MUMC8/13/2016
Sermon Series: The Game Plan
Be Ready
Luke 12:32-40
I want to welcome you again as we start our new sermon series “Game Plan.” Tom Landry, the coach of the Dallas Cowboys football team for nearly 3 decades said that the job of a football coach is “to make men do what they don’t want to in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.” In a sense, that is what happens in our life as followers of Jesus. Sometimes, Jesus calls us to do what we don’t want to do, in order to achieve what God wants us to be. So for the next four weeks, we will be looking at some of the key elements to the “Game Plan” to be transformed into the kind of people that God wants us to be. Today, we are looking at the first element which is “Be Ready.”
But before we go any further, will you pray with me please? Holy God, not because of me, not even through me, but in spite of me and all of my shortcomings, let your perfect word come to your people. We pray this in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said…Amen.
So the Olympics are in full swing, summer sports like baseball are still going strong, and fall sports like football and cross country have been practicing hard for weeks. Athletes who are committed to their sports understand the need to spend time getting ready for competition. Getting ready is crucial! Joe Paterno, who coached Penn State football for decades said that “The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.”
As Christians, we would be well-advised to follow the example of athletes in their attempts to get ready for what is important. In the gospel lesson for today, Jesus tells his disciples that they too, must get ready and be dressed for action, be prepared, for something important. And the important thing? It is God’s kingdom. The first verse we heard today tells us: ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
God is sending the kingdom to us and we need to be ready for it. Now, in one sense, we are to be ready for the coming of the kingdom of God at the end of the ages—a kingdom that promises that everything that has been wrong and fallen and imperfect in this world will be set right. But in another sense, we are to be ready for the kingdom here and now, too. There are times when we can help make God’s kingdom visible on earth, there are times when we can experience God’s kingdom on earth. That is why we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on EARTH as it is in heaven.”
When hungry children are fed, that is God’s kingdom coming on earth. When broken relationships are restored, that is God’s kingdom coming on earth. When people connect to Christ in a new and deeper way, that is God’s kingdom coming on earth. And as Jesus tells us in the passage for today, it is God’s pleasure, God’s desire to give us the kingdom in those ways—but we have to be ready for it in order to receive it.
So, how do we get ready for it? How do we make sure we can see opportunities to be part of the Kingdom of God here and now? How do we make sure we can respond to those opportunities? I think we can find some great lessons for that as we look at some of the strategies athletes and coaches employ to get ready for their events.
So the first thing I would say is that it is important to study, in order to get ready. Joe Montana is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, winning four Superbowlswith the San Fransisco 49ers, and amassing many records.
Year after year, the 49ers ran the same offense. At the beginning of each season, the team would go over the offense the exact same way, going through each play with the team in exactly the same order.The first play theyreviewed every year was called“22 Z In.”
Having been with the team for many years and won multiple Superbowls with it, Joe Montana could run “22 Z In” in his sleep. Montana knew more about “22 Z In” than anyone. Including the offensive coordinator who was reviewing it with them. The offensive coordinator didn’t expect Joe Montana to do much with what was “old” information. But when the meeting was over, Joe Montana had taken three pages of notes on a play he already knew. Because he knew the importance of studying to get ready. (Source:
So here is what I would say to you—and I may step on some toes here. You and I need to study as well. You never know enough about scripture to stop studying. You are never so good at listening to God that you can afford to stop taking quiet time to listen more closely, to reflect. Bible studies, Sunday School classes, regular prayer time, regular times for silence and reflection are not just for rookie Christians, any more than studying plays is just for rookie players. (In other words, Sunday school is not just for kids.)If you want to be ready for God’s kingdom, you need to study God’s word, spend time in quiet reflection, and listen for what God is saying to you. I promise you, the more time you spend doing that, the more you will see God at work in your life and in the world around you. It’s not that God wasn’t working before, but when you study, you begin to have eyes to see the kingdom here and now.
Next, I would say that it is important to practice fundamentals in order to be ready. Athletes in every sport spend countless hours going over fundamentals in order to get ready for their events. Soccer players will do dribbling drills and practice shooting into the net over and over again; basketball players will shoot hoop after hoop after hoop; runners will log hundreds of miles in preparation for one race. They practice the fundamentals in order to be ready for the event.
We need to practice our fundamentals too. Jesus was pretty clear with us what the fundamentals are: We are to love God and love our neighbor. We show our love of God when we gather together for worship to offer God honor and praise. While it is my hope that everyone leaves our worship services feeling that they have been built up for the week ahead, and while we strive very hard to make worship excellent here, the primary focus of worship is not you, and it is not me. Worship is what we do to honor God. And the more consistently we are present in worship, the more we are practicing the fundamentals of loving God. And that helps us be ready for God’s kingdom. And I promise you, the more time you spend engaged in worship (not just showing up and checking the box, but actively engaged), the better equipped you will be see God’s kingdom here and now.
Loving our neighbor is another of the fundamentals we are to practice, if we are to be ready for God’s kingdom here and now. We love our neighbors as we care for them, as we speak kindly to them, as we build relationships with them. We love our neighbors as we serve them. I am so touched by our church’s commitment to the meal program at MWES. This summer we have provided 1,038 “two day” meal bags to support the program. That was almost 1/3 of all the meals provided at Mary Walter all summer long! What a great way to love your neighbors! But even more amazing than the food collected and packed and distributed were the relationships built with the families there. Families shared their stories with us, allowed us to get to know them and their children, and asked for prayers with us. And in each encounter, there was another glimpse of the kingdom of God. I promise you, the more time you spend serving your neighbor, the more you will see God’s kingdom here and now.
Finally, I think it is important to foster a sense of joy in order to maintain long term readiness. That is sometimes missing in athletics, when the focus on competition and the desire to win can sometimes crowd out the joy that athletes initially experienced in their sport. But if you can foster a sense of joy, you can maintain your discipline for the long haul.
Molly Hannis and Maya Dirado are both members of the US Olympic swim team. Molly qualified in the 200 meter breaststroke and Maya qualified in the 400 IM, the 200 IM and the 200 backstroke. She also ended up filling in on 2X400 freestyle relay and earned 4 medals—2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. What these two Olympic athletes have in common is that they grew up in the same swim program in Santa Rosa, CA—from age 7 to age 18. To progress to the Olympics is incredible. To maintain a love of the sport for that long that you WANT to continue with it is awesome, and I think that speaks to fostering a sense of joy.
I have been following Molly and Maya, because my cousin Dan was their coach throughout their swim program years in Santa Rosa. And one of the things Dan said in an interview before the Olympics was this:qualifying for the Olympics is an anomaly for his swimmers because it's not how his program is built. The design, he said, is not to make the Olympic team but to simply manifest a love for the sport. It’s about building a sense of joy. The most successful athletes, the ones who are able to continue for the long haul, find joy and love what they are doing. (Source:
So, I think it is also important for us to find a sense of joy in what we are doing in order to sustain us so that we can be ready for the kingdom. Later today, we will have our back to school picnic, and I know that in that time of fellowship, we will find a sense of joy. After worship each Sunday, folks linger to greet each other and spend time with each other, and in those fellowship encounters, we experience a sense of joy. When we work together and serve together and pray together and plan together, we laugh together (and sometimes cry together) we find that sense of joy. And when we experience the joy that is in sharing life together we will find ourselves equipped to experience the Kingdom of God in our midst.
To be ready, we need to study, practice the fundamentals and foster a sense of joy. May God help us do just that. Amen.