This Sunday (May 29th, 2011), I was given the opportunity to preach at my home church in Lake Charles, LA. It is always a great privilege to come home and visit the church which has nurtured me literally from the moment I was born until now, the beginning of my time in seminary. May has been designated as "Mission Month" for FCC Lake Charles and I was asked to preach on Matthew 25. My sermon combined two of my favorite things: the Gospel of service & compassion and TCU Football.
The most exciting day of my life was January 1st, 2011—the day TCU won the Rose Bowl. Not only was I able to be at the Rose Bowl, but I also bought it on iTunes and have rewatched it several times. While it will never quite be the same as being at the game, I am still overwhelmed by excitement every time I watch it. I know exactly how it’s going to end. We’re in the 4th quarter… It’s the last 2 minutes of the game…Wisconsin just scored a touch down and now the score is 21-19, favor of TCU. If Wisconsin can get a 2-point conversion, it’s a tie game sending us into over time. At this point, our nerves are shot. We’re in the stands shaking, clutching each other’s hands, and tears are welling up in our eyes. Tolzien, the quarterback for Wisconsin cocks his arm back to throw the ball. Tank, our linebacker, looks back on the blitz and right as Tolzien throws the ball, Tank jumps up and deflects the ball. We stand in shock for a split second until a giant roar erupts through the stadium. In this moment, we realize that we’re going to win the Rose Bowl.
I have watched this game several times and this one play in particular. Each time, without fail, the same emotion is felt. Even though I know exactly how it’s going to end, my heart races and I start crying every single time. I’ll never be able to explain why this game is so emotional or how 2 minutes on the clock can forever change the course of our university’s football program, but it is… and it does… and every time I find myself giddy with excitement and feeling unbelievably joyful. We left the stadium that night overwhelmed by all that had happened within the last 18 hours. We had woken up around 6:30 am for the Rose Parade, stood for 4 hours during it, taken a train and a shuttle, walked about 10 miles, and stood for the entire game. We were exhausted, hungry, sore, and yet unbelievably joyful. On my return flight from Pasadena to Fort Worth, I ended up sitting next to a gentleman who played baseball for TCU and is in the baseball hall of fame. He and his wife had come to the Rose Bowl and we, along with everyone else in the back of plane, shared our experiences and the pure joy we felt knowing we had become the Rose Bowl champions. I spent my last semester at TCU knowing that I, a wee horned frog, was a Rose Bowl champion and carried out that feeling in every thing I did. Knowing that I was a part of something so great gave me this extra boost of confidence and gusto that I needed to survive my last semester of college.
Students at TCU carried themselves differently after that day. We had accomplished something that not many people thought we could. We had rallied around our team and supported them through thick and thin, never losing our faith in their ability to not only be winners, but to also be champions. We were the students of Texas Christian University, the 2011 Rose Bowl Champions.
About a month after the Rose Bowl, I began working on my application to be an intern for the Disciples Peace Fellowship. Peace interns spend their summer travelling from church camp to church camp all across the country and teach high school youth about peace and social justice efforts within the church. A large part of this position is not only teaching youth about the issues, but also teaching them how to get involved and what mission opportunities are available to them. The last part of the application asked us to describe our call to peacemaking within the church. In doing so, I reflected back on the bare message of the Gospel. So often, we are asked to live in the light of the risen Christ. While this is a crucial point of the Gospel message, we often overlook Jesus’ actions and do not live in the light of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus healed the sick, dined with beggars and sinners, embraced the untouchables, and lived a life of meekness and simplicity. Jesus approached everyone he met with love and kindness, contradictory to the social teachings of that time. We are called to live in that same light of service and compassion. Just as Jesus did, we are called to treat all of those whose paths we cross with kindness and to live as one human family. This is the Gospel of Jesus that speaks to the mission of the church. In Jesus’ life, he accomplished many incredible things such as radical hospitality and the inclusion of marginalized communities. By following in the steps that Jesus has laid out for us, we are able to accomplish great things. In Jesus’ time, he was looked down upon by many, yet had a handful of faithful followers. TCU was looked down upon by many other colleges and told that we did not have what it takes to win the Rose Bowl, yet we had a loyal fan base and faith in ourselves to do the job that was set out for us.
We, as Christians, have a mighty call before us. Jesus has laid the foundation of what we’re called to do and how we are to live out his teachings. We have the opportunity to know that we are a part of something great, something much larger than ourselves. Winning the Rose Bowl was a team effort. We had an outstanding quarterback, the number one defense in the nation, some of the fastest running backs in our history, fans who travel thousands of miles, a mascot who is full of energy, coaches who know the game and know it well, and purple that always reigns. As Christians, we cannot carry out the Gospel on our own. We must work together—in a total team effort to spread the Gospel of service and compassion. When we are able to fully embody the Gospel, it will be alive and well in our hearts, fueling our hands and feet to do the work of Jesus on a daily basis. Going back to the text, we see that our call is rooted around our ability to serve and love radically, just as Jesus did. We see that by feeding the hungry, clothing the cold and naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and nurturing people who are homeless, we live out the Gospel teachings. When we are able to live out the Gospel teachings and to embrace the call that has been laid out before us, we are able to be a part of something wonderful and much greater than ourselves. We are able to walk with that extra boost of confidence and gusto—much like the 8,000 students of TCU did after winning the Rose Bowl.
