Pastor's Corner: Hoopfest and Jesus

Since its inception in 1990, Spokane Hoopfest has become the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the world.

From its promotional video on the website, we learn some staggering facts about the colossal outdoor event.

Consider these numbers: 7,070 teams; 456 courts; 27,896 players; 14,000 games; 42 city blocks; 3,000 volunteers; 225,000 fans; $39 million economic impact (revenue for greater Spokane area businesses) and $1.6 million donated to charity.

Players come from 42 states including Hawaii, Georgia and Kansas.

And for anyone who has taken part in Hoopfest as my family and I have for more than 16 years running, they know it to be just what the website says when it declares, “Beyond basketball, it is an outdoor festival with shopping, food and interactive entertainment”.

However, if you struggle with “crowds”, the historic two-day event is certainly not for you…especially on Saturday, when the crowds are the heaviest (as teams - and consequently their fans - are “weeded out” by Saturday night…seemingly trimming crowd-size by half for Sunday). But whenever I’m in a huge crowd like that, whether at Hoopfest, a Cougar football game, a Mariner game, a concert or wherever, I’m reminded of the words of Matthew 9:36-38:

“But when [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’”

When Jesus saw a crowd, He was “moved with compassion for them.” Why? “Because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd,” having no direction or fulfillment in their lives.

Jesus’ reaction at Hoopfest this year will be no different.

People coming from 42 states and representing nearly every conceivable ethnicity will be in Spokane.

Their lost spiritual condition will be evident on their faces.

Are we having fun yet? Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with having fun and enjoying events like Hoopfest to the fullest.

They, I believe, are gifts from God through the vehicle of human ingenuity and can and should be enjoyed.

But let’s put things into perspective.

Games will be played.

Food will be consumed.

Items will be sold.

Fun will be had, and everyone will go home.

As a culture, we seem to go from one “fun experience” to another in hopes of trying to find some kind of “rush” or a sense of fulfillment through these events and activities, only to find ourselves feeling more tired and empty when they’re over.

We plan a vacation, but the vacation ends.

We go to a party, but the party comes to a close.

We hang out with friends for a barbecue or go to a game, but then we go home and the rush is over.

What’s wrong? Just this: we are trying to find abundance and fulfillment in life apart from Christ.

Everyone has a hole in their heart that’s made in the shape of Christ, a hole that only HE can fill.

Jesus said, “…I have come that they may have LIFE and that they may have it more ABUNDANTLY” (John 10:10b, emphasis added).

You and I were made to experience far more than just going from one fun event to another to find fulfillment. We were made for God and to experience Him on a daily basis, which is the ultimate “high.”

But the problem is this: we are sinners.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom.

3:23).

That sin has come between us and God, and will separate us from Him for all eternity.

But there’s good news.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Jesus came to take all of our sin, guilt and shame with Him to the cross and then be raised from the dead! “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor.

5:21).

Jesus was the sinless, spotless Son of God.

Yet the Bible says that “He became sin for us.” Why? “…that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” You see, the only way that you and I can ever hope to be accepted into the presence of a holy, righteous God is if we are given a righteousness that we don’t have on our own.

That is what Christ was doing on the cross.

He took upon Himself the sins of the world and was punished by the Father (His wrath being poured out on Him for those sins) so that all who repent (turn from sin) and put their faith in Christ are – in turn – given the very righteousness of Christ and eternal life as a free gift. That’s the good news of the Gospel.

Are you tired of going from one “high” experience/event to the next to find fulfillment, only to be disappointed by the “low” that follows? Turn to Christ through simple, child-like faith through prayer and accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

And His promise is, “…He who believes in Me Has everlasting life” (John 6:47).

My prayer is that you will do that today.

If you will, you can go to an event like Hoopfest and enjoy it to the fullest.

You’ll be tired at the end, but the “low” will not follow because the abundance of your life is Christ!

Dean Ellis

Pastor of Evangelism

First Baptist Church, Colfax