Who are you playing for?

 The fact that the Springboks won the last three matches of the Rugby World Cup every time by one point is almost Biblical. Three is a big number in the Bible and even if you're not into religion you must surely be feeling a bit David and Goliath this morning.

South Africa doesn't have a lot going for it at the moment. You have to take out an overdraft to buy Butro, when it rains you're kak scared that your house will flood again, with Black Friday coming up we are all going to have to up our anxiety meds in lieu of our last looting experience, we are faced with mass unemployment, the worst gender based violence in the world, starving and uneducated children and really swak politicians. The list really is endless, we are very much the SABC 2 third world version of David. 

Let's just consider the giants we played in the quarter and semi finals. You don't really  get more prosperous and powerful first world foes. I mean half our South African team plays for their clubs because that where the money is.  But we beat them, by one point, three times.

Something massive happened this month. Something supernatural. Something that even the most ardent atheist cannot deny - our men ran onto that field and played in a spirit seldom seen in sport. They weren't playing for themselves, or even their families. On the field they said it repeatedly - they were playing 'for South Africa'. They ran on with the Spirit of Christ, His mark emblazoned on their wrist bands. They played for the hopeless, the starving, the traumatized, the poor. They played for us. 

And they played for Jesus.

And when we do anything to the glory of His name it becomes more that a trivial human activity, like a rugby game. It becomes a spiritual statement of trust, courage and faith. And that is the victory we celebrate today. When we use our gifts to bring Heaven to earth, to bring resilience to the down trodden, unity to the diverse and hope to the hopeless we become soldiers for Christ.

My prayer for this nation is that we all wake up tomorrow and ask ourselves what we can do for our team. What gifts do we have that we can use, not for ourselves, but for those around us? How can we bring Heaven to earth? Because if a group of 15 rugby players can do that in an 80 minute sports game what more can humanity do for each other. We just have to answer this simple question - who am I playing for?