness not to do in front of men in order to be seen by men. Otherwise, you have no reward in heaven with your Father." Righteousness—not acts of righteousness—becomes a little vaguer, a little more abstract. It’s not a specific deed, although almsgiving is certainly mentioned in the next three verses. The Hebrew and Greek words for righteousness both generally refer to "conduct in accordance with the requirements of a particular relationship" (Scott McKnight). Bruce Waltke, Old Testament professor at RTS, goes even further. He says that righteousness means to, "disadvantage yourself in order to advantage others in God's kingdom" (http://www.rts.edu/quarterly/fall00/waltke.html). By this logic, doing the right things for the wrong reasons is still wrong. McKnight would say your relationship—with God or with others—must be preserved regardless of what good you are trying to do. [4] Waltke would say that attempting to gain an advantage in a relationship undermines whatever good you are trying to accomplish.

As a minor translation issue, you must decide whether "in heaven" in 6:1 refers to your Father or your reward. Given the rest of chapter 6—esp. v 5, 16, and 19-21—I think Jesus is talking about heavenly, i.e. spiritual, rewards. (The tendency is think of these rewards as the ultimate retirement account: one day I’ll go to heaven and collect my reward. However, the verb is present tense—for good or bad, you have your reward right now. You either have an earthly reward right now or a spiritual reward right now. When we over-spiritualize verses like these, we can conclude, "Well, I’m not happy right now, so I guess I’m earning a reward in heaven." This logic flies in the face of martyrs, who say, "I’m not happy with my circumstances right now, but I see God at work all around me, and therefore I can be content." Maybe—maybe—if you are always unhappy then either you’re really working on earthly rewards (which cannot satisfy) or you still have lessons to learn about trusting God during adversity.

Application

So how do we make sense of this in Matthew? Matthew 6:1-4 is just the beginning of a series of examples that Jesus gives as to how to seek righteousness within the context of divine and human relationships.

If the goal is holistic relationships, then giving assistance to the needy in a way that keeps them feeling downtrodden and beholden is evil (Matthew 6:1-4).

If the goal is an authentic relationship with God, then performance—before others or before God—is anathema (Matthew 6:5-15). Go back and look at Waltke says about disadvantaging yourself and then re-read Matthew 6:12-15!

If the goal is becoming disadvantaged for the sake of another, then focusing on one’s material loss (or immaterial gain) is to remain focused on self instead of another (Matthew 6:16-18)

The hypocrites in Matthew 6 are playing to an audience of one: themselves. [5] They have lost their willingness to be disadvantaged; they are no longer content with being less than number one; they have lost their humility.

In contrast, what is the focus of those who are called to be the light of the world in 5:14? Superficially, it might appear that we are called to play to the crowd, that our good deeds might win acclaim. However, the assertion is that a city on a hill or a lit lamp simply stands out be being what it is. In the same way, when we live as sons and daughters of God, we should simply stand out.

Most people are pretty shrewd. They’ve been conned by enough offers of HUGE SAVINGS! and FREE GIFTS! and MONEY BACK GUARANTEES! that they know a hustle when they see it. Sadly a lot of bad evangelism sounds like a bait-and-switch to the people who need God the most. We cannot force anyone to follow God, but too often we have tried to sell God like a telemarketer selling free sittings at the photographer’s studio. When we have tried to sell God in this way, we have lost track of the fact that—first and foremost—we are to seek God’s kingdom first in our lives. When we have tried to sell God in this way, we have made our personal intangible gain more important than the relationship with the people we are with.

Matthew 5:14-16 is a call to keep doing what we are supposed to be doing—living transformed lives in the world. People will notice a difference. Some will like it (Matthew 5:16) and want more. Some will despise it (Matthew 5:11-12) and want nothing to do with it. Our job is simply to keep letting God work on us and change us. This is humble work—to live as a Christian without a lot of hoopla, without a lot of fanfare—but it’s the place where transformation takes place in our lives.

Points to Ponder

There was a time (before word inflation) when good journeymen ballplayers were called regulars. Only the rare player was called a star. Nobody was ever called a superstar. A regular was still an accomplished athlete who did what he was called upon to do. Would you be OK with your spiritual life if you were a regular? (Luke 17:7-10)

By this logic, are "Christian stars" steady performers or occasional spectacular achievers?

