The Joy of Football

I just watched (via the Internet) my beloved Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers 30-27. Damon Huard was 15-27 for 232 yards and two touchdowns. LJ ran for two touchdowns of his own for 132 yards. The Chiefs “D” – which has returned – had four sacks, two by Jared Allen. In the post game interview, Coach Herm Edwards said that he preached a lot of a sermons to his team after the lost to the Steerlers and obviously it paid off, because they played well enough to win today. I love football.

I was also the only Chiefs fan at Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State in Tallahassee yesterday. I went to my first FSU game. They lost to Boston College, but I loved being in there, in a football environment. I love football.

I was preaching today on the joy of the Lord, which is the joy that God himself experiences. Jonathan Edwards opens his Unpublished Essay on the Trinity with these words: “IT IS COMMON when speaking of the Divine happiness to say that God is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of Himself, in perfectly beholding and infinitely loving, and rejoicing in, His own essence and perfection…” The joy of the Lord is the joy expressed between the Father Son and Spirit. It is the joy that God himself experiences within himself. In the message, I pointed out that joy and happiness (which I believe are inseparable) are morally neutral. What makes joy/happiness good or bad is the source of the joy/happiness and how that joy/happiness is expressed.

For example, if puppy dogs and rainbows makes you happy–this is good. If other people’s pain and suffering makes you happy–this is bad. I ended my message this morning talking about the meaninglessness of rooting your happiness in earthly things, which is true. This does not mean that you cannot receive joy from things like football. I love it. And yes, I get down when my team loses…but only for about an hour…after that I am good to go. This is because the true source of my joy and happiness comes from God’s joy. It is much more lasting and deeper than the joy of football.