My son and I have been watching and following the World Cup. To be honest, I do not know much about professional soccer. I only know a couple players’ names (Ronaldo and Messi). My son, on the other hand, can name a multitude of players, which teams they play for, and some of their greatest career highlights. So, I am learning a lot from him and really enjoying following the teams that are advancing to the elimination rounds. My son is rooting for Portugal (his favorite player is on that team). Me, well, being an American living in Canada, I am rooting for the home teams (U.S.A and Canada), who are major underdogs to win it all. But hey, Germany was eliminated, so I guess anything can happen.
One of my favorite parts of the World Cup is watching videos of people from various countries, gathered together in popular downtown areas, watching with nervous hopefulness for their country’s team to win. The explosion of excitement that happens when their team scores a winning goal brings a smile to my face as people dance, jump around, hug each other, and patriotically wave their country’s flag in celebration for what their countrymen had just accomplish on the soccer field. For me, I find this wonderful and so cool to watch. I am happy for them, though I don’t even know them, and I’m from a different country.
Last week, I was working my second job, and I met two gentlemen from Algeria. I knew they were from Algeria because they were wearing shirts that indicated the fact. As I engaged in a conversation with them, I obviously asked them if they were going to watch Algeria’s game later that day. Without hesitation, they exclaimed in unison, “Of course!” I know nothing about Algeria’s soccer team. I have no idea whether they are good or not. I did not even know the team they were playing that day. But, in that moment, chatting with two complete strangers about the World Cup, as they were leaving, I wished their team good luck in the game. With smiles on their faces, they again responded in unison, “Thank you!”
So, why write about this? Here is why: The nations coming together for the World Cup has reminded me about the multitude of nations that God has called His people to go to so that they might here of the good news of Jesus Christ, that in Him people from any and all nations can be forgiven and accepted by God if they would repent of their sin and trust in Him through His Son Jesus. As I have been watching all these people from all over the world cheer for their team, an acute awareness of global spiritual lostness and great spiritual responsibility has hit me squarely in the face. God has graciously blessed me with salvation so that I might joyfully glorify Him by making His name known to others, including those from other nations. As many countries gather to play and watch soccer, the people of God should be awakened to the fact that they are called to scatter and proclaim the Savior to all people. After Jesus rose form the dead, He told His disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote, “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6) So, God was saving a people in order that they might tell others, in every place on the planet, about Him. God, speaking to Abram, who God chose to be the father of the people from whom the Savior would be born, said, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
In Psalm 67, the Psalmist wrote, “May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us” (verse 1). That sounds amazing. I mean, who wouldn’t want God to bless them and be gracious to them? Yet, to get the full reason for why God would be gracious and bless His people, we need to continue reading the next verse. “that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among the nations” (verse 2). So, in verse two we see why God is gracious and blesses people: so that they in turn might show grace and bless others in making God’s name and saving power known “among the nations.” When God’s people make His name known among the nations, they are blessing them and showing them grace, for it is though knowing God through His Son that one can truly be blessed and received the grace of God. Therefore, God blesses His people, not so that they can become self-absorbed, self-sufficient, and selfish. He blesses His people so that they can be self-denying, Christ dependent, and sacrificially generous in their obedience to Christ. He blesses His people so that they can be His voice to the nations so that anyone and everyone who will trust in the Savior can become part of God’s people, join His team, and be an active player in His kingdom.
Therefore, as we watch events like the World Cup, or the Olympics, or any other world event, may it remind us that there is a world that needs to hear about Jesus, and there is a God that has commanded us to go and tell them. So, as God’s people, who have been so richly blessed by Him, may our greatest passion not be simply rooting for country to win a temporary trophy that will one day be forgotten. May it be so much more than that. May our greatest passion be making God’s name known among the nations, where people from every tribe and tongue will one day and forever shout, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10).
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