Living in the Spirit
June 1, 2016

Scripture Reading: Psalm 146

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
   I will sing praises to my God all my life long. –Psalm 146:1-2

As you may have guessed, I am an ardent Oklahoma City Thunder fan and have been since they arrived in my fair city. The Thunder lost Monday night in a game for the ages and now they probably will take a few days off and then begin again to prepare to win the championship next year. I used them as an example in my book of people who do their individual best together. We people of faith are called to keep our eyes on bringing the Kingdom of God to fruition by using every talent we have together to facilitate God’s purpose for all.

This may sound strange, but I look at athletics as a positive way to channel some of our basic competitive instincts. Paul was into sports and often used it as a metaphor for his work. It sure beats war. The teams, following the end of the game, shared appropriate congratulations with an undertow of see you again next year. I am also impressed with how they model a world where Christians and Muslims, blacks and whites live together well in sibling-like love.

The Thunder faced unbelievable odds in getting to this final game. They never should have been there. A new coach, no matter how good he is, needs time to meld and mold a team. Having recovered from knee replacement surgery, I can tell you that it takes months to get back into a new normal way of movement and my normal movement pales in comparison to Kevin Durant’s who had major foot surgery last year. I cannot imagine the shared pain of the deaths of Dion Waiter’s brother, Monty Williams’ wife, and co-owner Aubrey McClendon. But that is life, as I am sure these guys would tell you, and they persevered through it.

Congratulations Thunder for a year well played. I know you are disappointed at not winning it all, but I want to thank you for your tenacity and for being the gift you are to your fans.

Thunder Up!

Prayer: Lord, help us to persevere in our work toward fulfilling your call to make justice and mercy a fixture in our society. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.