Matti Ensio Nykanen is considered by many to be the greatest male ski jumper of all time, winning five Winter Olympic medals, nine World Championship medals and twenty-two Finnish Championship medals, most notably he won three gold medals in the 1988 Winter Olympics, yet my guess is that only a few of you will know the name. Interestingly I guess that the majority of you will know the name of Michael Edwards a plasterer from Cheltenham who during the Winter Olympics of 1988 won the hearts of the nation, if not the world and came last in the event won by Nykanen. The world loves a winner, but o boy don’t we just love a tryer, even if they come last.
We live in a world today where ego is of paramount importance, where celebrities are judged by the number of followers they have on social media, where people are catapulted into the limelight and become celebrities for simply sitting at home and watching television, or filming their day to day activities and posting them on YouTube, instead of going out and working for a living. It seems that people crave celebrity status, want to be at the top of the pile, be popular, be famous, be rich.
As we read the Gospel stories it would seem that Jesus had this kind of celebrity status thrust upon him for serving others, even in his day, he recognised that people were craving being popular, being important and he reveals a truth to them, those who push themselves to the front will be last in the sight of God and those who are seen as being the least, will be at the top of the pile.
I detest awards ceremonies, I think that they have ruined our entertainments industry, because the programme makers have lost sight of the concept of entertainment and instead are only interested in the awards they might win, so storylines become increasingly sensational and dark and in my view are no longer entertaining. The one exception to my prejudice is the “Pride of Britain Awards” held during the autumn of each year, OK, so they are still an occasion when the Celebrities can flash their designer dresses and increasingly dazzling teeth, but the real heroes of the occasion are ordinary people who have done extraordinary acts and fully deserve to be honoured.
We all might love a hero, but I say “God bless those who do their best, give their all and never win a medal, but win instead our undying appreciation and admiration” Jesus says “in the Kingdom of heaven, the first shall be last and the last shall be first” Amen!