THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

The World Cup of 2026 will be an interesting tournament. For the first time in its history, it will be held across three different countries – USA, Mexico and Canada. Forty-eight teams will take part, playing 104 matches over 39 days, in 16 different stadiums. There are even 3 mascots – Maple the moose from Canada, Zayu the jaguar from Mexico and Clutch the bald eagle from the US.

As a chaplain to a local football team, I am more than aware of the excitement the World Cup generates among football fans from every walk of life. The build-up, the matches and the hope that, just maybe, this might be the year that football comes home. The beautiful game, our wonderful team being led and coached by Thomas Tuchel will feel the expectations of a nation on their shoulders. We’re all familiar with the hope attached to the tournament for every team involved.

COMFORT AND HOPE

Most of us will also be familiar with John 14:1-14, a passage often used at funerals or memorial services. It’s a passage that brings huge comfort to those who grieve as Jesus offers an invitation to share the way of peace and love – the very things that Jesus stood for. This beautiful passage demonstrates Jesus’ inclusive nature – it is an invitation to a path that leads to a meaningful, ethical life guided and instructed by Jesus’ teachings on love, justice and compassion. Everyone is welcome on that path – it’s not an invitation based on being good enough, clever enough or earning enough money, it’s an invitation to come just as you are. Similarly, football is a game that is accessible to all – you just need a ball. As we know, footballers come from all walks of life: some having discovered their skills on the streets, others having been nurtured through grass roots clubs and yet others through years of intensive coaching in elite academies.

These verses in John also demonstrate a moment of real tenderness between Jesus and his disciples. They are scared, nervous and anxious about where Jesus is going (and who could really blame them?) and here, Jesus offers them a moment of real comfort, giving them the assurance that although they will no longer be together, even in his absence, Jesus will be remembering them and making plans for them.

Some high-profile footballers have been seen wearing shirts bearing John 14:6 – the Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker for example. Other footballers use their position of influence as an opportunity to be open and honest about their faith and how it impacts the way they live their lives. However they choose to communicate their faith, they are drawn to it by that same constant, reassuring message that is offered by Jesus to his disciples.

THE GREATEST COACH

There are, however, more metaphorical ways in which this verse can be linked with football or athletes in general. Jesus being ‘the way’ has often been used as an analogy for describing a sports coach – someone who provides support, encouragement, guidance, advice and strategy to a team, journeying with them through good times and difficult times and being the constant that they refer back to. A coach will be there to congratulate a team when things go well, and to pick them up and start to re-build when success evades them.

TRUST

One of the other major themes of John 14 is trust. Even though the disciples won’t be able to see Jesus soon, they are being asked to trust that he is going ahead to prepare a place for them. Football is a game that requires a high degree of trust: trust that your team mates will work together and not just want to glorify themselves; trust that you will all stick to the plan to achieve your very best; trust that the coach knows what they are doing; trust that everyone is working to achieve the same common goal.

The reading from 1 Peter talks about people craving spiritual growth: yearning to become more Christlike. It speaks of building a new kind of community – a ‘spiritual house’ if you will, that is inclusive, welcoming and supportive to all. It calls each of us into a new community in Christ.

‘The way’ was also used in the Bible to describe the path or the way that Christians should follow in leading their lives. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus the ‘Greatest Coach’ for all who follow him gives plenty of advice about how we should conduct ourselves in this new community, mentioned in 1 Peter, where people trust each other, glorify God, welcome everyone and look to the one who calls them.