We have endured a year like no other [caveat – in OUR lifetimes]. In addition to all the truly important matters that have suffered during the Pandemic – lives lost, businesses closed, the economy shattered, people isolated from human contact, and the list goes on – we have also missed out on other, less important, but still significant things, such as sporting events. For instance, 2020 will forever be remembered as the year without “March Madness”.
You know – at the end of the college basketball regular season, the top 64 college basketball teams in America are invited to “The Dance”. Those 64 teams then play 63 games [I know; it’s actually more if you count the crazy “play-in games”, but, whatever], and the final team left standing is the National Champion. There are moments of agony and moments of ecstasy; there are moments of glory – a buzzer-beater for the win; and there are moments of pain – calling a timeout when your team has no more timeouts, resulting in a loss and your name being etched forever in basketball infamy. Some games are nail-biters, coming down to the very last shot; and some games are wipe-outs from the very start. Every game is televised somewhere, and, at least for some, it is “must-see TV”.
And finally, it’s back! The games start this week. My own alma mater, Abilene Christian University is back in “The Dance” for the second time in history! LSU is also back in “The Dance”. Who will win? What unforgettable moments will unfold this year? Have you filled out your brackets yet?
On Sunday, Matthew called it, “the greatest sporting event of the year.” Not all agreed with that assessment, but it’s certainly got to be right up there near the top of the list. Matthew then used the subject of “The Dance” to talk about some of the wisdom of the man who is, without doubt, the greatest college basketball coach of all time – John Wooden – who coached the UCLA Bruins to 10 National Championships, including 7 in a row from 1966 – 1973.
What does it take to reach such a level as a coach? A fairly famous NFL coach [Bum Phillips] described a great coach as a guy who could take his players and beat yours, and then take your players and beat his. [He actually said this in a much more colorful way that I cannot even begin to spell, but you get the idea.] Coach Wooden probably fit this description pretty well.
Imagine if you will, being a high school player personally recruited by Coach Wooden to join his team during those Championship years. Even though you are probably the best basketball player in your city, and maybe the best basketball player in your state, and have already accomplished amazing things in your athletic career, you are probably in complete awe as you walk into the basketball facility at UCLA for the first time as a freshman. Of course, you know all about the string of National Championships, but, as you walk by the trophy room and see all the Championship hardware, and realize that this Coach personally wants you to help keep this amazing string of excellence going, you are a little overwhelmed with the weight of what is expected of you.
And now, finally, it is time for the first practice session for this year’s team. You gather in the locker room with the other freshmen and the returning upper-classmen. You are confident, yet apprehensive. What will happen today? What will this famous coach say to begin the preparations for another year of basketball excellence? Will he immediately dive into the elements of the pick-and-roll play? Will he pepper the freshmen with questions about their understanding of the lesser-known rules of the game? Will he work on the intricacies of the 1-2-2 defense?
Then, the great man enters the room. The silence almost overwhelms you as you wait to hear his first words. Then, he speaks – “Gentlemen. Take off your shoes and socks.” You can hardly believe your ears. You can hardly believe your eyes as every upper-classman immediately removes their shoes and socks. You make eye contact with the other freshmen, and then, you also remove your shoes and socks.
The silence thickens. All eyes are now on Coach Wooden, who has also removed his shoes and socks. But you cannot believe his next words: “Gentlemen – this is how you put on socks.” And, as you watch, the greatest college basketball coach of all time slowly and carefully puts a pair of socks on his feet. “Now, you try”, he says.
Your mind is spinning. This cannot be happening.
But it is happening. And no one is laughing. All your team mates are putting on their socks just the way the coach has shown. So, you put on your socks that same way too.
Then, the greatest college basketball coach of all time shows you how to lace up and tie your shoes.
And I am not making this up.
I’m not sure that this yearly routine of teaching young men how to put on socks and shoes is what made Coach Wooden the greatest college basketball coach of all time. But this shows how important he believed that mastery of the most basic of fundamentals is to achieving lasting success.
For the last few weeks at church, we’ve been talking about some pretty basic things related to living as followers of Christ. Things like rejoicing in the love of God. Things like loving others and serving others. Not very deep, right? Things we already know, right? Almost a waste of time, right?
Yes; and there are certainly matters that are far deeper - How does God exist as Three-In-One? What about Predestination? Why does God allow suffering? These, and other similar things, are issues that we can, and sometimes do, get caught up in trying to resolve. And there are times when we need to delve into such weighty matters, just as I am sure Coach Wooden eventually got around to teaching the intricacies of things like the “diamond and one defense”.
But maybe it doesn’t hurt to occasionally go back and try to get a handle on the very basics of the life we are called to live as followers of Christ. Maybe it doesn’t hurt to say and believe, as did the great Theologian, Karl Barth, that his theology could be summed up in one sentence: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Maybe it doesn’t hurt to figure out how to put on our socks and shoes before we go to “The Dance”.
Shepherd | Ambrose Ramsey
