"Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through the Goalposts of Life"

Pastor Laura Guy

September 27, 2009

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We heard the band sing the classic song, "Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through the Goalposts of Life."
We learned that the song was written by Paul Craft after he heard a guy say that line in a bar one night. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song in 1977.
We discovered that the drop kick is actually an obsolete play in football. Back in the 20s and 30s, the football was rounder, making it more predictable when it was dropped on the ground. But when the shape was changed so that the ball was pointed on the ends, players stopped doing the drop kick because it was too difficult to tell which way the ball would bounce. Doug Flutie did a drop kick as his last official NFL play in 2006 - the first time it had been done in the NFL in over 60 years.
We thought about how it makes sense that Jesus would "drop kick" us - would make the more difficult play. Because he knows us so well, he knows which way we will bounce, and he can get us through the goalposts.
We read Hebrews 12:1-3 where life is compared to a race, complete with a finish line, and we are to run it with perseverance. In both sports metaphors, there is a direction, a goal, we are to move toward. If our lives are a football field, what other forces (teams) might try to get us to move in a different direction? For Pastor Laura, when she was in middle school, the directions she saw others moving towards involved drugs and sex. She thought that maybe those were the only two directions she could move toward, too. Then God placed her in a church where she learned that there was Someone else on the field, Someone who wanted to help her get to the real goal - her purpose in life.
We prayed that Jesus would move us in the right direction, toward our goal.
We celebrated communion at the table of forgiveness and new life.