Gridiron Gospel

It’s halftime and you’re down 21. When the going gets tough, the tough ask questions.

There is a winner and a loser in every athletic contest involving teams. It is just as true now as it was 2,600 years ago when the prophet Habakkuk watched the godless Chaldeans crush his country to powder. He wasn’t happy about it. Not one bit.

It is the first Sunday in November and the NFL season is at its midpoint. Teams are playing their eighth or ninth game (depending on their bye week). In 2024, the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX with a 40-22 rout of the two-time defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Following this astonishing victory, coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts expressed their gratitude to God. “God’s blessed us very much,” Sirianni told Fox reporter Tom Rinaldi after the win. “He gave us all the talents to be able to get here, so first and foremost, thanks to him.” Eagles cornerback Darius Slay thanked his “Lord and Savior” while speaking after the big win. In a postgame interview with Erin Andrews, Hurts also gave glory to God. “God is good. He’s greater than all the highs and the lows,” he said, later adding, “Thank God, thank you, Jesus.”

Thanking God isn’t limited to football. At the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, gymnast Simone Biles became the most decorated American gymnast in Olympics history. In acknowledging her medals, Biles has not been afraid to express her gratitude to God. She credits her faith in God for her success. “I don’t physically understand how I do it,” she said in a 2021 interview. “It (is) a God-given talent.”

There are other athletes who openly acknowledge a connection with their faith: Stephen Curry, Kurt Warner, Drew Brees, Tim Tebow, coach Tony Dungy, Clayton Kershaw and Russell Wilson, to name a few.

From Super Bowl MVPs to undrafted rookies, many athletes point upward before they celebrate with teammates. And it isn’t just for show. You may remember the traumatic collapse of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on the field in 2023 and how players knelt in prayer. The whole nation watched as faith reentered the public square through football.

There is something powerful about watching someone under intense pressure — battered and bruised — choose to give glory to God.

But what if you are on the losing side of an athletic contest? You don’t hear players accusing God for the loss. But they often feel as though they were on the short end of the yardage stick as far as the referees were concerned. They were defeated, not only by the other team and perhaps superior coaching, but by the referees.

Before diving into Habakkuk’s existential crisis of faith and pouting accusations against God, let’s refresh our memory about the relationship between football and life.

 

A Game of Inches

Consider the following thoughts after you leave church and turn on the TV to watch the [insert your favorite or hometown team].

It’s a game of inches — and so is life. Just like a game can pivot on a spot, fingertip catch or goal-line stand, life often hinges on small moments. A word of encouragement or choice made in the quiet requires focus and determination in seemingly minor details. Faithfulness in the little things leads to breakthroughs in the big things.

You get knocked down — and you get back up. In football, getting hit is guaranteed. The key isn’t avoiding hits, it is learning how to get back up. Life is similar. Pain comes and loss happens, but resilience — born of faith — is what carries us forward. “Though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the LORD holds us by the hand” (Psalm 37:24).

You don’t win alone. No touchdown happens in a vacuum. When Derrick Henry runs with the ball, he has blockers, a coach who called the play, a quarterback who safely handed the ball off, and teammates who sacrificed for the run. Life is deeply communal. We need each other. And we need God in the huddle. “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

There is a playbook — but you still must improvise. Players study the playbook all week, but game day always brings surprises — missed assignments, broken plays, last-second audibles. Faith is lived the same way: we know God’s Word, but life throws curveballs. Faith requires both discipline and discernment. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

The outcome isn’t always obvious. There are times in a game when the score doesn’t reflect the heart on the field. Sometimes it looks like defeat … until the last drive. Habakkuk is standing in the middle of a season that looks like loss. But God reminds him, “there is still a vision for the appointed time” (Habakkuk 2:3). “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Halftime adjustments are part of the game. No matter how well you planned, the first half may not go how you expected. But that doesn’t mean the game is over. Coaches re-strategize. Players regroup. The same is true in life — and in faith. God is a God of second winds and second chances. “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

The crowd isn’t always on your side. Players often must tune out the boos, ignore the trash talk and stick to their roles. In life, too, we must learn to listen to the voice of the Coach, not the noise of the crowd. “My sheep hear my voice … and they follow me” (John 10:27).

