Sermons for the Month
It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over
DATE: October 31st, 2004
SERVICE: Reformation Day
TEXT: Romans 3:19-28“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
I do not anything about baseball. Well, let me take that back, I do know who played in the World Series this year, probably because I was in Boston last Saturday and the first game of the series was being played there that night. The Red Sox's fans crowding the subway would have been difficult to ignore, as was the homeless man who shouted out his support of St. Louis in rather colorful terms. (He was taking his life in his own hands.)
Other than that, I have only two baseball related memories; I recall clearly the evening that Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's homerun record. And, when the Indians were in either the playoffs or the World Series a few years ago and lost, I remember the message that was put up on the sign at the church where I was pastor. It said, "God loves the Marlins, and we're still trying." So, it's unusual that I recently read an article titled "A Theology of Baseball" by Nancy Becker. She's a Presbyterian pastor and a real live baseball fan. She maintains that the world of baseball is a dramatic presentation of some of life's most important and universal lessons. She writes that the game dramatizes a very human predicament - that of trying to measure up to a standard of perfection and always falling short.
In today's reading from Romans the Apostle Paul makes this point when he declares that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I believe I've illustrated the concept of "falling short" before today, but I'll do so again. It's as if there was a large target on the wall. In the middle of the target is the bulls-eye which is labeled, "the glory of God." Imagine that you are aiming at the bulls-eye with a baseball. (I usually describe this in terms of shooting an arrow, but a baseball seems more appropriate today.) Well, you throw the baseball with all your might toward the target, but you not only miss the bulls-eye, the baseball falls five feet short, never even reaching the target. No matter how hard you throw, the baseball always falls short.
That's what it's like for us when it comes to attaining an absolute standard of the Christian life; we try and try, but we always sin and fall short of attaining God's glory. This concept of "falling short" is something that the Apostle Paul addresses. You may recall that Paul was a religious leader among the Jews, a Pharisee whose goal it was to live by the laws and traditions of his faith. Before he became a follower of Jesus, Paul saw Christians as a threat and had persecuted them, seeking to destroy them.
But then he had a conversion experience and became a Christian. Much of the New Testament is comprised of Paul's letters to the churches he established. In them he often focused on standards of perfection that were impossible to meet. For him, those standards were the Hebrew Law, which no person could possibly fulfill. So he stressed that the law not only makes our sinfulness obvious, but by the standards of the law, no one could ever be good enough to earn or deserve God's love.
If you are not sure what I mean Pastor Becker says we can understand better by making a comparison to what happens in the game of baseball. She writes that baseball is a game of measuring things against impossible standards - a game of numbers. If you wanted to, you could find the batting averages, the RBI's, the ERA's (whatever that is) and fielding percentages for all the players in the major leagues. There is no way to pretend success or to hide failure; it's there for everyone to see. And, when compared to the absolute standard - like the batting standard of 1.000 - no one does all that well.
She says - although I have no idea if it is true - that the very best hitters get about three hits in every 10 tries. In other words, everyone falls short of the absolute batting standard just like everyone fell short of fulfilling the laws and traditions of the Jewish faith and just like we all continue to fall short of the glory of God.
BUT, there is another side to baseball, she writes. This is the part that I can understand better. In baseball, everyone gets a chance to bat. Everyone gets the same number of balls and strikes. Each team gets the same number of outs. And, there is no clock; unless it rains the prescribed number of innings are played no matter how long it takes. There is always the possibility that the unexpected will happen, that there will be another chance.
And life of faith is like that too; at least it's like the "another chance" part. That's what God's grace is all about. The Apostle Paul says that even though we all have fallen short of the "absolute standard" again and again it does not mean that we will never be righteous - that is be "made right" with God and attain God's glory. Instead, in a pure act of grace God has given us a gift - Jesus - and in a great exchange the goodness of Jesus was exchanged for our sin … forever. So when God looks and us who does he see? He sees Jesus. God justifies us - makes us just - through our faith in Jesus.
Or, if the baseball analogy helps, think of it this way. Pastor Becker says that if we are just .200 hitters, God step up to bat for us and will hit .800 to fill in the gaps. In Jesus, the great scorekeeper in the sky cancels the errors and gives losers another chance. That's grace.
Grasping this idea - without the benefit of an illustration from baseball - saved a man named Martin Luther from spiritual free-fall. He had lived a miserable existence as he tried and tried to reach the absolute standard of Christian living and fell short again and again. He feared condemnation until he began to carefully study the Bible and the concept of grace began to sink in.
His response to the good news of being saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ turned the world upside down and led to the established of the Lutheran denomination, whose birth we celebrate every October 31, Reformation Day. As we do so we are celebrating the gift of freedom, true freedom.
In today's Gospel lesson Jesus says, in essence, if it were not for me you would be a slave to sin, constantly bound, unable to free yourselves and never able to find your place in God's kingdom. But, instead, because you believe in me, I have set you free - free indeed - forever.
Do we grasp what a great gift that is? It means that we are not fearfully striving to meet a standard we cannot meet. But, instead, as God's loved and forgiven children we get up every morning and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we strive to follow Jesus. When we go to bed at night, having not quite met the goal when it comes to being disciples, we do not have to be afraid of dying in our sleep. Instead, we ask for forgiveness and strength and try again the next day.
Because of God's grace at work in our lives, we get better and better at being disciples each day, never reaching perfection in this life, but free not only to fail but more importantly to succeed.
Today as nine young people in our congregation affirm their faith and are confirmed they are taking the next step in the freedom God has granted them. This is not a graduation from; if anything it is a graduation into the Christian life.
Can they take wrong turns? Of course they can. But, more importantly, as the loved and forgiven children of God they actually are empowered to do what they are promising today - to be with God's people, to hear God's word, to receive Holy Communion, to live out their faith in what they do and say, to serve others and to make a difference in the world. These are not idle promises. By the grace of God they are free to be who God created them to be.
And the same is true for all of us who are saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It's an amazing thing - God's love is always seeking us, always empowering us. Or, if baseball is easier to grasp, God's love is always overlooking the errors and giving us another inning, another chance at bat.
I may not know much about baseball, but I know a lot about the grace of God. What is true of baseball also is true of being a Christian. To quote Yogi Berra, "It ain't over till it's over," except that for Christians winning the series is a sure bet.
AMEN