Saturday, July 7, 2018

A Sermon from the Mound...on Second

Matthew 5: 1-12                                                                                                       
  
We’re on second base now with this sermon from the mound.  We made it to first base in 2013.  I will warn you that some of the sermon is from the last time but the stories are new.  Can you guess who is on the cover of the bulletin?

In a photo taken on June 19, 1948, 70-years ago, retired Yankee slugger, Babe Ruth, poses with St Louis Browns batboy, Bill Dewitt, Jr.  At that time St. Louis had two ball clubs, the St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Cardinals – in two different leagues. STL has always been a baseball town. Ruth was making a farewell tour of American League ballparks, and would die of cancer just two months later. Bill Dewitt is now President of the St Louis Cardinals.  From batboy to president!  His father, Bill Sr., owned the Browns when this picture was taken. Bill the Third is in the Cardinals organization with his Dad.  It was in 1952 that Anheuser Busch bought the Cardinals ball club and in 1953 the Browns were sold to a group of Baltimore investors and they became the Orioles.

Interesting, it’s history.  Now I would not call myself a die-hard baseball fan except to say, I would call myself a very loyal fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, my hometown team. 

That’s because my dad took me to my first baseball game down in the old Sportsman’s Park/Busch Stadium  in St. Louis. It was one of the 1964 World Series games where St. Louis beat the New York Yankees winning the Series.  My dad, a very patient and loving man, answered my many questions from how do you keep score on the scorecard and what’s a wild pitch to what does the BB mean on the back of the bat boy’s jersey?  Batboys are important to the game.  Maybe even it was Bill Dewitt that I saw on the field that day.

I was eleven that summer and three years later my dad passed away in 1967.  If you know your baseball stats, ‘67 also brought with it another World Series for the Cards, only at Busch Memorial Stadium, the new stadium.  And now there is the ‘new Busch stadium’ or Busch Stadium III.  Proud to say that I’ve seen great ball played at all three stadiums!

A sermon from the mound.  The mound of course is the center, more or less (there are regulations) of the field.  A Major League Baseball regulation mound is 18 feet in diameter and has ranged from a height of 20 inches, to 15 inches to the current 10 inch regulation. 

It seems to me that a lot happens on the mound; it's an important place.  Eager eyes are set upon the mound for the pitch.  It’s holy ground.  And, as of February this year there is a new mound regulation.  Coaches or managers are allowed to go to the mound 6 times during a 9 inning game.  But the 7th time – watch out, there are consequences, there has to be a pitching change.  It’s all in the mound folks, the mound.

Jesus knew that.  I think Jesus would have liked baseball.  After all we see him spitting in the mud (John 9:6), writing in the sand (John 8:6-8) talking about home, well ok, he meant eternal home, and even climbing up on the mount for a sermon such as we heard in our scripture today.  He sat down on his mound and invited people of every persuasion to hear what he had to say.   He gives them a pep talk, puts on his game face.  He winds up and then throws out the pitch:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
 
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
 
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
 
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
 
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
 
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons (and daughters) of God.
 
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

9 home runs, one right after the other!

Ultimately, the pitch, his pitch, is about the benefits of living decently in life. For life is like a game, not always easy, not always fair.  It’s a balance of skill, luck and guesswork, blessed and enriched by God in so many ways.  I like one of Eugene Peterson’s paraphrased Beatitudes, “You're blessed when you get your inside world - your mind and your heart - put right.  Then you can see God in the outside world."  Our hearts and minds need to be right so that we can envision and embody God’s love outside the ballpark.

I want to share a few stories about some baseball giants.  These stories are too good to let go by because the minds and heart of some players and manager were in the right place.  It really isn’t all about money and contracts and baseball is so much more than a game.

Jackie Robinson
Each year I show the confirmation class the movie ‘42’ the story about Jackie Robinson, the first African American to break the racial barrier in the Major Leagues. It’s a way that we begin to talk about race and the importance of it.  In 1947 Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager approached Robinson to play ball for the club.  It wasn’t easy.

As shown in the 2013 movie, Philadelphia Phillies manager Ben Chapman was deriding Jackie in horrible fashion while on the field.  After failing to reach base, Jackie held his head high and walked back to the dugout. Jackie resisted a physical fight, but Rickey quipped:
“[Chapman’s actions and Jackie’s non-response] did more than anybody to unite the Dodgers. When he [Chapman] poured out that string of unconscionable abuse, he solidified and united thirty men.”

Dodger’s teammate and friend Pee Wee Reese (also a member of the Hall of Fame) came to Robinson’s defense and said, “You can hate a man for many reasons. Color is not one of them.”