For the past year I have had the opportunity to work with people who are unsheltered and homeless in Fort Worth. The people who I was fortunate enough to spend my senior year of college with were some of the most vulnerable and marginalized people in our society. Many slept under bridges, in cars, in the woods, or in abandoned buildings. They had experienced more devastation and destruction than I could ever imagine yet underneath years of pain, there was an underlying sense of hope. On Thursday evenings, I was occasionally able to participate in the Agape meal, which was sponsored by a Baptist church in the area that practiced the Gospel teaching of radical hospitality. The Agape meal is a time of fellowship and worship where volunteers are able to share a meal with people who are homeless or incredibly impoverished. The meal is served family style, beginning with a call to worship, the passing of bread, and then about half an hour of eating and conversation time. In this time, we share stories of where we’ve grown up, what we love about Fort Worth, our favorite meals, and anything else that may come to mind. One of the topics that came up the most often when I said I was at TCU was, you guessed it, football. I would share my Rose Bowl story and they would share theirs and the same uniting pride felt throughout the campus was felt throughout the entire Fort Worth community. It was something fun and exciting that united each of us—whether we went back and slept in a dorm or in the woods, we shared that same radical joy which in turn created radical friendships and compassion towards one another.
One of the most meaningful experiences that I have had over the past year happened immediately after the Agape meal. Following the meal, there is a short worship service. Following the worship service, those who would like to participate in communion are invited to a separate room and partake in the Lord’s Supper together. One of my clients came up to me after the meal and asked if I would like to take communion with him. I was touched by his request and agreed. We walked over to the room together and sat around a table with about three other people. We took time to chat, pray, and then share in the Lord’s Supper. It was simple and relaxed, a time of thanksgiving and sharing. It was also one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had the pleasure of participating in. Similar to the call that is given to us when practicing communion, we all came from different backgrounds and beliefs yet were united in the same act of radical love and grace. Like the same play that guaranteed the Rose Bowl victory, I knew exactly what was going to happen during communion, yet I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement. The word Agape is one of the Greek words for love and it means unconditional, deeply devoted, and divine love. It means a love so radical and empowering that it gives one an extra boost of confidence and gusto to live their life centered around compassion and service.
Just like the charter that was set out for TCU students, we were to go through the rest of the semester knowing we were a part of something much greater than ourselves. We were a part of something radical and exciting. Together, we were the Rose Bowl champions. Just like the charter that was set out for Christians, we are called to live our lives as though we are a part of something much greater than ourselves. We are a part of an exciting and empowering movement. We are to practice radical love and inclusion, living out the same Gospel teachings that Jesus taught.
During the last minute of the game, just before the final play that would confirm TCU as the Rose Bowl champions, the announcers said, “This is for the little guys everywhere.” Unlike most schools that win BCS games, TCU was a small, private school. We were easily 1/3 the size of our opponent, Wisconsin. We came from the Mountain West Conference, which is one of the only conferences that does not automatically qualify to play in a BCS game. We worked relentlessly for months preparing for the season and worked even harder once we knew we were going to play in the Rose Bowl. We were not only representing ourselves, but all of the other schools who may have incredible football programs but are not given the opportunity to play in a game of this magnitude—in the “Granddaddy of them all.” Just like the Horned Frog football team, we as Christians are playing “for the little guys everywhere.”
By living out the teachings of Jesus, we are given the opportunity to be beacons of light and hope for all of those around us who may have never felt radical love and inclusion. We are given the opportunity to live not only in the light of the risen Christ, but also in the light of a deeply compassionate and serving teacher. Like the Rose Bowl, we know exactly how the story ends. Jesus triumphs over the grave and his followers live out his teachings. We, as the followers, have the opportunity to create a new ending every time. We can live our lives just like Jesus did—practicing radical love and grace to all whose paths we cross. We can embrace the truest sense of agape by feeding the hungry, clothing the cold and naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and nurturing people who are homeless. The pure joy of winning the Rose Bowl is something I will always remember and provides a sense of belonging and hope every time I think of the community it touched. The pure joy of being able to live out the Gospel teachings is something we all can experience on a daily basis. We can become a community that practices radical compassion and provides a sense of belonging and hope to all we meet, especially those who Jesus calls us to befriend. The Gospel is alive and well in our hearts. Now let THAT be the fuel that allows our hands and feet to do the work of Jesus.
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