Learning the recipe for success is teamwork
Luke 6:12-19 Jesus
departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When
day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve,
whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother
Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas
Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a
stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of
the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and
Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who
were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to
touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.
Is everyone still
riding high from our first football victory in four years? What an exciting
game, and I could not be more proud of our players and coaches. That victory
was all heart: several players got hurt but kept on playing, like Isaac Wright,
Salomon Amador and Talon Pate, and a bunch of boys got banged up. And no one
game up, even deep in the fourth quarter when we were down by two points. But
do you know why you won, boys? Tommy Smith – AJ and Dalton’s dad – gave the
best answer. He said: “You won because you played for each other, and you
played for your coach.” In other words, you played as a team, instead of being
selfish and playing for yourselves, or for your ego.
Have you
ever heard of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame? They were the backfield of the
Fighting Irish football team, comprised of Harry Stuhldreher (quarterback), Don
Miller (right halfback), Jim Crowley (left halfback), and Elmer Layden
(fullback). During their 3 years together at Notre Dame, they lost only one
game in 1922, one game in 1923, and they were undefeated in 1924. Do you know
how big these guys were? Stuhldreher was 5’7 and 151 pounds, Crowley was 5’11
and 162 pounds, Miller was 5’11 and 160 pounds, and Layden was 6’ and 162.
Heck, some of our Trinity players are bigger than them. But why did they win?
For the same reason you won: they played as a team, and for their beloved
coach, Knute Rockne. The real recipe for victory is to play for each other and
not for yourself.
In the
gospel today, Jesus chooses his line-up, his players, to be on his team, that
is, he picks his apostles. Jesus spends the night in prayer and at daybreak he
chooses the men who would play for him: the 12 apostles, like Knute Rockne. And
I love this line: “And Jesus came down with them and stood on a stretch of
level ground.” You can almost see Jesus in front with the 12 lined up behind
him, like football players lined up at the kick-off. And they all played for
each other and for Jesus, all except one, whom you remember well: Judas. Was
Jesus’ team very successful? Well, how long has the Church he established been
around? Only for 2,000 years, and it is still going strong. You see, the
disciples of Jesus are at their best when they play for each other and for
their “coach” (Jesus), instead of for themselves, just like you were
successful. Teamwork is the only recipe for victory.
Boys and
girls, do you like to win? Me, too. Do you want to be all-state in band this
year? Do you want the volleyball team to be great? Do you want the dance and
cheer teams to be the envy of the town? Do you want the Quiz Bowl to be
nationally ranked again? Do you want the cross-country team to run over their
competition? Do you want the basketball team to blow away other teams? Then
just do one thing: remember the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, and play for each
other, not for yourselves. They didn’t have big bodies, but they had huge
hearts. And in each man’s heart was his teammates, not himself. Teamwork is the
recipe for victory, whether you play for Knute Rockne, or for John Vitale, or
for Jesus Christ.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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