GAME 7 - 2019 WORLD SERIES EDITION

OVER THE COURSE OF REGULARLY WRITING WEEKLY MESSAGES over the last 13 years, I have tried to not repeat any columns (with exceptions for Mother's Day.) This morning, I was tempted to repeat one of several from the archive relating to a Game Seven, for there is a lot of theology to be found in one's approach to a winner-take-all situation.

HOWEVER, just as no two Game 7's are the same, no two columns are the same because the context is different.

In a Game 7 preview column on ESPN.com, about the Astros' pitching situation the following is observed:

Everyone is available. Even Game 6 starter Justin Verlander declared himself available. "It's Game 7, all hands on deck," Verlander said. "If AJ [Hinch, Houston's manager] asks, I'm sure I'll figure out a way."

As for Nationals, in Game 7 preview found at MLB.com, the situation is pretty much the same:

It’s all hands on deck. [Max] Scherzer should have plenty of help available in the bullpen, with Aníbal Sánchez and Patrick Corbin both available, along with relievers Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson.

Much like a major league bullpen facing a game seven in the World Series, we, the church, are called to operate with an 'all-hands-on-deck' mentality where we are willing to put whatever we have on the line to experience the ultimate goal as stated in our mission - To Make Disciples of Jesus Christ. The all-in perspective of a Game 7 is essential if we are to truly be the church to which God calls us - for we are all ready to do whatever is necessary to win, backstopping each other to pick up the ball and go with it when needed.

No matter what else may happen in their lives, the guys who play tonight, especially the pitchers, will have the events surrounding tonight in the first paragraph of their obituary. They will be known for how they stepped up when the stakes were the highest, and everything is on the line.

Kind of like when Mary & Joseph's boy responded to an inquiry about what is the greatest commandment, and he replied with, "Love the Lord your God with [everything you have] and your neighbor as yourself."

Loving the Lord our God with everything we have...sounds an awful lot like tonight's pitching staffs, no?

Take the ball. Give it everything you have. And know that, thanks to the love of God, the grace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, your brothers and sisters have your back, ready to take the ball when needed to back you up!

Grace and Peace,

Lamar