My suggestion for this week: quit trying to earn God’s love or other people’s approval! God loves you as you are, and as Paul said, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) Ask God to free you of the compulsion to earn love & ask him to show you what your life could be like if you were free to love others (there’s Waltke’s righteousness for you!).

Two baseball quotes about stardom. (Who is closer to understanding the need to be changed?):

Reggie Jackson: "I didn't come to New York to be a star. I brought my own star with me."

Jim Murray (former sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times): "A star works at being a star … that’s how you tell a star in baseball. He shows up nightafter night and takes pride in how brightly he shines. He’s Willie Mays running so hard his hat keeps falling off; Ty Cobb sliding to stretch a single into a double; Lou Gehrig, after being fooled in his first two at-bats, belting the next pitch off the light tower because he’s taken the time to study the pitcher. Stars never take themselves for granted. That’s why they’re stars."

One parting baseball analogy: Historically, the best players have made lousy managers and some lousy players have made superb managers. Tony LaRussa (a .199 career hitter) is 3rd all-time with 2,336 wins as a manager. Bobby Cox (a .225 hitter in two major league seasons) is 4th with 2,216. Sparky Anderson (a .218 hitter in his only major league season) is 5th with 2,194. Earl Weaver, who never played major league baseball, won 58.3% of his games as a manager. On the other hand, Hall of Famer Ted Williams (a .344 hitter for the Red Sox) only won 42.9% of his games as a manager. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (6th all-time with 583 home runs) only won 47.5% of his games. Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby (a .358 hitter) only won 46.3% of his games. What if humbler workers are actually the better teachers? Why might that be the case? Do you think it might hold true for spiritual competition as well?

End Notes

1 - For example, Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox was the last player voted onto the AL All-Star team this year. He is a rookie, with a 2-0 record, 4 saves, and a 0.88 ERA in 41 innings. By comparison, Kelvim Escobar, an 11-year veteran who has appeared in 397 games in his career, is 10-3 this year with a 3.19 ERA in 107.1 innings; however, Escobar is not an All-Star this year!

2 - Eddie Murray (aka "Steady Eddie") is a prime example. Murray was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum in 2003; however, many questioned his hall of fame qualities. Despite over 500 home runs and 3,200 base hits, Murray only led his league in any major offensive category during the strike-shortened 1981 season; also, his seasonal high of 33 home runs is the lowest of any slugger with 500 career home runs. Many said Murray’s high career numbers were simply due to longevity (tied for 6th all-time with 3,026 games).

On the other hand, consider Roger Maris, who broke Babe Ruth’s single-season homerun record in 1961 by hitting 61 homeruns. Although Maris was a two-time AL MVP and a four-time All-Star, he has never been elected to the baseball hall of fame. Despite his generally good play and his one great year, the rationale is that he was not good enough long enough. (http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/marisro01.shtml)

3 - Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were both about as popular as any players ever; however, their reputations have been tarnished by their alleged use of steroids. Sosa will not be in the All-Star game this year, despite having the 3rd-highest RBI total for an AL outfielder. McGwire was not elected to the hall of fame this spring, and the rumor is that his alleged steroid use was a major factor.

4 - Relationships do vary, and different relationships do come with different ethical demands: e.g. spouse, parent, child, friend, etc. If someone acted the same to everyone, we’d conclude that they had weird boundary issues. For example, I wouldn’t want my wife to treat other men the way she treats me!

5 - Remember, "hypocrite" is a perfectly good Greek word that means "actor"!

The Gospel of Baseball: The Big Inning

There’s an old joke:

Q: What is the first sport mentioned in the Bible?
A: Baseball. Genesis 1:1: "In the big inning, God created the heavens and the earth."

Over the next couple of months, I will be preaching sermons with a baseball flavor. There is nothing mystical about baseball.[1] Baseball is not a metaphysical pathway to any great truths. However, when Jesus spoke in parables, he used common, everyday objects to illustrate heavenly truths. I’m sure when he preached there were people who said, "Oh, he just talked about sowing seed" (or pearls, lost sheep, etc.). Jesus said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Mark 4:9,23). My parables may involve baseball, but for those with ears to hear, let them hear about the kingdom of God at work in our lives, and mercy, and grace.

