Pastor John Van Sloten

This afternoon I’ve been pre-posting Twitter and Facebook best of’s from 2010.  Since this article is no longer available online, I thought I’d repost it here -  it was the most well timed editorial I’ve written - published in the Vancouver Sun three days before Canada won the Men’s Hockey Olympic gold. 

[TITLE]  “Hallowed be Thy Game” 

This Sunday a sacred ritual will play out. 

 And the faithful will gather from sea to sea to sea. Congregating on the edges of our couches, eyes glued to our sets, we’ll get caught up in an ecstasy; lost in a glory. And for a few rapturous moments we’ll experience what can only be described as heaven on earth.  

 With glowing hearts we’ll vicariously enter into a larger story; something bigger than ourselves. We’ll clasp our hands in prayer with visions of victory. If only we believe.   On this most hallowed day – God willing – our Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey Team will go for gold.  And for a brief magical moment hockey will be holy.

 In recent years many have made the connection between spirituality and sport. Some claim that sport is the new religion.  They may not be far off.  Think about it, where will most Canadians experience feelings of transcendence this Sunday, in a third row pew near a stained glass window or in the lower bowl at Canada Hockey Place as Sydney Crosby blasts one home?

 Where will we experience vibrant community, at church or with a group of family and friends at our local pub? Where will we celebrate the gift of our amazing human bodies; our astonishing stick handling capacities, our flying down the boards legs and our world class play-making minds? Where will we most effectively learn how to grind it out and persevere, work through our losses or finish well?

 Surely this Sunday is much more than just a game. This gold medal match is a microcosm of a broader cultural shift from the institution of church to sport; especially here in Canada.  And the all-too-human traits we’re expressing are, in fact, deeply spiritual. Where else do we express this much faith, hope and worship?

 Which makes you wonder, why does this game matter so much?  What’s going on inside of us? What are we searching for?

 When I posed the question to Globe and Mail sports writer Roy MacGregor, he said, “Canadians aren’t known for much, even the things we should be known for. Americans say basketball was invented in Springfield (it was, but BY A CANADIAN). They say the telephone was invented there (it wasn’t — but HERE, BY A CANADIAN). We invented hockey and no one disputes this. We embraced it as our national game and we are one of a few countries where only one game matters above all others, hockey. The Olympics gives us the chance to have the world notice that Canadians truly own this game they invented…  Our specific yearnings and desires are simple… hockey, I believe, allows Canadians to show the world the face Canadians wish the world to see in Canada: resilient, tenacious, teamwork[ing], hardworking, determined, filled with heart, ultimately triumphant — and yet humble in victory (After the wild piling on and cheering, of course).”

 Amen to that. 

 What country wouldn’t want this kind of recognition?  Everyone yearns to be known for who they really are. It’s an innate human desire – and it’s now playing out for scores of countries on Vancouver’s global stage. Where does that desire come from?  Why is it there? 

 When I read MacGregor’s words, they reminded me of God’s foundational calling for humanity, to “be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth…” (Genesis 1:28).  In the Judeo-Christian worldview, it’s understood that a big part of that “filling” involves the creation of culture.  And a big part of culture is sport.  So when Canadians invent a game like hockey, we’re doing a good godly thing; something unique to our cultural, sociological and geographic context.

 When we come up with a cool game like this – conceived in a land of ice – we’re creating something that, in a sense, only we could create.  Hockey is a unique product of Canada’s divine cultural calling (one of its best). 

This game is part of what God created us for, a cultural gift that we made, mastered, and now share with the world.  And it’s a gift that gives us life.

We’re made for that sense of awe we feel when Patrick Marleau threads a tape-to-tape pass to an on the fly Joe Thornton, who then softly feeds the puck to Danny Heatley who one-times it into the top corner.  We’re made for that head shaking sense of disbelief we feel after Roberto Luongo miraculously stonewalls yet another opponent. We’re made for that feeling of pride in knowing that these are our boys, playing our game, in front of the world – in front of God.

