Community Church Sermons

Year A

September 25, 2011

Pentecost 15

The Big Leagues

Philippians 2:1-13

Rev. Martin C. Singley, III

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47 years ago next month, twelve young American basketball players stood on the awards platform at the medal ceremony of the 18^th Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. They had just accomplished an amazing feat. They had won the Gold Medal.

Along the way to the championship round the team had gone undefeated, 8 and 0, defeating teams from Australia, Finland, Peru, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, Brazil, South Korea, and Puerto Rico.

But the final game – the Gold Medal game – brought these young Americans face-to-face with the formidable Russians who were also undefeated at 8 and 0. It was the middle of the Cold War and this final game had significance far beyond the sport of basketball. The Soviet Union was America’s greatest challenge in those days. This championship game represented a contest between the world’s two greatest superpowers.

When the USA won – by a score of 73-59 – there was great joy back home in America.

But even that national joy could not match the sense of pride the players felt. Among the twelve young men up there on the medal stand that day was our own Dick Davies, a 6-1 guard out of LSU. When Dick talks about that day in 1964, he says that as wonderful as the win was, what made it especially sweet was WHO they had defeated. Russia was not only our country’s geopolitical foe, but the Russian basketball team was said by many to be the best in the world.

It would not have been the same if the Americans had defeated any lesser opponent.

They had gone up against the best.

And they had prevailed.

Competitive athletes don’t settle for mediocrity. They want to go up against the very best. They relish the challenge of achieving a goal that lies beyond their reach, a goal they have to work for, and sacrifice for.

One of my favorite teachers growing up was a fellow who taught 5^th grade at Thorndyke Road School. What I – and all the other kids - liked about him was that he played ball with us during recess. He would throw high fly balls, and we would catch them. Most of us kids had dreams of someday playing baseball in the big leagues – the Major Leagues. But dreams of that sort require not only ability, but hard work and sacrifice. It turned out over the years that none of us kids were willing to pay the price of making that dream come true.

But one boy was willing. He was the teacher’s son. Mr. Fidyrich used to tell us about his boy, Mark Fidyrich. He was about 5 years younger than us, but – Mr. Fidyrich said – he already had a passion for baseball, and whenever Mr. Fidyrich got home from school, there was Mark – ball and glove in hand – wanting to go with his dad to work on his pitching. Many of you – especially if you are from the Detroit area - remember Mark “The Bird” Fidyrich - one of the most beloved players ever to wear the uniform of the Detroit Tigers.

What’s the difference between people who win Gold Medals and achieve the highest levels of success in sports, and the rest of us? What’s the difference between making it to the Big Leagues, and just playing around in the Little League?

Well, three things, at least. One is an unwavering belief in yourself and the abilities God has given you. Successful athletes know they have what it takes to succeed.

A second characteristic is the willingness to welcome challenges that put you up against goals that are high enough to test your character, your skills and your resolve. You don’t make it to the Big Leagues by playing against Little League opponents that don’t challenge you. Pat Summitt’s Lady Volunteers play the toughest schedule in women’s basketball. This is why they are able to be so successful come tournament time.

So champions relish facing off against formidable opponents who test them.

Third, they put in the work required to succeed. They practice. They work out. They sweat. They sacrifice. Playing in the Big Leagues demands unwavering personal commitment.

Now, if you listened to Don Tate’s presentation earlier, and if you were here for the Membership Meeting last Sunday or Wednesday, you heard about the financial challenge our church is facing. We knew it was going to be a real stretch for us in 2011, opening a new Sanctuary, and we were ready for it. What we were not ready for was how bad the economy would become and how that would impact our members’ ability to give. So we are facing a Russian-sized opponent.

Isn’t that exciting?

Seriously! We - of all churches – have had it pretty easy for a long time! Not once in my 15 years as your Senior Pastor have I ever stood in the pulpit and told you we need to sacrifice to keep our church strong. Nothing much has been demanded of us and we have not faced challenges like this before.

But now – facing a challenge that’s greater than anything we’ve ever faced – it will take commitment and sacrifice and hard work to succeed.

I think that’s so exciting! Don’t you?

You see, if you read your Bible, you know that God sets up this sort of contest all the time! It’s one of God’s favorite things to do! It’s not that God throws tough times at us, but God has a way of reaching into the tough times life serves up and uses those times to strengthen us - to test us. Now, this is not a pass/fail kind of test that determines whether you are a winner or a loser, a good person or bad person, a success or a failure. God doesn’t test us like that. No, what God does is to redeem our problem or challenge by transforming it into a competitive moment where we can put our faith to the test and discover that God is with us, and faithful to all His promises. God does this sort of thing all the time! God loves to do stuff like this!

