“Rocky Top Religion”

Ephesians 6:10-20

Well, it’s football time in Tennessee!!

Those of you who have just moved here from places where big-time collegiate football is not that prominent will need to prepare yourselves for an amazing experience. As the clock ticks down toward the kickoff of next Saturday’s home opener, there are some survival skills you’ll need to learn.

First, you’ll need to learn to love the color orange. You know, as we were getting ready to leave New England this week, we noticed that some of the fall foliage was beginning to come out. The leaves of some of the swamp maples were already turning red. A friend of ours asked if we had fall colors in Tennessee. We said, “Yes, we have a lot of ORANGE!” And we do. So brace yourself! Orange will begin to appear just about everywhere this week – clothing, cars, billboards, flags…and even at church! Don’t try to fight it. Just accept it!

Second, you’ve gotta learn to love“Rocky Top!” This is a college fight song that admittedly makes absolutely no sense at all. I mean, Michigan has “Hail To The Victors!” Michigan State has, “On the banks of the Red Cedar is a school that’s known to all, our specialty is losing big leads, and the Spartans play good ball.” Or something like that! Wisconsin has “On Wisconsin!” Penn State has “Fight On State!”

And we have “Rocky Top!”

“Wish that I was on ol’ Rocky Top

Down in the Tennessee hills,

Ain’t no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top,

Ain’t no telephone bills.”

Once I had a girl on Rocky Top

Half bear, the other half cat

Wild as a mink but sweet as soda pop,

I still dream about that.”

Now what that has to do with football, you and I’ll never know. But don’t fight it. Just learn to sing it and clap along.

We were teaching our grandson Ryan all about Tennessee football traditions when we were at camp in New Hampshire. Made him wear his orange UT bib when he ate – taught him to say, “Yee-haw!” Sandy showed the little guy how to use pots and pans for drums and a plastic tube as a trumpet, and we marched around the camp pretending to be The Pride of the Southland Marching Band. And I think Ryan liked it!

And the little guy even climbed up onto my lap every morning when I launched my computer out to the News Sentinel website to read the sports page. Ryan and I noticed something unusual the other day. There was an article about Kevin Burnett, the fine Tennessee linebacker who was injured in the first game last season and had to have reconstructive knee surgery. He’s participated in a few no-contact workouts this summer, but developed some soreness in the knee. Now he’s on the sidelines until the knee feels better. But here’s what struck Ryan and me as we read the article: even though Burnett hasn’t played football in a year, he’s planning to play on opening day!

Fellow linebacker Kevin Simon had this to say, "I just told him, ‘We don’t need you out there to be a practice All-American. We need you to be an All-SEC and All-American on the field. We’d rather have you then than now.’”

So the coaching staff has Kevin on a schedule of rehabilitation, conditioning, mental preparation, and skill practice that is all aimed and timed at having him ready to play on the big day.

Now that sounds an awful lot like our Scripture reading for today! Ephesians 6 tells us that faith is about getting ready for the “game days” of our lives. The purpose of our faith is not to make us feel good, or have inspiring worship services, or deepen our bible knowledge, or listen to wonderful music, or even to belong to a beautiful church. All of these things are nice, but they are only parts of the practice field. The ultimate goal of our faith is to prepare us for “game day”! This faith of ours is intended to help us face those moments in life when it really counts, and – when all is said and done – to be left standing as God’s victorious people.

You see, it doesn’t really take a whole lot to live as a Christian when things are easy and everything’s going your way. The real test of faith comes when life’s whistle blows and you are being contested for every inch of your soul. When game day comes, will you be left standing?

I don’t know Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, but I do understand the predicament he’s in. The law he has sworn to uphold as a judge is telling him to do something that is contrary to his religious convictions as a Christian. It’s game day. The teams are lined up on the field. The bands are playing. The crowd is roaring. The whistle blows. The ball is kicked.

How will he face this moment of decision when he’s asked to choose between God and country? Will he crumble? Or will he stand? What would happen if you were in his shoes?

Michael Munoz the terrific Tennessee offensive tackle is selected as a Playboy All-American. His personal faith, though, is not comfortable with associating himself with that magazine. Everybody says, “Michael, they just want to take your picture along with all the other All-Americans. It’s a well-accepted tradition. There’s no hanky panky. Why, even Peyton Manning did it!” So what will Michael do? How can you make good moral choices in a world that’s morally ambiguous? Will he give in to the pressure, or will he stand? What would happen if it was you?

You see, we all face “game days” when our faith is tested.

Your long-awaited child or grandchild is born. The doctor comes out and says something like “genetic deformity”. What will your faith do for you in a moment like that? Will it crumble, or will it rise up and help you win the day?

Your daughter comes home from college with a shaved head, tattoos all over her body, and her name changed to Aphrodite. Not only that, but she’s dropped out of school, taken a refund of the tuition money you paid, and spent it all on a stereo system for her boyfriend’s 1978 Chevy Nova. So…what will your faith do for you in a moment like this? Will it faint dead away and give in to the urge to murder? Or will it help you to rise up and be a true parent in the midst of a very difficult situation?