 

A Prophet in the Bleachers

Let’s shift the focus back to our frustrated prophet. Imagine Habakkuk not as a temple priest, but as a spectator in the bleachers watching his home team take a beating. He was as shocked as Kansas City fans were when Philadelphia took a 34-0 lead in the Super Bowl. He’s a fan and he’s apoplectic — boiling mad, seething with incandescent fury. He fires off two flaming questions to the Almighty: “How long?” and “Why?” These questions are as old as faith itself.

“How long?” Habakkuk isn’t whispering polite prayers. He is standing on the edge of despair, daring to ask what many believers quietly wonder when life goes off the rails and God seems distant.

Habakkuk watches violence erupt on the field of life. Justice is being ignored. Wickedness is winning. The bad guys — the Chaldeans — are not just ahead on the scoreboard; they’re dominating the game. And worst of all? God seems silent. Uninvolved. Unmoved.

Habakkuk wants to know (as we often do) where God is when things fall apart. This is the prayer of someone who has prayed for justice and heard nothing, waited for healing and seen none, and pleaded for change and was rewarded with stonewalled silence.

Habakkuk is not asking, “How long until lunch?” He is asking, “How long until the pain ends? How long until You show up? How long must I hold out when nothing is changing?”

This is the question of the weary, the ones who have waited faithfully and felt forgotten.

And here is the grace: God allows the question. The Bible never silences lament. In fact, the very presence of this question in Scripture validates our own cries of “How long?” The psalmist himself frequently encountered a “Hidden God,” or the terrifying reality of a Deus absconditus. In Psalm 13 he laments:

“How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?” (Psalm 13:1-2, KJV).

The Bible doesn’t hide the despair of its faith heroes. Depending on the translation you have in your hand, the question is asked more than 50 times. For example, the prophet Isaiah asked, “How long, O Lord?” (6:11) as did Jeremiah, “Ah, sword of the LORD! How long till you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard; rest and be still!” (47:6). In the book of Zechariah, the same question is posed: “Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’” (1:12). And in Revelation, the question appears again: “They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” (6:10, emphasis added in this paragraph. For more of the same in the psalms, see 6:3; 13:1-2; 35:17; 79:5; 80:4; 89:46; 90:13; 94:3; and 119:84).

So, we need not fear to ask in our prayers to God, “How long?” Because to ask, “How long?” is not a lack of faith. It’s the language of faith under pressure, and many saints of the church have asked it. It is what the faithful do when hope is tested.

 

What Is the Answer?

Alas, the answer to the “How long” question is as varied as one’s circumstances in life. Hebrews 11 tells the tale of those who “died in faith without having received the promises” (Hebrews 11:13). Sometimes, God chooses not to remove the “thorn in the flesh” at all, but to give us the strength to endure (see 2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

And we are not always the ones who ask, “How long?” Sometimes, God has the same question on his mind. He looks at our behavior and wonders what in the world we’re thinking. God asked Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my instructions?” (Exodus 16:28, emphasis added). Perhaps we’ve never considered it, but we are clearly able to confuse, frustrate, irritate and even anger the very God we claim at times is aloof and unreachable.

What sort of chutzpah, arrogance or narcissism is required to go after God for neglecting the duties of the divine office, when on any given day we are behaving like disobedient children with no qualms about breaking a commandment or two. Even Jesus wondered how long he would have the patience to put up with the likes of us: “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?” (Luke 9:41, emphasis added).

 “How long?” will be answered, but on God’s timetable. Meanwhile, perhaps we should use the intervening time to take spiritual inventory.

“Why?” This is the second question Habakkuk lobs at God. If “How long?” is the cry of exhaustion, then “Why?” is the cry of confusion. This is anguish, not curiosity. It is a heart trying to make sense of suffering.

• Why do the wicked thrive?
• Why does injustice get the last word?
• Why does God seem to stand by, as violence and destruction escalate?
• Why did this happen to me?

This question is woven through Scripture: “Why does the way of the guilty prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” asks Jeremiah (12:1). Job wonders why he didn’t die in childbirth (3:3). David asks God, “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (10:1).

And again, the Bible gives room for this question. God is not offended by our “Why?” In fact, God welcomes it because the question itself is a form of worship. It says: “I still believe you’re just … I just don’t see it yet. I still trust you’re good … but I’m struggling to understand how.”

Faith doesn’t always provide quick answers, but it gives us the courage to keep asking. To bring it into prayer. And like Habakkuk, to climb the watchtower and wait — believing that even if God delays, God will not stay silent. So, the prophet asks his “Why?” questions.

• “Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble?” (1:3).
• “Why do you look on the treacherous, and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?” (1:13).

