I don’t know about you, but my memory of Alex Rodriguez was that of a phenomenal player who lost his swing a lot in the playoffs. It might have happened more often during the season, but it would stick out like a sore thumb in September and October. I came across this online article of when he played in Seattle. On April 27, Rodriguez was batting .353 and looking every bit like the man who won a batting title in his first full season. When he woke up Wednesday (May ‘97), ate a late breakfast and headed for Comiskey Park, he brought a .309 batting average with him. What did it mean?
“It means I have to work harder,” Rodriguez said. And then he did… Rodriguez had spent time in the batting cages beneath the stadium. First, he hit balls off a tee, then balls tossed softly to him by Elia. By the time he faced the batting practice pitches of coach Matt Sinatro, it was nearly 3 p.m. and the drizzle had just begun. Rodriguez didn’t mind. “I know my swing well enough to know what I’ve been doing, so it’s not hard to correct,” he said. “I’m not staying back on pitches, I’m overanxious, I’m going out to get the ball instead of waiting on it…“It’s like I’m ready for every pitcher to throw me a 100-mph fastball - and I’m getting nothing but 75 mph fastballs,” he said. “I’m way out in front.” So Rodriguez and Elia went back to the basics. Might I say, they went “Back to the beginning”.
When we’re in a slump, a lot of times we try to push forward only to keep ourselves stuck in the same position. What’s the old adage? “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Sometimes we have to just pause, take a breath, and go back to the beginning. There’s always something exciting about beginnings. The newness of it all! Like trying on a new pair of shoes, or getting a new hairdo, or going to a new school for the 1st time, or like starting a new job. In the beginning of things, there lies a great potential of what can be imagined, or realized, or hoped for. The beginning is the formation, the foundation of what things will be built upon, what we call “building blocks” or “the basics”. The basic and fundamental tenets of our Christian understanding is that God the Father is One who began Creation and said “it is good”. Jesus is the Son of God, who was with God, and who was God in the beginning. “All things were made new and the light of Christ was within them, because all things were made through Him.” Another basic principle of Christianity that we learn from the Holy Spirit is to love, love, love. When the disciples were called to Jesus, they hoped for what they believed were in the scriptures, ‘a conquering Messiah who would restore Israel to it’s former glory’. Yet, that was worldly thinking. The structure of worldly thinking stands on the foundation of greed, lust, oppression, selfishness, exploitation, violence, ignorance, fear, hunger for riches and power, and glory. Jesus spent much time with them in prayer, teaching, preaching, having intimate conversations, and showing living examples of faith to shed their world view thinking and move them into a spirit filled way of understanding. Jesus was setting the moral and spiritual foundation of what He wanted His church to be built upon. “I am in the Father and the Father in Me”. “Abide in Me as I abide in you”. They would get it on some days, but slid back into worldly temptations on others days. “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Jesus told Peter.
Even as apostles, they sometimes missed the mark. In their blind faith to Jewish laws and traditions, they believed that as “God’s chosen people” Jews couldn’t eat with, nor go into the houses of gentiles. The Spirit of the Lord came to Peter one day and told him “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” So He sent Peter to the house of Cornelius the Centurion. After he arrived, Peter said “You yourselves know that it is improper for a Jew to associate with or to visit an outsider, but God has shown me that I should not call anyone profane or unclean.”
Peter struggled with God in what to follow, the world view (in his case Jewish law, practice, and traditions) or God’s view of how He wants His children to operate in the world. As long as we struggle, God’s truth will bring us back to the basics, back to the beginning. Is anyone here in this church struggling with God? The worldview can seem so enticing, the worldview can feel so goood, and the worldview can seem so right, especially when it appears to be sanctioned with a “Christian” backing. Weapons of death are being sold round the world and used to destroy towns, villages, and peoples. Books are banned, history is skewed, and ignorance become bliss. Policies and laws are created to keep communities culturally homogenized. Massive bombs are being dropped on women and children calling it a just war. The land, air, and waters, are feverishly being polluted. Human beings, God’s own creation, are looked upon as less than human. And, The lives of foreigners, the poor, widowed, and defenseless are being trampled upon. We have to hold these up to the light of God and our basic tenets Christianity and ask, is this of God? To the so called Christian who isn’t struggling with God, all this would be ok when your heart, mind, and spirit is set to worldly understanding. For Christians in the struggle, He brings us back to the beginning where it says God “created all things” and “it is good”. The struggle opens our eyes to the truth of “love your neighbor as yourself” and “blessed are the peacemakers”. In the struggle, our pride is broken, our ignorance is lifted, our spirit is reconnected with God, and our understanding is expanded. But it doesn’t end there. After the sinful, prideful side of ourselves comes away broken, battered, and bruised, we emerge a new creation. Then God sends us forth. After Jesus worked on the disciples, they emerged as apostles and He sent them to baptize…After the Holy Spirit transformed Saul to Paul, he was sent out to proclaim…and after Jacob wrestled with God, he became Israel and was sent to the land of Canaan to grow the nation. Are there folks here who are struggling with God? If not, in this new time, in this new year, allow spirits to be opened up, brought back to the beginning, awakened to His truth, and be transformed into a new creation to be sent out. And remember… “Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world — the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches — comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever”. Amen.
by Edgar Hayes