INTRO.- Everyone should have a goal in life. Goals give motivation to our lives whether it’s the game of baseball or the Christian life.
ILL.- A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat: "I’m the greatest hitter in the world," he announced.
Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed. "Strike One!" he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!"
He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried.
The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!"
Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!" "Wow!" he exclaimed. "I’m the greatest pitcher in the world.
I am sure there have been plenty of little boys who at one time dreamed of becoming a great hitter or pitcher in the world of baseball. Why not? It’s been said that life is made of dreams.
If you don’t have any dreams or goals in life, you may not get very far. You may not climb the ladder of success, whether it’s secular or sacred, spiritual or otherwise. This is why Paul said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Everyone needs some of that “pressing on” spirit in their lives.
And we must admit that American life is certainly about baseball. I don’t know if it is still considered our national pastime but it was in days gone by.
ILL.- Song Take me out to the ballgame.
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks,
I don’t care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.
ILL.- "There are three types of base players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens." Tommy Lasorda And I would say that’s true of most things in life.
ILL.- "Most ballgames are lost, not won." Casey Stengel How lost? By lack of genuine effort. Many things in life are lost just because we don’t do anything about them. Doing nothing will accomplish nothing.
ILL.- Take a guess at "The Greatest Baseball Nicknames Of All Time.”
Hank Aaron - " Hammerin’ Henry "
Ty Cobb - " The Georgia Peach "
Jay Hannah Dean - " Dizzy Dean "
Joe DiMaggio - " Joltin’ Joe Dimaggio "
Lou Gehrig - " The Iron Horse "
Bob Gibson - " Hoot "
Ken Griffey Jr. - " The Kid "
Jim Hunter - " Catfish Hunter "
Joe Jackson - "Shoeless Joe Jackson "
Reggie Jackson - " Mr. October "
Harmon Killebrew - " Killer "
Mickey Mantle - " The Mick "
Mark McGwire - " Big Mac "
Stan Musial - Stan " The Man " Musial
George Herman Ruth - " Babe Ruth "," The Sultan of Swat "
Ozzie Smith - " The Wizzard "
Ted Williams - " The Splendid Splinter "
Life is a learning process and believe it or not, we can learn some things from the game of baseball.
ILL.- Dick "Stonefingers" Stuart, First Baseman for the Phillies, Pirates, Mets, Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox in the sixties, said of himself, "Errors are part of my image. One night in Pittsburgh, thirty thousand fans gave me a standing ovation when I caught a hot dog wrapper on the fly." We all make errors in life. Fortunately, because of the Lord they are not permanent errors.
Life is like a baseball game even though baseball is not mentioned in Scripture. Some aspects of the game of baseball are similar to life.
PROP.- In this message I want to compare our lives to a baseball game.
1- We’re on a team, so be a team player
2- We have a coach, so listen to Him
3- We may get hurt, so what? Play anyway
I. WE’RE ON A TEAM, SO BE A TEAM PLAYER
ILL.- A man said one time, "In my house, I make all the major decisions and my wife makes the minor decisions. For example, I decide such things as East-West trade, crime in the streets, welfare cheating, and increase in taxes. My wife decides the minor things such as: which house to buy, what kind of car we drive, how much money we spend on things, how to raise the kids, etc."
Even though the Scripture teaches that the husband is the head of the home, there should be a certain amount of togetherness and unity in all things.
Eph. 5:21 "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Following these words, Paul immediately speaks of the responsibilities of both wives and husbands. SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER. Could this also possibly mean, work ‘with’ one another?
Most of us have discovered that in all of life things work a lot better when we work ‘with’ people and not against them. This applies to the home, work, business, and the church.
ILL.- In the mid-1960’s I worked for Safeway in Joplin, MO. I remember when the manager hired a certain stock clerk for our store. I don’t remember his name, but I sure remember his face! AND I REMEMBER HIS ATTITUDE AND HIS CHARACTER.
He was a go-getter type person, worker. He couldn’t stand still a second, it seemed. He did nothing slow. He was always going at full-speed. It didn’t make any difference whether he was stocking shelves, unloading a truck or checking out customers at the cash register. His tachometer was always on the redline!
He was the kind of guy who would stock shelves all night, go home at 7 in the morning and sleep a few hours and come back in the afternoon to work the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift. And everybody knew he was go-getter, including the manager. Consequently, he impressed the manager and quickly moved up in the store and was given more responsibility. In fact, the manager was so impressed that he soon gave him a set of keys to the store so he could open and close. But there was a problem with that guy: HE WAS NOT A TEAM PLAYER! He was only thinking of himself, how he could get ahead, how he could promote himself.
Brothers and sisters, we are not playing the game of life by ourselves. We’re on a team. We are in this thing together, so be a team player! It doesn’t make any difference whether you are the pitcher, the catcher, first baseman, second, third, fielder or whatever.
It doesn’t make any difference whether you are the preacher, an elder, deacon, teacher, pianist, soloist, or whatever. We’re all on the same team and we must be team players!
Rom. 14:19 "Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."
Rom. 15:1-2 "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."
In other words, let’s do things that help, bless, build, and encourage one another because we’re a team!
ILL.- In 1886 Nevada had a state fair. They decided to have a contest among mule teams to see how much they could pull. The first place team pulled 14,000 pounds. The second place team pulled 13,000 pounds.
Someone said, "I wonder how much they could pull together? Could they pull 27,000?" They hitched up both teams and together they pulled, not 27,000 pounds, BUT 35,000 POUNDS!
We’re on a team, so be a team player. Let’s pull together and no telling how much we can accomplish!
II. WE HAVE A COACH, SO LISTEN TO HIM
ILL.- Truths Children Learn
- No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
- When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
- If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
- Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
- You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
- Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.
- Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
- Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.
- Never hold a dustbuster and a cat at the same time.
- School lunches stick to the wall.
- You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
- Don’t wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
- The best place to be when you are sad is on Grandma’s lap.
Brothers and sisters, children learn many things in life and many of these truths come from their moms and dads. So be it. Regardless of their age, when children are at home, they need guidance and direction. Children need coaching about all of life. Everyone needs some coaching in life.
ILL.- During the 28th Olympiad in Athens an American runner named Jeremy Wariner won the 400-meter race. He’s the first white American male to win that race since the 1964 Olympics. Some runner from Grenada who was supposed to be Wariner’s biggest threat but finished fourth said, “I’ve never seen a white man run that fast.”
The 400-meter race is dominated by black runners. How could this young man be so fast? In the first place, he is obviously very talented. In the second place, he has one of the best coaches there is…Clyde Hart who was also the coach for Michael Johnson who holds the world record in the 400.
Wariner said of Hart, “I’ve had a great coach, and he knows what he’s doing.” And Michael Johnson said of Hart, “He’s just an incredible coach and it’s because he’s a teacher. He teaches athletes how to run.”
Brothers and sisters, it pays to listen to your coach in life. If we want to succeed we must listen, learn and obey.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Many people may say, “Coach, you are the greatest there is.” But they don’t truly listen to their coach. They don’t do what he says. Many say, “Oh Jesus, you are Lord of lords. You are the greatest. You are the son of the living God,” but they don’t do what he says. Their faith is flippant or worse yet, something of a farce.
ILL.- A man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly the light turned yellow. Just in front him was a crosswalk, so he did the right thing--he stopped at the crosswalk even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.
The tailgating woman hit the roof and her horn. She screamed because she had missed her chance to get through the intersection. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window. She looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a cell.
After a couple of hours, however, a policeman approached the cell door and opened it. He escorted her back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
As he handed her possessions to her, he said, "I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.
“I noticed the ’Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ’What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ’Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally I assumed you had stolen the car."
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” We have a couch and we need to listen to Him and do what He says.
III. WE MAY GET HURT. SO WHAT? PLAY ANYWAY
ILL.- Some of you may remember that baseball player Lou Gehrig is called the "iron man of baseball" for a very good reason. For 15 years in the 1920’s and 30’s he played first base for the New York Yankees. He played 2130 consecutive games. And after he retired they X-rayed both of his hands and found that every finger had been broken at least one time, YET HE NEVER MISSED A GAME! He played even though he was hurt. That says something about his character.
Obviously, we have to go on living the Christian life even though we’ve been hurt. And it’s a guaranteed thing we will be hurt in this life. We will experience hurt and pain in some form or another and for one reason or another: because of the devil, sin, or perhaps just because we live in an imperfect world where imperfect things happen all the time.
The apostle Paul was a great player in the game of life. He endured much hardship in life.
I Cor. 4:11-13 “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.”
These words don’t sound like Paul was having a fun day or a fun time in life! Not many of us would have wanted to trade places with him. We don’t want to go hungry or be thirsty. We don’t want to wear rags for clothing. We don’t want to be treated badly or brutally. We don’t want to be homeless.
Matthew 8:20 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Jesus suffered homelessness while in the flesh. And He suffered even more than that.
Matthew 10:24 “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.” Since Jesus suffered in the flesh should we not also expect to suffer somewhat in this life?
II Tim. 2:3 “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
Since we are soldiers of the cross and/or we are playing the game of life we must expect a certain amount of hardship and pain, BUT WE MUST ENDURE! And endure, we can!
ILL.- MADRID, Spain (AP) - He had to change tires 11 times and once fell to the ground and spent the night in a ditch, but 65-year-old Russian Vladimir Ksenchak rolled undaunted into Madrid on Tuesday, August 24th, at the end of a 3,000-mile wheelchair trip.
Ksenchak left Moscow on June 11 and made his way through Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France before reaching Spain. He said the journey was intended to inspire the disabled and denounce illegal drug use. Ksenchak lost a leg to circulatory problems eight years ago.
His adventure was a one-man campaign he dubbed "Russia-Europe: Without Drugs" and aimed at discouraging young people from using illegal drugs.
He told a new conference in Madrid he had also made the journey "to lend moral and spiritual support to all disabled people and help them to keep their spirits up."
He said people along his route had given him food, drink and lodging. It was near the Spanish capital that he suffered one of three falls from the wheelchair and was forced to spend the night in a ditch.
"The easiest part was up until Luxembourg. Then the route was more complicated, and the hardest part was between San Sebastian and Madrid because of the hills," Ksenchak said.
He said his original goal had been to go to Lisbon, Portugal. He said he stopped in Madrid because his wheelchair gave out.
I would say, “Somebody get that man another wheelchair!”
Brothers and sisters, if that 65-year-old man could endure what he did for his cause, think of what we could endure for the cause of Christ! In playing the game you will get hurt. But so what? Play anyway.
CONCLUSION------------------------------------
ILL.- Ty Cobb, considered by many as the greatest ballplayer of all time, played 3,033 games and for 12 years led the American League in batting average. For four years, he batted over 400. On his deathbed, July 17, 1961, at the age of 74 years he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. He said, “You tell the boys I’m sorry it was the last part of the ninth that I came to know Christ. I wish it had taken place in the first half of the first.”
I don’t know if this story is true or not, but the point is clear. There is time when the ball game will end. It will not matter whether we hit a single, a double, a triple or even a homerun. What will matter is what we did with Jesus.
Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
The game of life leaves us all very weary and burdened, but Jesus gives rest, release and reward. Believe in Him, trust Him, surrender to Him, obey Him. Comfort will come. Worries will cease. Joy will return. Life will never end.
