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And the Winner is... |
2008-01-23 |
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It is "awards season" in Hollywood and "tournament time" in South Dakota high school sports. In the past few weeks the news has been full of who won Grammy awards in music and who won Oscars in the movies. The gymnastics and wrestling state tournaments just finished up, and now the basketball tournaments are in full swing. If that isn't enough to keep track of, there is "March Madness" in college basketball, and of course major league baseball spring training has begun. A month ago Peyton Manning and the Colts finally won the Super Bowl, and the Daytona 500 just kicked off the NASCAR season with a photo finish.
What do all of these things have in common? They are all events where there are "winners" and "losers", where we assume "success" and "failure". Does the fact that the Dixie Chicks won the most big Grammies mean that they are the best or most successful in the music business? Or does it just mean that the people who were eligible to vote for those awards had their reasons, good or bad, for their decisions? Does the fact that "The Departed" won best picture this year mean it is really better than any of the other movies that came out during the past year? Does winning a Grammy or an Oscar define success? Or does producing the record or movie that makes the most money, or that gets the best reviews, or that personally pleases me the most define success?
The Milbank gymnastics team finished third at the state meet. Does that mean that because they didn't finish first that they failed? Were all of the wrestlers failures because none of them were individual state champions? Will the girls and boys basketball teams be "losers" if they do not win state championships?
Peyton Manning, the Colts quarterback, was not considered by many a truly great player until he won a Super Bowl, despite the fact that he will probably hold almost every record for his position by the time he retires. The Cubs will try to win their first World Series in 99 years this year, and will try to just make it to the World Series for the first time in 62 years. Only one team out of 30 wins the World Series every year. Are all the rest of the teams and their players failures?
How do we define our own personal success or failure? Do we judge by how much money we make, or by how attractive or popular we are, or by how healthy we are, or by how happy or secure we feel? When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and made a triumphant entry into Jerusalem he was on a real roll, and seemed to be successful. Five days later he was dead on the cross. That sure sounds like failure to me. A couple of days later he rose from the dead, in the biggest victory in the history of the universe.
No team wins every game, or wins championships every year. Nobody remembers or cares who won Oscars or Grammies afterwards. Life is a losing proposition if we judge it by our wins and losses, successes and failures, because we all come up against death in the end. In that sense at least we are all, every single one of us, failures. We all fail to meet the perfect standard of righteousness. But God, in the crucified and risen Jesus, gives us the victory over sin and death and makes every one of us a winner. Remember that as you root for your favorite team, and as you go through the "successes" and "failures" of your life. Keep things in their proper perspective. God has cast the only vote that matters, and that vote is that you are forgiven and saved in Jesus. You win! |
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Summer: starting Memorial Day Weekend
9:00 am Worship Service KMSD Broadcast
10:00 am Coffee and Fellowship
WOW (Worship on Wednesday) 6:30 pm
Winter: starting after Labor Day
8:30 am Worship Service KMSD Broadcast
9:35 am Educational Hour
9:35 am Coffee and Fellowship
10:45 am Worship Service
WOW (Worship on Wednesday) 6:30 pm |
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401 South Flynn Drive
Milbank SD 57252
605.432.5566 |
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