A sermon given by Revd Jan Kearton 

"Playing the Game"

As you might guess from just looking at me, I’m not an expert sportsperson. I can still recall, with dreadful clarity, the urgings of my PE teacher at school. Picture me on a long, cold, grey afternoon standing on the lacrosse pitch, legs blotched blue and red, fingers beyond hope of ever feeling anything again, mud up to the ankles and a wind so lazy it went through me like a knife. Each player battling to scoop a very hard ball from the mud and to fling it as far as possible towards the player nearest the goal.  My PE teacher, anxious because hard balls flying at high speed can be life-threatening, shouting at us constantly to keep our eye on the ball.

My problem was that this advice came in the same breath as instructions never to leave our opposite player unmarked. I was confused. How was I supposed to stay ready for a sudden incoming missile whilst having eyes in the back of my head to watch an opponent dodging frantically round me? I was caught on the horns of a dilemma – should I avoid my own imminent death or prioritise blocking my opponent? I could never decide – that’s my excuse for playing badly and I’m sticking to it!

I think that a good deal of what God has to say this morning is about keeping our eye on the ball. Abram seems to find it difficult to trust God sometimes: in chapter 12 of Genesis God promises the land of Canaan to Abram but Abram promptly leaves when famine looms, he later puts his wife in danger to preserve his own life and in today’s reading he’s adopted one of his slaves to be his heir.  Abram, like us, has difficulty in seeing and believing the very long game that God plays. But God acts to put new heart in Abram, reminds him not to be afraid and to trust him and promises great blessing. Finally, Abram believes God and God knows that Abram’s now able to let God referee his life. Abram’s raised his game, his eye is on the ball and God is watching the things that Abram feels oppose him.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus begins by reassuring the disciples and reminding them that God wants to bless them. Most of us declare which team we’re on by surrounding ourselves with possessions to make us feel that, in the game of life, we’re ahead, we belong, we’re doing OK. Jesus challenges our perception of what a secure life looks like – he says that real security comes from keeping your eye on the promises of God. They won’t fail and they can’t be destroyed or taken away from you. Put your effort into working towards those, not some distracting fashionable standard of living – that’s a different game altogether.

Faith isn’t a simple matter. It needs constant attention to keep it in good shape and we Christians mustn’t be complacent. There is an endgame to play for. God is purposeful and has his reasons for wanting the game to go the full distance, but he wants to bless those who serve him, those who keep their eye on the ball, who play the game through to the end.

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that faith is a long game played in hope and trust. The twists and turns of the game can be confusing and the rules we play by may make us look a bit strange to the opposition, but we’re to trust the rules that God has made, to trust our unseen referee. God has made promises and we’re to hold onto that treasure. That’s what really matters as the game unfolds and the goal of life comes into view. It really is a game of two halves – now and not yet.

Fortunately for people like me, this is a game that demands a different kind of fitness and a different understanding of imminent death. Fitness comes from working at our faith with God, taking seriously the level of trust that God wants from his team so we’re each released from that old dilemma – do we concentrate on ourselves or the opposition? We only have to keep our eye on the ball whilst God deals with the things we feel oppose or prevent us. We may not be sure when half time is coming and we may not be able to know how long we’ll be playing for, but that doesn’t mean it’s a pointless game – it’s shaped around the promises that God has made to us and we each play using the high quality support he offers to help us keep on playing.

So may God keep his local team firm in hope and trust, keep us off the sidelines, make us fit, ready and active to be called into the heart of his game, our eyes confidently fixed on the ball and the promised goal of his coming kingdom.

Amen