Luke 12:54-56

commentary

v56: A better interpretation of the last sentence is perhaps, "But this opportune time you cannot interpret?" This account is reported by Matthew a bit differently:

The contexts of the two accounts are different. In Matthew, Jesus is responding to the Pharisees’ request for a sign (16:1). In Luke, the account comes near the end of warnings to seek God’s kingdom, to be watchful, and to live ethically (read chapter 12). A prophetic sign is usually a miraculous confirmation of what a prophet has said. [2]

Luke does not use the code word "sign." There’s no request for a sign here. [3] The implication is that the discernment (or lack of it) that Jesus refers to is something else—something going on in their midst which they had missed. Read Luke 12 & decide for yourself.

What Makes Somebody Knowledgeable about the Weather a Hypocrite?

Is a weatherman really such a bad guy?

Not really, but recall the saying in Maine, "If you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes & it will change." To be an authority on the weather is to be an expert on something right this minute that will be of no consequence an hour from now, or a day from now. Knowing the weather right now will be of little or no use planning for a year from now. (You’re planning a birthday party for next summer. Should you plan an indoor party or an outdoor party?) In the long-term, knowing today’s weather is of no importance.

As I said earlier, the implication for Luke in 12:56 is that there something fundamental going on which the crowd (not Pharisees—that’s Matthew’s version!) should not be missing. It’s right in front of them! It should be as obvious as a storm cloud and as easy to interpret as the wind from the south ... and they’re missing it! The Sunday School answer would be, "Jesus!" More apropos for us—and probably more what Jesus had in mind anyway—is, "the kingdom of God." The kingdom of God is coming, Jesus says, it’s near, it’s within your grasp, and you’re missing it ... because you’re experts on things which only last as long as a summer storm.

Baseball Time vs Football Time

The New Testament has two different perspectives on time: one is like football and one is like baseball.

In football, everything seems to run by a clock: the 60-minute game is divided into four 15-minute periods; we have a halftime and time outs; the ball must be snapped (starting a new play) every 40 seconds; near the end of each half, teams may resort to their two-minute drills; TV broadcasters know that an NFL game is going to run almost exactly three hours.

The clock is inexorable. It dominates the game. Veteran quarterbacks are said to have used the clock well when they either drive the length of the field within two minutes and score or move the ball up the field slowly, thereby running large amounts of time off the clock.

In the same way, clocks can dominate our lives. We use appointment books & PDAs to keep us on time; we hurry from place to place, trying to fit everything in. Drive kids here; run into a convenience store (it’s convenient because it’s quick!); a few calls on the cell phone, (maybe to reorder our schedule); some fast food; caffeine to keep us going; an hour for church (!!!); hurry across town for the children’s sports (curse the traffic); fit in the unexpected emergency (which was only a problem because our schedule was so tight); crawl into bed for all-too-few hours of sleep. [4] And somehow we pride ourselves on all that we are able to cram into our schedule.

Manage the Clock: The Greek word for this kind of time is chronos, or clock time, from which we get words like chronology. Chronos time is concerned with dates, hours, and durations.

In baseball, very few actions are governed by a clock: a 9-inning game may take anywhere from 1 to 4 hours; [5] extra inning games are common and may seem to take forever (although an official game may be called after just five innings due to weather); a plate appearance may consist of a single pitch or a dozen.

To the uninitiated, for most of a baseball game, it looks like there’s nothing going on. The manager lumbers on and off the field, talking to his pitcher. The pitcher throws a dozen times to first to hold the runner close to the bag. He fiddles with the rosin bag and shakes off the catcher before delivering a pitch. The batter, not to be outdone, calls time (a malapropism if ever there was one), steps out of the batter’s box, and stares at the third base coach (who appears to either have OCD or lice, given how he’s touching himself). Even the plate umpire gets into the act, swapping balls or sweeping off home plate.

They’re waiting for the big inning, the defining moment of the game. The botch of a routine out; the miscue; the seeing-eye grounder; the unexpected gust of wind; the ball lost in the sun; the split-second decision to go for an extra base; the surprise gamble. It doesn’t happen on demand; it doesn’t occur when most expected (after all, the best hitter on the team is expected to fail more often than not). When it happens, it can come via the most unlikely people. [6]

The Big Inning: The Greek word for this kind of time is kairos, or season. It’s a passing instant which must be grasped. The moment is ripe; the opportunity is here. Blink & you might miss it!