 So when we experience the game this Sunday, perhaps we’re doing what we should be doing on a Sunday; honouring God through the celebration of one of his best cultural creations; the game of hockey (courtesy of those Canadians).

This Sunday over 1 billion people from around the world will tune into the final match of the World Cup.  Why?  What is it about this sporting event that so captures the global imagination?

 According to Nelson Mandela (and he should know), it’s all about the unity.  “[The World Cup] symbolizes the power of football to bring people together from all over the world, regardless of language, the colour of one’s skin, political or religious persuasion.”   Nelson Mandela, in a message to the FIFA congress, Johannesburg.   And it’s this mystical unifying power that makes the beautiful game most attractive.

 Sure, there’s the sheer joy of the sport, the vicarious thrill of victory, the unparalleled power of a footballer’s leg, and force-of-nature playmaking skills of athletes like the Netherland’s Arjen Robben or Germany’s Miroslav Klose.  But in this tournament there’s something more.  

The National Geographic’s Sean Wilsey captures it best, “What makes the World Cup most beautiful is the world, all of us together. The joy of being one of the billion or more people watching 32 countries abide by 17 rules fills me with the conviction, perhaps ignorant, but like many ignorant convictions, fiercely held, that soccer can unite us all.”

Deep down we all want this.

 We long to live in a world that operates the way it ought to; where nations are allowed to be fully and uniquely themselves – nationally, ethnically, religiously, socio-economically – while still singing their anthems side by side in the stadium of life.  African Vuvuzelas buzzing over Britain’s, God Save the Queen, and Germany’s chart topping, ‘Schland oh Schland’! 

 We yearn for a world where the playing field is truly level, where a poor boy from Uruguay can become a global superstar, where a third world Ghana can again defeat a first world United States – this time  during a G20 meeting!

 We crave the kindness and humanity of a Muslim Iranian football squad that brings pre-game flowers to a Catholic Mexican goaltender who has just lost his mother, as they did in 2006.

We’re desperate for a force that can cause wars to cease, just as qualifying for the World Cup tournament did for the Ivory Coast in that same year.

And deep inside we want to believe that there really is ‘one thing’ that can unite us all. We hope against hope that there is some greater force for good that can capture our imaginations; that can cause us to take our eyes off of our limited, sometimes selfish selves, and allow us to see the freedom of an unbounded bigger picture.

We want to be a part of something significant, something larger than life, something beautiful!

In a world that is rife with sectarian violence, terrorized by the ever elusive evil of racism, plagued by wicked forces of poverty and illness, strained by excessive anxiety and stress, bogged down by boredom and ennui, and deeply searching for a greater meaning – a world that’s lost its ability to play – we long for a better reality; for a new way of life.

 The World Cup offers a pointer to this possibility (even with all of its fallibilities). It ignites the child within and dares it to step on the field and play again, to move past the ubiquitous cynicism that says, ‘Impossible;’ …to have faith.

The World Cup begs us to grow young again, and dares us to dream of the possibility of glory, to believe that everyone has a chance and deserves to play the game.  Children from around the world are now drawing this kind of inspiration from the World Cup.  Hope is being kindled in each of their young hearts.  As they take in the beauty, grandeur and passion of the sport, an all-too-human dream is growing.  One that says, “I can do that one day!” 

And perhaps, one day, they will…  lead us into a more unified, peace-filled, global future.

 Who hasn’t dreamed of playing that game? Which of us ‘often picked last sorts’ doesn’t yearn for the chance to play on that team?  The world as it should be.  An ancient Hebrew prophet once described heaven as a place where, “The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.” Zechariah 8:5

In a world where children starve in the streets, where some lose limbs, and others their very lives, this image is what, I imagine, we all hope for; simple yet beautiful.

 A beautiful game.  Heaven on earth.

Well not exactly! But I could have. After Sunday’s service on the Final Four, I asked one congregation member if he’d do a slam dunk while jumping over my 6′1″ frame. Calgary Dino’s star (and youtube celeb) Henry Bekkering said he’d try. See it here (and yes I was trying to take a photo at the same time!)…