One night, Jesus came walking on the water to the boat where the disciples were. They were scared to death when they saw Jesus out on the water. Peter said, “Is it really you, or a ghost?” Jesus invited Peter to get out of the boat and come see for himself. So Peter got out, and walked on the water! For a few steps. Then he sank! Jesus caught him and pulled him up.

I’ll bet Peter never knew that about himself – that he was capable of far more than he ever realized before and actually could take a few steps on water. But more importantly, I bet he never knew that about Jesus – that when he fell and started to sink - the Lord would catch him and pull him up. Because the Lord loved Peter, just like He loves us today, and the Lord wants us to learn that He can be trusted!

So here we are at one of those moments in our church’s life where we have the exciting opportunity to test-drive our faith. We are up against a high goal, and to reach it will require true belief in who and Whose we are, hard work, sacrifice and commitment. And, you know, it’s exciting to see how people already are rising up to the challenge in all sorts of wonderful creative ways!

I hope you’re as excited about this moment in our church as Dick Davies was excited when he walked out onto the floor against the Russians, or when Mark “The Bird” Fidyrich stepped onto the mound at Tiger Stadium. What an adrenaline rush to be in the Big Leagues!

But let me shift gears.

This is not intended to be a sermon about money. It is really a sermon about faith and life. And this is not just a sermon about our church. It is a sermon about you – each of you – and me - and the incredible challenges we face every day in life.

Yesterday, a bunch of people from our church participated in the Knoxville area “Walk to Defeat ALS.” This is the second year of the walk in Knoxville, and two of our church people – Cheryl Voorhis and Renee Anderson – were among the folks who helped get it started.

Cheryl and Renee are playing in the Big Leagues with this. It all started a number of years ago when Cheryl’s husband Don was diagnosed with ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease. Rather than run away and hide from that terminal illness, Don and Cheryl faced the disease head-on – as children of God and people of faith. They knew WHO they were and WHOSE they were. Don was determined to not let ALS dictate his future. He was going to live life as fully as life can be lived right up to the last day. And Don did just that – he LIVED all the days of his life! It was not easy. There were many moments along the way where Don felt like giving up. But he didn’t. Don committed himself to loving Cheryl, and caring for his two daughters Sarah and Jenny, and he worked hard loving up many of us who were blessed to be counted among his friends. Along the way, God sent Don many others to love and support him – including a bunch of guys from all over the country who finished building Don’s dream car – a Cobra. You never saw a wider smile on anyone’s face than the smile on Don when he drove that Cobra. I saw that smile one day from the passenger seat as Don accelerated to 120 miles an hour over on Highway 72. Mind you, I wasn’t smiling. But Don had a grin as wide as the sky!

Don lived magnificently all the days of his life. He was playing in the Big Leagues, facing what he faced and yet living fully and completely as a child of God.

And when Don went home to God, Cheryl stepped up to the plate. She and her sidekick Renee decided they’re going to defeat ALS. Pretty big goal, don’t you think? But they and a handful of folks went and joined a walk to defeat ALS three years ago up in northeast Tennessee, and then last year helped the Knoxville walk get started. They recruited all the Cobra guys and their families to help. They call their team “Don’s Cobras” and they were out in force yesterday. The Walk that Cheryl and Renee helped start raised over $100,000 yesterday that will fund research that will one day overcome this illness. In the meantime, they work and sweat and commit themselves to the effort to defeat ALS.

They are in the Big Leagues! They are champions!

Paul writes in Philippians 2 that we should strive to emulate Jesus who, though he was God, let go of his rightful status as God. Instead he humbled himself, and became a human being, just like you and me. And Jesus was obedient to his Father’s will, even to the point of laying down his life on the Cross.

Talk about a challenge!

It was the Gold Medal round of Gold Medal rounds! What would happen to Jesus?

He knew that he was God’s child. He accepted the challenge before him. He sacrificed himself and poured out his life.

And one more thing.

In all those things, he placed his future in God’s hands.

Paul writes, “Therefore, God lifted him up and gave him a name above every other name so that everyone will know that Jesus won the gold!”

And knowing how God was faithful to His Son, people will come to believe – and give glory to God.

As we face our future – as a church and as individuals - believe in WHO and WHOSE you are – don’t back down from the great challenges or opponents we face – welcome the opportunity to prove God true - and work hard and sacrificially until the victory comes.

For then, people will say, “Wow! Look at what God has done through these people!”

And they will give glory to God.

Welcome, dear friends, to the Big Leagues.