Radio Leicester
Thought for the Day
© John Denney 12 June 2002
There’s no escaping the Football World Cup. If last Friday’s match is anything to
go by, 17 million of us are watching England play Nigeria this morning. That’s one in three of the population. What the other two-thirds are up to, I
don’t know. But don’t try ringing me
during the match, ‘cause I won’t be answering the phone until after the final
whistle!
What is it about football at this level that rouses
such deep feelings for our national teams? Some people say that team sport is ritualised warfare. I suppose it’s better to hoof a bag of
wind around a field for 90 minutes than to lob missiles at one another. Others see a displaced religion in the
game.
Certainly there are some similarities to Christian
observance.
But of course the resemblance is only
superficial. Bread and wine is not
the same as pies and Bovril. The
adulation of our footballing heroes falls short of worship. And all our footballers can do is play
football to the limit of their ability.
And they give us delight when they show their skills, and satisfaction
when they win on our behalf. They
also bring despair and disappointment when the team loses. But our God, the creator and sustainer
of the universe, our loving Father, He is without limits. He gives us delight and
satisfaction. And He never brings
despair and disappointment.
Before every match in the World Cup, they play the National Anthems of the countries involved. I’ve been struck by how many are hymns, asking God to bless their country.
Perhaps one of the noblest sentiments is in our own
National Anthem. Listen to the
third verse:
Not in this land
alone,
But be God's
mercies known,
From shore to
shore!
Lord make the
nations see,
That men should
brothers be,
And form one
family,
The wide world
o’er.
And isn’t that what this World Cup
should be all about? The
brotherhood of our common humanity?
Because we are all God’s children, and like every human father, God
loves to see His children at play.