Even Jesus, in a moment of anguish, asks a question that echoes this lament: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

These are our questions, too:

• “How long will cancer rob us of our loved ones?”
• “How long must I wait until my daughter will speak to me again?”
• “Why do good people suffer while the cruel prosper?”
• “Why does violence seem endless, even when we pray for peace?”
• “Why can’t we find a path to peace in the Middle East?”
• “Why can’t we all just get along?”
• “Since it doesn’t cost us anything to be kind and gracious, why aren’t we?”
• “Why did this happen to me?”

Habakkuk stands in for all of us. And the good news is that he is not silenced, shamed or scolded.

 

God’s Halftime Speech

Habakkuk climbs his “watchtower” — his place of prayer and perspective. In life, we can expect to have times when we need to walk away from the ledge, take deep breaths, and set aside time for serious thinking and prayer. Habakkuk doesn’t walk away in a huff. He doesn’t throw in the towel or storm off the field. Instead, he sits on a locker room bench, looking for meaning and waiting for instruction. He has raised hard questions. Now, he listens.

God speaks, but it isn’t the answer Habakkuk expected. God offers no immediate solutions. God’s answer to the chaos of the world is not a timetable; it’s a call to trust. Not a promise of immediate victory, but a reminder of how to endure.

God gives Habakkuk a pep talk. His response includes four important keys to understanding how God operates and how we survive and thrive in times of chaos, delay or discouragement.

1. Take notes. Write this down. The actual words are “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.” (2:2). God is saying, “You need to remember what I’m about to tell you. And others will need it, too.” This isn’t just a private word for the prophet. It is a message for the long game. God wants his word written down and made plain so it can be passed along and carried like a playbook into the next quarter of life.

God has a penchant for the written word. Moses is instructed to take notes and codify the commandments in stone tablets. The apostle John is told by the “Son of Man” to “write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this” (Revelation 1:13, 19). John even mentions the importance of his written gospel: “These are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

When we receive truth from God — in prayer, in Scripture, in the whisper of the Spirit — we’re not just meant to hold it. We’re meant to record it and share it. Your faith feeds you and becomes someone else’s encouragement.

2. Wait for it. “For the vision has its appointed time … If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay” (2:3). This is a play straight from the discipline of the game. You don’t abandon the game plan just because you’re down at halftime. You trust the training. You trust the Coach. You wait for the breakthrough. God tells Habakkuk: “Just because you don’t see the victory yet doesn’t mean it isn’t on the way.” The vision has its appointed time. It’s not a matter of if — it’s a matter of when.

Faith doesn't mean we get instant answers. It means we trust the outcome even in the delay. The greatest spiritual victories are often preceded by the longest silences.

3. The proud will fall. “Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them …” (2:4). God now shifts Habakkuk’s perspective. Yes, the Babylonians are dominating the scoreboard — for now. But don’t mistake their success for righteousness. Their pride is a flaw, not a strength. It will be their downfall.

God is essentially saying to us, “Don’t envy the wicked. Don’t fear the oppressors. Their moment is temporary.” Pride looks like power. But it is paper-thin. Don’t be tempted to build your life on appearances. God sees deeper, and justice will come.

4. Live by faith. “… but the righteous shall live by their faith.” (2:4). Here it is — the halftime mantra. No rah-rah speech. No promise of immediate reversal. Just a challenge and a calling: Live by your faith.

• Not by what you see.
• Not by what makes sense.
• Not by the score.

Trust in the One who sees the whole field. This one line goes on to shape the entire New Testament theology of grace and salvation (quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, and by the writer of Hebrews in 10:38). And it was this verse cited by the apostle Paul in Romans 1:17 that knocked the socks of an Augustinian friar called Martin Luther and launched the Protestant Reformation early in the 16^th century. Yes, life can be confusing and sometimes evil seems to win, and justice feels delayed. But the righteous don’t panic. They persist. They live by their faith.

This isn’t faith as sentimentality. It isn’t blind optimism or bumper-sticker theology. This is gritty, grounded, watchtower faith — the kind of faith that prays hard, waits long and lives well even when God’s ways are hard to understand. Victory is not always visible. But faith is always vital.

 

What Do We Do Now?

How do we live in times like these — when politics seem broken, when the economy feels uncertain, when violence fills the headlines, and our prayers seem to go unanswered?

