Committing to Christ
Bishop Shannon once advised me that it is important to end each day doing something that brings you joy . During my first year as a chaplain at St . Stephen ’ s & St . Agnes School , there has been much in which to rejoice , but one of the greatest joys of this particular call has been coaching . Fortunately , coaching falls at the end of the daily schedule at school .
As I reflect on the particular vocational call of coaches , I have been asking myself , “ What does it mean to be committed to something ?”
This past weekend I went with the St . Stephen ’ s & St . Agnes boys varsity lacrosse team on an overnight trip to Richmond during which the team won a semifinal game on Friday and then the championship game in the Virginia state tournament on Saturday . We drove back to Alexandria , unpacked the bus and went home to rest , only to meet at the school again on Sunday afternoon for the IAC league championship game . Unfortunately , after winning four games in five days , we lost that final game on the sixth day .
The entire weekend had particular meaning , as it would be the last weekend that our head coach would be coaching the Saints team after devoting 14 years to the program . In balancing the high of winning a state championship and the low of losing a league championship within 24 hours , head coach Andy Taibl told the boys that it does not matter whether we
What does it mean to be committed to a life of discipleship to Jesus in community ? Just like a sports team , discipleship in community requires constant practice .
win or lose . What matters is that each member of that team committed , wholeheartedly , to the team . To commit to something is almost a guarantee of feeling the pain of loss at some point . Even so , to not commit at all is to never experience life .
A high school lacrosse team , even at an Episcopal school , might not be an explicit Christian community , but the connection between a life committed to developing the skills necessary to play a team sport and a life committed to developing the virtues of faith , hope and love in the name of Jesus and within a community is there .
“ What does it mean to be committed to a life of discipleship to Jesus in community ?” Just like a sports team , discipleship in community requires constant practice . Furthermore , and most importantly , discipleship in community requires taking the risk of feeling the pain of loss . If we commit to each other even in the love of Christ , we will surely disappoint or potentially even harm one another . Yet to commit to knowing Jesus in the fel-
lowship of others will raise us to life time and time again .
Significantly , the Gospel of Matthew connects a re-envisioning of family with the risk-taking action of losing our lives to find them . Matthew writes , “ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me … Those who find their life will lose it , and those who
lose their life for my sake will find it .” ( Matthew 10:37-39 ) The Saints lacrosse team reminded me this weekend that as Christians we are called to commit to each other like teammates committed to winning a championship . Win or lose , we will find Christ in the commitment .
THE REV . CHRIS MILLER
The Rev . Chris Miller is the assistant upper school chaplain and head JV lacrosse coach at St . Stephen ’ s & St . Agnes School , a Church School of the Diocese of Virginia . He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in May 2015 and was ordained a priest by Bp . Johnston in December 2015 .
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SUMMER 2016 / VIRGINIA EPISCOPALIAN