In the same way, our lives may look mundane. It may look like we’re doing nothing. But beneath the surface, the God’s Spirit is at work. In our ordinary and everyday lives there are moments of opportunity we must grasp in order to live life completely. There is no telling when the opportunity may come—there is no two-minute drill for life—but when the moment comes, when the crisis hits, when the situation has come to a head, will we recognize it for what it is? Will we recognize that God is at work in our lives? In the movie Evan Almighty, [8] God says to Evan’s wife:

If you pray for patience, do you think God just gives you patience ... or does he give you opportunities to be patient? If you pray for courage, do you think he just gives you courage ... or opportunities to be courageous? And say a person had prayed that her family would draw closer together, do you think God would just magically make that happen or would he put that family in circumstances that gave them the opportunity to be closer?

When the time is ripe for God to move in our lives, clocks will not be important!

Points to Ponder

Go back and re-read Luke 12:54-56. When Jesus refers to "the present time," is he referring to a clock time or an opportunity?

Go back and read all of Luke 12. Which of the stories in this chapter are about missed opportunities?

What is your situation? Where do you need God to move in your life? Would you characterize yourself as "ready & waiting" or "busy with nonessentials"? "Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. (Luke 12:29-31)

My suggestion for this week: pay less attention to your schedule, your timetable, and your agenda, and pay more attention to the people around you. Chances are when God begins to work in your life, it’s going to have something to do with the people you’re with!

End Notes:

1 - Although many have tried to attach deep significance to baseball. For Philip Roth in The Great American Novel, it is the national religion. For Bernard Malamud in The Natural, it is the arena in which good and evil compete. In John Kinsella’s Shoeless Shoe (made into the movie Field of Dreams) baseball, "reminds us of all that what was once good and it could be again." Kinsella returns to baseball in The Iowa Baseball Confederacy, a mythological story of a 2,614-inning baseball game that tries to define what America is, or was. Perhaps nowhere is religion more strangely tied to baseball than in the movie Bull Durham, wherein a middle-aged baseball groupie and an aging minor-league catcher team up to mentor a young pitching prospect on his way to the major leagues in a metaphor of Christians mentoring disciples on their way to heaven. The movie opens with the groupie saying:

I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions & most of the minor ones. I've worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance ... It's a long season and you gotta trust. I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball.

Organ music is playing in the background; she appears to be going to church. However, she walks up a flight of stairs and—instead of a cathedral—she enters into her holy place: the Durham Bulls’ baseball stadium.

Although many have tried to attach deep spiritual significance to baseball, I will not. In my parables of baseball, baseball has no more metaphysical significance than a mustard seed had for Jesus. (But can we have fun with it?)

(Warning: Most of the books and movies I’ve mentioned have some pretty crude parts to them. Read or watch them at your own risk, but then you see and hear some pretty crude stuff at most games, don’t you? That’s our world.)

2 - POP QUIZ: So then, what is the "sign of Jonah" in Jesus’ life? That is, what is the miraculous event that confirms the teachings of Jesus? (Don’t read the notes in your study Bible; you can figure this out on your own!)

3 - The request for a prophetic sign in Luke happens at Luke 11:29—a very different context and far from today’s text!

4 - Sleep scientists say the best sleep—the sleep which really restores your energy—is the deep sleep at the end of about 8 hours of sleep. You’re not coping when you deprive yourself of your very best sleep.

5 - The quickest 9-inning game in major league history was September 28, 1919 when the Giants beat the Phillies 6-1 in just 51 minutes. The Giants needed to catch a train, and both teams agreed to throw strikes in order to speed up the game. The slowest 9-inning game was at Fenway last year on August 18th; the Yankees tortured the Red Sox for 4:45 before winning 14-11. (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_gmlg.shtml)

6 - Like Bucky Dent hitting a 3-run homer to propel the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox for the 1978 division title. On a team that featured All-Stars Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles, and Thurmon Munson, Dent—who only hit 40 home runs in his career—became the scourge of Boston.

7 - The movie is rated PG and is generally clean, except for a few double entendres, some potty humor (Evan is a latter-day Noah—with that many animals, some potty humor is probably inevitable), and a biological fact about the Argentine Lake Duck that added nothing to the movie. (For some reason, this fact appears twice in the movie!) The movie does raise some good issues in interesting ways, e.g.: how does God reveal himself to us; what does it mean to fear God; how does God answer prayer; what challenges would one face in trying to obey an unpopular command from God; and how can one person make a difference in the world?