Sport needs spectators.
Football needs fans.
The beautiful game without a crowd – singing their songs, celebrating a goal, roaring at the referee over a controversial decision – is like a party with no guests. It feels more like a kickabout than a contest. A training exercise, not something that matters.
So it’s been a joy to witness the return of fans in the Premier League. Yes, you can have matches played behind closed doors, but fans bring a game to life. Sport is a shared experience between the players and the fans, where all the dramas of human experience are brought into play – amazing moments of skill or bravery, raw talent on display, extraordinary comebacks when all looks lost, heartbreak when defeat arrives unexpectedly, surprise when David beats Goliath.
There is something about the physical presence of others that spurs us on. Vocal encouragement is a really powerful thing, that helps us push ourselves to the limit, do things we didn’t think were possible, perform better than we ever expected.
I was reminded of this most powerfully when I took part recently in a 10 kilometre road race – the first competitive race I have run probably in the last 45 years. Unless you count the fathers’ race over 50 metres at my children’s school sports day.
I took up running in February last year, hoping to improve my fitness and lose a bit of weight. I had low expectations as I’d struggled to keep it going in the past, and often pushed too hard too soon and sustained an injury. I didn’t think I was a runner, really.
But getting out for some early morning exercise in lockdown was a welcome escape from worrying about work and the pandemic, and I soon began to make steady progress – and even enjoy it.
So tackling first a 5k run, and then in time a 10k distance was both rewarding and challenging, as I slowly pushed myself to a better time. But solo training runs really hadn’t prepared me for a 10k race in a city also hosting its annual marathon, and where the streets were lined with spectators cheering on the runners, many of whom were raising money for charity.
People applauded and shouted encouragement, and once we turned into the final straight, there was a real sense of togetherness and mutual support – I would keep going, urged on by the voices of strangers – and my own family waving a sign.
It reminded me once again of the Apostle Paul’s illustration in the letter to the Hebrews in the Bible about those who follow Jesus. He has just gone through a long list of those, centuries before, who were obedient to God through their faith, and are now like a team of supporters in the crowd, urging on all those still running the race of following Jesus.
He says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
As fans cheer on their team, as crowds urge the runners to finish the race and give their all, so we have the encouragement of all the saints to run the race of faith, and receive God’s “well done, good and faithful servant” when we cross the finish line.