Jackie united the Dodgers and the great cause, he united a country. He made people see him and human decency differently. He made change happen through his actions.  His time in baseball can best be summed up in a quote by Jackie.  He once said, “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”

Mike Matheny/Oscar Taveras
In 2014 ST. LOUIS suffered a terrible loss when outfielder Oscar Taveras died in an auto accident in his native Dominican Republic, his girlfriend also died in the crash along with him. Mike Matheny, former STL Cardinal and Cardinals manager did not comment about the death of Oscar the night of the crash.   He explained why in his statement that the Cardinals released Monday morning:

"I was asked last night to give some words regarding the tragic death of Oscar Taveras, but I just simply couldn't.

"First of all, it felt like a bad dream that could not be real, and when reality kicked in, my words didn't even seem to make sense. To say this is a horrible loss of a life, ended too soon, would be an understatement. To talk about the potential of his abilities seemed to be untimely. All I wanted to do was get the guys together and be with our baseball family. I know the hurt that comes along with buying into the brotherhood of a baseball team. That hurt is just as powerful as the joys that come with this life.

Not to say it is even close to the depth of pain his true family is going through, but the pain itself is just as real. The ache is deep because the relationships were deep, and forged through time and trials.

"To the many fans who have already reached out with condolences, and to the many more who are in mourning, thank you for taking these players in, like they are one of your own. This level of care is what sets our fans apart.

"In my opinion,’ he said, ‘the word 'love' is the most misused, and misunderstood word in the English language. It is not popular for men to use this word, and even less popular for athletes. But, there is not a more accurate word for how a group of men share a deep and genuine concern for each other. We loved Oscar, and he loved us. That is what a team does, that is what a family does. You will be missed, Oscar."[i]

Aaron Judge
And very recently, last Monday in fact Aaron Judge, right fielder for the NY Yankees and American League’s Rookie of the Year 2017 made 10 year old James Payne a very happy little boy.  “He and his dad, Chris Payne, had brought their gloves to the ballpark as usual, and were yelling at Judge, James’ favorite player, for a baseball all game long.

Judge would finally oblige in the fourth inning, tossing one up to James, who of course was wearing a Judge replica jersey from the 2017 All-Star game.  “I figured it was done there,” Payne said. “I said thank you for making my son’s night.”  But the story didn’t end there.

Judge kept looking at the youngster and nodded that he wanted to play catch. He had to wait an inning, though.  Judge homered in the top half of the fifth before coming right back out and throwing a couple with Yankees bullpen catcher Radley Haddad.

“And then he came right over to us,” said Chris, who had pulled the ball back out. “That’s where it all started. And they weren’t really close. Judge’s angle was so low on the field and my son’s angle was so high in the stands so it’s hard to have a catch like that. But they were both on point, throwing the ball back and forth.”  You can see a video of it on the internet taken by someone sitting behind them, it’s really great. The kid is good.  It ended up on Good Morning America, ESPN and MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk.”

Chris Payne says, “It’s four throws that we’ll remember for a lifetime.”

James became an instant celebrity among all his teammates on his travel baseball club.

“It felt really good,” James said. “It didn’t really strike me until the day after on Tuesday. All the kids on my travel team were like, ‘I saw you had a catch with Aaron Judge. Wow. You’re so lucky.’”

Judge was impressed with James’ arm.  “He’s got a better arm than me,” Judge said. “He was throwing it pretty good. It’s a cool experience.”  Judge has made several fans’ days with his interactions with them on the field. “I see myself as just another person like everybody else in our clubhouse,” Judge said. “But the impact that we have on our youth and the fans, it’s bigger than we might think. That’s why we can’t take anything like that for granted. He might have said it meant a lot for him to play catch with me, but it was fun for me too.”
“If this is going to be the first time someone’s seeing me play, I want to give them a good show. I want to give my best.”[ii]

So what do we learn from Robinson, Matheny and Judge?  What lessons do we take with us from the mound?  How has Christ prepared us for life and for death through his sermon on the mount?  Here’s what we learn. 

That you should be proud of who you are because that is the way God created you, stand up for your rights and the rights of others, stand against racial prejudice and all other forms of prejudice even when it’s hard but it’s the right thing to do.  Be Christ-like in all your encounters with others.

We learn that love is deep, it’s much more than hearts and flowers and a nice Hallmark card.  Love is caring deeply with an abiding concern for those around you, those with whom you call family and those who are your family.  We learn that you only live once, life is short and we need to make every day a home run.

And we learn that we shouldn’t take anything or anyone for granted.  To show kindness to others even the kids who so desperately want to be noticed, because you just don’t know how your actions will impact them.

And we learn from Christ that the beatitudes or blessings are not just some antiquated words recorded in perpetuity but are living, breathing blessings that we would do well to remember and uphold.

Play Ball!
Amen.




[i] USA Today  10/27/14

[ii] NY Daily News June 27, 2018

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