but I’m not a national champion
You may have heard that the Hoosiers of Indiana University are the national champions of college football. They beat Miami 27-21 on Monday night. In and of itself, the win should make any resident of Indiana proud. But it’s not just that. It was not the Ohio State Buckeyes or the University of Michigan Wolverines winning the national championship. It was the Indiana University Hoosiers. There are various ways of summing it up. ESPN puts it succinctly. Since records have been kept, IU had suffered “715 losses, which was the most recorded by any team in the 156 years of college football.”
The college with the worst record of all time is now the national champion. Way to go, Hoosiers!
And what or who are Hoosiers and how did they come to be called Hoosiers? No one knows where the appellation comes from, but in its nearly 200 years of use, it has come to mean someone from Indiana. Becky and I have been nomads, having lived in six different states, so our Hoosier identity may not be deep, but, indeed, we are Hoosiers, and Monday’s game adds just a little bit of polish to the name.
For at least the next twelve months, there will be an extra bit of pride in being a Hoosier. We could leave it at that, but of course we won’t. Yes, we will stand a little taller when we cross the state lines into Buckeye or Wolverine country. More than that, though, it being football, and we, being Americans, we will make more of it than we should.
The motivational thinkers and meme-makers are already busy on social media. One Hoosier enthusiast posted, “Let this be a life lesson for us all. Hard work, culture, process, and discipline are at the heart of successes. And anything is possible.” It’s not just a game; it’s a life lesson. The cynic in me wonders if the life lesson has more to do with what being on a billionaire’s Christmas gift list might do for you.
In fact, it is probably true that sports teach certain life lessons, though a sandlot baseball game or a pick up basketball scrimmage on a city playground may be better teachers than the child abuse we call travel teams.
But let’s be generous. Maybe Hoosier football does have some life lessons to teach us. It is likely that hard work, culture, process, and discipline are at the heart of successes. Work hard and discipline yourself. Create healthy culture and productive processes. But, please, don’t for a moment think anything is possible. Even if you are on a billionaire’s Christmas gift list.
There are all sorts of reasons I will never be on a national championship college football team, least of which is my current age. But even when I was young, such a dream would have been impossible no matter how hard I worked, how well I disciplined myself, how healthy the culture or productive the processes around me. Likewise, I never will be and never could have been a celebrity pastor or high tech billionaire. It’s just not who I am or who I was. I learned the lesson of limitations a long time ago, and it is good I did.
Now, some of you may suggest that even a non-celebrity pastor should remember Mary’s words in Luke 1:37, “nothing will be impossible with God.” To which I will reply that Mary was not giving us a life lesson but was responding to Gabriel’s announcement of the incarnation. Further, I will add what John tells us, “to those who receive Christ he gives the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)
Is anything possible? No, and to think so is to have learned a lousy life lesson. Is it possible that I might become a child of God? Yes, and thanks be to God.
Amazingly, the Indiana Hoosiers, the worst team in college football, have become national champions. God’s grace is even more amazing.