Power Sunday

I remember hearing Deion Sanders (professional football player) talk about his Super Bowl experience some years ago. Super Bowl Sunday is, perhaps, the biggest day in the sporting world. 100 men meet their destiny on the evening of the Super Bowl. They've dreamed of and prepared for this 1 game their whole lives. 50 of them come out victorious. Deion Sanders was one of those 50. But, for Sanders, the accomplishment didn't satisfy. Later that very night he seriously contemplated suicide. He had reached his preferred destination only to find he'd started with the wrong dream.

All of us have dreamed of a Super Bowl of sorts. Some want Super-Power. Others want Prestige and Popularity. Still others seek Pleasure or Plenty. Many will find them to some degree. But, like Deion Sanders, they may find their dreams were wrong to begin with. Or maybe the dreams just got twisted along the way.

I really do believe we all, deep down, long for something greater than our own variation of the Super Bowl. We long for something powerful, but not the kind of power the world offers. We long for real relationships, not the fleeting popularity found with fickle friends. We long for pleasure, but not the kind that lasts mere moments. Who remembers the names of all the Super Bowl winners 10 years ago? 5? Last year?

Super Bowls come and go. There is only 1 Sunday that has stood the test of time. I believe only the empty tomb matches our original dream. Power over death. Popularity with God. The Pleasure of painless eternity. We're forgiven through His death, but we're victorious through His resurrection. The Super Bowl is the end of a false dream, the resurrection is the beginning of a dream come true.