“Because if God is for us, no one can be against us.” -Ray Lewis
Ray Lewis is the subject of plenty of jokes. And I made a few of my own throughout the game as well. But after the game we got yet another form of the traditional post-game “we did this because God wanted us to win” speech. And of course the natural next step to that is that if God wanted Ray Lewis and the Ravens to win the Superbowl that would also mean that He has something against Collin Kaepernick and the 49ers. God sure is cruel, isn’t He?
So it got me thinking about what would happen if someone were to give a more theologically accurate post-game speech:
“I’d like to thank my teammates for working hard and accomplishing this goal. We won because we didn’t get called for a holding call in the end zone that may have given San Francisco a chance at the end, and overall we just outplayed the 49ers.
“I’d like to thank God for being my guide. He sent his Son, Jesus, to shows us the way. He taught us to love our enemies (which based on the fights we saw on the field today, we could still learn from). He taught us to stay humble and learn to put others ahead of ourselves. He taught us that blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, and those who thirst for hunger and righteousness. He said blessed are the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted. He may not care much about who wins a football game, but He cares what we do with our lives off the field. Let’s make the world a better place.”
It’s just so much harder to say that before Jim Nantz pulls the microphone away.