Intercession of Saints and Sports-Review of Bible Study Week 1

Intercession of Saints Using Sports

In order to explain 1Tim. 2:5 correctly, that is, the saints are go-betweens or mediators, not to take the place of Christ, but because of Him, some sports may be in order.

Imagine that you’re at a hockey game and the Washington Capitals are playing the New Jersey Devils. The game is tight with a 0-0 score in the 3rd period with only twenty seconds left. Both teams have been playing their hearts out. The Capitals get the puck with twenty seconds left and they pass the puck to Alex Ovechkin. He shoots and scores the winning goal right before the buzzer. The crowd goes wild!!!!

Or if you’re not a hockey fan, imagine you’re at a gymnastics’ meet. Your team has done vault, uneven bars, and the balancing beam, but are tied for first place before the last event, floor exercises. You all have worked hard and send your best athlete, Shannon Miller, to the floor. She does some amazing stunts and ends with a triple back flip with a remarkable tuck right at the corner of the mat. She ends up winning the meet and getting Team USA the gold medal.

Now in both of these instances you can say that Alex Ovechkin or Shannon Miller won the game or meet individually. They are some of the best at what they do and so when the team needed someone dependable, they went to their superstars. It is the same with the saints. We entrust our prayers to them because we know they are good at what they do, loving God and being a go-between or mediator. James 5: 16 tells us this, “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”

So we see that an individual person wins the game or meet, but at the same time, we have to ask, "Who does the individual person win for?" It is for the team, and it is only for the team that they play and because they are part of the team, that they even have the opportunity to win the game. Could you imagine me running out on the ice (well I’d probably slip) and throwing the puck in the net or trying to do a flip to get points to win the gymnastics’ meet? Then even worse, saying I won the game for the team? That would be crazy!! It is the same to think that the saints by themselves are the answers to our prayers. They have powerful prayers because they are part of God’s team, those who wear the Capital JC (Jesus Christ)on there souls and whose opponents are the devils.

So just as in hockey and gymnastics where both the individual and the team win because of the efforts of one person, so too with the saints in Christ. It is not either the Saints or Christ any more than it is Alex Ovechkin or the Capitals or Shannon Miller or Team USA. The saints want to help us because they, like us, belong to the same team of Christ. Thus, even if they assist us to score the winning goal or do that winning flip, we all, as the Church or body of Christ win.

So with the intercession of the saints let us always follow the words of St. Paul, “Therefore, since we are all surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:1-2)