Englewood Assembly of God

“The Excitement of the Game” 

Yesterday, my two brothers and I took my father to a Yankee game in honor of my dad’s 80^th birthday.  In fact, although my dad avidly follows the Yankees, he had not been to a game at the stadium in thirty-one years.  Obviously, this was a real treat for him.  Add to that the fact that one of my brothers was given the gift of tickets for seats we could never afford—bottom level, 9^th row, just off to the right of home plate and to the left of the Yankee dugout.  Thus my dad, who in the past had only sat in the far upper deck, was sitting for the first time in his life so close that you could actually see the faces of the players, sense the speed on the pitch, and watch the signals between the catcher and the pitcher.  (On the downside, you had to stay keenly aware so that you didn’t get hit in the face by a foul ball!) 

Of course there was the normal excitement of being at a Yankee game.  We would stand and cheer along with the crowd when a homerun was hit.  We would clap our hands in rhythm and begin to yell out “Mooo….” when Mike Mussina had brought the count to 3-2 with two outs.  Thankfully the Yankees won which only added to the day.  Everyone around us was caught up in the excitement of the game…all except two teenage boys in front of us. 

Sitting directly in front of us were two young guys who apparently had come with their dad and his friend.  They were nicely dressed.  They were sitting in great (i.e. expensive) seats.  They were surrounded by all the same excitement as we were, yet, they sat there throughout it all emotionless.  They didn’t stand.  They didn’t cheer. They didn’t clap.  Most of all, they didn’t seem to appreciate what they had been given.  They didn’t seem to appreciate the fact that there are probably thousands of teenage boys in the New York City area who would have loved to have been there that day, sitting in their seats, experiencing the excitement of the game. 

It makes me wonder how many people are the same way when they come to church on a Sunday morning.  What a privilege we have as the people of God to come into the presence of God and to experience the ministry of his Word and of his Spirit.  What a wonderful privilege it is for us to come together and experience the excitement and joy of worship.  How blessed we are to be able to gather with God’s people.  Yet, so many people come into God’s house and sit there almost emotionless, taking it all for granted.   

As King David thought about being in the house of the Lord he wrote , “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD…Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you…Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (Psalm 84:2, 4, 10 – NIV)  David never lost the excitement of gathering with God’s people and experiencing the presence of God.  We could say, he never lost the excitement of the game!

I want to encourage you to not take for granted the privilege that is ours in gathering as freely as we do for worship.  Come to God’s house full of expectation.  Open up your heart to what God wants to do in your life.  Be ready to be a blessing to someone else.  Most of all, be ready to worship the living God along with the people of God.  Don’t  lose the excitement of the game!

Have a good day! 

- Pastor Harris