The story of the “called Shot” by Babe Ruth in the 3rd game of 1932 world series at Wrigley Field
Yankees vs. Cubs
Bench Jockey’s hounding each other
The game is tight
Bambino goes up to bat and points to the center field very inconspicuously
1-0, 1-2, 2-2 then bam for 440 yards out to dead center
The yanks go on to beat the cubs in a four game sweep.
Interesting to note how much attention the babe got by calling his shot. I mean Jesus called his shot a lot more times than that. He kept telling everyone he knew the outcome of His at bat here on earth. Today’s scripture describes for us another time He called his shot.
This is from Luke 19:28-40. Listen all you who have ears to hear…
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,
30 "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'"
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.
33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
34 They replied, "The Lord needs it."
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.
36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
o Did you hear Jesus call his shot? Verse 30-31 he points to left field.Verse 32 He hits it out of the park. Can you imagine the look on those disciples faces? How does he do it? He knew where that colt was gonna be?
o He knew he would fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy in Zech 9:9 with the task. And as a result the crowds would go crazy in expectation of a powerful messiah king coming to save them.
o He also knew he would be forsaken as quickly as he became beloved. History proves that out.
o He also knew the outcome of his entrance would lead to Good Friday. His prayers in the garden once again confirm – He knew how it was going to play out.
The big differences between the great Bambino and the great Jesus Christ is that for the bambino it was a slam against his fellow man and for Jesus it was for his fellow man. It was also not of ego but humility. The question theologians wrestled with for years and some still do, is the question was he fully God and fully man? Through the eyewitness accounts, we can tell Jesus was fully man experiencing emotions and temptations but he was also fully God. Today’s reading let’s know He knew the future and his prayer in the Garden at Gesmenee tells us he knew the cost. Now, the bigger question is why would God die for us?
In Tim Keller’s best selling book, “The reason for God,” he points out in “the real world of relationships, it is impossible to love somebody in need and not want to share their burden in some way.” In every stop in Haiti, we would see and talk to people in dire need. Every corner had a child, an out of work parent and most of the time someone with a smile. In each of these people, we saw Christ. I wish I could do more than smile and say, “Jayzee Rae’ mae’ ou” or Jesus loves you in English. I truthfully wanted to give everything I had away. It is in those moments, I get a glimmer of understanding of how our God through Jesus Christ’s would decide to give it all away and demean himself to become a man, allow those who would persecute him to “get away with it” and why he would come back from the dead so we could have a chance to make it to heaven. “Jayzee Rae’ Mae u” but he also loves me. I know this not because the bible tells me so but because He knew the outcome of his called shot and did it anyway.
The question for us this morning is, as Christian followers in Spring training getting ready to become little Christ’s ourselves, why don’t we call more of His shots in our everyday lives? You can quickly counter, “We’re not God” but a little of God’s Spirit resides within you and as such, Jesus said even a smigin of faith can move mountains. So you already have the connection to know when and where to share his love and make no mistake they’re opportunities all around us. Some are small like: opening the door for someone struggling, a pleasant hello to the clerk at the minimart or a food card to a homeless family. Some are harder like paying for a homeless families groceries, loaning out the parsonage for no rent, volunteering at a food bank, jumping on a church committee, teaching Sunday school, watching the pocket sized people in the nursery, visiting the sick, and the list goes on and on. Some are just plain difficult. Not because they physically challenging but they stretch us mentally. The world says that won’t work but something is drawing or pushing you and deep down it just feels right. Proverbs 3:5 says, “trust in the Lord and do not lean on your own understanding.” Following God doesn’t have to make sense. Hebrews 11: 8 tells us it’s okay to be like Abraham and “just go out, not knowing where you’re going.” In all cases, the Spirit will guide you and remind you that the results are not yours to claim or decide if it’s worthy of our time or money because it’s not our time or money, it’s His. So the challenge for us, both individually and as a community of faith is to listen to Jesus tell us where the colt is located and go get it. Like a coach in the minor leagues, Jesus is telling us get out there call the shot and swing because when we do, home runs happen.
www.communitycenter.life/rev-robert-butler-info
