Parents, what are you glad about? In grad school at the University of Tennessee, I dated a true Vol fan, who now, by the way, is my wife. Since we were both students at the time, we could get student tickets for the games. One particular game we wanted to see was the Auburn v. Tennessee game. The year before, Tennessee had a horrible year, but this year was very promising with several who would go on to play in the NFL. As game day approached, we secured our tickets, which happened to be in the second student section, which meant the triple nosebleed altitudes of the upper deck. We knew the game would be on television and I considered just watching from the comfort of my parents living room 5 minutes away. I was even more motivated to be a couch potato fan, when we learned that it was supposed to be one of those cold East Tennessee heavy rains that day. The more I whined and complained about not wanting to sit in a puddle for 4 quarters, my girlfriend insisted that we needed to go have the whole stadium in person experience. As a cheerleader at another school in undergrad, I had experienced all kinds of weather cheering my team on the sidelines… the 110 degree scorching heat of an astro turf convection oven, to pouring monsoons and a giant pond to stand in with water dripping off my partner into my eyes as we stunted, and so cold you can’t get warm, icy fingers frozen, playoff games. My least favorite was cold rain, it soaks you to the core, sucks all the heat out of your body, leaves you all wrinkledy like a prune, and cold as a frog on an iceberg…It’s great weather for ducks, because they have a down coat on and water rolls right off… we silly cheer humans only had polyester uniforms on. At least on the sideline, we hyper cheerleaders could jump around and stand close to our partners to keep warm. In the triple nosebleed section of the iconic Neyland Stadium with the rain blowing sideways and only 17 inches of metal bench to sit on, I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of jumping around (but maybe some sitting close to my favorite girl). Auburn was a powerhouse that year and it was one of the biggest games of the season, my blonde beauty reminded me. So, fearing that I would be considered a wet weather wimp and a fair weather fan, I reluctantly decided to go. We found as much rain gear as we could. With everything from hunting all weather gear to trash bags, we made our way to the stadium in the deluge, so much for the fashionable and warm fall outfits that were normally displayed in stadiums around the country. The game began and it was a barnburner. Auburn’s normally dominant defense couldn’t stop Reggie Cobb (but apparently an unfortunate chemical abuse problem could, which he would overcome and play in the NFL for Tampa Bay). The whole game was close, but Tennessee hung on to win, in one of the most memorable exuberant games I had ever experienced and the goal posts were torn down and paraded through campus. That day, it was good to be a Vol with all the other fans who braved the elements, it was good to be in a rain soaked stadium to experience the victory first hand, and it was good to enjoy this memory with my Orange insistent favorite girl.
In one of the timeless pop songs written by King David called a Psalm of Ascents 122, which celebrated the processional of God’s people making their way up to Worship God in Jerusalem, David reminds everyone that God is worthy of worship and that we have the great privilege of going together to do it. He says, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!” Psalm 122:1 ESV He says, “Let us.” There is a us-ness about God’s people. We belong to God and each other and we are proud to belong to God and His “us.” Many of us are a part of a team fandom, in which we are proud to be that team’s “us,” to consider ourselves as belonging to that team’s loyal fans. We will climb the heights of the stadium and sit in inclement weather to support our team. We will wear clothes, color our hair, decorate our house and cars to indicate our “us-ness.” We may even sit outside the stadium in the parking lot to be a part of the “us,” if we don’t have tickets. Sometimes our support of our favorite team looks like what David spoke of as worship. Sometimes I need to be reminded especially in a pandemic that I still belong to God and I am one of His “us,” that it is a wonderful privilege to “go to the house of the LORD.” As our houses of worship open back up more and more, we need to be glad when they say to “us,” let us (carefully and very safely) go to the house of the LORD. We may have the inconvenience of a mask and 6 feet apart and extra hand washing and other protocols, but we can be glad to worship God as “us” again. We may need to encourage each other that as soon as we feel safe, to enjoy the sanctuary experience rather than just the couch potato video presentation of worship and experience God’s “us-ness” again.
Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for us all!
