November 2007
Welcome to Rocktober!! Even if you are not a baseball fan, it is difficult not to be caught up in the furor of the Rockies and their push to the playoffs and now to the World Series. This unlikely team, left for dead, had to win fourteen of fifteen games just to qualify for the playoffs. Then, as the Wild Card team, had to go on the road and beat the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. They defied the odds and were able to find success when few thought they could. Whatever happens in the World Series, this will be a season we will not soon forget.
Perhaps that is why I enjoy sport so much. It is the story of the underdog overcoming the odds, coming back from the dead almost to accomplish great things. Especially appropriate for us as we are beginning on a journey to take the Gospel of Christ to the town of Kiowa. For such a small church that task seems awfully large, maybe too much for us to handle. But don’t tell that to the Rockies.
The first thing that we need to keep in mind is that we cannot do it all at once. On September 16th the Rockies had 14 games left in the season. It seemed that they needed to win nearly all of them in order to find a place in the post season. The problem was that teams just don’t win that many games in a row this late in the season. Rather than give up, the Rockies thought along these lines: Maybe we cannot win the next fourteen games, but we can win the next one. That is possible, so let’s go do it. Sometimes the enormity of the task freezes us and keeps us from even trying. Kind of like a six year old sent to his room to clean it. He looks at the task before him and does not even know where to start. Three hours later when you check on his progress you see him playing in a room messier than it was before. I am not so sure he has been disobedient; perhaps he was just unable to imagine completing a task that large. He is, however, able to imagine playing, so he does what he knows. Children, baseball teams and churches need to remember that large tasks are accomplished only when they are broken down into smaller pieces.
The second lesson is that everyone needs to do their part. It was fun to watch the Rockies as they were on their streak because you never knew who was going to be the hero that particular day. One day Todd Helton would hit a home run; the next day a great pitching performance would support the team that had forgotten how to hit. The next day a great defensive performance would deliver the team from certain defeat. It helped drive home to the Rockies what we need to keep in mind; everyone is vital to the effort and everyone’s task is important. As I have talked about the vision for our church, everyone can and needs to be involved. Those praying for our families are just as important as those working with the children during the Parents Night Out, who are just as important as those welcoming the visitors on Parents Night Out Sunday. There are no inconsequential jobs.
Of course, the problem is, no matter how hard one tries, perfection is elusive. Having won 12 games in a row, the Rockies lost to Arizona in the last series of the season. They had come so close and now all seemed lost. They needed Milwaukee, a team out of the playoff hunt, to beat San Diego twice. Not likely, and yet it happened. The Rockies had to go out and win those last two games and trust that help would come. For them, the miracle came when they lost control of their future.
In our situation, it is the same. We can design and implement a great program. We can be faithful in prayer and prepare for families to visit us on Parents Night Out Sunday. What we cannot do is change hearts; that is left to God. We will be doing the best we can and then waiting for help, waiting for our miracle. That is a tough position to be in, waiting for God to do what we cannot do ourselves.
The third truth is perhaps the hardest. I write this article the day after game 1 in the World Series. The Boston Red Sox shellacked the Rockies 13-1 in a game that was not as close as the score indicated. In the middle of the game, I was thinking, “Well, that’s it. It will be the Sox in four.” But the series is not over. The Rockies have not won 21 out of 22 games because they are lucky. They won because they have been playing fundamentally sound baseball. This loss needs to remind them of the need to do the little things that add up to victory. Not all of the things we attempt will be successful; we will sometimes fail. That is not the time to give up, but rather to refocus on our purpose and get back in the game.
I think it was Yogi Berra who said that predicting is hard to do, especially when you are predicting the future. I don’t know who will win the series, but win or lose the Rockies will be back next year, pursuing their goal of a World Series ring. Our goal of sharing the Gospel of Christ with Kiowa is no less important (in fact, it is immensely more important) and so needs to be pursued with the same energy and commitment as the Rockies.
