Cavs Celebration - Shared Victory and a Great Multitude

Lebron James said the past week has been surreal. I would agree. I am a lifelong Clevelander - I have lived other places in my life but of the 56 years I have lived on this earth (thus far), 45 have been in this great city. I also am a huge Cleveland sports fan. I was five years old the last time Cleveland won anything and I have no memory of that event. Like many others, I have lived through Red-Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Blown Save, and yes, The Decision. I began to question whether a championship was going to happen in my lifetime. Ohio State, while sweet covers the whole state and not just our little city.

That is why the victory Sunday night (only a week ago) and the parade on Tuesday were so extra special. Sunday night Deb and I went to Ohio City and watched the game at Market Garden Brewery. We knew win or lose we needed to experience this event with others of similar sports faith. After the improbable victory we went downtown and I must have high-fived a thousand people. It did not matter whether you were old or young, black or white, rich or poor, thin or fat, you celebrated that night. Then there was the parade. I rode my bike downtown because I wanted to; a) avoid the nightmare traffic, and b) get a better firsthand sense of the crowd. I have never seen that many people gathered to celebrate. Seeing over a million people celebrating in my little city brought tears to my eyes multiple times. The panoramic shot from my iPhone paints a picture.

My heart and head went to a place that maybe others haven't thought about. This is a small taste of the celebration in heaven. John says in Rev. 7:9 that a "great multitude from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" will be celebrating God and the Lamb who is Jesus Christ. I even thought about King James and how this city embraced the returning superstar as a small taste of worship of the infallible, sacrificial King Jesus. Many people seem to have this impression of heaven as a boring place. Nothing can be further from the truth - the reality is it is a giant party.

It is also a giant party with purpose. There are lots of passages that describe heaven as a place of joy and purpose. As I was standing in the parade, I had lots of joy but no real purpose other than to yell a lot. God in heaven will not only provide incredible joy, but there will be function as well. Sunday night I heard a lot of people saying "We did it". Well last I checked, none of us even picked up a basketball. We identified with the Cavaliers because they represented Cleveland. We also represent Christ who paid the ultimate sacrifice on the cross for our sins. In fact the word Christian means "little Christs". The sacrifice ushered in responsibility - responsibility in this world and the one to come. Only God could provide true joy and ultimate purpose.