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Weekly Devotion

Keith Harcombe, Associate Pastor
May 21, 2012
Graduation Week

It's not about Soccer
— I Timothy 4:12

When I first arrived in the United States in 2003 I was not sure where I was going to be employed or what I was going to do.  Moving from a different country—even though one speaks the same language—is not as romantic as it first sounds.
 
After a few short weeks I realized that I was able to coach soccer (football) for National Youth Sports.  My children would be involved, and I would get to train other children in some basic soccer skills twice a week.  I would be outside in the air, at the park, having fun screaming at kids to kick the ball instead of picking it up!
 
I absolutely loved it.  The park where we were allowed to coach was a public park, and I asked permission to mark the ground with white paint to have some throw in lines and a place for a center spot.  I would get there early and pretend I was training my team for the world cup.  Jürgen Klinsmann (USA National coach) had nothing on me.
 
The players (all around seven years old) were a joy.  Each had different abilities—some were fast, some were slow, some could kick, and some would cry.  Then there was Santiago Benitez.  Santiago was a little taller and bigger than the rest of the kids and looked about 10 years old.  I would place him in defense to stop the last try at goal.  Most of the time he would look at the ball, not be paying attention or looking at me as I was screaming at the top of my lungs, “KICK THE BALL!”
 
One day when we were losing and I was feeling particularly miserable about the whole game, the most amazing thing happened.  Our team, The Purple Panthers, was down 4-0 and the ball was heading toward our goal once again.  As I watched the ball go too far in-front of the attacking player, everyone was watching Santiago. The question that was hanging in the air that nobody needed to declare was, “Is he going to kick it?”
 
The ball moved further down the pitch, and Santiago ran at the ball.  At this time, psychologically, the ball went slower and Santiago ran slower.  Everything slowed down. Then the ultimate, he looked at the ball, swung his leg back and placed his large sized boot underneath it as hard as he could.  The ball rocketed down to the other end of the field! Parents were freaking out, everyone was high fiving each other and saying how amazing the kick was!  It was like we had won the whole league!  Of course, we lost the game and subsequent games that followed.
 
I was talking with his mother after the game and I will never forget what those words were, she said “thank you so much for including Santiago in your team… in the other teams we were in he spent most of the game on the bench”.
 
I realized throughout the season that this was not about soccer.  It was about those on the “outside” being welcomed on the “inside”.  Santiago was welcomed—not by me, but by the whole team—where he had not been welcomed before.
 
As we think about graduates, graduation and influencing young people this week, let us realize that the kingdom of God is not about winning, but including.  I guarantee you we will see amazing things, even a young boy kicking the ball down the field.
 

Grace and Peace
  ~ Keith