Jesus isn't a fan of the band wagon

My father’s birthday is on Dec. 10. This year, God willing, he will be ninety-seven years old. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot from him. One thing he gave me was an appreciation for sports.

In his younger years, my father was somewhat of a local legend. He loved baseball. In fact, after graduating from high school, he went on to baseball school in Oregon. What followed was a try out with a semi-professional team. Unfortunately, my father was one of the final three cuts, just missing out on making the permanent roster. World War II soon followed and he enlisted in the Navy.

Dad was never a bandwagon sports fan. When he followed the Mariners, he did so faithfully. It didn’t matter if they were a perpetual losing team.

What mattered was that they were our team. So, through thick and thin, I learned about being a loyal sports fan. Others would lose interest, but that didn’t matter. What did matter was that we would always root for them to win, even in the face of long-suffering seasons.

When the Mariners turned things around and finally became a winning team, many people jumped onto the bandwagon. It was easy to root for a winning team. However, where would they be if the team once again struggled mightily? Would they stick around or find something else to occupy their time? I would guess that it would be the latter.

Jesus was very popular in the beginnings of his ministry. Plenty of people jumped onto that bandwagon. Would you blame them? There was talk of him being the Messiah. He was backing this up with performing some miraculous things. For example, he fed thousands with bread and fish. Who would turn down a free meal like this?

However, when he became popular he told people some hard things. He said that he was going to suffer, be killed, and then raised from the dead. He also told those that followed him that they should take up their own crosses and follow him. This turned a lot of people off and they jumped off the bandwagon. He became far less popular.

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not always easy. In fact, it can be quite hard. It means doing the right things for the right reasons, which may not make you so popular.

Walter is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church and has served as parish pastor for more than 25 years.