A Saviour Born to the World of SportSample

It’s nearly Christmas and, at least in the Western world, that means it’s cold and it’s dark. Playing sport involves wrapping up warm and turning on the floodlights as we head into winter.

The Bible describes our world as a place of darkness, not just during the winter months but in its natural state. This darkness isn’t just to do with the position of the sun, it’s to do with our hearts and position before God.

The prophet Isaiah spoke to a people in a desperate place – they were facing a terrifying army – and he said they were “a people living in darkness.” That is a people living without recognising who God is, a people living in rebellion.

Does this sound familiar? It’s the current world of sport we’re part of. A people who are tired, disillusioned with life and constantly searching for new levels of satisfaction. A people who live comfortably with the current darkness they live in or those seeking after an identity found in finding their worth and value in sport.

It’s here that Isaiah then brings us into the Christmas story, as he says the only hope for a people in darkness is a light that will shine in the form of a helpless baby. How amazing is this?

Of course, a baby alone can’t help the plight of a people lost in darkness. But when we understand the true identity and the future mission of this new-born baby the light comes bursting through – full of hope for the present and future.

Isaiah gives this baby four titles – let’s unpack these together in the next four days and see what it means for us in our sports clubs and teams.

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

In sport we get advice all the time, don’t we? Maybe from our coach or manager, from our family and friends and from our team-mates. Sometimes we even get it from our opponents!

We listen to that advice depending on who is giving it. Our coach holds more weight, for example, than our friend who has never played the sport we love.

Here, the first thing Isaiah tells us about the baby born at Christmas, is that he is one who can offer counsel far more significant than just how we might approach our sport – the baby is one who can offer wisdom that makes sense of the whole of life.

Jesus, it says here, is wonderful. Isn’t there a danger we can get caught up in all the other wonderful gifts God has given us, especially for us, in sport – the emotions, the celebrations, the new contract – that the wonderful nature of Jesus is diminished? Surely the honest answer is yes.

But Jesus isn’t just a wonderful baby, he is the Wonderful Counsellor. The idea of counsellor suggests that Jesus comes with the full wisdom of God to bestow on his people. How does he do this? The baby becomes a man, the man becomes a saviour, the saviour becomes the resurrected king and the resurrected king leaves his Spirit to live in the hearts of those who trust in him.

That means that if you’re a Christian you have total access to the one who surpasses all the glory that sport can offer and who brings the total wisdom of God to remind you of the glorious excellencies of Christ when you lose you focus. God’s wisdom is at your disposal today.

It’s all yours in Christ, by his Spirit.

So, as you go into your Game Day – take a moment to reflect and reconfigure. It you need specific wisdom, speak to God in prayer and look to his word. Thank God for sending his son, the wonderful counsellor. He’s yours, so enjoy him today as you play your sport.

Prayer for today

Dear Lord,

Thank you for sending your son Jesus into this world and that we get to remember that this Christmas season. Thank you for sending him as a light into this dark world.

Thank you that you are the Wonderful Counsellor and that you have given us your Spirit to live in us now as we seek to honour you in our sport. Help me to keep remembering your glorious excellencies when I so easily lose my focus. Help me to delight in you afresh.

In your precious name,

Amen.