Sunday was a heartbreaker. And I need to talk about it - even though this means me going and writing about sports two weeks in a row. I hope you don't mind. But it was the Super Bowl. And my heart really did take a beating - a tearing, ripping, lifted up, twisted around, and thrown to the ground cardiac trauma. And not just me, I'm talking about a whole community of dear brothers and sisters who will never forget the day the Seahawks almost won the Super Bowl. Or should I say moment - because it really did come down to just one moment, a split-second event that took us from the pinnacle of victory to an abrupt face-plant in the valley of defeat.  

And what a Super Bowl it was! It was Team vs Machine. It was the incredibly talented, well-oiled machine of the New England Patriots, against the scrappy, never-say-die Seattle Seahawks and their emotion-filled team-play. While the Patriots were undoubtedly the best side in terms of technique and textbook precision, they could not touch Seattle's "we are in this together" approach to the game. An approach that let's fans feel they are truly participating in the game. And it honestly does. As a fan you feel like a genuine stakeholder, like you're actually on the field as a part of the team - and you truly can be a part of the team - when you are the 12th man.

So every win is a win you helped make happen. Not in a big way - you know this in your mind, you know you didn't actually participate in the games when you were sitting at home yelling at the TV - but in a way that counts, in a way that truly matters - in your heart you feel you not only made a difference, but you personally influenced the outcome of the games. This means that when the 'Hawks win you win, and when they win big - which they have been doing - then you fly high with them and share in the victory like it is a personal accomplishment.

I want to thank the Seahawks for that. These last few years have been an awesome ride, I really appreciate them letting me come along with them. And I know how hard they have all worked. I don't have to go to practice every day and work my butt off, and then spend Sunday afternoons absorbing punishing abuse. But they still let me feel a part of the team. That's class. That's how a family works, some people do the heavy lifting while others do the encouraging, but you all share in the rewards, good or bad.

And this Sunday it was bad - real bad. Not that it was humiliating or shameful, like a huge one-sided blowout would have been. We stayed in the game the whole way, playing it our way while they played it there's. And they racked up the points - but so did we. We had an answer for everything they threw at us, and then in the final minutes of the game we took the ball and were driving down the field towards victory. There was an amazing miracle catch that no one could believe and suddenly we were within a few short yards of the end zone. And then it happened - the interception - and a knife went through a million hearts all at once, and a million faces fell to the dirt. To fall so close to the line, to trip so short of the outstretched hand of victory, to have a whole season of dreams and hopes torn down just when they were about to be fulfilled, hurt - and hurt real bad.

And right away, before the blade was even drawn back out of the heart, questions of blame and failure sliced through the mind. Who's fault was it? Who was to blame? Why did they risk throwing the ball when it seemed like a run would have been the safe way to cross the victory line? Well I'm proud to say that the team leaders, the coach and the quarterback, were quick to take responsibility. And that's how it should be. Sort of. But there's one more person that needed to fess-up and accept responsibility - and that is me.

 
Ridiculous? Not at all. How can I say I participated in the victories if I do not accept my role in the defeats? Oh, I know, it wasn't all me by any measurement, in fact I can only say it's me in a very tiny way - but if I can claim to be a part of this team - and this was the team's failure - then it was my failure too.

There is a Biblical principle in all this: "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together."

1 Cor 12:26

If we can understand this, that somehow we can participate with a sports team in both the sweetness of victory and the bitter taste of defeat, then so much more it becomes clear to us as Christians how we are able to become team-members with Christ, to participate with Him in both His suffering in the present age, then to rejoice with Him in the great glory to come - as co-heirs. To inherit a full measure of the victory that He has won - though in all honesty we can search ourselves and say - what have I done to deserve this?!? Because the victory clearly rests completely on His shoulders - and if we have participated in it, then it is only in the tiniest ways - and that through faith by the grace of God, and not through our own efforts. Not unlike the manner in which I am a part of the Seahawks team, even though all I do is hoop and holler at a TV screen.

"And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. "

Romans 8:17

So, while it is a pleasure to be on the Seahawks as a 12th man, it is an infinitely greater honor to be on Christ's team with all of you. To share in your victories and defeats, and to share in the great promise we hold dear to our hearts of spending eternity together in the pure Love of Christ.