Sermon for Sunday - February 2, 2014: Seahawks vs Broncos

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."  -- Vince Lombardi

Tomorrow the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos will face-off and apply the best of themselves to the task at hand.  There will be no loser unless one of them doesn't show up to play.  If both teams live up to the expectations of Vince Lombardi, there can be no loser.  There comes a point when the best of the best compete.  There comes a time when David can slay Goliath.  There comes a time when luck swings the balance of the game; in any game where there are rules and calls officiated over by fallible humans.  When it comes right down to it, it is just another game.

I had to go to the market today.  The parking lot of one was so full that I opted for a larger store down the road.  This one, too, was a zoo.  Lines were long and baskets full.  Beer, chips, dips, ribs, brats and buns filled baskets.  "My goodness!" I exclaimed, "It's just a football game!"  I asked the checker, Neil, if it had been this way all day.  It had.  

And what if your chosen team "loses" the game?  Will we think less of the effort they put in to get to the pinnacle of their sport?  Not if they apply themselves to the game with determination.  The only loser is the one we create in our own mind.  This is not a war, it is a game.  In a game among gentlemen the only thing that can be lost is the game; the men will return for "better luck" next time.  When we forget this we risk regressing to animals.

There will be no losers today.  There will be a game of titans for ownership of a shiny bauble to put on a dusty shelf, and a golden ring (my precious...).

I will watch the game at the Country Club on a 16 foot projection screen.  I will drink mass quantities of beer and eat fattening snacks and cholesterol ridden food.  I will cheer both teams for downs well played, and I will congratulate the victor.

Having said all this...

GO HAWKS!