Today’s Scripture Reading (May 25, 2016): Psalm 75 & 76
Mike Vernon was a National Hockey League goaltender during the 1980’s and 90’s. And there is a great story about his first appearance on the bench in an NHL game. I remember watching the Saturday Night Game at home on T.V. At the time Vernon, a native Calgarian, was playing for the local Calgary Junior team. But the NHL Team, the Calgary Flames, owned his rights. So as the telecast began for the Saturday Night Flames game, I remember the announcer forgoing all of the introductory stuff about what a great game this was going to be and which players needed to be watched in order to send a message to one fan who was hopefully watching the game. One of the Calgary goaltenders had been injured in the warm-up. Obviously, the second goaltender would make the start, but that would leave the Flames with no back-up. And the question that loomed was simply this - what if something happens during the game to our only goalie? So as the telecast began, the message went out over the airwaves. If Mike Vernon happens to be watching the game, he was needed at the arena immediately. Vernon would be the backup. According to folklore, Vernon had been settling in to watch the game with some friends when he heard the announcement. And suddenly everything changed. Instead of watching the game on Television, he was going to see all of the action from the Calgary bench. And what better place could there be to watch a hockey game.
Vernon went on to have a great NHL career with Calgary, Detroit, San Jose and Florida. But during his time in Calgary, the fans never seemed to give him the respect that he deserved. During the 1989 Flames playoff run, which culminated in the Flames winning the Stanley Cup - the highest team award in the NHL, Vernon made an incredible save in game seven, in overtime, of the first round battle against the Vancouver Canucks. Personally, I thought Vernon deserved the playoff MVP award for just that one playoff extending save. But in Calgary, it always seemed like the fans believed that the hometown boy could be better. Or maybe it was simply disbelief that a hometown boy could possibly be as good as Vernon really was.
This seems to be the message of the Psalmist to Israel. Israel struggled with their perception of the God of Jacob. After all, he was their God – ultimately maybe nothing more than the God of a bunch of former slaves from Egypt. Maybe the other gods would be better. So Israel seemed to have picked up the practice of ignoring the one true God to chase after the false gods of other nations. They never seemed to give the God of Israel the credit that he deserved for all that he had done.
And I can almost see the Psalmist shaking his head. You who know God the best should give to him the most honor. His named is renowned in Israel, or at least it should be. He is the one who led us out of slavery. He led us into the Promised Land. He has overseen the details of making a group of slaves a mighty nation. This is your God. The bottom line is that it does not matter what the nations think, all that matters is what you think.
We live in that same tension. Often we seem to take our God for granted. We refuse, or at least forget, to give God the glory that he is due. Maybe it is time for the Christian Church to rise up in recognition of our God, without whom our lives would be a shadow of what they are. In the church, his name should be great.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 77
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