3rd Sunday of Advent
Philippians 4:4-7 (NRSV)
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Reflection
Rob grew up with football in his blood. Even at a young age he would sit in front of the television and watch football. He would leap up and down and shout "Get that guy!" At a young age Rob started playing football with his Dad in the backyard. They would spend time together passing, kicking and even snapping the ball to each other. They would run around the yard with a football and tackle one another.
When Rob was old enough, he began to play Pee Wee Football in the community. Rob began to get better and better as the years passed. In High School, Rob was really good. Rob was scouted by many of the local and some of the not so local colleges. Rob played on the defensive side of the ball.
Once Rob was in college the competition for his DB position became fierce. No longer was Rob the stand out. During practice one day Rob decided to eliminate his competition. During one of the tackle drills, Rob went after the legs of the best DB on the team with intentions of breaking his leg. It worked! Rob had eliminated his competition that Sophomore year of his and Rob went on to start that year and his Junior and Senior year as the best DB on the team. Rob was nationally recognized and drafted to play for the Arizona Cardinals.
Wow! Rob's fortunes changed. He was making plenty of money and Rob felt as if he earned every cent of it. Rob was a self-made man now. Rob knew that all his efforts were due to what he had done. All the credit belonged to Rob. Rob was at the height of happiness. Rob even recalled how he and he alone had succeeded in the "pursuit of happiness."
Then came the game. The game against the Panthers. A guard shot out and came as if he was hunting down Rob. He hit Rob in his knees so hard that Rob went down and couldn't move. The Trainers came out to check on Rob. It looked like a career ending injury to Rob's knees. As Rob was taken off of the field, he couldn't help but to think of what he had done to another player in his college days. Rob relived that moment over and over in his mind of when he broke the leg of his competition.
Rob began to waver on his thinking that he was the one responsible for making it big in the NFL and making the big bucks. Maybe it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. You see Rob got married when he first made it into the NFL. But that marriage didn't last. In fact a second marriage that produced and child didn't last either. He didn't spend any time with his son and hardly even knew him to amount to anything. Rob wasn't really all that happy and now this! Rob thought of how great he wasn't really now.
Luckily, Rob recovered from his knee injury and came back full strength. It seemed almost every play Rob would remember the leg he had broken to spring his way into the NFL. Rob was a different player too. Rob would play hard but play honest and fair. He would help the opponent off the ground as much as his own team mates. Rob even spent time with his son several times a week.
Rob had discovered that he wasn't the reason for his success. There was something much more meaningful than the "pursuit of happiness." Rob had discovered that a Savior was needed in this life. He found out that all the success, the money or even the beautiful women would not bring lasting joy. Rob was on a pursuit for joy that went beyond anything Rob could do for or by himself.
Sure, Rob relived that time on the practice field over and over when he had done that terrible action of breaking the leg of another man in order to get ahead. It was that constant reminder that helped Rob recognize that the happiness he once thought was the all of life wasn't what it was cracked up to be. Rob found that joy came in the realization that humbled himself. Joy came in the freedom of God's forgiveness of that moment of sin on the practice field in Rob's life. Since Rob had come to realize the need for a Savior. A Savior that came to this world and lived a humble life, giving all that was physical of himself to all the world, even to death on the cross. There was more than this place and this world and football. There was a joy in what was to come. What was to come in our spiritual life and unity with Jesus.
Rob saw beyond this world into the next. Rob remembered his sin and was grateful for the life of Jesus and the forgiveness he brought. In this Rob, now lived through the highs and lows of life knowing of a joy to come and a joy present in the freedom to live life past any future sin. Rob knew of a Savior that loved him even through and in his sin. Jesus would call and use Rob just as he was. And Rob lived free and happy.
Rob had come to meet Doug. Doug walked with a limp and became a leader in his church. Rob and Doug were wonderful friends throughout their lives since the day Rob had injured his knee on the field. Doug was Rob's physical therapist that nursed Rob through recovery from his knee injury. Doug introduced Rob to Jesus in those days and forgave Rob for that time he broke his leg and the limp that followed him in life. Two men living in the joy of forgiveness with a new change in life.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, come near. Through the ups and downs of life, in sin and out of sin, with your presence and saving action alone can I live in joy. True joy of a hope beyond this world and into your presence. Come, Lord Jesus, come... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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