On December 28, 1975, in an NFC playoff game, the Dallas Cowboys trailed the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 14 to 10 with less than 2 minutes left in the game.  They were 85 yards away from scoring the touchdown they needed to win the game.  By the time there were 24 seconds remaining, they were still only half way to the goal.  On the next play, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach threw a very long pass far down the field to wide receiver Drew Pearson.  Pearson somehow held onto the ball and carried it into the end zone for the score.  After kicking the extra point, the Cowboys won the game by a score of 17 to 14.  In a press interview after the game, Staubach described the play, saying, “I threw the ball, closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.”  That phrase stuck, and now any long pass play attempted in a desperate situation in football is described as a “Hail Mary pass.”

This is the second in a series of sermons entitled “What the Church Can Learn From Football.”  Last week we established that the Christian life involves striving toward personal and corporate goals.  The personal goal in the words of John Wesley is “holiness of heart and life.”  The corporate goal is the transformation of society.  Like achieving a touchdown in football involves a series of plays; so also does the Christian life involve specific actions and strategies that move us toward our goal.

In football, a “Hail Mary” is fairly rare.  The best way to consistently score is to keep moving the ball down the field 10 yards at a time…these 10 yard increments are marked by a chain 10 yards long which is stretched out along the sidelines, marking the starting and ending points.  To win the game you have to keep moving the chains.  Woody Hayes likes moving the chains by moving the ball on the ground, a few yards at a time.  His offense was known as “three yards and a cloud of dust.”  It was a dedicated, consistent way to keep making progress toward the goal on nearly every play.

In the Christian life, we need to think in terms of “moving the chains forward” by making consistent progress with a series of regular practices that enable our growth in holiness and our effectiveness in ministry.

We are not called “Methodists” for nothing.  John Wesley believed that a methodical approach to holiness of heart and life was necessary, and he had clear ideas for what “methods” should be employed.

Holiness of heart was achieved through acts of piety.  Holiness of life and the transformation of society were to be achieved through acts of mercy.  He believed that inward holiness showed itself in outward action.  Acts of piety and acts of mercy hallmarks of the Methodist way of Christian discipleship.

The Wesley playbook for acts of piety includes the following:  searching the scripture; prayer; fasting; The Lord’s Supper; Christian conferencing/conversation; public worship; avoiding evil and doing good.  Some of these have been recently summarized as “do no harm; do good; stay in love with God.”

Acts of mercy are directed outward, for the benefit of others and toward the transformation of society.  Wesley lived in the 18^th Century, so his interests reflect his time.  He believed that Christians should be concerned with money and the poor; health, medicine and the sick; prisons and prisoners; slavery; education; war.  Isn’t it interesting that our 21^st Century interests are essentially the same?  Our United Methodist Social justice heritage – reflected today in our special offering for Human Relations Day, in our commemoration of Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and in our prayers and offerings for the suffering in Haiti reflect those interests.

The local congregation exists as a community, as an organized church in order to provide the resources and opportunities that will allow Christians to grow in holiness.  That is why we offer bible study and prayer groups and worship and times for holy conversation and guidance on the difference between good and evil.  That is why we offer mission trips and missions education and why we participate in BREAD and advocate for health care reform and for public education.  That is why we have men involved in Outside Brothers at the Marion Correctional Institution.  That is why we are gathering this afternoon with our brothers and sisters in Christ from Columbus Mennonite Church to pray for peace.

We do this because it is an offering to God…and we do it because for those who choose to participate, each one of these opportunities is potentially a means of grace…a chance to grow in love and holiness…to move the chains forward, as it were, toward the goal of a heart that is filled with the fullness of the love of God.  Wesley did not ever suggest that we choose one or two of the works of piety…he felt all were important.

The “Hail Mary” pass is a desperate measure taken when there is little time left and little hope of attaining the goal.  The term “Hail Mary” is now applied to any last minute effort with little chance of success.  From time to time, we may find ourselves throwing out a prayer and hoping God catches it…or standing near the goal line, hoping God throws us a Hail Mary and we can catch it.

