Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-13, Thanksgiving Football, 2007.
“In the Hands of Jesus with thanksgiving.”
Introductory Words: We’re moving into the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas and I want you to know there is a secret to having a truly thankful thanksgiving and truly joyful Christmas. We need a special wisdom, a special intelligence, the kind we find in football
players.
Now I know football players are not famous for being smart. Vince Lombardi, supposedly, when he first took over as coach for the Green Bay Packers, got the guys together in a classroom and announced, “Men, you haven’t been winning much (they had had several losing seasons), but that’s going to change, we’re going back to basics.” He paused and picked up a football and said, “THIS is a football.”
Before he could continue a lineman supposedly said, “Hold on coach, no so fast, I’m taking notes.”
And then there’s Joe Theisman. He was being interviewed on TV and the subject of football players and intelligence was brought up. He supposedly said, “I take issue with that, football players are just as smart as anyone else, I mean, take me for example, now I’m no Norman Einstein . . . , but I’m just as smart as the next guy.”
Still there IS football wisdom and strategy which is well thought out and pretty powerful when applied to real life. I believe this can help us in truly enjoying the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
1st. They Call plays BEFORE the snap.
John 6 tells us Jesus knew before hand what he was going to do.”
How obvious! When do they call plays in football,
after the snap????? You think Big Ben of the
Steelers, or Peyton Manning of the Colts, or Brady
of New England wait until the snap, THEN run around
the backfield with six 300 pound linemen chasing
them, saying, “NOW what am I going to do????” Of
course not!
But we WAIT until our days start, often we’re well into the morning after we get hit by a problem, setback or irritating “tackle,” after we get knocked down or around by bad news, bad diagnoses, and often wind up running away from frustrations all day long. We shake our heads at the end of a day of failure to live triumphantly and are surprised, confused and seem not to know what happened.
In Mark 6, Jesus called THIS PLAY: Feed the 5000 yourselves. He knew ahead of time that the key to this miracle was in Thanksgiving. When he lifted up the food and gave thanks BEFORE the miracle occurred, he was just following through on Ps. 34:1, “I will bless the Lord at ALL times, His praise will continually be in my mouth.”
What would happen if we went into our days prepared ahead of time, to meet e v e r y obstacle, frustration, problem, fear, sickness, diagnosis with Thanksgiving? It would be a successful play/day.
2nd, Expect to get knocked down, fail, fumble and slip, but don’t quit, keep going.
Running backs like Willie Parker of the Steelers
don’t quit because somebody bumps them, knocks them
down, stops them or steps on them. They might get
hit 30-40 times every game.
Imagine if they said, “I had no idea it would be this hard, every time I get going, something or someone stops me, WHAT’S MORE, I get STOPPED, 25-40 times a game, I’m a failure, I quit, it’s too hard, it hurts. Maybe I’m not ‘called’ to be a running back?!”
And they don’t quit when they fumble either, or miss
a hand-off, slip or miss a pass, they go right back
and try again.
The key to successful Christian living isn’t “not failing,” but not quitting, not staying down and giving up when we do fail.
You think runners and quarterbacks expect to get
knocked down or tackled? OF COURSE. We, on the
other hand are often SURPRISED, insulted and feel
betrayed or let down by God, when we get “hit” by a
problem, or chased by the “linemen” of frustration,
or fear or confusion. Expect it! Plan for it!
You think runners and quarterbacks expect to fail, maybe a lot? Of course. But they get back in there and keep going.
Especially if our “play” is thanksgiving and rejoicing. Everyday we should expect to have plenty of opposition and plenty of failure, to this course of action.
We need to have our play ready before our feet hit the ground. And the play that always works is: Rejoice in the Lord always, In everything give thanks and Bless the Lord at all times.
Jesus didn’t quit when they told him they didn’t have enough, or when he saw that they obviously didn’t want to do this. And He didn’t quit when they offered the meager 5 loaves and 2 fish, a pittance, again, hoping (I think) that this information would change his mind.
And amazingly, he USED ALL of THESES DOUBTERS to enable the miracle to come forth. I’m so glad we can fail and still believe, we can doubt and still receive.
The trouble is, we often quit when we fail, or doubt. One of the messages of this story in Mark is: Expect to fail, often, but don’t quit,get back up and succeed. Expect to doubt, a lot. But get back up and believe, or at lease do the things that prepare for belief, like organize the 5000 people for a miracle.
Jesus persevered in his game plan because he knew that every successful “play/day,” or miracle begins with thanksgiving.
