Cheering For The Underdog- Frank Myer

 

Once again, my devotional was written by my good friend, Frank Myer! Please keep praying for me in Vietnam!

Good Morning Friends, 

Is it Christmas yet? Wow, it seems like 2020 has been hanging around for a whole year, and we’re just now starting June. For some reason it seems like I missed spring. I wonder why? Could it be because I’ve been locked up in my room? 

Anyway, we’re going to talk about underdogs this week. Not THE Underdog, that was a cartoon. We’re not talking about cartoons. 

The title emerged from a conversation I had with a friend of dad’s earlier this week. Jim was talking how much he likes watching sports. He is now watching reruns of games. He told me he even likes watching games he knows who will win. Which brought up the conversation about dad. 

Dad loved to watch football. It was his favorite sport to watch on TV. One odd quirk is he would often watch with the sound off. He didn’t like to listen to the commercials, which I understand. I did ask wouldn’t he like to hear the play-by-play? His response, “Why do I need them to tell me what’s going on? I can see what’s happening.”

When we talked on the phone during the fall more times than not, the answer to the question, “What are you doing?” was “Watching a game.” I knew what kind of game. 

I would ask dad who he was rooting for in the game. If he didn’t have a favorite, he would say, “I think I want ABC to win.” 

I would ask why? 

His response, “They’re supposed to lose.? 

Dad loved cheering for the underdog. If someone was supposed to lose, he want them to win. Why he did this I’m not sure, but I’ve heard his explanation many times over the years. 

The longer I live the more important the concept has been to me. Cheer for the underdog. 

As a kid when we learn the Bible stories and the heroes of the Bible, we see them as outstanding examples of how we should live, or people we should emulate. That’s emulate, not immolate. The immolate thing is completely different.

God often picked the underdog to complete his work. 

Deuteronomy 7 let’s us know why Israel became God’s chosen ones. It wasn’t because they were so fantastic. 

7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 

God picked the underdog. 

Speaking of dad’s have you ever thought about David’s dad. David, the one who became king. It didn’t start out so well for him. He was almost overlooked. In fact, he was overlooked, but God knew who he wanted. 

One of my favorite stories is found in 1 Samuel 16. It tells of anointing King David. Things didn’t go exactly according to plans, at least Samuel’s plan. 

Google 1 Samuel and read the chapter. 

Jesse, not of the James clan, was the dad. Samuel comes to town and tells him God has picked one of his sons to be king. 

Now imagine you’re the dad. A prophet has come to your house to let you know one of your boys will be king. Great news, right? What would you do? Would you not make sure all your boys had their showers, wore clean clothes and brushed their teeth? 

What does Jesse do? He does that with most of his sons. He leaves one out in the field. Jesse thought to himself, I am such a blessed man. One of my sons will be the next king. But of course it can’t be David, so I will leave him in the back 40 to guard the animals. 

Now imagine how David felt as he is finally called to meet Samuel. 

What would you think if you walked into a room. All your brothers are acting like they don’t know what’s going on. It was dad’s fault anyway.  Talk about awkward Thanksgiving dinner conversation. 

The point is God knew who He wanted. 

We could go on and on. Jesus picked the underdog to be the hero of his parable of the good Samaritan. 

What’s the point? 

Anybody watching the news lately? There seems to be an explosion of unrest. Actually, there is no “seems” about it. There is. 

Annie, a dear friend of mine, put it like this. “I certainly don’t condone the acts of violence or destruction, but I do understand the frustration that causes these kinds of actions. Maybe we as a nation need to listen and try to understand why they feel the way they do.” Those may not be her exact words, but the overall tone is there. She has a tender heart for people. She roots for the underdog. 

Now before you get even a part of your feathers ruffled, let me say, this response to George Floyd’s death has many layers of complexity. 

The over arching point is there is a large segment of out population who are the underdogs and they have not been treated well. We can all debate why and how until we’re out of breath. My point is we need to look for ways to root for the underdog. 

Here’s a verse you’re not going to like. How do I know that? I struggle with it, and I consider myself an ordinary, average guy. 

Philippians 2:3

 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

It follows verse 1 and 2 that tells us to be like Christ. To have his mindset. We are to have his same love. 

How do we do that? We root for the underdog. 

Let me add a little more aggravation to the situation. Ha. I came across this little nugget when reading Romans last week. Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Now to be candid, I like it when God loves me before I got my act together, assuming I do have my act together. 

The challenge is if we are to be like God, we need to love others starting now. We need to root for the underdog. 

It’s a challenge. It’s going to be hard to add a little peace to this hostile environment, but we must try to do what we can. There are many articles out there about ways to help. Find them. Read them. You won’t agree with everything you read. That’s okay. Keep reading anyway. Just start. 

Be a bright light and not a dim-wit.

Enjoy the ride,
Frank Myer

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1