Here's a story of a little boy playing baseball. But before it's over, perhaps we'll have a little different look at God's plan for our lives! Read on! And thanks for sittin' up on the front porch with us today! :)
Babe Ruth or Sandy Koufax?
Good week to all. Welcome to the “Front Porch.”
You know, some things just make us wonder. That was our theme last week, one which originated with a glance at Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”
Looking at that passage, and then allowing some thoughts from an 1800s preacher named John Ker to marinate a while, a couple of ideas came to our mind immediately.
One, the beauty of the chapter where the thought derived, Psalm 119.
Psalm 119: One-hundred-seventy-six verses, divided into twenty-two stanzas of eight verses each, and each segment applauding the grandeur of the Word of God. Throughout the psalm, we see the Word of God mentioned and praised in all but about five of the 176 verses, with the psalmist using such synonyms as testimonies, precepts, word, statutes, commandments—and many more.
Yet, in each verse there is enough substance to make a sermon or to write a dissertation. That’s how much this psalm makes us 'wonder' on the greatness of God and His Word.
The second thought I had was a bit more random.
I thought of a little boy, a baseball player, standing alone in the sandlot, a bat over his shoulder and a ball in his hands, He throws up the ball and says, “The greatest hitter of all time!" as he swings and misses.
Three times he swings and misses, even though each swing is preceded with the proclamation that he is the greatest hitter of all time.
But, alas, after strike three, he stands in the dirt with despair etched all over his face, because ... well, because “the mighty Casey has struck out.”
But then, in a flash, a smile comes across his face quicker than Willie Mays' streaking across the outfield; and he turns and announces triumphantly and with enthusiasm to the crowd,
“The greatest pitcher of all time!”
And the crowd goes crazy.
Sports fans, the greatest pitcher of all time has just struck out the greatest hitter of all time.
That scene pictures for us a little magical thing we call “childlike wonder.” We never want to lose it.
Remember this biblical scene? “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:1-4, ESV).
Looking at that scene in view of our little baseball player, you may protest, “But, the lad was not very humble at all! Why, he proclaimed himself to be both the greatest hitter and the greatest pitcher of all time!
At first glance, that may seem the case, but then we realize:
It is not pride at all that makes the little boy dream of becoming something great. No, it is that special attribute that he possesses that we all need – man or woman, child or grownup – that even in his greatest hour he can rejoice, with humility.
The ability to dream big dreams, to close our eyes and see the ball sail over the fence – that’s not pride. Pride comes if we gloat at our abilities and put ourselves on a pedestal. Pride comes with a bat flip and the beating our chest as we round the bases.
If we see stand at home plate on that patch of loose dirt, and we look out over the life’s outfield and think, “I’m really something, aren’t I!” that’s not childlike wonder.
Childlike wonder is, “Okay, I do have a talent here, and I’m thankful to the Lord He gave it to me because, look at how many people we are able to bless with it!”
Friends, you will not be surprised when I say that I used to dream of being a great writer and making my wealth from it. Now, with the passing of some years, I do not think so much of the wealth nor of the notoriety that might come. I try to think more of a legacy you leave behind, a legacy that will allow – say, in a hundred years – someone to pick up our writings and find some inspiration that will make a real difference in their lives, even if it is only for a day, kind of as we just picked up and read John Ker's words from 1850.
To write something that would survive the test of time -- ah, how much good that would do, both now and for centuries to come! That's how I stand and look out from home plate today and watch the ball sail over the fence, with the crowd going crazy.
That’s my childlike wonder.
There's something else:
We’ve all stood in the dust at home plate having struck out, thinking our plans had been defeated, haven't we! But then, years later, we discovered, in wonder, that they had not been defeated at all. The Lord just had a different plan.
You see, it wasn’t Babe Ruth he wanted us to be, after all.
It was Sandy Koufax.
May 13, 2024
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