I remember back in the 80’s I was pastor in
Nebraska. Our family was about 45 miles from the
nearest “big” city, McCook. We started out for a
day in the city and came to a Railroad Crossing just
in time for a Grain Train which can be 10 miles long
and 30-45 minutes to pass. I was so frustrated. I
complained, a lot. Cheryl, my lovely wife reminded
me that I should “praise the Lord.” I didn’t want
to, but eventually, through gritted teeth, I said
the words, “Praise the Lord.” Without faith or
feeling. And the train moved. Wow, I said it more
enthusiastically, and the train moved faster. I
said it a few more times and then got to thinking of
all the things we had to do in McCook and complained
again. The train stopped.
That happened at least three times. Praise—move;
complain—stop. Eventually I kept it up and the
train rolled right on through.
A coincidence? I think not.
3rd, Nothing happens unless you can Move the line.
Mark 6:38-41, Jesus “moved the line” by Himself by
giving thanks BEFORE any miracle had occurred and he
made his Apostles join in, in taking positions of
faith and strength even though they still harbored
lots of doubts.
In football, if all we watch is the ball we miss what 21 other players are doing and we miss the most important action: The line. If the OFFENSE can move the line they win, if not, they lose.
In Mark 6, Vss. 38-41, Jesus moves the line of fear, problems, impossibilities, doubt and unbelief by having his apostles take positions of strength, positions of faith.
Jesus giving thanks before anything happens and having his apostles organize things in groups of 50’s and 100’s, moves all the lines of opposition. How can he?? Because he sees something more than the physical. He is seeing the supernatural power of God in those 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
To the apostles it was not nearly enough,
to Jesus it was more than enough.
One sees scarcity, the other sees abundance.
One says, “No way,”
the other says, “This is the way.”
To move the line of fear, problems, negativity, we need to verbalize the position of Strength. This means PRAYING, SPECIFICALLY, giving Thanks BEFORE anything happens.
I read about 2 little boys, 4 & 6. They looked out
their window and got all excited, SNOW! They asked
Mom if they could take the sled and go sliding, she
said sure. After bundling them up like chubby
little snowmen, they went forth. Down steps to the
sled. However the snow had melted and froze the
night before and it was buried in about 4 inches of
ice. They tugged and pulled, kicked and worked, but
nothing happened. After a while the 6 year old
said, “Hey there’s one more thing we can do. We can
PRAY!” So he led his brother up on the porch and
they both knelt down and he prayed, “Dear Jesus,
move our sled!”
They went down to the sled, gave one tug and it
popped out, nice as you please. They both shouted
“Thank YOU!” And went off to have fun.
Move the line of fear, problems, doubts and unbelief by thanksgiving and praise, whether you see anything or not.
4th, Expect success. Mark 6:38-41.
Jesus certainly expected success, he organized the
crowd to receive what hadn’t happened yet, but
would.
And talk about success!!! Just look at Mark 6:43, 12 baskets of scraps, each of which was more than what they had to start with.
Can anyone predict success every time in football? Can we buy our team’s Superbowl tickets before the season starts? Probably not a good idea, even though every year some player tries to “guarantee a win.” It’s really just wishful thinking.
Unless there were a play, or player that could get
15 or more yards EVERY TIME. If there were some
such miracle, amazing play that could actually move
the ball 15 or more yards, EVERY TIME, then buy
those Superbowl tickets as soon as you can.
Of course football doesn’t have such a play.
BUT CHRISTIANS DO! Every play is successful that BEGINS WITH THANKSGIVING. And is even more successful if it CONTINUES WITH CONTINUAL REJOICING.
5 loves & 2 fish, a very little thing, but in the Hands of Jesus with Thanksgiving, it filled to overflowing, 12 apostles and 5000 or more people.
A Sunday School class teacher asked her kids to share one thing FOR WHICH they were thankful. They went around the room and she got the usual, “Turkey,” “Jesus,” “Mom,” “Dad,” but one little boy came up with something different, he said, “I’m thankful for my glasses.”
Well the teacher was intrigued, she said, “That’s amazing, most people don’t like glasses, why are you thankful for glasses?”
He said, “Since I got my glasses, the big kids don’t punch me, and the girls don’t kiss me. I’m thankful for my glasses.
Call the "THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL PLAY" at the start of every day, move the lines of fear, problems, doubts and unbelief by verbalizing the invisible presence and promises of God, and Expect Success.
