Last week we began a new message series entitled, “Spring Training.” We learned that spring training for baseball has a long history going back to the early 1870’s. We also learned that since the beginning, spring training has always been about spending time on the basics of the game: hitting, throwing, catching, pitching, positioning and even sliding. Spring training is more individual in that it’s not about winning and losing but about refining the player’s skills. If you are new player, it is all about showing what you’ve been blessed with, making the squad and getting ready for the season ahead. If you are an established player, it’s about making sure you still measure up to the new guys as well as showing you are ready to play. If you’re a team manager, it’s about identifying the talent and how you can get the most out of them. In all three cases, it’s exciting to think this could be the year.
Lent is very similar to “Spring Training” in that it is a time of both individual and corporate training and renewal. It too, is about practicing the basics – the basics of faith. It’s about praying, mediating, fasting, confession, almsgiving, solitude, serving and worshiping. It’s a time of hope for the future and breathing new life into the game of life we play with Jesus.
However, even if we practice all the time, we sometimes mess up. Baseball has some interesting terms for messing up. They have the strike. That’s when the batter misses hitting the pitched ball. They have the foul ball. That’s when the batter hits the ball out of the field of play. They have the error. That’s when the fielder misses a play he should of made. They have the out. That’s when the batter or runner cannot advance to the next base and is no longer allowed to play. I think a lot of us Christians think just because we don’t nail the ball out of the park every time we bat, we will never get to bat again and that is simply not true.
(Video from iamsecond.com)
Read the scripture from Luke 15:11-32
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. '"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"
The scripture is one of the most widely known because it tells all of our stories. We all have been the prodigal son, the older brother, the servant pronouncing the good news, the watchful neighbors and the authority figure. The story of being misled by our own desires and own beliefs has been played out for centuries. How God must just cry at our stubbornness? However, it’s important to note that the Father doesn’t chase after Him in the parable. The Father doesn’t try to talk the Son out of his choice. The Father doesn’t force Him to come home. The Father doesn’t intervene. The Father remains in love even when the Son chooses a life that will be accompanied by pain and misery. The Father is wise. He knows the consequences of choices taken. He knows experience can be used to motivate a return to a better way or to harden our hearts so that in every failed attempt our contempt of the world around us increases.
Josh Hamilton’s walk puts flesh back on this 3rd parable of Jesus. While the all three stress the importance of saving those who are lost, our focus today is on the almost unbelievable grace of our creator after we repent and believe. Josh was the first overall pick in the 1999 baseball draft. He signed an initial guaranteed contract for 4 million dollars. He was considered a blue chip prospect until injuries and drug addiction derailed his career in 2001. From 2004 until 2006, Josh did not play baseball at all. He made several attempts at rehab. In fact, he was banned from playing until June of 2006 because of his violations. He still is drug tested three times a week for illegal substances. In 2007, after a long and arduous journey back, he made his major league debut as a Cincinnati Red pinch hitting against the Chicago Cubs. He received a 22 second standing ovation prior to his batting. As he was waiting to bat, Cub’s catcher Michael Barrett came over to him and said, “You deserve it Josh. Take it all in brother. I’m happy for you.” From that moment until the beginning of 2009, He had a story book ride in which his career, his wife, and his children all returned to support him.
This story and hundreds of others just like it are our modern day examples of Jesus’ teaching about the power of our repentance and the blessing of God’s grace. However, it’s never easy. I’m sure that during his journey back to professional baseball there were folks who tried to nail him. Nail him by catching him the act of back sliding. Nail him by ridiculing him as he played the game he loved. Nail him for his past. Nail Him for the thought he deserved a second chance and nail him for his faith. Can anyone ever be prepared for this type of ridicule? The answer is probably not, but the basics of faith will provide excellent tools to keep hope alive while enduring all that life has to throw at us. I am particularly inspired by the thought of how gracious our Father in heaven must be. He was gracious in the insult of being asked for an inheritance. Gracious in the acceptance of His child’s turning away. Gracious in the acceptance of the pain of the rejection. Gracious in His forgiveness. Gracious in His explanation to the righteous son.
So to be truly ready this spring training, we must first admit that we play for the God of second chances. Then we must turn towards Jesus by repenting of our indiscretions realizing that they, like Josh’s addictions, keep us from achieving success on our fields of dreams. So right now, I’d like for each us to take a moment and think about your fouls, your errors in life and the times you just struck out. When you’re ready, I’d ask you come forward to nail your sins to Jesus’ cross remembering because of Him you have a second or third or fourth at bat.
www.communitycenter.life/rev-robert-butler-info
