One of the cool things about growing up in Fort Lauderdale during the 60’s and 70’s is that Fort Lauderdale was the spring training camp for the New York Yankees. I played baseball as a boy growing up, traded baseball cards with my friends, and read many of the biographies of baseball players such as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, to mention a few. So it was a special treat to actually play in a little league game on the field where they trained. But now, honestly, I can’t tell you the last time I’ve actually watched a complete baseball game. I think part of the reason is that I don’t play anymore.
The things that capture our attention, our time and our best thoughts reveal a lot about us. The things that we are passionate about provide a window into our very soul. There is a reason that we love and enjoy the things that we do. Have you ever taken the time to honestly explore why you enjoy sports, music, crafts, the arts, the Church? Maybe you didn’t see that last one coming. But I would suggest that when Ephesian 5:25 says that Jesus loved the church and gave himself up for her, it is revealing an explanation for his willingness to live and die for his church. It is because the church is his bride, and that he has made himself responsible for providing everything she needs in a way that will glorify the Father who has given his Son for this bride, and has given this bride to his Son.
One of the cool things about growing up in the church today is that this is where God is doing his most important work in the universe. This important work consists in building his church, and we get to participate as recipients of his love and as those who will share that love with others. By reading his Word, we learn of all of the flawed and faithful saints of the past that God has used. We learn from them what it means to trust God and participate in his kingdom work. There are no scouts who draft us into the big league; it is God himself who calls us by the Gospel of his Son Jesus Christ. We get to play on the very field that Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, and Peter played on. Yes, I’ve read their biographies and many more like them in the Scriptures, but now it’s our turn. And the same Lord Jesus whose life and mission is the theme of the Scriptures is empowering us to know him and make him known today.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Acts 1:8.
