For the last 29 years, I have labored through mulitple one-hundred loss seasons, highly-touted draft picks who never quite pan out, a carosel of managers, and even the marketing-experiment-gone-wrong black uniforms from the 2006 season. I have seen a young outfiled of Jermaine Dye, Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran provide so much hope for the future, only to see their great stats in later years for other teams. I have drank from my souvenir Royals cups while sitting on my porch listening to Fred and Denny call the game as I read the latest slogan fail whether it was "Together We Can", "New Blue Tradition" (wasn't anything new to me) or the most apathetic of them all - "You Gotta Love These Guys", as if there was no chance at all of winning, but at least we shouldn't hate the players. I have followed the hot stove through the winter months, hoping, just hoping, that the one trade we need would come through and we would be on our way back to the Fall Classic.
Through all those years, I sat next to some pretty cool friends on the otherwise empty Royals bandwagon. A couple of co-workers would still know the game in September. My dad and I could always talk about the team. One of the ushers at my wedding was another die-hard fan. But as we drove the bandwagon down the road each and every year, there was always plenty of room to move around the cabin. And most people quietly declined to get on. Oh well. More room for the few of us in transit.
So as I prepared for the upcoming Game 1 of the 2014 World Series, which includes MY beloved Royals, my first instinct was to quickly lock the doors to the bus. To tell all of the smiling and high-fiving Royals fans in their fresh-off-the-rack-new-Royals-shirt that they had a few more years of paying dues before they were allowed on this bandwagon. I thought this because I had earned this right, not them. Then I read Matthew 20:1-16. The parable of the workers. The master of the house went out early to hire his workers and told them all he would pay then one denarius for their work. As the day went on, more and more workers joined, some even at the eleventh hour, and then they all lined up for their pay at the end of the day. The early workers were outraged when they saw everyone was getting a denarius. It wasn't fair. The master replied "I have done you no wrong. I gave you what I promised".
The purpose of that story is two-fold. One, to remind us that when we enter a saving relationship with Jesus, no matter how late in our life-even on our death bed, we have the same eternity in the kingdom that someone who was a believer from a very young age. The story also tells us to take the focus off of ourselves and place it on heaven. The master was right. All the workers got what they were promised. Instead of being upset whether or not things around us are "fair", we need to realize the reward we have from the eternal King. We need to stop focusing on ourselves.
So I have changed my thoughts on anyone who wants to jump on the 2014 Royals bandwagon. No matter how many people hop on in the eleventh hour, nothing will take away from my joy and my experience of watching one of the most thrilling postseason runs in the history of baseball. There is plenty of room for everyone. And the more I think about it, the more people that enjoy this playoff run (and the more people that get to experience eternity in heaven) the more joy I have. So, the doors are unlocked. Hop on. I'm glad you are here. I've been keeping your seat warm.
