Fifty-four years ago this June, I graduated from what was then Mount Union College. A great many things have changed at Mount Union in the last half century. Not the least of which is its name. Mount is now The University of Mount Union with undergraduate and graduate academic programs.
Another significant change from 54 years ago is that the university football team has become a stand-out, nationally recognized Division III football program. The Mount Union Raiders have won 13 NCAA Division III National Football Championships. So, for a great many folks, it was not a big surprise that this past Sunday evening, January 5th, Mount Union (with a 14 – 0 record) was in the Division III, NCAA National Championship Alonzo Stagg Bowl again. This time, playing for the 2024 national title against the 14 – 0 North Central College football team.
Mount Union came away from that game being 14 – 1 on the season. In a very well played game Mount lost the national championship title match to North Central.
It is hard to lose.
One of the great things about Mount’s game this past Sunday was the fact that regardless of the final score, Mount Union was very much in the game the entire four quarters of play. Regardless of the outcome, Mount stayed in it!
It is not easy to stay in it; particularly when the outcome of whatever we are in will not be rewarded as hoped. It is hard to lose. And, depending on the opposition which has won, a loss can be devastating. The loss may carry with it consequences for those who have lost which are far more difficult to bear.
Each of us, regardless of our efforts for a more celebrative outcome has examples of dealing with a loss, a setback, a heartbreak, a great disappointment.
Regardless, it is essential that we stay in it.
Particularly when we face opposition in life as a consequence of doing good, seeking justice, and loving mercy, we must stay in it! When the opposition is so very strong and appears to be winning in all the plays which threaten the soul, erode a sense of purpose, and compromise the vibrancy of the heart, giving up, dialing down maximum effort, quitting, or cynically joining the opposition cannot be the option. We must stay in it.
It has seemingly always been the case that we human beings are our own worst enemy. We can devote ourselves to false teaching. We can get caught up in all manner of myths, superstitions, and endless genealogies (I Timothy 1:3-4). The outcome is always a tangle of controversy. So indeed, even though the opposition to a life of service – of caring for the neighbor as we do for ourselves, of acting out the way of love, of being a good word and a source of good news to the poor, the oppressed, and the folks that are so easily overlooked – is many times terrifyingly great, we must stay in it!
This is very hard work, but we cannot grow weary in well doing and doing well for others. (Galatians 6:9).
An often-quoted verse that somehow too easily and casually pops up in Christian funerals is Saint Paul’s claim to have fought the good fight and finished the race by keeping the faith (2 Timothy 4:3,4). The admonition is that at the end of all things such a statement should be able to be said of us.
It is very hard work. It is a daily grind. The opposition can look so huge – just like a 6’7” lineman who is in your 5’10” face. And the opposition can be all set to win the title.
But we have to stay in it right up until the clock runs out. Because even though the world pays little serious attention these days, there is another clock and another timekeeper who holds an eternity of purpose in store.
Stay in it.