I have received the same Christmas gift from my parents since I was like 9 years old. A subscription to Sports Illustrated (a chocolate covered marshmallow Santa is always in the mix as well). The subscription is so old, that each magazine is addressed to Robbie Luttrull. Sports Illustrated is a fantastic magazine – it is incredibly well written and they focus on the people who play the game, not just the game. From time to time you’ll find a gem of a story…like this one that I’ll retell for you today.
A few years ago, Billy Koch (closer for the Florida Marlins) donated opening day tickets to 250 under-privileged children. The kids were thrilled – Billy immediately became their favorite player. They memorized Billy’s statistics and painted his number on the back of their t-shirts in preparation for the game. By the time the season began, they knew everything there was to know about Billy Koch.
Unfortunately, Billy was cut from the team just before the season began. The children were devastated (I imagine Billy was too). “Baseball is a business,” their sponsors explained, “and that’s the way it goes sometimes”. Time heals all wounds and the children counted down the days till the season began.
On Opening Day the children piled into vans and drove to the stadium; many wearing their homemade Koch jerseys out of loyalty to Billy. The kids descended on the stadium like a wave – they sprinted through the concourse, bounded down the steps to their section, and began searching the rows for their seat.
In the midst of the milling mass, a child tugged on a sponsor’s shirt and said that there was a man sitting in her seat. The sponsor walked over, tapped the man on the shoulder, and politely asked if he was in the wrong seat. The man turned around and it was Billy Koch – big foam number one finger and everything!
The children had hoped to cheer Billy’s exploits on the field, but they got to do something even better – they got to sit and cheer with Billy. Instead of talking to one another about Billy, they got to talk with Billy. He not only provided tickets for the kids, he showed up and enjoyed the game with them.
Isn’t that what God has done for us? He created an exquisite planet that provides for all our needs, but He didn’t settle for simple provision, He longed for relationship. He came to the world so we would not just know about Him, but that we might actually know Him.
It is the birth of this Christ we celebrate; the Christ who came down from Heaven to sit in the bleachers with us. As you finish your Christmas shopping and attend party after party – keep your eyes open for Jesus. You never know when you might bump into Him. Have a very merry Christmas!
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means, God with us.” – Matthew 1:23
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