God makes a way where there is no way. Even in football games? I was ready to turn off my television and cry in my beer after Jermaine Kearse made his own version of the “immaculate reception,” planting the Seahawks’ ball just a few yards from the goal line with plenty of time to spare. And, then, a miracle occurred. It must have been providence when unknown rookie Malcolm Butler stepped in front of Ricardo Lockette to intercept Russell Wilson’s pass and insure a victory for the Patriots.
Two weeks before Butler’s catch, Russell Wilson implied that the Seahawks’ come from behind victory was God’s will, and that God had used his four intercepted passes to put an exclamation mark on the Seahawks’ miraculous win. I reflected on the theology behind Wilson’s statement in “Is God a Seahawk Fan: God’s Will, Sports, and the Randomness of Life.”
Following his Superbowl defeat, Wilson didn’t provide a theological explanation for the Patriots’ miraculous victory or his team’s loss. He was, as always, intelligent, sportsmanlike, and articulate, as he looked toward the future and blamed no one including his head coach for what most people describe mildly as a “stupid” call at that moment of the game.
I must confess I am a Patriots fan, and doubly so because the Patriots, Brady, and Belichick seldom wax theological in victory or defeat. But, as a citizen of Patriot Nation, I must also confess that though some of my fellow New Englanders might assert that “God is a Patriots Fan” and that God put the ball in Malcolm Butler’s hands as surely as God parted the waters to liberate the children of Israel from Egyptian captivity, I am not so certain that God is a Patriots fan. From a certain perspective, we can claim that in the cases of the plays by Kearse and Butler, a way was made when there appeared to be no way. When all is lost, deliverance comes in the form of parting seas, amazing catches, and intercepted footballs. But, was it entirely a God-thing?
Whether we are speaking of the Superbowl, our families, or occupations, I believe God is at work in our lives. I believe God provides us with a vision of possibilities and the energy to achieve them. God inspires us to live abundantly and joyfully, but we can as persons and communities turn toward or away from the highest possibilities. A game winning touchdown was a likely possibility after Kearse’s amazing catch. But, it was not predestined. A come from behind victory through Kearse’s “impossible” catch and a few routine runs would have been the stuff of Christian witness, and so is Butler’s game winning interception. But, God’s “gentle providence” is not linear but many outcomes are possible in everyday life and football.
Could divine providence have been at work in the Patriots’ win? An omnipresent, freedom-loving and creative God is always moving in our lives, including football games. But, notice God’s presence involves freedom and creativity and the ability to make good and bad decisions given a particular context. Pete Carroll’s call and Russell Wilson’s pass was just one of the many turning points in the game. I suspect many factors were at work in the outcome of every play and not just Butler’s interception. Pete Carroll made a decision, Wilson sought to execute it, and neither was perfect. Malcolm Butler was at the right place and the right time for him, and this coincidence became meaningful at that very moment.
My team won in a surprising way. God was present, but I suspect as inviting each player and coach to do their personal best and to be as faithful as possible to the highest values regardless of the outcome. At the end of the day, Russell Wilson’s greatest witness to Christ may be how he responds to defeat. There are, after all, no guarantees for faithful people. Jesus asserted that the sun shines and rain falls on the just and unjust alike. What is guaranteed is that God will continue to be our companion, inviting us to embody God’s highest values wherever we find ourselves. (God’s highest values were not embodied in the fist-fights that broke out following the interception, nor are they embodied in our neglect of the vulnerable, political polarization, and tendency toward institutional violence.)
In the great contests of life, Patriot and Seahawk fans would do well to remember the words attributed to Abraham Lincoln, “I don’t pray for God being on our side, but that we are on God’s side.” When the elation of victory and the depression of defeat have passed, our openness to God’s greater vision and gentle, non-coercive, providence moving in our lives is the greatest victory of all.
(For more on this vision of providence, see my book Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God.)
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In