A flying beer can and the Lombardi Trophy

Philadelphia Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman was hit by a flying beer can during the team’s Super Bowl victory parade last Friday. The impact drew blood while he was riding on a float down Broad Street.

When Roseman spoke to Eagles fans at the end of the parade, he addressed the cut on his forehead. Holding the Lombardi trophy in one hand and a victory cigar in the other, the general manager shouted into the microphone, “I bleed for this city!”

Now, he has applied for a trademark called “Bleeding Bird LLC,” planning to develop a clothing line around the phrase “I bleed for this city.”

“I don’t play for the expectations of man”

In other news, Eagles star wide receiver A J Brown visited ten-year-old Trey Howard in the hospital after the Super Bowl, Lombardi trophy in hand. You may remember that Trey shielded his baby sister when a medical jet crashed in northeast Philadelphia some weeks ago, but his bravery resulted in a severe head injury and emergency brain surgery. Prior to the Super Bowl, Brown responded to Trey’s courage with the promise, “I’m going to see you when I get back. Hopefully with some hardware. Playing for you on Sunday my man.”

Brown did in fact win some “hardware” when his team defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LIX. Then he kept his promise to Trey, visiting him in the hospital with gifts from the Eagles along with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Trey’s mother described Brown as humble, sitting and talking to her son for about thirty minutes. Trey asked about the Eagles’ great running back Saquon Barkley, so Brown called Barkley to chat with Trey as well. Trey’s father called their time with Brown “iconic moments.”

Christians shouldn’t be surprised by Brown’s compassion. He has made his faith public over the years, stating, “I play for God. I don’t play for expectations of man. I play this game because God has given me the ability to play this game, and doing my best is giving my due diligence back to him.”

God redeems all he allows

Roseman and Brown illustrate, though in disparate ways, a key principle in relating to our fallen world. I often state that “God redeems all he allows.” By this, I mean that our all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving Father must know all that happens, respond to it in his omnipotence, and want only the best for us.

As a result, he redeems for the greater good all that he allows or causes.

We may not understand such redemption on this side of eternity, but one day we will (1 Corinthians 10:13). In the meantime, we can look for our Father’s hand in all we experience, knowing that he is working for his glory and our good.

Now to my point: our redemptive God invites us to join him in redeeming all we experience as well.

As we work, God works. As his hands and feet, we are the “body of Christ” continuing his earthly ministry today (1 Corinthians 12:27).

One way we can effectively fulfill this calling is by looking for practical ways to make a positive difference in the world around us. We can see needs as invitations and obstacles as opportunities. We can look for ways to use our gifts, talents, abilities, and experiences to redeem the challenges we face, meeting felt needs to meet spiritual needs and using our days for eternity.

“Their need does not constitute your call”

There is a balance here, to be sure.

Some years ago I was going through a time of significant discouragement as I felt myself completely inadequate to the tasks and opportunities before me each day. A very wise friend who had been through very helpful therapy in treating his depression told me something I’ve not forgotten: “Their need does not constitute your call.”

He was right. We are not called to meet every need. Nor can we. Compassion fatigue is a real issue; the more concern we feel for others, the greater the emotional burden we carry as a result. If grief is the price we pay for love, the more we love, the more we grieve.

At the same time, some needs are our call. Some open doors are intended for us. Some hurts are our invitation to help. 

When we act in redemptive ways for others, we find ourselves blessed, strengthened, and encouraged as well.

The key is simple: We walk through each day asking the Lord to direct us to the needs that are our call. We ask him to “break our heart for what breaks his heart” and attend to our emotions as a result. We sense when we are being led to particular people and challenges. We pray for wisdom to discern open doors.

Then we step out by faith, trusting that God will work through us to do far more than we could do alone for him. Frederick Buechner was right: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Meeting God in East Malaysia

I spent the summer before my senior year of college serving as a missionary in East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. Before I left, my pastor gave me a devotional book in which he inscribed the words,

“The will of God never leads where the grace of God cannot sustain.”

I had some very challenging experiences during that summer, battling loneliness and struggling to feel I was making a difference in lives so different from my own. But at every point, I knew I was where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to be doing. And I found my pastor’s words to be true.

If you will follow your Father’s lead today, you’ll experience his grace. And you, and those you influence, cannot be the same.

This is the promise and the invitation of God.