Fired Up!

“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
— Mark 10:31

You don’t have to be a sports fan to know that football season is ramping up. At the beginning of a new season, optimism abounds and is contagious.

For many years, I had the privilege of taking the Atlanta Falcons’ most loyal and enthusiastic fan to the annual Falcons vs. Panthers NFL football game at Bank of America Stadium.

His name is Mac.

Mac has cerebral palsy and recently celebrated his 70th birthday. His parents have died, but a loyal group of friends makes sure he’s never forgotten. They do the heavy lifting, but for reasons unknown to me, Mac insisted I take him to the Falcons games.

Each spring when the NFL schedule came out, I’d get a call from Mac.

“Hey Mike, I’m fired up!”

There was no mistaking Mac’s distinctive voice. He was letting me know the date to put on my calendar.

No good deed goes unpunished, however. Almost all those games were played in the cold and other elements of late November and December.

Mac’s story deserves more than these few ruminations about football. The way he has lived his life has taught us so much. A trip with him anywhere was a trip in the best sense of the slang.

He has always been “fired up.”

A typical Falcons game started with a quick trip to McDonald’s for lunch, followed by finding our way to our parking spot. Walking became increasingly challenging with each passing year, but the stadium crew was incredibly helpful to anyone needing assistance.

Mac was chauffeured in a wheelchair, which he turned into a one-man Falcons fan rolling cheering section.

The Panthers fans were great to Mac. They were kind and supportive, and he seemed to bring out the best virtues in everyone. It never ceased to amaze me how people were drawn to him.

He made everyone smile.

Mac cheered for every Falcons first down.
Mac stood and cheered for every Falcons score.
Mac tapped every pretty girl sitting in front of him on the shoulder.
Mac stayed until the end of every game.

The very end.

We never left early, no matter the score. And because he needed a wheelchair, we were usually the last to leave.

Last, like the-last-one-out-turns-off-the-lights last.

That’s how the “fired up” roll.

When Jesus said that many who are first would be last and the last first, He was describing a Kingdom that measures people very differently than the world does.

Mac has reminded me of that for years.

He needed help getting into the stadium, but somehow he helped everyone around him become a little more joyful, a little more patient, and a little more human.

The man being pushed in the wheelchair was often the one leading the parade.

Maybe that’s part of what Jesus was getting at.

In His Kingdom, the people we are tempted to overlook may be the very people He uses to show us what life with Him looks like.

That’s why I love using a red kite as the branding for this blog.

Jesus is in the elevation business.

And Mac?

He was usually the last one out of the stadium.

I have a feeling he knows something about being first.

Run the play. Live fired up!

Finding Our Place in the Story

Who has God placed in your life whom the world might easily overlook, and what might Jesus want you to receive and learn from them rather than simply do for them?