Now I've Seen Everything

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday December 28, 2008, the First Sunday After Christmas.

Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 148
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:22-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Rick Reilly is a columnist for ESPN the Magazine. In this week’s edition, he tells the story of what he calls the “oddest game in high school football history.”[1] Faith High School in Grapevine, Texas played the Gainesville State School on Grapevine’s home turf, but after these facts, everything else was the Texas High School Football equivalent of The Twilight Zone.

The team from Gainesville hit the field running a 40-yard spirit line before crashing through a banner that said “Go Tornadoes.” This is nothing unusual. It’s like many other high school football games until you learn that the fans who filled the spirit line and made the banner were from Grapevine.

Yes, visiting team’s fans and banner were courtesy of the home team. More than 200 Faith fans sat in the Gainesville stands cheering on the kids from Gainesville. The visitors were cheered by name and there were even cheerleaders from the home team rooting on the visitors.

This sounds so very odd, especially in Texas where high school football is not only its own religion but has temples in every corner of the state. Still, there is one thing I haven’t told you about Gainesville State; it’s one of the Texas Youth Commission’s twelve secure institutions. The TYC is the Texas juvenile corrections agency and Gainesville State is a maximum security youth facility.

According to their literature, “The [Texas Youth Commission] provides for the care, custody, rehabilitation, and reestablishment in society of Texas’ most chronically delinquent or serious juvenile offenders. Texas judges commit these youth to TYC for felony-level offenses committed when they were at least age 10 and less than age 17.”[2] Yes, the Texas Youth Commission has maximum security facilities and they play football against Texas high schools.

Talking about the game against Grapevine Faith, Gainesville’s QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah recalled, “I never in my life thought I’d hear people cheering for us to hit their kids. I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!”[3]

Our Gospel reading begins as Mary and Joseph went to the temple in Jerusalem to present their son as required by the Law. The temple had its regulars and its residents, one named Simeon. Simeon was a righteous and devout man “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” This could be translated that he was “looking forward to the exhortation of Israel,” but the New Living Translation takes a different tack. It says that he “was eagerly waiting for the messiah to come and rescue Israel.”

I often say all translation is interpretation, and this one is a little far out as interpretation of the language goes, but it is spot-on as an interpretation of the situation.

Scripture continues, “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Again, the New Living Translation puts this a bit differently. It begins, “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.”

Simeon had seen what God had promised him. He was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah, the Christ, and he has. He wasn’t promised that he would see great deeds. He wasn’t promised that he would see the final redemption of Israel. He wasn’t promised that he would see the end of Roman oppression, the end of poverty or freedom in justice.

He was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah, he did, and he was overjoyed to see the baby who would fulfill far more than he could ever hope or imagine. It was as if he told the Lord, “Now I’ve seen everything, now let your servant die in peace as you have promised.” Simeon was ready to die once he had seen everything. We have everything too, but the Lord does not want us to die, the Lord wants us to live.

Returning to Reilly’s story:

The thought of providing a cheering section for Gainesville State started when Grapevine Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, “wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team.” I think it’s important to note that Coach Hogan wanted to do something “kind.” He didn’t pity the boys in jail. He didn’t fear them either. He wanted them to receive kindness.

“Faith had never played Gainesville, but Coach Hogan already knew the score. Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 [touchdowns] all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

“So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the [Faith high school] faithful to do just that. ‘Here's the message I want you to send:’ Hogan wrote. ‘You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.’

“Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, ‘Coach, why are we doing this?’

And Hogan said, ‘Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.’”

There were fourteen kids being shipped by bus from the Red River to a spot just north of DFW to play football. In eight games they were winless and had scored just two touchdowns. They planned on getting beat again by a well coached, well supplied suburban team; and that was the least of their worries.

Imagine what these young men were used to being called from the stands. Imagine what they had to look forward to on the long bus ride back to Gainesville, in cuffs. This is what Coach Hogan did, and he imagined what would happen if this experience would be turned on its ear.

Let me continue using Reilly’s words:

“So for the first time ever, supported by a couple hundred real fans and cheerleaders, maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game’s last two touchdowns. Sure Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end, but still.”

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray. Everyone was taken aback when Isaiah asked to lead the prayer, but this is what happens when the Holy Spirit gets in the way of our expectations. “Isaiah said this: ‘Lord, I don’t know how this happened, so I don’t know how to say thank You, but I never would’ve known there was so many people in the world that cared about us.’”

Reilly wrote, “And it was a good thing everybody’s heads were bowed because they might’ve seen Hogan wiping away tears.”

“The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, ‘You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.’

“And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they’d never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.”

Luke’s gospel and Reilly’s story remind us that we will be shown everything God promises we’ll see, it’s how we respond to what we see that is important. These stories show that we have two choices about what comes after we see everything, we can live or we can die.

Simeon was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah before he died. God’s promise fulfilled, it was Simeon’s time to be dismissed because his eyes had seen the salvation that comes from the Lord. This was Simeon’s promise, but it’s not the promise the Lord makes us.

We are given the promise of the Lord’s Messiah as a light of revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of God’s people Israel. We have been shown this glorious sight. And receiving this vision, we are called to continue taking it into the world. We are called to do more than die happy. We are called to live as the continuing light of God’s revelation.

It is amazing what Coach Hogan and the good people of Grapevine did for a small group of teens that need encouragement. They gave the most valuable gift they could; they gave them the message that they are “just as valuable as any other person on the planet Earth.”

What do we give? Where does the Spirit guide us? Or do we just wait to die happy?

Riley ends his article this way:

“Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

“Hope.”

I end his article saying Amen.

[1] Reilly, Rick, Life of Reilly, ESPN the Magazine, cited from ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3789373, retrieved December 24, 2008. Quotes from Reilly’s article are found in quotation marks throughout this sermon. Thanks to Rick Reilly, Glory to God!
[2] Overview of the Juvenile Corrections System in Texas, http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/about/overview.html, retrieved December 27, 2008.
[3] Reilly notes the TYC only releases first names.