Last night’s NBA Championship game was a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat, blood pressure raising exhibition of some outstanding professional basketball. Unlike the other games in this series, the score remained tight throughout the game, with frequent lead changes between the two teams. The talent was so evenly matched, that with under a minute remaining, the score was tied. Then, somehow, with 53 seconds left, Kyrie nailed a basket from behind the 3 point line, and the Cavs led by three. With tremendous pressure on the Warriors, Steph Curry missed his 3 point attempt at the other end of the court. The Cavs got the rebound! Then, with 10.6 seconds left in the game, LeBron was fouled under the basket and headed to the free throw line. But, LeBron fell hard on his wrist during the foul. He was writhing in pain on the floor, clutching his injured joint. As he slowly walked to the free throw line, the pain was visible on his face. Just one more point would give the Cavs a two basket advantage. So, all Cleveland fans groaned when LeBron missed the first free throw. However, he worked through his pain, and was able to score on the second free throw attempt. When the clock ran down seconds later, the Cavs still maintained their 4 point lead. They won!!
This Championship game showcased all the drama, tension, plot twists and heroic human accomplishments to fill books and films for years to come. In fact, “NBA Championship 2016 – the Musical” is probably not out of the question. Yet, for all those in Northeast Ohio, this was much more than a hard fought basketball championship. It exceeded the earning of MVP’s and Championship rings. Even setting NBA history by being the first team ever to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series in game 7 paled in comparison to an even greater accomplishment. For over 50 years, not one of Cleveland’s three professional sports teams has won a championship, a situation that has superstitiously become known to all who love sports in NE Ohio as, “The Curse”. Last night’s astounding victory over the Golden State Warriors signaled the crushing defeat of “The Curse”! In 53 seconds, the Cleveland Cavaliers did what no professional sports team in Cleveland has done in half a century. They won the championship! The “Curse” is gone.
I am not a super-fanatical sports fan, but I do enjoy watching professional sports from time to time. Of course, I root for the Cleveland teams! So, while I am not superstitious about sports, I don’t have a “lucky shirt” that makes my team win, and I don’t do any game day rituals, I have felt the fan’s pain of the long championship drought. I have often recited the required Cleveland fan’s script, “There’s always next year!”
This morning, realizing that this “sports curse” is over, I considered the many well-loved fictional stories of people under a curse being set free. Stories like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Wizard of Oz. And, in the story of the Cavaliers, as well as these other tales, I see an analogy to the gospel of the cross. For, as the Bible tells us in
Galatians 3:10-14,
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
we are all born under a spiritual curse. So, in this blog post, I will use some of my favorite curse-breaking stories, The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the Cavaliers’ 2016 Championship to illustrate what it means to have a curse removed.
People under a curse are denied something:
When the White Witch froze Narnia into the 100 years winter, the inhabitants of the land had to endure “always winter and never Christmas.” Some of the older talking animals could tell stories of a time when winter only lasted for a season, a time when Christmas was celebrated. Similarly, each season in NE Ohio seems like always the sport, yet never the championship. There are some elders in OH (older than me by the way) who still have a memory of the previous national championship 52 years ago. But, for decades and decades, the win has been denied.
In the Bible, the curse is first mentioned in Genesis 3. When sin entered the world with Adam and Eve, it brought with it a curse. Adam’s sin caused the ground to be cursed. He would toil, labor and pull weeds to produce his food for the first time. Throughout the Scripture, the curse of sin is repeated and explained until we see, in Galatians 3 that everyone who does not abide by all the laws written in God’s word carry an eternal curse. And, of course, that includes us all! This true curse is so severe that it separates us, not from a trophy, not from a holiday, but from God himself for eternity.
People under a curse need rescued:
When the wicked witch of the west ruled in OZ, she enslaved the munchkins and forced the winged monkeys to do her evil bidding. All the people lived in fear of her evil whims and cruel demands. It took a young, spirited girl from Kansas to fight against her and ultimately break the curse over OZ by pouring water on the witch. In Cleveland, the rescue came in the form of LeBron and the superb Cavaliers team that fought hard and refused to believe that the 3 to 1 win deficit was insurmountable.
Galatians 3:13 tells us that Jesus freed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Jesus’ death and resurrection was the prophesied, curse breaking miracle that removed the penalty of sin.
People freed from a curse celebrate:
Last night, NE Ohio celebrated their victory. The same exultant spirit that erupted in the Munchkins singing “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” prevailed throughout the state. Like the Narnians observing the first signs of thaw, they allowed themselves hope of future victories on the sports horizon. With a curse lifted, anything is possible. When a curse is gone, there is hope.
In the Galatians 3 passage, we read that we receive the promised spirit through faith. The righteous shall live by faith. These words are cause for rejoicing!
Romans 6:23 — “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The curse of our sin can be erased by God’s free gift!
As a believer in Christ for many years, it is easy to forget the change that God has worked in my life. Sometimes I need reminded of the curse that has been lifted from my life for eternity. As I reflect on the celebration last night with the basketball championship trophy coming to OH, I want to challenge myself to rejoice SO MUCH MORE that the penalty for my sin has been replaced with the reward of eternal life! May all my brothers and sisters in Christ rejoice with me. The curse is gone!
With Joy,
Kathleen