What Umpire Jim Joyce taught me about repentance.

It’s no secret that I’m a sports fan. There’s just something about competition that can teach us so much about life, about ourselves, and often sports can illustrate spiritual truths. I believe one such instance happened this week when Armando Galarraga, a relatively unknown pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, carried a perfect game well into the ninth inning against the Cleveland Indians.

In case you aren’t familiar with the term, a perfect game is an extremely rare occurrence. In fact there are only 20 perfect games on record in the history of major league baseball (two have been thrown in the 2010 season, which is incredibly rare). In order to throw a perfect game a pitcher must successfully retire every batter without letting anyone safely reach base. If he hits a batter with a pitch or walks a batter the perfect game is ruined.

On Wednesday night Armando Galarraga had successfully retired 26 batters in a row, and only needed one more out to have thrown the 21st perfect game in baseball history. The batter hit a ground ball to the first baseman, and Galarraga covered the bag and caught the throw before the batter’s foot touched first. For a split second the team started to celebrate, then…..SAFE! Jim Joyce, the umpire, called the runner safe. No one could believe Joyce missed the call, and later that night he sought out Galarraga to apologize for having robbed Galarraga of the chance to join an elite group in the record books.

There is so much to be said for how the parties involved handled themselves throughout this unfortunate situation. But I would like to key in on the humble attitude of Jim Joyce after having blown what he described as the biggest call of his career. Joyce’s actions after the game were almost repentant in nature. In fact, through Jim Joyce’s actions after having blown that call can teach us some lessons in Christian repentance. Now I know that all examples break down at some point, but stick with me for a second.

He humbled himself. I used to umpire softball games and I learned very quickly that to waver in your decision on call is to invite opposition. So umpires typically carry a very proud and hard attitude. It would have been very easy for Jim Joyce to face the cameras after the game and say ‘I saw what I saw and I stand behind the call I made’ even if he knew in his heart he was wrong. One of the first things we must do in coming to Christ is to humble ourselves before God realizing that we have wronged him. 1 Peter 5:5-6 – “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Cloth yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”

He confessed unconditionally. Part of the reason Joyce is being cheered, even by fans in Detroit the day after the blown call, is because he owned up to his mistake. Jim Joyce did not only openly admit he was wrong, but he sought out Armando Galarraga and apologized to him. When we sin, it’s not an action that involves us alone. We are sinning against the God of the universe who created us for his glory. So humility is not enough, it should lead to repentance to God because God is the one we have sinned against. (Psalm 51:4) Seek him and ask forgiveness because he does forgive those who confess their sin to him. 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

He got back to work. Sources say that after having made the mistake of his career Jim Joyce was offered the opportunity to forgo working the game in Detroit the next day. Rather than ducking out of town, Joyce faced the music the next day and went back to doing his job. How many times have we sinned against God and felt that even though we know he has forgiven us he still can’t use us for his glory? We use the guilt of past sin as an opportunity for laziness. For the Christian, guilt is a sin that denies the complete forgiveness of God through Jesus for sin, and laziness for the Christian is a sin of disobedience. God didn’t save us to sulk, he saved us to accomplish work for his glory. Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”