An Event Worth Participating In

In case you haven't heard, there is a football game being played just outside New York City on Sunday.  I believe they call it "the Super Bowl."  Television advertisements for this year's game are said to cost four million dollars for a thirty-second ad.  It is estimated that more than one-hundred ten million people will watch the game across this country, many at parties in homes and a variety of other establishments.  The opposing teams this year are the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks, featuring the best offense against the best defense in the National Football League.  I remember the first Super Bowl, played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in January of 1967.  The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10, before a crowd of just sixty-one thousand, thirty-three thousand tickets short of a sell out.  One reason given for the poor attendance was the exorbitant price of the tickets, a whopping $12.  By the way, television commercials for that first Super Bowl were forty-two thousand dollars per each thirty-second ad. 

 

One can see that this annual event has grown exponentially through the years, watched now on television sets, computers, smart phones, and other  electronic devices around the globe.  For three and one-half hours, not counting the eight or nine hours of pre-game coverage, life as we know it will stop to observe this championship football game.  Monday morning productivity will most likely be down as many workers won't make it in to work after a night of partying.  Is it worth it all?  I guess it depends on who you ask. Does it change the world? Well, I suppose that depends on who you ask as well, though beyond the losing and winning team's fans, the game's impact probably matters little.

 

Such energy, such expense, such mobilization of resources and human involvement...all for a football game!  Makes you wonder what we're truly capable of when looking at the challenges before us as a nation and world. Perhaps it reminds us that we can do incredible things when putting our minds and muscles and checkbooks to work.  Perhaps it reminds us of the significance of making good use of these resources in ways that truly make a difference in our world.  Perhaps it calls us to prioritize our lives, gaining a perspective not for the largess of these events, but a smaller focus of energy and resources where you and I can truly make a difference.

 

February 9-16, millions of people won't be watching and millions of dollars certainly won't be spent, but our Westwood family will partner with others to provide food and shelter for folks who would otherwise truly be left out in the cold.  It won't be a week of competition pitting opposing teams against one another, but rather will feature a unified community of believers investing themselves in the lives of others.  Yes, I'll watch the game, probably laugh at a few commercials, and find it a good excuse to eat more than I should, but the better investment of my time will come in quiet gestures of hospitality shared with you and our guests in the shelter of God's house, known as Westwood Baptist Church.

 

We won't affect the outcome of the Super Bowl, but you and I will impact the lives of men and women whose need for shelter, food, and warm welcome will be displayed during hypothermia week.  That's truly an event worth participating in!

 

Jim Abernathy