Vikings, longing and Lent

There I sat watching the TV like so many of you, wondering….Could it happen? Could I be delivered from the lifelong suffering which has been with me from my childhood? (Boy Fran Tarkenton could scramble) Two minutes left. Tied score and the man who had brought earthly salvation to his fans so many times in the past at the helm. You saw it, right? Things were going well. Five yards here. Fifteen yards there. Then a time out, the team huddled to make a plan only to realize they were breaking the rules. They were penalized for too many men gathered. No matter….we had our leader ready to set things all right.

He took the snap. Scrambled like Sir Francis and threw the football to the wrong team. Like a sinking ball at Time Square during New Year’s Eve, the past became present. Forty plus years of longing for redemption had been swallowed up in defeat. This was death to my hopes and dreams. When it was all over, there were no spoils for the victory that I would taste. I received a text message from a friend…”Are you sick to your stomach like me?” I wasn’t. Like a bad experience, I had distanced myself from the pain by setting my emotions aside. Although I did care, I wouldn’t feel a thing.

Sports and theatre reflect life. That is why they are such an important part of our world. The drama that unfolded with the Minnesota Vikings reminded me of a great quote from Oscar Wilde, “God punishes us by not giving us what we want and by giving us what we want.”

Here is the secret to this: Even with a victory, there is no earthly redemption which makes salvation stay. Life is filled with disappointments. When all seems to be right with the world, soon the nature of the cruelness of life reminds us, natural disaster can strike at any moment.

The journey of Lent reminds us that life is fickle. Earth to earth. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. There is no lasting salvation other then what God has prepared for us beyond this realm. In the meantime, we move along each day by the grace of God. With the heart of winter comes the reminder of death. At the end of the journey comes springs and hope. In the middle, we rest in the knowledge that grace is sufficient.

See you in church,



Pastor Gary