What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you find your face attractive? Do you know that God purposely, lovingly, and carefully created you? King David expressed it the following way:
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:13-14
Your eyes, your brain, your heart, your muscles, your organs, your nerves, your fingernails, your eyelashes, your smile… You are not only wonderfully complex, but you were also planned by your heavenly Father before you were even born.
Crowds flock to the stadium – the “football temple”. The teams sit in the dressing rooms and put on their jerseys in the uniform colors. Then finally! – The teams run in onto the “sacred turf“while the whole stadium rises to its feet and raises its fan scarf to the sky. Everyone sings the anthem fervently – goosebumps.
Sometimes these rituals at a football match remind me of a church service, a kind of substitute religion. People seem to long to be part of something bigger. He wants to identify with something that gives him meaning. As if our heart knows something that remains hidden from our earthly eyes.
So we humans tend to give created things a divine status. Our life, with all our resources, is based on what we have made our highest. So many things can become a kind of religion for us.
Worshipping God means giving him the highest place in our lives. To give it the place it deserves. When God is the axis around which our lives revolve, order, peace and joy come into our hearts.
Menschenmassen strömen ins Stadion – den «Fussball-Tempel». Die Teams sitzen in den Garderoben und ziehen sich die Trikots in den einheitlichen Farben über. Dann endlich! – Die Teams laufen ein, auf den «heiligen Rasen», während das ganze Stadion sich erhebt und den Schal zum Himmel streckt. Alle singen inbrünstig die Hymne – Gänsehaut.
Manchmal erinnern mich diese Rituale eines Fussballspiels an einen Gottesdienst, an eine Art Ersatzreligion. Der Mensch scheint sich danach zu sehnen, Teil von etwas Grösserem zu sein. Er will sich mit etwas identifizieren, das ihm Bedeutung gibt. Als wüsste unser Herz etwas, das unseren irdischen Augen verborgen bleibt.
Wir Menschen neigen also dazu, geschaffenen Dingen einen göttlichen Status zu verleihen. Unser Leben, mit all unseren Ressourcen, richtet sich nach dem, was wir zu unserem Höchsten gemacht haben. So können uns viele Dinge zu einer Art Religion werden.
Gott Anzubeten bedeutet ihm den höchsten Platz in unserem Leben zu geben. Ihm den Platz zu verleihen, der ihm zusteht. Wenn Gott die Achse ist, um die sich unser Leben dreht, kommt Ordnung, Friede und Freude in unser Herz.
Der Fussball schafft es, Menschen aus den unterschiedlichsten Kontinenten, Nationen und Kulturen zu vereinen. Tausende Menschen strömen in diesen Tagen, ausgerüstet mit der Flagge ihrer Nation ins Stadion, um ihre Mannschaft leidenschaftlich anzufeuern. So unterschiedlich die Kulturen, Sitten und Religionen der vielen Menschen auch sind, in den bevorstehenden 90 Minuten fokussieren sich alle vereint auf den Fussball. Alles andere scheint in diesem Moment unwichtig und nebensächlich.
Wenn ich die Menge sehe, in der alt und jung, reich und arm, Frau und Mann gemeinsam voller Enthusiasmus und Emotionen ihre Mannschaft anfeuern, hoffen und jubeln, erinnert mich das an einen Bibeltext im Buch der Offenbarung (Offenbarung 7,9-12).
Dort beschreibt Johannes eine Vision, in der Gott ihm den Himmel zeigte. Er sah eine grosse Menschenmenge, die niemand zählen konnte, aus jeder Nation der Erde. Und sie standen gemeinsam vor Gott und beteten ihn an.
Vor Gott sind wir alle gleich. Unabhängig von unserer Herkunft, unserem Geschlecht oder unserem sozialen Status. Gott lädt dich persönlich ein, Teil dieser vielfältigen und lebendigen Menschenmenge zu sein.
Jesus sagt: «Glaubt an Gott und glaubt an mich! Denn im Haus meines Vaters gibt es viele Wohnungen.»
Football manages to unite people from the most diverse continents, nations and cultures. These days, thousands of people, equipped with their nation’s flag, flock to the stadium to passionately cheer on their team. As different as the cultures, customs and religions of the many people are, in the 90 minutes ahead they will all be united in their focus on football. Everything else seems unimportant and secondary at this moment.
When I see the crowd, where old and young, rich and poor, women and men cheer on their team together full of enthusiasm and emotion, it reminds me of a Bible text in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 7:9-12).
There John describes a vision in which God showed him heaven. He saw a great crowd that no one could count, from every nation on earth. And they stood together before God and worshipped him.
We are all equal before God. Regardless of our origin, our gender or our social status. God personally invites you to be part of this diverse and vibrant crowd.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
