Advent-ure 2021 December 17: He Would Suffer for our Sins (Winning Stance)

Paul was skilled at being able to tell the story of what Christ has done. Even when he was imprisoned, he was dedicated to teaching that Christ died and was risen from the dead. In Ephesians 6, he asked the people of the church at Ephesus to pray for him. He wrote:
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

In the midst of his suffering, Paul did not shy away from sharing the truth of the gospel. He asked the Colossians to pray for an open door through which he could share the good news of Christ.  We can be sensitive to the doors that God is opening for us and pray for open hearts for those with whom we are directed to share.  As God provides the opportunity, we can be obedient to the one who gave His life for us. 

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The heart of the gospel is that God loved fallen humanity so much that He sent His Son to die so that we might be made right with Him. Because Jesus died and lives again, we can have new life in Him - life that is abundant and eternal. It's Day 17 of our "25: A Christmas Advent-ure," the annual Faith Radio Advent Guide. Today we look at another of those prophesies in the Old Testament fulfilled by Jesus. Isaiah 53 points to what has been termed the "suffering Savior"...
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

We are quickly approaching the start of the College Football Playoff - less than two weeks away. On Christmas Day, the Camellia Bowl will be played at Montgomery's Cramton Bowl, preceded by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Prayer Breakfast two days before (today, by the way, is the deadline for obtaining your tickets to that event).

The year was 2019.  A young man from Southern California was involved in a huge high school football game - both teams were undefeated, the game was sold out, and there was no doubt plenty of anticipation. The Orange County Register reported that one of the quarterbacks in the game "...doesn’t worry too much about tomorrow, big decisions or even big games such as Friday. Not when his favorite scripture verse is Psalms 23." He was quoted as saying, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,” adding, “I try to apply that to anything in life. Whether that valley of death be me being annoyed, me being stressed, a football game, a decision … I know regardless of what I’m going through, there is nothing to fear because God has my back.”

There have been plenty of big stages during a relatively short period of time since that article just over two years ago. And, he has certainly excelled to the point of becoming one of America's top college football players.  Just last week, it was announced that this young man had become the latest winner of the Heisman Trophy.

A Sports Spectrum article, which including a link to that Orange County newspaper story, quoted from the Heisman acceptance speech of Alabama's sophomore sensation, Bryce Young:

“This is amazing,” he said. “First and foremost, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without Him I couldn’t be here. And through Him all things are possible.”

Young continued on and thanked his father, Craig, his mother, Julie, Alabama head coach Nick Saban, and a long list of others. To end his speech, Young noted how some people counted him out because he didn’t look or play like a “typical” quarterback, but through hard work and the “grace of God,” he is the top player in college football this season.

Bryce Young stated:

“I’ve always been labeled as someone who’s not the prototype, being an African-American quarterback and being quote-unquote undersized and not being that prototype, I’ve always been ruled out and counted out,” Young said in his speech. “People a lot of times have told me that I wasn’t going to be able to make it. And for me, it’s always been about, not really proving them wrong but proving to myself what I can accomplish. I’ve always pushed myself to work the hardest and I try my best to do all I can to maximize all that I can do. And thanks to the people around me and through the grace of God, I’ve been able to make it here, and I’m truly grateful for that.”

The demeanor of Bryce Young can be seen in his performance on the football field.  With his team down in the closing moments of the Iron Bowl, he led the Crimson Tide on 97-yard drive for a tie in regulation.  The Sports Spectrum article noted that:

Despite the hype and the early success, Young says he can play with calmness and without fear, unburdened by the pressure or scrutiny, because of his faith in God.

“I think [my demeanor] comes a lot from my faith,” Young said in September. “I feel like that’s really where I get my power from. My job is just to glorify God on the field, and I know that everything is written and I can have faith and trust in that.”

In January 2020, Young told 247 Sports, “On the football field, for me, it’s kind of about letting go. I’ve played a lot with faith. I’m trying to trust what I’ve done, God and my decisions. I try to play as free and relaxed without holding onto anything.”

Before the announcement, Bryce's father, Craig, in an ESPN interview, said: “He’s very grounded in faith, puts God first, and he has this amazing ability to compartmentalize things..." He added, “One of the things he says really often is, ‘I only want to focus on the things I can control.’ And I think that has served him well." His father also said, echoing his son's acceptance speech, "He’s motivated to be the best by himself, not to prove anybody wrong but to be the best that he can be, and in doing that, glorifying God. And also just striving to get better and better. I just could not be prouder.”

So, congratulations to Bryce Young - whether you're a Tide fan or yell "War Eagle," I think we can appreciate that he is on Team Jesus.

He has an enormous platform, but each of us has opportunities as well.  And, while the enemy would want to prevent us from seizing those opportunities to glorify God, as we trust Christ to lead us, we can allow God to use us for His glory.

It's a nervous world and so many things seem to be happening that could put us on edge.  But, God offers us the peace that passes understanding, so that by relying on the Prince of Peace, we can reject anger and frustration and walk in a sense of calm.