But I think we might do better to look carefully at Mary’s actions in the story of the wedding at Cana of Galilee to gain inspiration for our own discipleship.  She is the one who notices the need and brings it to Jesus attention.  Those around her listen to her, and follow Jesus instructions.  And then, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.  Water is turned to wine.  And most surprisingly, it is the best wine yet.

This was the first of Jesus signs; one that resulted in faith.  If we want to grow in faith; if we want to demonstrate faith, then we can begin as Mary did – by noticing where there are needs.  We can, like Mary, bring those needs into conversation with Jesus in prayer.  We can be obedient to the commandments for discipleship that he teaches – which we discover by searching the scriptures.  We can expect extraordinary results from seemingly ordinary things.  And, as Jesus makes the best wine available, we should always give our best, too.

Just as water and stone jars were available to Jesus, all the resources needed for growing in grace and earnestly striving for goodness are available to us.  Our daily lives are the milieu in which we are called to act and believe.  In the midst of who we are, where we live, who our nearest neighbors are, what needs present themselves, what suffering and challenges and temptations confront us…God calls us to faithful engagement.  And gives us everything we need to not be overcome by adversity.  Everything we need to grow in grace.  Everything we need to do good.  Everything we need to serve others.

Life is the playing field.  The means of grace are the equipment.  We are one another’s team mates.  But whether we choose to take up the equipment; learn the plays and put ourselves in the game…that’s up to us.

Today alone presents incredible opportunities for moving the chains forward in our own faith journey.  Worship is a means of grace.  Sunday School classes are searching the scriptures.  Prayer invites attention of both mind and heart.  BREAD invites our participation.  The people of Haiti demand our attention and our financial sacrifices.  The people affected five years ago by Hurricane Katrina still need our attention.  The people at the Clintonville Community resource center call out to us.  The dream articulated by Martin Luther King Jr.  has not died – nor has it been fulfilled.  Too many African American men are in prison.  Too many African American youth are victims of violence.  Too many injustices persist.

The problems of economic and social injustice that confront us cannot be solved in any other way than by long term engagement and persistence by good people who do the right thing most of the time, who stay in the game and advance the causes that are near to the heart of God one good work at a time.  So again I remind us of what we can learn from football:  keep the goal in front of you (begin with the goal in mind that you want to grow in holiness of heart and participate in transforming the world) and keep moving the chains.  You will find that you are being made new by God’s grace with every advance in your faith journey.

As we gather today, we surely are struck by the devastation in Haiti.  It is the cruelest injustice that a fault in the earth should need to release energy in the exact place where building codes are poor or non-existent; where people are poor and have few resources; where the economy is not resilient and the infrastructure is inadequate and fragile.  It is incredibly hard to watch the suffering, to see the numbers of dead who will have no prayers of blessing said at their graves, who are forever disappeared without any record of their existence.  It is a horrible human tragedy.

I believe that the God we worship today is watching; is weeping; Is feeling the pain of every man, woman and child; the pain of every family’s loss.  I believe that the image of Christ on the cross that is part of our faith story is the image that assures us that God feels this pain.

Our own church has been very engaged in ministry in Haiti for some years.  In fact, three executives of UMCOR were in Haiti this week.  The Rev.  Sam Dixon, the head of UMCOR perished at the Hotel Montana.  Two of his colleagues were dug out of the rubble and are receiving medical care.  I have tried to be generous with my prayers for UMCOR workers and with my financial support.  When you make your gift online, you can choose West Ohio conference, Capitol Area North district and North Broadway and our congregation will receive credit for your gift as part of our mission giving for 2010.

God’s grace is present in Haiti.  People are working as fast and as efficiently as they can to bring necessary aid…and sometimes it’s not fast enough.  But God’s grace keeps pushing, persistently flowing.  And we can add to the tide of that grace.  Our prayers, our gifts, our service contribute to the movement of grace in that place in this time.  Our God is a God who does not give up on bringing life from death…that is the message of resurrection.  So we pray today with great sorrow and with great hope.