Nike

from my message on Mother's Day, 5/13/12, from I John 5:1-6

I like to win.  They say, "It does not matter whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."  "They" have obviously not been a football coach in the State of Texas.  What happens when you lose?  You get fired. 

We like to win.  I went to a 6 man football regional championship game while I was in San Saba.  The football field was right next to the church.  Cherokee was in my county and playing in the game.  I remember those cute little cheerleaders on the sidelines.  The cheer they led has been etched into my brain.  They said (pardon the grammar), "We don't take no chumps; we don't beginners; we don't no losers; we just take winners."

We like to win.  I remember going to a Mother's Day service with my Mama Barton, my grandmother, in Glen Rose, TX.  Mama Barton was a life long Methodist, but she had strategically placed herself at another congregation on this particular day in the hopes of winning the oldest mother attending the service.  The pastor invited all of the mothers to stand.  They were suitably recognized and blessed.  Then the competition bgan.  "All those 50 and older, please remain standing."  About 1/2 the moms sat down.  The pastor continued, "60 and older, 70 and older, 80 and older."  It was getting down to a handful, including Mama Barton.  "90 and older."  It was down to 2 persons.  "95 and older."  Mama Barton sat down, leaving one standing.  Mama Barton said, "I forgot about Miz Brown."

We like to win.  We don't like to lose.  We have greater losses in our lives than an oldest mother on Mother's Day contest.  I was sitting last night at a choir party across the table from Jean.  We were out in the country.  Maybe it was because there was a storm shelter on this ranch that Jean said, "It was 59 years ago yesterday that I was a nurse in Waco when 114 people lost their lives in a tornado. I worked over 100 hours that week."  That memory was as fresh to her as if it had happened yesterday.  This may be the first Mother's Day since you lost your mom in death.  It may be some other significant person.  How about losing a child?  Is there anything worse?  I had an email several weeks back from a woman who has been visiting our church.  The email said, "We got the doctor's report back. I can't have children."  Now there's a loss, the loss of a future, of what might have been.  You may be a woman in the State of Texas, wondering about health care for you as the state government continues to play with reproductive services.  Are they covered or not?  What kind of loss is that for you if you are poor?

About now you are asking, "Pastor Lynn, what does all this have to do with the scripture we read and that title, 'Nike.'  We have seen the swoosh logo; we have it on articles of athletic ware and on our shoes."  The Greek  word nike is used 4 times in this passage, traslated as conquers or as victory.  "For whatever is born of God conquers the world.  This is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.  Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Christ?"  Nike in Greek mythology was the goddess of victory, strengthy, and speed.  You can see why a shoe company would like that name. 

But how does Nike connect with Mother's day?  How does one live victoriously?  I am glad the passage says that "whatever is born of God conquers the world."  There's  a good Mother's day image, being born of God.  But how does that get lived out?  I was stuck here...till yesterday when I was walking the beach at Corpus Christi.  I really love that, hearing the sound of the wind and the waves.  It is very soothing.  My reverie was broken up though by the sound of 4 wheel ATV's going up and down the beach.  They were looking for turtles that come to nest and lay their eggs along the beach.  Especially Kemp-Ridley turtles which are endangered.  I was reading a report that only 89 have been sighted this year from Galveston to Brownsville.  There is a woman there, who has her doctorate in "turtle-ology."  To continue the species, they look for V-shaped tracks in the sand that indicate a turtle has come ashore.  They find the nest of some 60 to 100 eggs.  They take the eggs and sand surrounding the eggs to an incubator.  There they hatch them.  Then they release them at sunrise along the beach.  The little turtles are motivated by the sun; they are "heliotropic."  The Texas coast is perfect  for this as the sun rises in the East. The little turtles start moving their flippers heading for the water.  They are very fragile.  A park ranger is up the beach casting cheetos into the air to attrack all of the birds there and to distract them from the turtles.  All of this is done to imprint the turtles to this beach. 

You have been imprinted.  This is the victory that conquers the world.  You have been born of God.  No matters what happens to you, no matter how fragile you are, you are God's children.  You  are motivated by the rising of the Son.  You belong to Christ, no matter how many losses you face.  This is our faith. This is our victory.  Whatever is born of God conquers the world. 

Imagine a world where you live knowing that you are a child of God.  Imagine seeing others as God's children too.  Why you might dress in red so you could go down to the Capitol on a Tuesday at noon to express your displeasure to the state government, joining with thousands of others who don't want women's health to be a political football.  You see yourself and other women as being born of God.  You might be a woman in Cuba and dress in white and walk the streets of Havanna because someone you love has been taken into custody without any charges.  You know yourself and your loved one to be children of God.  You might be a bubushka in Russia.  Sometimes the machinery doesn't deliver goods and services so well.  So you take your place in line.  You shuffle forward a few steps.  You wait.  You move ahead a few more steps.  You wait all day if necessary for the bread or the toilet paper or whatever you family needs because you all are born of God.  You might not be able to bear children of your own, so you adopt a child, maybe even a child with a medical condition, because you know that whatever is born of God conquers the world.

How will you live Nike?  How will you live victoriously?

I have one last story to leave you inspired.  I will call her "Miss Hattie,"  not her real name, but close enough.  She was an old maid school teacher.  You have the picture in your mind.  She was a member of my church in San Saba.  She died.  She had very few family members, some nieces and nephews.  When I started her funeral service at the church, I was surprised to see that the sanctuary was filled.  As I preached her funeral sermon, I said, "Miss Hattie was never married.  She never had a single child.  But if you were one of her students, please stand right where you are."  Scores of teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, fathers and mothers stood.  I said, "No she didn't have a single child.  She had a multitude."

Miss Hattie lived the victory.  You don't have to be a biological mother in order to be a theological mother.  Whatever is born of God conquers the world.  That's the good news I have to share.