Red Sox and Christmas

I was watching a show recently that had nothing to do with baseball, and someone made a reference to “The Curse of the Bambino.” And with it they mentioned the Red Sox winning the World Series once again and how the curse is broken.

Some of you may have absolutely no idea what all that is referring to, and some reading this will be die-hard Red Sox fans who know all about “The Curse of the Bambino” and its history. I got to wondering what folks watching that show thought about the comment.

I can’t imagine there are very many folks living up here who haven’t heard something about “The Curse.” Most folks know that the Red Sox hadn’t won the World Series in a long time before they finally won in 2004. And a good number of folks know that “The Bambino” is a reference to Babe Ruth. And most adults have heard of Babe Ruth. So most folks have some understanding of this part of Red Sox history.

But how many know what the connection is between the Red Sox and that famous Yankee slugger Babe Ruth? Do they know that the curse was supposedly the result of the Red Sox selling their best player at the time, Babe Ruth, to a hated rival, the New York Yankees? And if they know all that, do they know why Babe Ruth’s contract was sold?

Before Ruth’s contract was sold, the Red Sox were a powerhouse. They won the World Series 5 times, the most of any club at the time. But then the owner of the Boston Red Sox developed a new interest. He decided he wanted to produce a Broadway play. So he sold Ruth’s contract to the Yankees in order to finance the production of “No, No, Nanette”. Without Ruth, the Red Sox floundered, and went 86 years without a World Series championship.

So what do the Red Sox and The Curse of the Bambino have to do with Christmas? Just this – almost everyone knows Christmas is the time folks celebrate the birth of Jesus. And most know that Jesus and Christianity are intertwined. But how much more do they know of the story?

Perhaps they know Jesus as God’s gift to the world. That he was born in a stable. Do they know Jesus as God incarnate; God come into the world in human form? That he was born to die? Do they know that Christmas means nothing without Easter?

One of the well loved Christmas Eve services is Nine Lessons and Carols. My church often celebrates a modified shortened version of this service at our candlelight service. It tells the story of Jesus' birth through scripture readings and Christmas carols. And it begins with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden. And it recounts their Fall in sin.

Christmas begins with humanity’s turning away from God’s perfect ways. The story of the birth of Jesus begins with Adam and Eve’s changing their focus onto their own desires, and choosing disobedience.

In 1918 one could almost say that the Red Sox were perfect. They pretty much had it all. And then the owner’s focus changed. He no longer cared about the things of baseball, but was seduced by the bright lights of the stage. And he sold the most precious of all his baseball holdings to take a flyer on a racy little musical. And so was born the sad tale of the Red Sox and their curse.

Adam and Eve’s focus changed. They were seduced by a false freedom, and sold their precious place in God’s perfect creation for a fleeting taste of what they thought was freedom and equality with God. But instead they found themselves bound in sin, and we with them. But Jesus came, born in a stable, born in utter weakness and lowliness to redeem us, and save us from ourselves.

Red Sox fans are still cheering since the team’s second World Series victory in the last 3 years confirms the curse of Babe Ruth is broken. In the Babe of Bethlehem the curse of sin is broken. May we who celebrate Jesus' birth be cheering all 12 months of the year singing “Joy to the world … he comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.”

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. – Galatians 4:4-7

Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox and do a little preaching.

Christmas blessings to all from the Wake of the Flood