The Game of Baseball - February 18

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 37:1-18; PM Psalm 37:19-42 ; Deut. 7:6-11; Titus 1:1-16; John 1:29-34

We played baseball in elementary school.  And while I did have a few seasons of sitting in the outfield and picking grass while occasionally having someone yell at me to watch out, that is not what I am suggesting.  We played baseball in the classroom.  It was simple: three strikes and you are out.  If you talked out of turn or were goofing off, Strike one!  Your name went up on the board.  If you kept acting out, a little checkmark went next to your name.  And if a third strike was called, off to the principal’s office you went which often meant a phone call home and certainly a spanking, grounding, or something much worse in store.  Three strikes! You’re out!   

And if you wanted to survive in elementary school, socially speaking, you had to play ball.  You didn’t want to be the kid who was perfect, the little goody-two-shoes, but you also didn’t want to be the kid who got out.  There was this unspoken pressure to be good, or good enough if you wanted to thrive in the school.  While you had to play, you also had to convince the teachers that you respected the rules enough to stay in the game.  You didn’t want to be the kid who was going to get three strikes.

I think most of us believe there is still some game of baseball being played.  You can break the rules a little bit, maybe drive fifteen over, drink a little too much at the Christmas party, or tell the occasional lie, but there are certain societal faux pas that once you cross the line you are out.  I will avoid naming those for you but will let your imagination run wild.  We all have our own lines that we don’t think others should cross, and if they do we will be certain to call them out.

And yet, if this really is how our world works, then isn’t it odd, that Christianity has a whole season, 40 consecutive days of us being asked to look at where we have screwed up, crossed the line, struck out, and even been thrown out of the game, and then God says, and it doesn’t matter, I’m putting you back in, and you’re in the starting line up!  Here is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  John the Baptist is teaching us that the rules of the game have forever been changed.  No more three strikes and you’re out.  Instead, if recognize that you have messed up, you will find yourself back in.  It’s counterintuitive, but the people who think they are perfect are the ones who are really missing out. 

As Christians, our job is to change the game.  Our role is to invite people back into the game when the world has said you are out.  And that same grace that we extend applies to you and me.  A little humility and an ethic of repentance can change the whole narrative.  May we have the courage to believe John the Baptist that the rules of the game have been changed.

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  Have you ever found yourself being called out in the great game? What were the reasons?  What have you learned from that experience?  Was it fair? 

Daily Challenge:  Consider who in your life has been cast out of your community and friendship circles based on their actions or poor decisions.  Are there ways this person could be invited back in?  What would that look like?