A Bible Verse for Bengals Fans
The excitement of the Cincinnati Bengals/Tennessee Titans football game was palatable on Saturday evening. In the final minutes of the game with the score tied, the ownership of the ball went back and forth. With seconds remaining, the ball went back to Cincinnati and the game was won. The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the AFC Championship for the first time since 1988.
My heart was pumping. I had spent most of the last half hour of the game, pacing back and forth, unable to calm my nerves. Now with the Bengals having clinched their spot in the AFC Championship, I could finally focus on what I was supposed to be doing…writing a children’s sermon for the next morning.
If you think that creating a sermon after an intense, emotionally draining game like this would be hard; you would be correct. Trying to focus on the lectionary, I stared at the screen, all the while my heart was racing to the beat of an unseen marching band. I found a way to calm my mind, although it took a while, but that didn’t help the sermon. The lessons were less than helpful. Nothing that children would find relatable. In all honesty, nothing that the rest of the congregation would find relatable (that wasn’t already being covered in the sermon by the Pastor).
If I could only give a sermon on the game last night. Most of the congregation, including the children, would have seen it. Then as if the Holy Spirit heard my plea, I found a verse that was perfect for the fans of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persistent in prayer.
Short and direct, this simple verse seemed to sum up everything that the Cincinnati Bengals fans in the congregation needed to hear. So, to my fellow members of the Who-Dey Nation, I present to you why I think that this verse is for us.
REJOICE IN HOPE
Without a doubt, this is an exciting time to be a Cincinnati Bengals fan. This team has provided us with much to be hopeful for. With each victory, we are renewed in a feeling of hope that for so long we were denied. On January 15th 2022, a curse was broken. The city was electrified with the hope that at last an unwanted and undeserved maleficence had been lifted from our lands. Then on the evening of January 22nd, the hope was elevated to a new level, as many (including myself) felt for the first time, the very real possibility of a potential Cincinnati Bengals Super Bowl.
I know that I have written a great deal about the subject of hope. My opinion on this complicated feeling has wavered back and forth from writing to writing over the years. If you were to ask me now, I think that hope is a magnificent thing. Truly, it makes it seem as if all things are possible.
BE PATIENT IN SUFFERING
This section of the verse is something that Cincinnati Bengals fans know all too well. Any fan that had to live through the 1990’s knows all about suffering. In the last 30 years, we have had to be patient in our wait for something good to happen. There have been glimpses of possibility from time to time, but almost always, we were left with heart break. We were left in suffering.
However, the fans never gave up hope in our team. In my opinion, I think that is one thing that this city, our city, does very well. Cincinnati does not give up hope. Whether that is baseball, football, hockey, the arts, business, science, or industry: we don’t give up. We sit through the trials and failure, but we do this because we know that someday it will be our time. We’re patient. We can wait.
PERSISTENT IN PRAYER
I am certain that I wasn’t alone in throwing a few prayers in at the end of the last game. In fact, I am certain that over the years, many prayers have been made on all sides hoping for better outcomes. To this I would encourage my fellow fans to continue to pray. Pray for your team. Pray for your friends. Pray for your city. However, please know that you can do this more often than just on a game day. Praying, in whatever manner you find fit for you, is an activity that you can do at any the time.
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persistent in prayer.” There’s an energy flowing through Cincinnati; one that it hasn’t felt for a very long time. I just pray that it will last…at least till baseball starts in the spring.