As I left for the office this morning I passed a pile of Lebron James posters torn up lying on the floor beside the garbage can. Last night I went up the street to see a neighbor who was burning a Lebron James t-shirt. The emotions in Northeast Ohio are high. For those who do not live in Northeast Ohio this is one of the most sport crazed places I have ever lived. I don't understand it because it is not very often that Northeast Ohio has a lot to cheer about (I call our Browns Backers at the church the "Browns Backer Support Group").
I have been by Lebron, I mean really close on several occasions. The closest I was ever to him was on the field at an Ohio State/Penn State game. As he walked by I called his name and tried to get him to shake my hand. One of my friends, a coach at Ohio State said, "He's just a man." I pulled back almost embarrassed because he was right and I had gotten caught up in the frenzy (today I would want to get close to him, not to shake his hand but to . . . tell him to pull his britches up, they were down almost to his knees). You thought I was going to say something else didn't you?
The attention this whole betrayal is getting is nuts. As we have been going through the book of John on Suunday mornings there have been several times the theme for the day has been fitting for what is going on around us. This Sunday is no different.
We are in John 12 where Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time. He comes in riding on a donkey and people gather around him and call him the "King." He is a man, but he is more than a man. He is the Messiah, the redeemer and the one who will bring salvation. He deserves the worship that is presented to him as he comes to fulfill his mission for the world.
That is the point here--worship. Man is has never been created to be worshipped, but to worship. We were created to lift our hands to, bow before, dance before and shout out the name of Jesus! He is the only King that deserves such a frenzy.
His decision should be noted as "The Decision." He decided to come, to die and be resurrected so we could have life.
I love one of the things Dan Gilbert wrote in his letter to the fans of Cleveland after Lebron decided to leave for Miami: "Some people think they should go to heaven but NOT have to die to get there. Sorry, but that is simply not how it works."
To get to heaven there has to be death. Jesus had to come and die the way he did so we can experience life. But not only that, we must die to ourselves and not desire to be worshipped but to humbly fall before our "King" and worship him with all our hearts, souls and minds.
Lebron is just a man who plays basketball really good. A man who will be around until another superstar takes his place.
Jesus, the real King will be around forever, he is the one who deserves to be worshipped. Everybody else is just a man--including me and you.
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