The Game of Life
The Game of Life is insidious.
At least it was when I was growing up. Today’s version is a lot more friendly, and I love how there are different ways to win. It still has those rolling hills, white buildings, and magical spinner, but now you have all sorts of choices you didn’t have in the old game and to me it’s even more fun than before. But the old game? While I had fun playing it, I didn’t like the message it sent – “Money is the only important thing in life.” Did you know that the Game of Life was the first game ever created by Milton Bradley?[1] Yes, THAT Milton Bradley. The company that brought you Battleship, Yahtzee, Connect Four, Candy Land and so many more. But the foundation for his success was The Game of Life that he invented back in 1861. And in his game, it wasn’t about money either. Milton Bradley thought that you could teach important life lessons through play, so his game focused on living a long and happy life. But over time, the game changed, and it focused instead on acquiring money. In fact, if you got to the end of the game and you were behind, you could spin the wheel for a chance to win, but if you failed, you were destined for the Poor Farm. The game’s attitude changed from living a good life to success at all costs, and success was measured only by money and things. But do you really think money can buy you happiness?
Stuart Scott is one of the most famous anchors to ever hold the position on SportsCenter.
Bear with me. It all makes sense. If you watched ESPN in its early days, you know his name and if you don’t you might have heard some of his famous catch phrases. He was one of the most famous and groundbreaking sports anchors in the business and he was well known for the things he would say on TV. Some of my favorites were, “Cool as the other side of the pillow.” Or “He must be the bus driver cuz he was takin’ him to school!” But the one everyone knows best is just two short syllables, “Boo-yow!”[2] Stuart Scott was one of those influential people who changed the way we watch television. He also defined SportsCenter for an entire generation of viewers. But at the young age of 49, Stuart Scott passed away from cancer. He had been battling it for nearly 8 years beginning in 2007 when after an appendectomy it was discovered he had the deadly disease. He battled it back numerous times but finally died because of it in 2015. Still, he approached life with an amazing attitude. While being honored in 2014 at the ESPY awards, he said about his battle with this horrible disease, “When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You BEAT cancer, by HOW you live, WHY you live, and in the manner in WHICH you live.” Some really deep thoughts. We do tend to think of life as a game in which there are winners and losers, but winning and losing the game of life isn’t about money or fame or achievement. Winning and losing the game of life is about what you do with the time you have.
This is a lesson God has been trying to teach us all along.
We’re going to read this morning from a passage you’re probably familiar with. Life isn’t a game to be won or lost, at least not in the traditional sense. Normally, when you play a game, there are winners and there are losers. In basketball, in baseball, in football. We are taught that winning is a zero-sum game. But to win at life, is different because it’s a game you play by yourself. Whether you win or lose has nothing to do with scores or money or ratings or any kind of metric we traditionally use to define ourselves with. And in this game, when we win, others win too. And when we lose, so do they. Here is what Jesus said to the crowds about this in Mark’s Gospel.
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” – Mark 8:34-38
When we value the same things God values, we become winners in life.
Both in this one AND the next. That’s what Christ means when he says we must deny ourselves and follow him. We must be willing to let go of the part of us that clings to the world and its values and instead admit to our weakness (by bearing our cross) and follow him. When we do that, we become alive in a new way. We are a new creation in Christ, and we belong to something greater and more noble than anything on Earth. And more importantly, we are saying our eternal life is more important to us than our mortal one. That’s why Jesus’ words are so powerful when he says, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” There is nothing we can earn in this lifetime that could ever match the promise of the next. There’s no amount of stuff we can gain that can redeem our soul other than giving our life to God. To the outside world, that sometimes seems like we’re giving up a lot. But when you know the peace of God in your heart, it’s really giving up very little.
Have you seen the movie, Field of Dreams?[3]
There’s a part in that movie that really touched me when I saw it. It’s a scene between Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, and Doc Graham played by Burt Lancaster. In the scene, Ray comes to visit Doc to see if he can make his wish of batting in the major leagues come true and he tells the Doc that he knows of a place where this could happen. Doc Graham is obviously moved by Ray’s gesture, but he says, “If it means leaving Chisholm…” and shakes his head ‘no.’ Ray looks at him and says, “But your wish…” And the Doc responds, “It’ll stay one. I was born here, lived here, and I’ll die here. That’s okay. I’ll have no regrets.” But Ray can’t let it go. Doc is willing to sacrifice his dreams to hit in the big leagues for a life in Chisholm, Minnesota? He says, “But sixty-five years ago – for five minutes – you came THIS close. It would kill some men to get that close to their dream and never touch it. They’d consider it a tragedy.” But Doc looks at him with a soft look on his face and says, “Son…if I’d only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes…now that would’ve been a tragedy.” Those words just touched me in a deep way the first time I heard them and every time thereafter. I think I’ve seen the movie twenty times and I still love it. But Doc’s words drive home the point that Christ told us in our passage this morning. It’s not fame or fortune that defines our life. It really is about this sense of fulfillment that we derive from living our best lives and as Christians we believe that our best lives come from Christ. When we live our lives according to HIS values and HIS direction, we find that peace that so often eludes the world.
As I keep getting older, I think more and more about what it means to live a “successful” life.
In 2008, one of my high school friends, Darryl Ishii passed away. He was barely forty years old. He was much more fit than me. He exercised regularly and had a passion for basketball. We weren’t that close, but I knew him enough to consider him a friend. We went to high school together and played basketball together when we were kids. And he died. Suddenly. From a heart attack while on the court playing basketball. He left behind a wife and two kids. Stuart Scott, nearly the same age as me suddenly found out he had cancer. He also was fit, and famous, and had a family who loved him. And then there are others who live to be 100 for no particular reason. They don’t take care of themselves any better or worse than my friend Daryl did or Stuart did. So was Daryl’s life or Stuart’s life any less of a success for having been so much shorter? I don’t think so. I don’t think we can take a standard measurement like money, or fame, or long life even as the measure of success. I see many people who spend the last year, 5 years, 10 years of their lives not quite themselves and wonder how they view their life. For me, watching different people come to their end in different ways, I believe that the success of your life is wholly dependent on you and God. Not your circumstances. Not the years you have. Not the awards or accolades you accumulate. Not whether or not you get your name in the paper. All of that is short-lived. The success in your life is dependent on the peace in your heart, the knowledge that you’ve lived your best life, that you are loved and that you love others, and that you have done everything you can to be deserving of that love. And all of that comes into place when we walk closely with God. Only God can give us the peace and contentment that we so desperately seek. As we approach Easter and the resurrection of our Lord, let us resurrect in ourselves a renewed spirit to live our best life. For ourselves, for those we love, and to honor the gift God has given us. With God, we give meaning to the HOW, and the WHY, and the manner in WHICH we live. God bless you all.
[1] Information on The Game of Life came primarily from an article from The Vox and Wikipedia.
[2] Great article on Stuart Scott. Read it and was surprised myself to find out that what I always thought was “Boo-yah” was actually “Boo-yow!” http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/12118296/stuart-scott-espn-anchor-dies-age-49
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9yrupye7B0
Craig's Corner 