Thought for Today
1 Samuel 16:23 And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.
1 Chronicles 25:6 They were all under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king.
Luke 15:26 Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
1 Corinthians 9:25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.
One of the basic tenets of Christianity has long been the belief that Jesus, as the Christ, was fully human and fully divine. For some of us, that is a belief we hold dear, an understanding that we firmly believe . . . and simultaneously a tenet we cannot fully and totally understand. I confess that I do not comprehend how one can be both fully human and fully divine at the same time. But, I do firmly believe Jesus was.
The recent World Cup and the attendant mania have made me wonder whether or not Jesus was interested in sports. Watching the Tartan Army invade and capture Boston caused me to wonder whether Jesus was a soccer (a.k.a. football) fan. Now, I know that soccer did not exist in 30AD. But I know that the Greeks introduced sporting contests in all countries they conquered. The Romans continued the practice. There were colosseums throughout both empires. Most of the contests would have been part of what we now think of as track and field. By the time Christianity arose, there were gladiatorial contests throughout the Roman Empire.
Scripture does not give us any clues about whether or not Jesus, any of the disciples or any early Christian leaders were sports fans. The World Cup suggests to me that today, part of being fully human can include being a sports fan. Wondering about whether Jesus was even aware of athletics does give me occasion to wonder for which World Cup team Jesus would have rooted. Israel did not make it to the World Cup. Would Jesus have supported the U.S.A. team? England? Spain? I suspect Jesus would have rooted for Scotland . . . but I might be biased.
Were Jesus alive today, would Jesus root for the Patriots, the Texans, certainly not for the Cowboys or any New York team! Similarly, Jesus would certainly be a Red Sox fan or at least an Astros fan. One shudders to imagine Jesus favoring the Yankees or Rangers!
Other phenomena suggest to me that being fully human includes other dimensions, e.g., an interest in music. I hesitate to suggest or even think that Jesus might have been a Swiftie, but, my granddaughters might be very comfortable with the idea. I am inclined to suspect Jesus would prefer the Kingston Trio, Jimmy Buffett or Gordon Lightfoot.
I suspect that the Bible doesn’t make much note of outside interests for any of the major characters. The Bible is not focused on athletics, music or any outside interests of the protagonists. We do get a few tantalizing hints about some. We know that King David played the lyre. My mind boggles at the idea of David in a band, Davie and the Slingshots? We do know how important David’s musical talents were to David’s place in King Saul’s court.
As a minister, I do know the importance of music as part of our worship service. I know that the book of Psalms is often referred to as the psalter or hymnal of the Bible. Most of the translations in my library include introductory instructions before many of the psalms with notes such as, “<To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.>” (Ps. 4:1 NRS) The use of music in worshipping our Creator God is as old as our knowledge of our God. One of the earliest occurrences is in what is known as Marrion’s Song, “Exodus 15:20 Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’" Exodus 15:1-18 is a song led by Moses.
Interest in music, athletics and other activities are an integral part of our humanity. Jesus was fully human, and that imputes a certain importance to our own interest in all things human. Jesus told us the most important thing, however, is to love God and love each other.
Listen to each other, love each other, listen to God, love God, trust God,
Pastor Ray