Red Card

1 Corinthians 15:56-57

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The eagle on my shirt is for the Evergreen Lutheran High School Eagles and number 21, that’s the number that my daughter wears. She plays soccer on the women’s soccer team. Soccer is an interesting sport in that unlike other sports that have a clock, a set time, soccer has a set time, 80 minutes in high school, 90 minutes professionally. But when that clock runs out, that’s not the end of the match. The referee on the field is actually in charge of when the match officially ends, and he may add some time at the end of the 80 or 90 minutes as he sees fit. Maybe he feels as if some time was lost or some time was wasted. So it’s up to him.

But now, if you’re a fan or, you know, watching your kid play, or if you’re a player and you’re ahead, it’s just really interesting time. You’re on pins and needles. You’re waiting until the match is over, waiting to hear that final whistle. And so you’re playing, you keep going and finally you hear it [whistle blows 3 times] and that’s it. It’s over. You’ve won. And you can finally rest and you can celebrate and rejoice in your victory.

Another thing about soccer is there, like any sport, there are rules. And one of the rules of soccer has to do with personal fouls. If you foul someone in such an egregious or vicious way, you might get carded. And when you get carded, that means the referee blows his whistle, stops all play on the field and approaches you, and he’ll fish around in his pocket and he will give you a card. And if what you’ve done is especially egregious, he’ll give you a red card. And a red card means you’re out. You are off the field immediately. You’re not allowed to play anymore. You’re kicked out of the game, really. And the game to come, the next game, you’re also on the bench. You’re not allowed to play.

That got me thinking about, our sin. Our sin essentially earns us a red card. We, for our sin, we should be kicked out of this life and the life to come. But what Jesus has done for us, it’s not as if he came to this earth as, a pro player, an expert, and he plays alongside of us and with him on our side, we can’t help but win. What Jesus has done instead is he’s taken your red card. He’s taken your sin. He’s taken mine. He’s taken the sin of the entire world on himself, and I try to imagine what that would look like. Jesus with literally billions and billions of red cards. And he paid for each and every offense that we have ever committed.

And so, with our sins, our offenses taken away, he renews us so we can be back out there in this life, playing or back out in this life, going about our work renewed, restored, forgiven. And it’s kind of like getting close to the end of a soccer game now. The victory is ours, but we’re still playing. We’re still out on the pitch, on the field, and we’re waiting. We’re waiting until we can finally rest, until we can finally celebrate that victory. And we’re waiting not for a final whistle. We’re waiting for a final trumpet. And when that trumpet sounds, it will be over. We will be safe in heaven, the life to come. The victory is ours. St. Paul said it this way as he wrote to the Corinthians. First Corinthians 15, verses 56-57

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:56-57)

I’m Pastor Tony Pittenger, pastor out at Bethany Lutheran Church in Port Orchard, Washington. And until we see each other again or meet face to face in person, the Lord himself preserve and protect you while we eagerly await for that final, that last trumpet to sound, and we will be at rest, and we will be celebrating the victory that’s been won for us in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ. Until then, God bless and keep all of you. Amen.