This Sunday at about 6:30 pm EST, it’s estimated that over
50 million Americans will be watching Super Bowl 46. (A recent Fox Sports poll ranked the last
Super Bowl between New York and New England as “the best ever” in terms of competitiveness
and historical significance of the game.)
I will most likely be watching the game along with several of my family members and laughing out loud at the commercials in between plays and time outs.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with “getting into” athletics, football, the Super Bowl, or any such pastime. However, I was pleased when Mike Tomlin,coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who, when giving a reason for not allowingSafety Ryan Clark to play in the wild-card game with Denver this year, said that Mr. Clark’s health and safety was more important that “just a game.”
And that brings me to the main point of what I want to say in today’s message. It’s not any kind of a rant against being a passionate fan of a sport or any other hobby or pastime. It is, however, a reality that there won’t be 50 million enthusiastic disciples of Jesus cheering and rejoicing and
celebrating His presence in America this Sunday. (Although there may be more people who are quietly and secretly engaged in trying to understand who Jesus is than we know about, I doubt that that number approaches 50 million.)
The reality is that in the absence of discovering profound personal satisfaction and meaning in their walk with God, people have abandoned many of the traditional forms of the Christian faith and by default, and thrown their energies into something much less worthwhile. For more of these people than I’d like to admit, there will be a serious sense of depression that will set in after the Super Bowl because no real American football will happen for about another 6 months. What to do with all of that emotion, insight, energy and fantasy? It simply has to go into hibernation or be put into some other “lesser god” until the season returns.
This is the mystery of our culture - and not just the American culture - but all around the world.
Any one of a thousand different things might be your “god” if it consumes the primary energies of your mind, time, emotions and even resources.
God has given us all things to enjoy, the Bible says. It’s just odd that so many people enjoy those
things more than the God who has given them to us!
And so, have a great time enjoying the Super Bowl, but remember that you’ll wake up on Monday, February 6th, still needing a real God in your life!
Blessings,
Pastor Jay
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