Like Habakkuk, we must:

• Climb the watchtower. Keep showing up in prayer.
• Write the vision. Pass along the truth.
• Wait for it. Trust God’s timing.
• Reject pride. Don’t envy the seemingly successful.
• Live by faith. Walk forward when you can’t see the finish line.

Habakkuk’s honest complaint and confession and God’s straightforward response helps us to remember what anchors us when the game gets tough.

We live by faith. Not passive faith. Not silent faith.

Call it a gridiron gospel — resilient, responsive and real.

Amen.

—Timothy Merrill and Carl Wilton contributed to this material.

 

Sources

Jezik, Sydney. “The faith of Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast ever.” Yahoo.com, July 31, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2025.

Muehlenberg, Bill. “How long O Lord?” billmuehlenberg.com, October 3, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2025.

Raye, Miranda. “Eagles players & coach Nick Sirianni give glory to God after Super Bowl win.” https://countrymusicfamily.com, February 10, 2025. Retrieved April 23, 2025.

The Other Texts

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

“Understanding” for Life. “Understanding” is an interesting word because, at first glance, it doesn’t seem to make sense. If we think of “under” as meaning “beneath,” the word might mean “beneath where one stands.” But its Old English meaning is closer to “among, between” or inter-. The best sense of “under” might be “to be close to.” So, there we have it: God’s Word, the psalmist asserts, gives him understanding for life. In other words, the Word stands — or situates — him perfectly, right in the center of life, a life lived for God. Here are his conclusions: God’s Word is “righteous” (vv. 138, 144), tested (“well-tried,” v. 140) and “truth” (v. 142). The psalmist therefore “loves” (v. 140), remembers (v. 141) and delights (v. 143). He has unlocked the secret of understanding the meaning of life. God’s Word “stands” him in the center of the will of God. Is there a better place to be?

What Does the Text Say?

Psalm 119, the longest psalm (and de facto chapter) in the Bible, is an extended meditation on “the law of the LORD” (v. 1b). It is an alphabetic acrostic of 22 eight-line stanzas, each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. Although something of a literary tour de force, the psalm lacks a clear, logical sequence of ideas, making it, like most other alphabetic acrostic psalms, less than satisfactory in spots. Although unique in its scale, Psalm 119 shares the acrostic form (in various permutations) with Psalms 9-10 (one psalm in the Septuagint), 25, 34, 37, 111, 112 and 145. In our case in today’s reading, every verse starts with the Hebrew letter sadhe, the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The psalmist begins the pericope by reaffirming the essential righteousness of Yahweh, leading to the inevitable conclusion that the “judgments” of such a righteous God are “right.” Not only that, but they are “well tried” (v. 140), meaning tested and purified as though by a refiner’s fire. As one might react to any precious metal that has been purified by fire, the psalmist “loves it” (v. 140). The psalmist hints that others regarded him as puny and of no consequence, but this will not deter him (v. 141) because God’s Word gives him “understanding that I may live” (v. 144).

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Wellness Checkup for the Church. Health care professionals will unanimously agree that wellness checkups, preventive care and annual physicals are important for maintaining good health. Ten signs of good health are:

1. healthy cholesterol levels,
2. good blood pressure,
3. healthy weight,
4. healthy skin/shiny hair (if you don’t have hair, perhaps a shiny dome will do),
5. clear vision,
6. mental alertness,
7. restful sleep,
8. regular bowel movements,
9. good muscle tone, and
10. healthy bones.

There, that’s all. Not so bad, is it? The apostle Paul gives the Thessalonian church a positive initial assessment. This is a congregation that is healthy. The three vital signs that point to this are:

1. faith is growing,
2. love is increasing, and
3. steadfastness in the face of opposition is unabated.

What are the signs in your congregation of faith that is growing, love that is increasing and steadfastness that is unabated?

What Does the Text Say?

The letter begins with a typical Hellenistic epistolary greeting in which Paul wishes his readers grace and peace from the same God and Lord, a high Christological statement that places Jesus right alongside God as the giver of blessings. The next seven verses make up only one sentence in Greek. The author begins by asserting that his thanksgiving to God on behalf of his brothers and sisters in the congregation is necessary and worthy. Although Paul normally gives thanks for the congregations to whom he’s writing, this letter is unique in expressing thanks as an obligation (“we must” ofeilw). Paul enumerates two causes for this gratitude. First, the people’s faith is growing abundantly (uperauxanw). Second, the love among them — the love each one has for everyone else in their community — abounds. In addition to the people’s faith and love, Paul boasts about their endurance of all the persecutions and tribulations they’ve experienced. (These difficulties are also mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:6.) Hence, the qualities for which Paul is thankful in the lives of this congregation are the qualities mentioned in the first epistle (faith, love and endurance; 1 Thessalonians 1:3), yet this letter lacks any mention of the exemplary quality of their hope.

