A letter to Tim Tebow on his recent trade to the Jets

Dear Tim,

Well, you’ve been traded to the Jets.  Welcome to New Jersey.   You’re in a mission mine field (gold or bombs? It’s hard to tell.)

Yeah, let’s get a few things straight. 

You see, both the Giants and the Jets belong to New Jersey, regardless of where their franchises register the moo-lah.   They both practice and play in NJ…so even though they call themselves NY teams, they’re ours.  New Jerseyans know the difference… and that’s where suburbia lives.  (And you’ll have to understand that you’ll never win over the southern half of the state, they’re mostly Eagles fans.)
Speaking of suburbia….did you know that the suburban and metro NY/NJ area is probably one of the biggest mission fields in America?  Yeah, you see we’re so caught up in trying to keep up with what we’ve got that the devil has been having an easy time of it.  Being a Christian isn’t always easy here…we’re a melting pot of faiths, cultures, politics, social and economic classes, races… you name it… you can find it here. 

On the flip side…on the whole, I think we’re a pretty tolerant region considering our diversity.  But that tends to lend itself to a laissez-faire attitude of “hey, you do your thing and I’ll do mine” making evangelism a tough sell in this area.  The “Tebow-ing” thing will generate an equal amount of mockery and supporters.

And it’s not just the fans.  Ask Mark Messier or Mike Richter of the Rangers, or Phil Simms or Eli Manning.  Ask Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada or Alex Rodriguez.  Ask Mark Sanchez.  The media is looking to crucify you….when they’re not tearing apart your football skills they’ll mock you for your faith, your personal life or worse, they’ll label you irrelevant.  They’ll take you to task like no other media market in the country.  Like a dog with a bone, they’re not going to let you get away easy.

Unless you’ve got the stuff to weather us. 

Because you’re not irrelevant… you are a child of God, just like the rest of us.  

And your faith has lit a light that shines on God in the one place a majority of Americans, and New Jerseyans and New Yorkers, will find themselves each Sunday… in the church of the sports arena (or watching it on TV).

There’s a song by Ol’ Blue Eyes (if you don’t know who that is, you’d better look it up before you move here) that goes “if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”  If you think Denver was tough, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.  Grab your big boy football pads…the hits are going to be hard.

Your proving ground has been set before you… I wonder what plans God has in store for you here.
Good luck.

Join us for worship anytime:
Sundays 8:30 and 10:45 am
St. Andrew Lutheran Church
335 Reynolds Ave., Parsippany, NJ  07054
(973) 887-6713
www.elcaandy.org

Football and Faith

Okay, so today is a football playoffs Sunday... not quite the Super Bowl but still high up on the chart of “where are all the people this Sunday morning?”

Some people have argued that sports have become the religion of America and sporting venues the new cathedrals of our generation.  Perhaps in some way that is true.  Considering all the Tebowmania this year, I’ve been wondering about it.

I’m happy to note that St. Andrew was fairly full this morning.  If the Giants were playing the 3 o’clock game, might there might have been a few less?  Hmmmmm.

To our credit, we seem to be able to pull a fair number of attendees for our annual congregational meeting which always seems to fall on Super Bowl Sunday, even though we have a fair number of football fans on the Church Council.  Maybe it’s because we entice them in with lunch, and then the specter of the ULTIMATE football game keeps the meeting short.  A 6:30 pm kickoff time doesn’t hurt either.  I’ve always been somewhat proud of us that we put the business of the church as a top priority and recognize that we can do both… have an early afternoon congregational meeting and still leave time for football.  If the Super Bowl was being held in Giants Stadium (ooops, sorry Jet fans, MetLife Stadium…or better yet, let’s just call it the Meadowlands and leave the corporate sponsors out of it), then perhaps there might be some squawking about the changing the meeting date.

Since the Broncos and Tim Tebow are now officially out of contention for the Super Bowl, it is interesting to reflect on the hype that surrounded that team’s quarterback.  Was God granting success to the Broncos because of the faith of Tim Tebow?  Doubtful.  I don’t think God plays favorites in the football arena.  Plus, there are plenty of other faithful athletes, but none so recently under the national media microscope.

But I do think God was/is there.

If the people will not go to the Church, then perhaps God has come to the people in the place they deem worthy to worship?  If we remove God from schools, government, work places, public places and our everyday lives, then perhaps He has chosen sports as the place to walk among us?

God will not be silenced.

He equips the called and gives them voice.  Through the acts of a faithful football quarterback, the eyes of a nation have been focused on the heart of an athlete… an athlete equipped with the quirky athleticism that makes secular football professionals wonder if something divine isn’t happening, and makes a nation remember that the God of all creation will find a way to walk among us and grab our attention… even when our worship has been misdirected.

(Psssst..... Go Giants!) 

Come and worship with us on Sundays: 8:30 & 10:45 am

Christian Education: 9:45 am

St. Andrew Lutheran Church

335 Reynolds Ave.

Parsippany, NJ  07054

www.elcaAndy.org