Life Is a Ball Game

First Thoughts for
Sunday, April 15th

2nd Sunday in Eastertide

New Sermon Series:
Living and Loving As Easter People

Part 1:

Life Is a Ball Game!

Focus Text:

1 John 1:1-10

"Life is a lot like a baseball game- you want your team to win, you want it to be a thriller, you don't want it to be called short on account of nature, and you wouldn't mind if it went into extra innings."  - Dante Shepherd, survivingtheworld.net

On April 15,  I will begin a new series of worship services based on the teachings found in  1 John.  John is writing to the early Christians at a critical time in the life of the new, and growing Church of Jesus Christ.  The faith competes with many different religions of the day.  John wants to make the message of Jesus crystal clear.  He want to reveal how distinctively different Jesus' teachings are compared to the teachings of the other religious groups within that culture.  ( There might will have been some similarities as well but this is not the writer of 1 John primary concern.)

In 1 John, we find basic instructions for a community trying to understand how to be faithful to the teachings of Jesus in a culture where they are an extreme minority.  These instructions from John seem even more relevant for Christians today who are seeking to live a life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus. 

In this first sermon of the series, I suggest that the game of baseball as a powerful metaphor for understanding the Christian life.  Here are some points that come to mind immediately.

·      Baseball has no time limit.  

You don't play the game till the clock runs out.  You play the game till the very end.  As Yogi Berra said:  "It ain't over till its over!"

·      Errors and failure are a part of the game.

 Doesn't that remind of a scripture passage? 

Romans 3:22a-24:  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

 If you get a hit only 30% of the time, you are a good hitter.  If you get a hit 40% of the time you are world class! In our effort to be "like Jesus" we will fail most of the time.  Awe, but you keep on playing the game.  You get more chances to get a hit!

·      In baseball you start at home and return to home!  

 In God we are at home.  From God we came. In Him we live and move. To Him we return when our earthly life is done.  Our home is in got. In our spiritual journey we may get called out a lot of times but there will be that great day when we "go home" and all our team mates will meet us there is joy and celebration!

John's instructions are clear.  We are to live in the light of God's grace and love that have come to us through Jesus.  In that light, the life we have been given is eternal.  Of course there will be times when we fail to live up to our high calling in Christ.   We all sin.  Sometimes we strike out!  Sometimes we drop the ball.  Sometimes we throw the ball into the stands!  However, the game does on and God offers new chances to get on base and better yet, come all the way home.    In this case all we have to admit that we have made an error!

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

1 John 1:8