2/6/2012

I sincerely wish that Tom could ‘hang-out’ with Tim between now and the start of the next National Football League season. I would love to see Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback, have a chance to be influenced by Tebow, the Denver Broncos quarterback. Or, perhaps Brady could spend some quality time with a mentor like Tony Dungy, former Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts. That would be a good-thing. It could be a God-thing. Tebow and Dungy both have their feet on the ground and their heads on straight. And, it is not because of psychological mind games or a self-improvement scheme or some mystical Eastern religion. It is because of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I was captivated by an interview of Tom Brady by Steve Croft on 60 Minutes after a Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2005. In a moment of rare transparency, Brady said, “God, this isn’t it!” In context, he was talking about having it all, having everything the world has to offer. Hey, I am aware that this is a pastoral cliché, but it is also a factual and it is a very real contemporary parable. Listen, Tom Brady is 6’4” and weighs 220 pounds. He is strikingly handsome. He is married to a Brazilian super-model who is worth $150,000,000. They live in a $20,000,000 mansion. He has three Super Bowl rings. And he is not yet 35 years old. But clearly, he is searching…. just like the rich, young ruler who approached Jesus with the question, “What am I missing in my life? I know I am missing something. What is it?”

An eye-witness in the New England locker room after their loss of last night’s Super Bowl said that Brady sat motionless, staring at the floor, in front of his locker until nearly 11 PM. He was inconsolable, unresponsive to even his close friends. Was it merely sadness over losing the big game? Or was it something more. It is now 2012. Is he still searching for what is real? Is he still experiencing the deep inner quest we all have to know who we are, why we are here and where we are going when we die? Is he any closer to having answers than he was in 2005? What can we learn by looking behind the acquisition, the wealth, the media hype, the image? What matters most is how things look from the inside out…. from within our souls.

During the pre-game week, in an Internet post that went viral, Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady’s wife said, “Pray for Tom right now….” So, I am going to do that. And, I am going to pray for all of God’s estranged children out there who are trying to find meaning in life through intellectualism, materialism and hedonism.

Pray with me…. Father God, You have made us for Yourself. Our souls will never find true and satisfying rest until they rest in You. Thank you for Jesus who came to seek us, save us and satisfy us from the inside out. We pray for the lesser-known, lesser-endowed Tom Brady’s and Gisele Bundchen’s out there in our generation. May they find rest in You. In the name of Jesus, the Way, we pray, amen.


Blessings,
Pastor Ken