This morning as we gather for worship, there is hype and excitement all around us … the stores have been marketing this day for weeks, the snack food aisles look like the day after Christmas shopping has finished, the predictions and analyses have all been made and now it is just the wait until kickoff tonight at 6:25 pm. It is Super Bowl Sunday … that most hyped of sports events. And so this morning, we take a look at the influence of sports on faith; faith on sports. (For those who are missing the opening news broadcasts … they will return for the last two Sundays of this series.) There is the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to sports and faith. Just think for a moment of the role sports play in our culture … of heroes, of the examples the super sports stars set, the hopes and dreams that young children have in watching their favorite sports figures. Think of the ugly when sports figures go bad. Think of the news stories you have seen detailing parents so caught up in their children's sports that they are go to terrible lengths to make their children's team win. Perhaps the worst and most bizarre being the mother who had plotted to kill her daughter's cheerleading rival.

In light of the day, I'd like to lift up two strands of thought that seem appropriate. Both are related to the gospel story for today. The first is the intersection of sports and faith at its best. Somewhat lost in all of the football hype and statistics is the faith story of Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. About his coaching philosophy Smith says: "It starts with the belief that God is the center of my life. A lot of my coaching style is based on doing what is right, trying to treat people the right way, and go from there." (2007 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved) Last year when Tony Dungy's son committed suicide he spoke openly of how his faith guided him through the heart-wrenching days. Both coaches stand out in the world of sports for the way they treat their players and coach their teams. They seem to have a firm grasp on what is truly important in an area where perspective seems often to be lost … they stand against the oft quoted sports maxim – winning is everything. Dungy and Smith are examples for those who would take seriously using their God given gifts to be an example and lead others to finding God. They have become very public in their living out this morning's gospel: "from now on you will be catching people." So, tonight as you watch the Super Bowl, pay attention to the coaches.

The second strand is that of stepping outside of the box … being willing and open to new possibilities, to be out catching people. This year's Super Bowl coaches offer one very public model for what it means to "catch people." How often do we sell ourselves short – echoing Peter's words: "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." Or as The Message reads: "I can't handle this holiness." As a church and as a people we fail to see the possibilities for living into this gospel text. Danish philosopher Soren Keirkegaard tells a parable of how the church boxes itself in. He tells of a community of ducks waddling off to duck church to hear the duck preacher. The duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go, there was no God-given task the ducks could not accomplish. With those wings they could soar into the very presence of God. Shouts of "Amen" were quacked throughout the duck congregation. At the conclusion of the service, the ducks left, commenting on what a wonderful message they had heard – and waddled back home. (Homileticsonline.com 2/8/98) As a child I loved to go out fishing – partly because you never knew what you might catch, and the possibilities in my imagination seemed endless. It was frustrating to ask my father or grandfather to take me out fishing and be told there was no point in fishing now. They knew the ebb and flow of the tides and what time of day would be best for fishing. They knew which bait to use. To them, there was simply no point in fishing when conditions weren't optimal. But I wasn't so sure of that, and always wanted to go out, and at least try. Who knew what might be caught.

But my fishing imagination aside, I confess to being a bit more like Peter … and at my worst being like the ducks who heard the Good News, yet continued waddling through life. I can only imagine Peter, the seasoned fishermen telling this upstart carpenter there was no point in dropping the nets. It simply wasn't prudent. Didn't the carpenter know that fish aren't found in the deep water like that, and at that time of day and so on. Who did he think he was trying to tell fishermen how to fish?! Someone, in commenting on this gospel passage wrote the following: "The image that strikes me in today's gospel is not the fishing but the reluctance of Simon to break out of the ordinary and the everyday ways of thinking and doing. I've always been attracted to Simon Peter because he's like so many of us – well, me at least. Despite verse ten (from now on you will be catching people) I don't think it is being suggested that our mission is to put out bait and catch unsuspecting fish who might be curious enough to nibble. I think the reading might suggest that we should be willing to set aside the familiar and be unafraid to try new waters." (Source unknown)

We are sent into the world to be the living presence of Jesus Christ to the world. We have witnessed Christ's incredible power in our lives. The examples of this year's Super Bowl coaches are a reminder to us – two people who defy the norm in their field and dare to risk, and to set an example to follow in an arena that is so often full of examples from which we cringe.

How are you being sent out to catch others? Where are you being called to risk one more try, or even to risk another failure? How are you being called out to go and do what which your common sense and knowledge tell you just shouldn't work. Remember, sometimes we are called forth and try simply because Jesus has asked us.. From this time and place God calls us forth … not to waddle timidly … but to fly abundantly. "Do not be afraid … from now on you will be catching people."