to return to your place in the text.To read endnotes, click on the the note number, then click on the
Of course, our national attention WILL be focused on San
Diego this afternoon (a nice breather from the Washington sex
scandals). The Super Bowl has grown into a phenomenon that has
transcended being a mere sporting event - 800-million people are
expected to tune in from 187 countries and hear the broadcast in
17 different languages.(2) People will watch who otherwise would
not bother with a football game, which advertisers know all too
well - they are paying $1.3-million for 30-second spots. Is it
worth it? Apparently. Recent statistics indicate that more and
more people every year tune in to the Super Bowl just to see the
new commercials. Intriguing.
So, who's gonna win? Packers? Broncos? Green Bay is
heavily favored to repeat as champion. Sentiment is with Denver
though, a team that has been there four previous times and come
away empty. Folks (including me) look at the super-star career
of John Elway and hope, for his sake, that he gets the chance to
include a Super Bowl ring in his memorabilia. As we say, the
Super Bowl is a BIG deal.
In the mint, a one dollar bill and a twenty dollar bill
become friends. They get split up and go into circulation. Six
years later they happen to be in the same load of bills returned
to the mint for destruction. So the one says to the twenty, "How
was your life?"
"Oh, marvelous," says the twenty, "I went to Vegas, to
Europe, last year to the Super Bowl, just wonderful. And you,
what about your life."
"Awful," says the one dollar bill, "every week the same:
church, church, church." Hmm.
So now the church and the Super Bowl meet. Who does GOD
want to win the game? Does God CARE who wins the game? Come to
think of it, can our prayers have an influence on the outcome?
Why not? Did Jesus in our lesson not say, "I will do whatever
you ask in my name?" Are there not players praying in those
locker rooms at this very moment? What do you think?
My mind is suddenly filled with images of Sunday afternoon
heroes, kneeling in the end zone in a brief prayer after scoring
a touchdown, or groups of players dropped to their knees, heads
bowed, in the middle of the field at the conclusion of a game. I
hear post-game interviews with sweaty stars: "Great game, Biff."
"Thanks, Bud. The first thing I have to say is that I owe it all
to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We kicked some BUTT out
there today. WHOO-OOH!"
Does any of that make you feel funny? It does me. I
confess I am more than glad that there are public figures
acknowledging the importance of faith in their lives. That is
GOOD! But I am dismayed by the implication that Jesus Christ
helps anyone "kick butt." On or off the field.
In the Sports Illustrated article, the reason, according to
at least some of the players, that the Broncos are in this
afternoon's game is because God decided it should be so. "It was
the Lord's will that we win, and we won" - so says Denver guard
Mark Schlereth; he said so in the locker room after the Broncos
had just defeated Pittsburgh, 24-21. "I'm just thankful. It
must have been the Lord's will." In one of the game's crucial
plays, with just over a minute left in the first half and the
Steelers leading 14-10, Denver fullback Howard Griffith made a
one-handed grab of a John Elway pass and raced into the end zone.
"I attribute everything to Him," Griffith said after the game.
"The Lord allowed me to make that catch." OK.
But according to some, God not only helped the Broncos, God
HURT the Steelers. As those of you who watched the game
remember, Pittsburgh quarterback Kordell Stewart threw two
interceptions in the Broncos' end zone. "God could have caused
that," said tight end Dwayne Carswell. "He's in everybody's
corner, but I guess He decided that we deserved [to win]." In
the theology of the locker room, the course of every game and
season has been scripted by God to serve divine purposes. So it
was not human error that led to those interceptions - God
orchestrated them. Howard Griffith says, "God directs
everything. He already knows the outcome. Kordell didn't go out
there to throw those interceptions. The game was already decided
before we walked out there. All we can do is go out and play as
hard as we can for His glorification, knowing it is for Him."
Uh-huh.
Other Denver players agreed. They said flatly that their
team had been anointed by God to do battle in the Super Bowl.
"He's been looking out for us the whole season," said tackle Tony
Jones. "We've been through some tough storms, but He brought us
through. Now we are on our way to San Diego, and we know He is
with us." Watch out, Green Bay!
But wait. There are some Green Bay Packers players who are
equally convinced that God has anointed THEM. You who follow
football know that the heart and soul of the Packers team is
defensive end, Reggie White, an incredible football player who
also happens to be a minister. Ever since he helped lead the
Pack to last year's Super Bowl victory, Reggie has been preaching
that God sent him to Green Bay to win a Super Bowl and use it as
a pulpit to glorify Him. Following the Packers win over San
Francisco that assured this second consecutive Super Bowl
appearance, White said, "God had a lot to do with this, and I
praise God that I had a chance to win one Super Bowl last year
and now another."
The Broncos and the Packers each have 15 or so evangelical
Christians (or God Squadders, as they are sometimes derogatorily
called) on their rosters. That is the NFL average. Of course,
the presence of Christians in NFL locker rooms is not a new
phenomenon--they have been studying the Bible together for
years--but their numbers and visibility have increased
dramatically over the last decade. Why? Sports Illustrated
quotes Randall Balmer who teaches religion in American culture at
Columbia. "This is a way of seeking stability in their lives,"
he says. "It has to be a dizzying world [huge salaries,
incredible temptations, the danger of being injured or cut from
the team]. For the more sane among them, faith is the refuge."
OK. We can buy that. But can we buy the assertion that
some of these players make that they are mere instruments of
God's will in the outcome of these games? Does God take an
active interest in the final score of athletic matches? Did God
favor Denver over Pittsburgh or Green Bay over San Francisco?