The Christian Faith is about preparing us for game day – when the doctor says the word “cancer”, when terrorists strike at the heartland, when your employer wants you to do something unethical, when you encounter injustice, when you face a financial crisis, when your family is falling apart, or even when good fortune comes your way and you have more than you ever dreamed. What will happen in that day? Will you succumb to the powers of evil? Will you fall? Or will you stand?

And most especially, what will happen when you come to the day of your dying? Will death destroy you? Or will you be left standing victoriously, as Jesus did?

So Paul invites us today to a “game day” kind of faith. Listen to his advice about how to face days like these. Paul urges us to:

“… be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power…put on the full armor of God so that when the day comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you’ve done everything, to stand…”

This week we’re commemorating the 40^th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream Speech.” Terry Mattingly wrote a beautiful article this week about how that dream started. It was late 1956 and King received an after-midnight telephone call. The voice on the other end said, “Nigger, we’re tired of you and your mess now. And if you aren’t out of this town in three days, we’re going to blow out your brains and blow up your house.”

With his wife and small children asleep nearby, King nearly crumbled. He sat at the kitchen table and agonized about what to do. What would you do?

Martin began to pray. He fell into something like a waking dream and in it, God gave him comfort and courage. God also gave Dr. King a glimpse of the future.

The next day, King told reporters, “I had a vision.”

Seven years later, on August 28^th, 1963, that wording changed when Dr. King stood in the nation’s capitol and boldly proclaimed, “I have a dream…”

You know, sometimes people don’t realize that almost everything in that famous speech comes from the Bible. This is not so much the words of Dr. King as it is the Word of God. And I think you’ll agree with me that it is a Word of great power and hope for the world. Even though the work is yet unfinished, out of this Word, a freedom movement was born that changed the course of history.

And it falls right along the line of what St. Paul taught when he said that the first thing to do when “game day” arrives in your life – however it happens to manifest itself– is to turn to God and anchor yourself in His strength as you face the contest.

“Be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power,” is how Paul puts it.

I think one of the great mistakes many of us make in life is thinking that we have to do it all on our own. We don’t realize that, as we face surgery this week, God is going to go with us – as we try to be good parents, God is going to go with us – as we move on after a loss, or face a moral dilemma, or try to deal with a social injustice, God is going to go with us. Faith, like football, is a team sport. And God is part of your team!

So “Be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power.”

Next week, I’m going to share with you some specific tools you’ll need to develop to get that strength into your life, but for now, let me close with a true story.

One Sunday morning at the old First Congregational Church – a sparrow got into the sanctuary during the worship service. I guess the door to the bell tower must have been left open and the sparrow, hearing all the singing and the words of my inspiring sermon, decided to get out of that church as fast as it could. Well, if only life was so easy!

Now, the sanctuary of the old First Congregational Church was brightened by the sunlight that came from the huge Palladian windows. They were clear glass – still the original handrolled panes that had been installed in 1828, the year the church was built. And when this little sparrow fluttered into the room, it saw the great expanse of sky and freedom through those windows. But it didn’t see the glass.

Like a shot, the little bird flew toward freedom only to crash into the windows on one side of the church. Then, picking itself up from the floor, it made a mad dash for the sky on the other side. Thump! The windows got it again.

Now all this was going on while I was preaching. I’ve preached to some pretty tough crowds in my time, but let me tell you, this was the toughest one of all. The eyes of the people followed that little sparrow from one side of the church to the other – over and over again. It was like preaching to the crowd at Wimbledon.

And each time the little sparrow crashed into the glass trying to get out, the people would groan in empathy. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the little thing did itself in.

Now I was a new minister in those days and nothing in seminary had prepared me for this. I mean, there are just some things in life they don’t write books about, or teach classes on. I was at a loss as to what to do – except to pray.

So I stopped preaching and asked the people to become still, and for the ushers to open the doors. Then I invited the congregation to join me in asking God to intervene and show the little sparrow the way out of the church. So the people bowed their heads and closed one eye – after all, they wanted to SEE what happened – and we prayed.

And as we prayed, this is what happened. That little brown sparrow flew down and landed in the middle of the aisle. And then – as if guided by some unseen hand – that little sparrow slowly WALKED DOWN THE AISLE AND OUT THE DOOR OF THE OLD FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH!

Dear friends, if God so cares about little sparrows, how much more does he care for you as you try to find your way through the confusion of parenting, and the pains of aging, and all the difficult dilemmas of “game day”?

Next week, we’ll look at the skills you’ll need to learn. But this week, could you just make a decision to turn away from playing life as if you’re the only one on the field. Become part of God’s team. Find your strength in the LORD, and in HIS mighty power!

For on that day when the whistle blows, and the crowd roars, and the ball is kicked – and you are being contested for every inch of life – you WILL STAND!