Tomorrow night, the Oklahoma Sooners begin the 2024 football season. I. Can’t. Wait. My wife and I are OU alums who have lived in this state nearly all our lives, and our son is seriously considering attending OU next fall. Truly we are Sooner born, bred a Sooner, and when we die … well, you get the gist.
This fall will be the 129th season of OU football. The football team’s history is 12 years older than the state itself! In that time, the team has won 50 conference championships, 7 national championships, and countless individual honors. What a history!
But as the team takes the field this year, let me ponder a science fiction styled hypothetical. Imagine someone from the future were to travel back in time to visit us in our current day and let us know that the Sooners would win 7 MORE national titles (and 10 more conference championships – TAKE THAT SEC), by the year 2050.
Now, imagine you are in the locker room with the team as they are getting ready to take the field tomorrow night. What if you talked with one of the players and they said this, “We are a part of a team with an amazing past and a powerful future … therefore, we will stop practicing today. No more practicing. No more lifting weights. No more watching film. No more nutrition. We are just going to do whatever we want to do. With our history and our future so strong, what we do today does not matter.”
If a player were to say that to you today, how would you respond? My guess is you would say something like this (at least if you were a Sooner fan): “How could you say such a thing?!?!? You should want to work your hardest today BECAUSE of the storied history of this program, and you should commit anew to the task SINCE future success is promised!!! The jersey you are wearing demands such a response … it is your reasonable duty as a modern day Sooner!”
Now, why do I say this today? I say this today because many of you reading this post are Christians. At some point in the past, you were recruited by the Savior and signed your name on the line joining His team. AND, as followers of Jesus, we have an unbelievable past! Our LORD appeared on this earth as the embodiment of grace and won a decisive victory over sin and death. AND, as Christians you also have a promised championship future. One day Jesus will return to this earth in glory and establish His Kingdom and reign forevermore!
Given our association with past victory (through Jesus’ empty tomb) and hope for the future (through Jesus’ triumphant return) why shouldn’t the Christian today simply fumble their way through life and care nothing of practicing righteousness? After all, we are a program with a victorious past and future … why does today matter at all?
Well, the Apostle Paul seeks to answer that very question for us in Titus 2:11-14. In these verses He talks of the past and future championship trophies surrounding today’s Jesus followers … but instead of using the past and future as reasons to COAST today, Paul points to our “Jesus” jersey and reminds us that our association with Him demands a disciplined and righteous response … it is our duty as a modern day disciple of Christ.
This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we will explore these verses together in part 4 of our “Finding a Place of Grace” sermon series. So far in this series we have seen that we are looking for grace, that Grace is looking for us, and that we are saved by grace. Sunday, we will see that His grace also grows us in Him. Hope you can join us in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service. See you there … and bring friends!