ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
September 10, 2026
I love it when I see a headline on a sports’ website that says, “Not Too Early Playoff Teams.” We’ve not yet played a single game in the regular season of the NFL, yet someone is willing to write with extraordinary confidence about who will and who will not make the playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, there are some nutty sports people who have really good knowledge and insight about the inner workings of a football franchise. But I wonder if they are any more accurate than asking AI for an opinion. In the TV series, Ted Lasso (third season), Ted gives his final halftime speech in which he says to his team, “In regard to the second half, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Nobody does. Sports would be a lot less fun if we did. And you all (referring to the players) would make a whole lot less money. We don’t want to know the future. We want to be here right now…” I know there are folks who believe it is all fate or already decided within God’s omniscience (knowing everything), but wouldn’t life be a lot less fun if all we were doing was giving a grand performance of a drama already written for us, with every step, along with the ending, already determined? As Ted said, “We want to be here right now.” The past is the past, and though it does shape the present, we also have a significant amount of freedom in deciding how the past will inform our present. And in regard to the future, some of the best pundits and so-called experts can provide their opinions, but no one can guess everything that will occur in the next hour, let alone the next few months or years. With that in mind, I am going to try to live in the here and now, and do so as faithfully as I can. It won’t be perfect. Far from it, but I trust God’s love in the here and now, whether my choices in this moment reflect Jesus and his vision or reflect my own insecurities and fear. We don’t know who is going to make the playoffs in the NFL, and though some guesses might come from a place of greater knowledge, they are only pontificating on a possible outcome that could be easily derailed by a single injury. Remember, a faithful future is intrinsically tied to the faithfulness of this moment.
As much as we might want to guess or toss into the mix our own wishful thinking, we know nothing is guaranteed, except your eternal love, O Great and Merciful God. And though we may know the stories of your love told by those centuries ago or dream of how your love will bring great transformation in the future, it is only in this moment that we can truly stand in the experience of your unconditional and limitless love. Let it wash over us, leaving us with absolutely no question about where we stand. Amen.