Does a believer on one side of the ball have an advantage over a
non-believer on the other side of it?
Richard Wood is a Methodist and Quaker minister who happens
to be the Dean of the Divinity School at Yale. He says, "It
doesn't seem to me odd that God would know in detail what happens
in football games. What seems to me odd is that God would care.
The idea that God intervenes in sports is one that most Christian
theologians reject as absurd at best and blasphemous at worst.
The notion that God cares whether the Packers or the Broncos win
the Super Bowl suggests that God is in detailed control of what
human beings do, which is dubious," says Wood. "We have a
terrible war going on in Bosnia and the persecution of Christians
in Indonesia and the genocide in Rwanda, and to suggest, in that
light, that God has a direct involvement in athletic contests
trivializes the whole notion of God's involvement with the world.
It is a heresy."
Another theologian, Joseph Hough, a minister in the United
Church of Christ and the dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School,
says, "It makes God look immoral and arbitrary. I find that
religiously offensive. From my perspective, the Christian
message is that God will help you bear up under anything. You
will not escape tribulation or suffering or defeat, but God will
give you the grace to bear it with dignity and courage."
One more theologian. No heavy duty academic credentials
here, but he is too big and too strong to ignore - our friend
Reggie White. Reggie bristles at these suggestions that God
takes no part in the outcome of games. "How do they know?" he
asks. "They're not God. They can't find anything in the
Scriptures that proves it." He notes that the Bible is filled
with evidence of God's decisive role in human conflicts. "God
intervened in David's fight with Goliath," he says. "When Jesus
died, [God] intervened in Jesus's victory over death."
True, Reggie, true. But to put the outcome of an athletic
contest between teams of spoiled millionaires in the same
category as the dramatic rescue of the chosen people or the
redemption of humanity is a bit of a stretch.
On the eve of the conference title games two weeks ago, a
number of players from all four teams admitted that they prayed
to win, most of them explaining that they sought victory only as
a way to bring glory to God. Adam Timmerman is a guard for Green
Bay who sounds a common theme - "I ask him to keep us from
injuries, and I ask for victories: 'God, I want to win so I have
an even bigger platform to use for you.' People listen to
winners more than they do to losers."
Yes, I hear that, but I still have trouble with it. I can
buy the prayer about protection from injuries (but the best
protection would be not ever playing the game in which the injury
rate is 100%). I can even sympathize with this prayer that says,
"God I can serve you better if you give us the victory - people
will listen to a winner more than a loser. That one I am not
sure of - I cannot imagine most folks thinking that a young woman
who takes a vow of life-long poverty and commits herself to the
care and nurture of the poorest of the poor in India's filthiest
streets as a winner, but people did listen to Mother Teresa. And
I guarantee that a whole lot more folks know who she is than know
anything at all about Adam Timmerman.
A local legend...basketball, not football. The time had
come for Duke's wonderful coach, Mike Krzyzewski, to end his
earthly journey. He arrived at the Pearly Gates and was greeted
by St. Peter who ushered him inside where he was promptly
welcomed by the God of all creation, the Almighty. With a broad
smile, God said, "Welcome Coach K. Well done, good and faithful
servant, enter into the joy of your Lord. Follow me to your new
heavenly home."
Not far off, they came to a pleasant subdivision not unlike
an American suburb and Coach K was shown a lovely little bungalow
surrounded by a small lawn, some flowers and shrubs, and even
several faded (but still serviceable) Duke pennants and banners.
"How do you like it?" asked God.
The coach replied, "Well, it would be fine, but..." And his
eyes raised in the direction of a magnificent palace at the top
of the mountain that overlooked this group of homes. Leading up
to it was a tree-lined driveway that was generously landscaped
with all sorts of North Carolina Tarheel memorabilia - pennants,
flags, championship banners. "I don't understand, Lord," said
Coach K. "Why is Dean Smith's home so much better than mine?"
God laughed. "That's not Dean Smith's place. That's MINE!"
Uh-huh. Does God take sides in a game? How about in a war?
The only "side" I see God taking in scripture is the side of the
poor, the outcast, the downtrodden, the helpless. Scripture is
full of references such as those in our Old Testament lesson:
"Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I
therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy
neighbor in your land.'" Over and over the Bible makes it clear.
The Bible talks about the poor more than it talks about the
resurrection. In fact, it talks more about the poor than about
prayer...even the prayer for victory in the Super Bowl!
So should the players be praying for a victory this
afternoon? I am with Yogi Berra on this one who is reported to
have told a player coming up to bat who had just crossed himself,
"Aw, why don't you leave God alone; let him just sit back and
WATCH for once."
James Kok, a former college basketball player who is on
Robert Schuller's staff at the Crystal Cathedral, says that most
of these "player-prayer"'s are very earnest whose religious lives
involve "the most simple expression of faith. They take the
Bible very literally. They think of God in an almost physical
way. [God is] their friend, their force, their power." Some even
believe God is out there on the field deflecting passes, opening
holes for running backs, tackling opponents, kicking field goals.
Is that true? Kok says, "The outcome is dependent on human
beings, not on God. [God will] inspire players to do their best,
but the outcome is up to them. They should ask for guidance,
wisdom, courage. Hopefully, God will be giving the players what
they need to deal with adversity. Ask God to use your talent to
the utmost. Be the best person out there. And, no, do NOT pray
to win."
So, does God care who wins the Super Bowl? No. But God
does care about the players, God cares about you, God cares about
me. And that is all any of us will ever need.
Amen!
1. 1/26/98, pp. 46-48. It is from this article that most of the quotations from players and
theologians comes. 2. www.superbowl.com
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