Touching First Base

Touching First Base

The 1924 baseball World Series between the Washington Senators and the New York Yankees remains legendary.  It persists in the memories of a few fans and in the sands of time as one of the most exciting baseball championships in the history of the game.  Journey with me to the exciting conclusion of this inimitable series. 

It is the seventh game of the series.  The Senators and the Yankees are tied, three games a piece.  It is the bottom of the ninth inning.  The first two batters strike out.  As a pregnant pause reverberates through out the stadium, the third and final batter approaches the plate.  His team is down by one run.  The pitcher releases a fiery curve ball.  Strike one!  He repeats the pitch.  Strike two!  The pregnant pause becomes a deadening silence.  Many in the crowd suspect that all has been lost.  Then, the third pitch barrels toward the plate.  Amazingly, the batter eyes it perfectly.  His forceful swing sends the ball well on its way.  The crowd erupts into pandemonium as they think that he has hit a homerun. 

But, the ball hits a pole and bounces backward into fair territory.  Rather than a homerun, he has to settle for a triple.  As the runner approaches third base, the outfielder throws the ball to the shortstop who in turn prepares to hurl it to home plate.  Then, the third base coach directs the runner to steal home.  So, the runner, hoping to win the game and series, runs and slides toward home with all of his might.  In what seems an eternity, the runner makes it to home.

As the crowd explodes into sheer exuberance, the home plate umpire surprisingly calls out the runner.  Utter mayhem result as the crowd protests the call!  Fearing a riot, the umpire convenes a conference of all of the field umpires and himself.  Finally, they reach a decision.  The home plate umpire goes to the mike to announce the determination.  “The runner at home is called out because he failed to touch first base.”

Imagine that!  The entire season and the World Series are lost due to a technicality.  The runner in his excitement fails to touch first.  Countless hours of practice, travel, and games were summarily nullified by a small yet very significant omission.  However, that is also the case with the life of faith. 

Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can enter the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again.  It does not matter that Nicodemus is one of the teachers of the law.  His knowledge of the law was not synonymous with a relationship with God.  Even though Nicodemus, as a member of the Sanhedrin, was a keeper of the history, literature, and religion of Israel, he had missed first base because he failed to seek a vibrant and growing relationship with Almighty God.  In the Church, the new Israel, we fool ourselves if we think we can rely upon ritual, tradition and sacraments alone.  We, too, must ensure that we touch first base by being born again.

The ritual of baptism is an outward sign of the inward process of rebirth; it is most definitely not synonymous with regeneration.  Spiritual rebirth begins with the humble admission of our sinful state.  It necessitates our honest and frank declaration of our need for God.  Most practically, we say the “sinner’s prayer” in which we recognize our lost state and with due humility ask God to change us.  In Romans 10:9-10, Paul assures the Church that confession and belief are necessary to begin the process of rebirth.  “If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved.”  With our hearts, we believe and our belief justifies us in the eyes of God.  The continual confession of our mouths results in our salvation.  Notwithstanding a misguided tendency toward formulaic religion, adherence to this biblical mandate is necessary to ensure that you have touched first base.

If you have never said the sinner’s prayer and followed the dictates of Romans 10:9-10, then you have missed first base.  It is important that we surrender our hearts completely to the Lord Jesus Christ.  In fulfillment of the first and second commandments (Exodus 20:1-5) and the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:34-40), we love the Lord before all other gods and with our whole beings.  Actually, the heart is first base.  It is there where we must unequivocally dedicate ourselves to God.