Pregame Sermon to Waldorf College Football Team

There once was a powerful army who seemed unstoppable. The general of this army had set his sites upon a small kingdom that he believed he could conquer very easily. He sent a messenger ahead of his army to the king of the village to offer them the chance to surrender as their army would be greatly out numbered. After the messenger delivered the terms of the general’s offer the king called his best solider into the court room. He looked at his finest example of a military leader and said to him, “Fall on your sword,” the man instantly and without hesitation did as his king commanded. Then the king called his second best solider and commanded the same, again without hesitation the solider fulfilled the command of his king. The king then looked at the messenger and said, “I may only have a few but every man I have is willing to give all he has for me.” The messenger returned to the general and said, “Sir we can not defeat these men because they are already dead.”
My name is Jamie Strickler and I am here tonight to talk to you about being part of a team. I understand that your football team comes fourth; faith is first then your family then your education then football. But none the less in any of these priorities you are functioning as a part of a team. And as a part of these teams you are expected to do your part with intensity, respect, commitment, and trustworthiness. It doesn’t matter if you are complying with the wishes of your heavenly Father, your earthly father, your professors, or your coach. It is all team work.
In the story I told you of the small kingdom did you find it surprising that men would take their own life with out question? You see when each man joined the king’s army they gave their up their former lives to server a higher righteous calling. I hope that none of you will ever have to face that dilemma. I know that most likely coach Youngblood will never as you to fall on your sword for the team, although after three a day practices if may have felt like it. But none the less you are asked to do your part on this team without question or complaint and to the best of you ability. The quarter back isn’t to be worrying about the linemen and the linebackers are not to be worrying about the safety. Each man should be focused on his job and trust that everyone else is doing the same. This selflessness my friends is what makes a team champions.
Waldorf College is a school of the church. It is expected that Jesus the Word of God will be part of your team. There is no greater power. The power of Christ is what I am willing to die for without question. You see we are all apart of the body of Christ in which Christ is the head.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. (1 COR 12:12)

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 COR 12:27)

We are all members of His team. And as part of His team we are all expected to do our duty without question or complaint. Whether you believe it or not and whether you know it or not, you have been called here by God to be student athletes. God is using this period in your life to shape each of you into the man He is calling you to be. In Matthew chapter 25:31-46 Jesus tells of the separating of the sheep from the goats. The sheep are the ones who believed in Jesus and did his work feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty and so on. The goats are the ones who may have professed belief but then didn’t do the work of Christ. Low and behold it was the doers that were saved and not the professors. Believe me as a student there are some professors that I would like to condemn to hell but I don’t think that is the kind of professor Jesus meant. You are the doers. God has called you here to play football for His glory. This is a school of the church! And He is not asking you to hand out Bible tracts or give some over emotional prayer in public. He is calling you to perform with the gifts he has given you, your talents as a student and as an athlete. He is calling you to serve His team without question or complaint. I know that each of you is up for the challenge because you wouldn’t be here if that weren’t the case.

Don’t mistake what I am saying. I am not talking about winning every game. Although that is obtainable sometimes it isn’t the way in which we learn the most. We can learn something from every defeat in our lives. Mostly I have learned that if God isn’t in it I will loose in the end. What I am talking about is playing your guts out for the glory of God and your team. Giving everything you have focusing on your duty alone for the good of the team. If you win you win as a team and praise God, if you loose you loose as a team and praise God. Either way there better not be anything left in you gas tank when you walk off the field.

When I was young I was the fat kid and was bullied mercilessly. I know you can’t tell it by my masculine physique toady. Every punch to the gut and every bloody nose was a reminder to me that I didn’t live up to some standard. I spent most of my life trying to live up to the standards of this world. My senior year of high school I was 5’ 9” and weighed 195lbs with 8% body fat. I was a two time all state wrestler and I was terrified to loose. My fear expressed itself as anger and I broke fingers, cracked ribs, and gouged eyes, anything to win. I competed with a hate and a rage that became way out of control. You see if I lost then I would confirm the fact that I was a looser but if I won then I confirmed that I was a winner. Not for my team not for God, I was god. God had called me to be a wrestler for His glory to teach and shape me but I used His calling for self glorification and revenge. In pursuit of my own glory the inevitable happened I got hurt and place sixth in the state tournament behind 5 guys I had beaten earlier in the year. I had lost. It sent me into a drunken spiral that I didn’t soon recover from. I found new gods power and money. At the age of 22 I was making over 150k a year. I was working 70 hours a week performing for the love of power and money. When I wasn’t working I was drunk because of the pressure, guilt, shame, and fear that I would someday not perform well. Well it happened. I was working as a business manager with a car dealership working on commission. When the 911 attacks took place the car business died. 70% of my income came from the finance charge of the loans I was putting together. Anyone care to guess how much commission is paid to the business manager on a 0% loan? I took a $30,000 pay cut the first year. And eventually took a $100,000 a year pay cut. My wife and I lost everything: our house, our cars, everything. One night I was driving home from a party so drunk that I could only focus with one eye. God came to me that night and told me that I could no longer live the way I had been living. My life was never the same after that. I returned to school, finished my BA in Religion graduating magna cum laude and as part of three national honor societies. I now attend Luther Seminary in St. Paul MN. on a full academic scholarship. Not for me but for God. You see sometimes you don’t know Jesus is all you need until He is all you have left. I encourage you to learn from my mistakes. Fear of failure and being filled with hate and revenge is no way to live your life and it most certainly is not how you serve God or your team.

God will use your academic ability as well as your athletic ability mold and shape you. Your God given talents will take you places in this world. Tomorrow is your first chance to give your abilities to God. When you step on that field be apart of God’s team. Over all God’s team is a small one but each member of His team is willing to give their life for Him and their team mates. Sounds like a championship team to me. Tomorrow learn from my mistakes, put yourself aside for the glory and love of God and your team.

(Ephesians 4:22-24) You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Play tomorrow like you are new men and apart of an eternal team. Play your guts out and may Almighty God bless you and keep you safe. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!