Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

This month, many of us are deeply infected with a serious social illness called "March Madness^®". Some consider this "madness" to be fully as debilitating as mad cow disease, the Asian flu, sleeping sickness, or other pandemics. Originating in small towns as well as large cities, this seasonal "madness" spreads rapidly across the land and then disappears almost as quickly. It focuses on young adults, although males are much more susceptible to its ravages than are females. Symptoms include fatigue, eye strain, and sudden outbreaks of screaming and groaning. In the most severe cases, the victims’ faces or upper torsos turn red, blue, purple, or other school colors. The federal government reports that, this year alone, the preliminary regional manifestations and the final national outbreak of this "madness" will cause a decline in worker productivity of almost $900 million – and cause millions of ordinary people to begin jumping into pools.

Until recently, this "madness" was restricted to the United States, and could be characterized as what medical anthropologists call a "culture-specific syndrome," However, in recent years, a significant correlation has been found between the increase in the number of very tall foreign immigrants and the spread of "March Madness^®" in many of their home nations, especially in Europe and Africa. This spread has been facilitated by modern technology that has permitted this "madness" to jump our national borders and become visible in countries around the world.

Despite its being so widespread, very few of us know that the phrase "March Madness"^® is a registered trademark of the March Madness Athletic Association, L.L.C. ("MMAA"), a holding company formed in the year 2000 by the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") and the Illinois High School Association ("IHSA"). Both the NCAA and the IHSA long have used the phrase "March Madness"^® to describe their basketball tournaments.

The phrase "March Madness^®" was first used in 1939 by Mr. Henry V. Porter, an official of the Illinois High School Association in an article for its magazine, in which he declared, "A little March madness may complement and contribute to sanity and help keep society on an even keel." In 1942, he authored a poem entitled "Basketball Ides of March," containing the lines "A sharp-shooting mite is king tonight/The Madness of March is running." The phrase had no wider currency until used in 1982 by then CBS broadcaster Brent Musberger during an NCAA tournament game.

In a judicial decision rendered in February 2003, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, determined that the phrase "March Madness^®" is a valuable property subject to trademark protection. The Dallas-based defendants, Netfire, Inc. ("Netfire") and Sports Marketing International, Inc. ("SMI") were found guilty of trademark infringement. As a result, they were enjoined from using the phrase "March Madness^®" for their own profit and were required to surrender to MMAA a web domain called http://www.marchmadness.com [for details, see http://www.ncaa.org/releases/miscellaneous/2003091501ms.htm]

Perhaps it is more than coincidental that "March Madness ^®" occurs each year during the Lenten Season leading up to Easter. Both involve a great deal of prayer, pious hopes, and suffering – and even a measure of hate and fear. While Lent has a much longer history, "March Madness^®" may be overcoming its historical disadvantage. The passion that many people feel for their favorite teams is much more audible and visible than is the passion for Lent and Easter manifested by most modern Christians – including Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and traditional Protestant denominations like Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. While some Christians are still eager to travel great distances to attend special Passion Plays, such as the famous once-a-decade performances in Oberammergau, Bavaria [Germany], many Christians -- especially those of an Evangelical persuasion – never have participated in or witnessed a Passion play performance.

"March Madness^®" and the Lenten Season offer very different perspectives on the idea that human existence is no more than a game to be played and that all of life comes down to one winner and many losers. One of the major side effects of "March Madness^®" is a great increase in wagering, estimated by some experts as a major share of the $350 billion bet this year alone – an amount roughly equivalent to what the U.S. has spent on the War with Iraq in four years. Such betting, whether done legally in Las Vegas or informally in an office or neighborhood pool, runs counter to the Christian perspective that we should not gamble away the resources that God provides us to meet our needs. Remember the case of the Prodigal Son (see Luke 15: 1-32) about which Julie preached last week.

In fact, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a long history of opposition to all forms of gambling as an abdication of stewardship. A 1950 statement described gambling as "an unchristian attempt to get something for nothing or at another's expense." In this context, perhaps a useful penance for Lent would be giving up the addiction known as "bracketology," i.e., betting on "March Madness^®".

Consider the structure of "March Madness^®" From some 200 NCAA Division I basketball teams, the tournament begins with 65 teams, each seeded according to their season records and their RPI (Ratings Percentage Index). During the first week, the 65 are reduced to the Sweet Sixteen. In the following week, these 16 teams are cut down to the Final Four. In the third and final week, a single national champion emerges.

In contrast, the Lenten Season begins with a time when all of us Christians can express our common humanity before God – "dust to dust" – by practicing the humility of Ash Wednesday. As the weeks of Lent proceed, we focus on the story of Jesus as he moves toward the Passion and the Resurrection. Rather than leaving millions of true believers disappointed, as happens in "March Madness^®", Jesus moves toward final victory on behalf of all of us. Through his Passion and Resurrection, Jesus turned upside down the entire concept of hierarchy and "bracketology." He blessed the poor and the hungry; those who weep; and those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed. And he said "woe to you" to those who are rich; to those who are full and laughing now; and to those about whom all speak well.

Just imagine if Jesus were filling out his brackets for "March Madness^®", he surely would pick the lowest seeds to triumph over the highest seeds – in effect, turning the seedings and RPI upside down.

During this time when the commercial purposes of "March Madness^®" and the Christian values of Lent are so contested, we have a wonderful opportunity to provide our neighbors and our co-workers with a distinctively Christian witness. While others are acting just a little crazy from "March Madness^®", we can demonstrate that the grace of God is more critical to our lives than is any success we may have in an office pool focused on tall young men running around in shorts.

At the same time that we can deplore the widespread gambling and other negative side effects associated with "March Madness^®", we also can see in the 64 games that make up this mega-event a sense of dedication and zeal that even the apostle Paul would have admired.

In this morning’s epistle lesson, we hear Paul write to the Christians in the town of Philippi about his willingness to suffer any kind of loss – even the loss of his own life – to obtain victory in Christ. In Philippians 3:12-14, Paul proclaims,

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Throughout his letters, Paul often resorted to sports analogies. He appreciated the discipline of sports, the work involved in pursuing victory, the dedication of one’s whole body, mind, and spirit to the event. The coincidence of "March Madness ^®" and the Lenten Season offer each of us a goal toward which we can move in our pursuit of final victory. Both athletics and the Christian life demonstrate the importance of working together with others who are like-minded. A single "superstar" does not ensure victory in sports – just recall the wonderful performance of the National Player of the year, first-year student-athlete Kevin Durant, whose University of Texas team was eliminated in the second round of the tournament.

In contrast, we who believe in the Passion and Resurrection are lifted up to the victory stand by the unique superstar, Jesus Christ. Like Paul, we are confident that a faithful Christian life means being focused on the goal of living our lives in a manner worthy of Jesus Christ. We strive to place our lives on a higher plane as we are transformed by God’s love. Thus transformed, our goals no longer focus on personal gain, but go beyond ourselves as we strive for justice and seek to love others, even those whose teams win when ours lose.

Paul says that he will "press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." We, too, can make a similar personal commitment, but we can do even more. As a team of faithful believers, we can do so much more than could an itinerant apostle. Striving together toward our common goal in Christ, all of us can "press on" more effectively than could any one person –even someone like Paul.

So, let us work together during this Lenten Season to lift our game to a new height. Let us work together to be aggressive in our witness on behalf of our champion, Jesus Christ. And let us work together to transform the world, even if it takes a full-court press. Amen.

© 2007 Van Kemper(e-mail: rkemper@trinitypresdallas.org)