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

The Revenue Agent Does the Right Thing. The right thing that the revenue agent in this story does is to give his erstwhile clients not only a refund, but four times the amount he charged them! Zacchaeus does the right thing. He also gives away half of his net worth. Put pencil to paper in your head to see how that would change your lifestyle. These actions are evidence that this short, rich man has repented and is willing to follow Jesus. Unlike the rich young “ruler” in an earlier chapter of Luke, here is a rich (presumably old) man who does enter the kingdom and who is restored to his people. It all happens because he repents and does the right thing. Of what do we need to repent? What right things, perhaps even radical things, do we need to do today?

What Does the Text Say?

For Luke, Zacchaeus is the main attraction in the great city of Jericho, and he tells his readers several things about him right away. First, he is a arcitelwnhV, the chief tax collector, and the only character so designated in the NT. Second, Luke indicates that he was a man of wealth. Finally, Luke says that Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, but his reason for seeking Jesus is that he does not know who Jesus is. Zacchaeus is curious. However, just like the blind man, he is unable to see Jesus, not because of his eyes, but because of the crowd. This may be an indication of the hugeness of the crowd, all of whom are also trying to see Jesus, but this does not seem to be Luke’s point when we learn the final detail about the character Zacchaeus — namely, that he is a man of small stature. So, just like the blind man, something about his physical makeup hinders him from seeing Jesus. He circumvents the problem presented by the crowd. He runs ahead of them and climbs up a sycamore tree, or more precisely, a fig-mulberry plant, which must have provided enough height for him to get to see Jesus. It is here that his similarity with the blind man ceases, because the text does not say that Zacchaeus said anything to get Jesus’ attention (see Luke 18:38-39). Instead, unprovoked by Zacchaeus or the crowd, Jesus looks up in the tree and addresses him by name. He commands him to get down from the tree because that day Jesus wants to abide in his house. Zacchaeus obeys him exactly. He proclaims his commitment to give away half of his belongings and repay anyone he has wronged fourfold. In response, Jesus proclaims that salvation has come to this house today.

Worship Resources

God of the prophets, you have promised to be with us whenever two or three are gathered in your name. You have shown yourself faithful to us, and you have been our friend and loving critic. Help us learn to be faithful in return, beginning this day with our worship. Turn our hearts and minds to you, so that this community of faith may truly be the body of Christ, in whose name we pray.

Faithful God, we dwell in a time and a place where the fragments of broken promises are strewn about our marketplaces, courthouses, churches, offices, schools, playgrounds and homes ... the wreckage of once great hopes and ideals, the debris of shattered trust.

In all creation, you alone are truly fail-safe. You faithfully keep your promises to us, even when we carelessly break your heart, and even when we crucify our Lord anew by breaking faith and abandoning responsibility. Forgive us for the times we have failed to mirror your faithfulness in our relationships with people who have trusted in us. Heal whatever hurt we have caused. Give them the power and the bravery to forgive us. Help us in turn to forgive those who have violated the trust we once put in them. Let your grace flow over and between us, washing away any lingering bitterness. Support us while we make new beginnings together.

Teach us that we cannot be faithful to anyone if we are not faithful first to you. Help us respect, love and trust you above anything else. Anchored by faith in you, support the commitments we have made to family, friends, associates, clients, community and country.

Help spouses remain faithful to one another. Help parents fulfill the covenant they made when they brought children into the world. Help children honor their parents. Help us become more dependable friends and coworkers. Help us treat our superiors, associates and clients with respect and integrity. Make us worthy of the trust others place in us so that they can glimpse in our lives something of your steadfast love and faithfulness. Amen.

Go forth with God’s blessing:

Speak the truth,
Show the faith,
Share the love.

The God of peace is with you, now and forever.

Hymns
By Gracious Powers
If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee
Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright

Worship and Praise*
Lord I Run to You (Walker)
His Glory and My Good (Fielding, Thompson, Robinson)
Give Me Faith (Brown, Gatch, Brock, Joye)

*For licensing and permission to reprint or display these songs on screen, go to ccli.com. The worship and praise songs suggested by Homiletics can be found in most cases on Google by using the title as the search term.

COMMENTARY

on Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4