For
forty-eight years we have been watching winners and losers smile and cry during
something called the Super Bowl. When we have finished judging the commercials,
we check to see the score of the football game. The winners among the
commercials touched our hearts and made us cry, stand proud, or recall some
memories that haven’t been dredged up in a decade or longer.
Yes, of
course, we wouldn’t have the commercials if the football game didn’t guarantee
a few score millions of viewers. And no, there cannot be a tie in the Super
Bowl, I don’t think. There must be a winner, and if there is a winner, there
must be a loser. How sad. We create a situation in which we guarantee there
will be a loser, and we win or lose with them.
We have also
created ways to claim victory even in a loss. We call that a moral victory. I
never had much use for those, but I suppose they are better than nothing.
Actually that can work out. In Revolutionary War Days, American General
Nathaniel Greene caused so many casualties to General Cornwallis’ British Army
near Greensboro, NC, Cornwallis had to change his battle strategy for his
Virginia campaign even though Greene had been clearly defeated. We know how
that story ended.
A victory in
sports is rarely measured in how big the margin might be. That only counts in
bragging rights. Sometimes a point spread may matter, but those are under
special circumstances. Whether it is one point or forty points, we just look to
see if there is a win or loss in the final column.
In dealing
with conflict in perspectives or human relations, a cardinal rule is always to
seek a win-win solution. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it remains a goal.
If everyone can claim some sense of gain, if everyone feels they won something
even if they had to compromise in some way, then life can go on and the hope
remains for continuing improvement. We don’t call these ties. Those are just
sources of total frustration, especially if you expected to win. A win-win
situation is positive for everyone. We all leave the table feeling good about
what has just transpired.
C. S. Lewis
tells in his Chronicles of Narnia of an evil white witch who destroyed her
enemies but lost everything in the process. About to be conquered, she spoke
the magic word that would make them all disappear. Unfortunately it took her
kingdom as well. She was the lone survivor in a realm wiped clean of all life.
It could be said she won but it cost her everything, kingdom, friends, and
family. She won but had nothing to show for her victory.
The complete
opposite of that might be seen in the simple words of Jesus as he hung and died
on the cross. He had endured betrayal, abandonment by his disciples, and denial
by his closest friends. He had been beaten until the flesh hung in shreds from
his back, and finally he was nailed to a cross as a public example of Roman
cooperation with local authorities.
For three
hours darkness covered the land. For three hours no human hand offered comfort,
no divine hand intervened. For three hours of human time, an endless agony in
the existence of the eternal Christ, the God-man faced the prospect of bearing
all the sins of the world forever. Then it was over. (Luke 23:44)
Seven times
Jesus spoke before he died on the cross. The greatest victory, where there
should have been none, can be found in those last words before he died, “Into
your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Betrayed and denied by his
followers, abandoned by a part of his eternal nature, Jesus still could face that
moment with faith in his Father.
He lost
everything the world thought valuable. He gained the only thing that mattered.
In every battle there is a winner and a loser. We cannot always have a win-win
scenario, but when Jesus won, we all won.
