Guaranteed Victory
How bout them Dawgs! For us Georgia Bulldogs football fans, the last two seasons have been the best of times. In fact, the last seven years under Kirby Smart have been a steady progression from good to great, with an 81-15 win/loss record for a .844 winning percentage and an 8-2 bowl record (.800) and two consecutive national championships. It doesn’t get much better than that!
But it has not been without some tense moments along the way. I’m thinking specifically about the January 1, 2018 Rose Bowl and the December 31, 2022 Peach Bowl. Both were national championship semi-final games. In that Rose Bowl, Oklahoma led the dawgs 14-7 in the first quarter, 17-10 at the half, and it took Georgia two overtimes to win 54-48. In the more recent Peach Bowl, UGA trailed Ohio State 21-7 in the first half and 38-24 in the fourth quarter, with the UGA win finally being sealed by a missed Ohio State field goal with only 3 seconds left on the clock.
I don’t know any UGA fans who stayed calm, cool, confident, and with average blood pressure throughout those games. I know fans who paced, and fans who cried. Most yelled. Some screamed. Some even prayed. Most watched our opponents’ big plays with genuine heartache and a deep pain in the pit of our stomachs. If there were superstitious rituals, you can bet they were worn out those nights! Some fans just stopped watching, prematurely accepting the loss. Why? Because no matter how confident we were, the ending was unknown until the clock stopped at 0:00. We had hopes. We had confidence. But we did not have guarantees. Everyone knew the season could end either night with a loss. That’s the nature of college football. It’s the nature of all sports.
What’s interesting is how many of my friends have rewatched those two games. I’ve sat with a few for at least part of one game or the other, and I’ve noticed something curious. They are still beaming with delight. They still fist pump the big hits and touchdowns, and they always lean left as the Ohio State field goal misses the uprights. But you know what’s not there? There is no anxiety or desperation. There is no feeling of hopelessness. There is no resignation to defeat when they watch the endless replays of our opponents’ best moments.
Why is that? Why do we rewatch those victories, including the worst of moments, with sheer joy and without anxiety and worry? Of course, the answer is obvious. It’s because we know the ending. We know exactly what happens when the clock reaches 0:00. We know that no matter how bleak the situation looks at any point in the game, we will win. Guaranteed. The ending of those games has already been determined and it will not change. In fact, we’re so convinced of that, that we’d really wonder about the health of any Dawg fan still overwhelmed or dismayed by the worst parts of either game. The victory is sealed.
And so, it should be with followers of Christ. The central message of the Gospel is that our victory is sealed through Jesus Christ. Not a question. Done. Complete. Over. Sure, there are some dark moments or even seasons in life. Our enemy has his moments, and they’re replayed again and again. Just as we rewatch the Dawgs jeered by opposing fans, short-changed by commentators, taunted by the opposition, and on the receiving end of clearly missed and unfair calls, we’re surrounded by negative messages, challenges, unfortunate circumstances, and perhaps even unfair persecutions in our lives. But we know the ending. We know who wins.
If we’re following Christ, if we’ve trusted who he is, what he has done, and what he promises, we don’t have to react to the unfavorable aspects of this world with anxiety and desperation. We can live with the absolute confidence in our final victory, regardless of what happens along the way.
So why don’t we? Why don’t we live our personal lives, engage our relationships, lead our businesses, and view societal and world issues with the peace and joy that comes from knowing our victory has already been won? Why do we get pulled into reacting with anxiety and desperation to other people’s drama, the news, social media, taunting by the opposition, and our own unfavorable circumstances?
Of course, you could say, “because we’re human.” And yes, we are indeed imperfect. But in the same way that most die-hard red and black fans don’t fret the tense moments of victories already sealed, we do have the ability to remember, refocus, and respond with the confidence of a guaranteed, already secured victory. Perhaps that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Perhaps he was, in the same humble spirit as described in Philippians 2, pointing less to the pain and suffering he endured for us and more to the result of what he did in securing our victory. He was encouraging the consistent practice of that which would continually remind us of our final victory which he has already guaranteed. In other words, Jesus initiated that combination of worship and fellowship that we call The Lord’s Supper or Communion to empower us to face the challenges of this world with peace and joy rather than anxiety and desperation by remembering that our final victory has already been won.
Of course, this is not simply a devotion or a sermon, but a challenge for us to consider and discuss how we might live and lead differently based on this confidence.