Irresistible
December 2025
In Williamsport, PA from August 17-28, 2022 the Little League World Series took place after a two year absence due to Covid. Among the teams that came from around the world was ‘14th of September’, a team from Managua Nicaragua. This group of athletes had shocked the Little League of Central America by defeating the powerhouse teams of Venezuela, Honduras, and Costa Rica, as well as another impressive team from Nicaragua “A” Hermanos por Cristo. It had been 52 years since a team from Nicaragua had made it to the series. Immigration and visa issues allowed only one parent to travel per player. On the opening day of the series, August 17, they lost to Curacao 0-2. When the team got back to their dorm the coach and leaders of the team found the boys discouraged and weeping in disappointment. An official from the league came to explain, through a translator, that they would still be able to play again but that they would have to win from that point forward. Three days later, on August 20, they played their next game against another strong team- Puerto Rico but, unbeknownst to the team, their manager had put out a ‘bat signal’ (that is what they called it) to the American Nicaragua community that these boys needed support. They came - people unrelated to anyone on the team, some driving as much as six hours and others flying in from other states, simply wanting the team to see and hear their support. The team manager directed the boys to see and encouraged them to listen to this group of people who had come to cheer them on. In that moment something special happened.
To a group of boys who felt isolated and alone - the Nicaragua community communicated one simple message - you are not alone and you matter! The team began to play like a team. They were being celebrated with joy. Writers about this series said it was a truly special moment in little league history. That series became a celebration of ‘all that is good about baseball’.
Three days later, August 20th, they beat Puerto Rico. On August 21 the game began but was called for rain and finished on the 22nd and they played what is described as the game of the ages - the longest recorded little league game in the history of the sport at that time, and they beat Japan. On August 23rd they beat Panama. On August 24 they played Curacao again- scored 2 runs but lost one game from the final. This time, they were able to celebrate. The team from Hawaii went on to beat Curacao in the final. The lasting story from this particular series was not about the ‘score’ board but about something far more beautiful, especially on the backdrop of the pandemic. A display of how unconditional love and support can change the story! The managers of the team said it was the longing of those in the stands that touched something deep in the heart of those boys - their passion was beautifully irresistible and it changed the outcomes because it changed them. Writers about that series said it was ‘fun to watch’ the affect it had on everyone.You see, what team manager Ricardo Riva invited his team towards was not to better baseball but to something deeper in them- he invited them to repent - to change their minds and their hearts, based on the desire of those supporting them.
David Bentley Hart defines repentance this way:
‘True repentance is not just a feat of the will but a consent of our will to the irresistible allure of the good’.
This kind of repentance is Good News! Matthew records that John the baptist ‘...came preaching in the wilderness saying “repent”...’ (Matt. 3:1-11)
The definition of repentance that many of us have internalized is ‘straighten up and fly right’ in ORDER for the Kingdom to come. We hear some say ‘do you know why God is not working in your life - it is because you need to get it together’. So we often hear this message of guilt and moral reform. The repentance that John is proclaiming is because Heaven has come near!
Repentance is not a rehearsal of mistakes- repentance is to perceive what is true - God has come near. He was not content to leave man isolated and alone. Repentance is to turn and see the loving kindness of God and to notice that it has an irresistible affect that we are invited to consent to. Here is what is revealed in Christ coming - you are not alone, you are loved and you matter to God. When the beauty of that message captures our attention - we begin to encounter the good news of repentance! When we allow our mind, heart, and life to be reoriented by the sheer attraction of what is good and beautiful - the Love of God revealed in Christ - that is repentance. And friends, that means repentance is beautiful, not something to fear or disdain.
What if it is really that simple? What if I orient my life by what God calls good and beautiful? Jesus’ idea of repentance was not about moralism and tears of regret (although tears are sometimes involved). It is about turning to SEE what is good, the love of the Father revealed in a Person. That is repentance.
Its fascinating watching people share, without hesitation, their pictures of the Northern Lights, Sunsets, Sunrises, flowers blooming, Super Moons....beauty has a transcendent message that we did not invent. It grabs us across language and culture - it says something is good...and it stirs a longing in us for the good.
‘True repentance is not just a feat of the will but a consent of our will to the irresistible allure of the good’ David Bentley Hart
The voice in the wilderness is proclaiming ‘repent’ and, thanks be to God, it is not about moral book-keeping. It is about seeing the good and the beautiful and being changed by it. This is the Gospel we confess.
Here is where this gets personal. Jesus said the actual place where we would find His beauty is in the face of the weak, the vulnerable, and oppressed.
‘The failure to see the beauty that shows itself in the homeless, the migrant, is the failure to be drawn to it’s irresistibility - is a judgment passed on us by those whose faces we turn away from’ David Bentley Hart
When we truly encounter and see the beauty of Jesus - when we repent - we are invited to continue to see His face in the face of the broken. This is the challenge of the world we are experiencing right now - which way will I turn my head? In indignation, anger, and violent rhetoric against those who I think are to blame for the suffering of others? Or will I hear a voice in the wilderness saying - repent...and SEE Jesus? It was Dr Martin Luther King Jr who pointed out that the opposite of love is not hate, it is turning our head in indifference.
To fail to see the face of Christ in the vulnerable, the weak, the migrant (documented or not), women being held in systems of abuse, etc., is an indifference we cannot afford! (Matt. 25:31-46).
So the rejection of indifference is paying attention and being present to the faces of Christ in our lives who are right in front of us...to proclaim to the heart that is convinced they are alone, “God cares and you are loved, and you are not alone”. This is the message we rehearse in Advent. ‘Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’
‘True repentance is not just a feat of the will but a consent of our will to the irresistible allure of the good’. David Bentley Hart
Oh What Wonderful News!
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