A Father's Love

On July 4, I was able to go to Fenway Park for a Red Sox / Devil Ray’s game. There is something incredible about walking into nearly a century old stadium. Even though there has been some improvement over the years I am struck by the fact that the greats such as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams played there. There are ketchup and mustard stains in the concrete that probably date back to World War I. There is a distinct smell of hot dogs, beer and body odor that form a cocktail that smells so distinct you can only experience it at Fenway. The seats have been occupied by kids, business people, athletes, politicians, homeless and scores of other people we will never know. Every seat has a story that could fill a series of books. Literally millions of people have been touched by the magic of Fenway.

I was watching the players warm up and my eyes were drawn to a particular piece of the drama. Manny Ramiriez one of the HUGE superstars of major league baseball was out in the shallow outfield grass pitching the baseball to his boy (probably age 3). He pitched several balls and the entire time I watched, the little guy did not make contact with one of them. He kept striking and his dad kept pitching. I kept wondering when Manny would get frustrated. I mean, he was so good he could hit these balls in his sleep. In fact these little underhanded pitches were so easy it would literally be no challenge at all. He was used to hitting 90 + MPH pitches from the best pitchers in the world. I was amazed at his patience and the fact that he was enjoying pitching to his son who would strike and then fetching the balls behind him and then pitching again. This cycle took place several times and was happening in a little world that was oblivious to thousands of screaming fans. It was almost surreal to watch the two different paradigms: a dad and his son playing while thousands of people watched, screaming his name and hoping against all hope for a glimpse or maybe even an autograph from the superstar.

The little guy had no clue that so many people were madly trying to fight for the attention of Manny Ramirez. At his age it is impossible for him to even comprehend the popularity of his dad, all he knows is that his dad loves him and keeps pitching baseballs to him. Manny Ramirez seemed to really enjoy spending time with his son even though he never hit the ball and there were seeming much more important things to do and thousands of other people fighting for his attention.

As I thought about this scenario, I was reminded that we are all in the midst of two paradigms: the physical world and the spiritual world. The God of the universe loves to spend time with His children. There are more people than we could ever imagine screaming for God’s attention, but since we are His kids we are the most important in His eyes. No matter how many times we strike at His opportunities He absolutely is enthralled by us….He loves us and loves to spend time with us.

This Sunday, the sermon will be from John 4:43-54. This is the story of how Jesus healed the nobleman’s son. It is a beautiful picture of a man who dearly loved his dying son and was willing to do anything to help him. In his desperation he heard that Jesus was in the area and so he left to plead with Jesus to heal his son. This was an adventure of faith in which a nobleman experienced that love that incredible that Jesus has for every person. We can all experience this love if we are willing to take an adventure of faith. Please join me in praying for God to feed our souls and change our lives through the Sunday service.

I hope you have a “New Life” day….the way life is meant to be!!!
Troy