Of Thoroughbreds

We are living in the "horse capital of the world". Kentucky is serious about horses. Driving around town you will see billboards for horse podiatrists, horse physical therapists, horse dentists, and customized horse trailers. We live on the western side of the city, and a mere mile from our house, four lane suburban sprawl merges into two lane country roads along which stretch for miles and miles the great horse farms that produce the champion racers. The grand barns and stables, the manicured lawns, and the rolling hills enclosed with beautifully symmetrical  parallel lines of endless fences, are quite the sight to see.

I know very little about horses or horseracing. There are two horsetracks nearby. One is called the Red Mile and is known for “harness racing”, where the jocky rides on a two wheeled buggy sitting with his or her legs straight out in front of him behind the horse. The other track is called Keeneland and hosts the traditional jockey rider horse races. Both tracks have betting offices. At this time, I have never placed a bet. If I did, it would have to be based on some arbitrary notion such as a cool jersey color or lucky number, or because I happened to like a certain horse’s name, because really, I know nothing about racehorses.

Each year in the month of September, Keeneland hosts the annual yearling sales, and this is an event that is open to the general public. People come from all over the world to purchase the next generation of champions, and for two weeks, each day at noon the auction starts. Prior to noon and during the auction, all the sales agencies are represented in the stables with all the yearlings available to observe. You can purchase a catalog of all the horses for sale, and then on the day that company will be at the auction, you can request to see that colt or philly. The grooms will walk the pony out for you to look at, and you can look as long as you want. Check the hooves, the stance, the gait, etc, because then the horse will be led to the sales hall. Outside the sales hall is the holding area where you can get a last look and size up your competition of other potential buyers. When the colt’s number is up, he is led into the salesroom, which is an amphitheatre style room with a beautiful half circle stage. The room seats perhaps a 1000 but only has 100 people present. The colt is led by a sales associate onto the stage, the MC reads his pedigree and credentials, and then the auctioneer begins the pitch at $500. Within seconds the bidding has jumped to $60,000, with experienced callers, older men in sports coats and ties, standing at the end of each aisle and barking when the next bid comes from the seats. $60,000 could easily become $175,000, and could even continue to climb. The right colt can sell for 7 figures.

What is so fascinating to me about this, besides the huge amounts of money being swapped in the course of an afternoon, is that a yearling is an untested animal. It has not raced yet. It is still untried, and in many cases is still being “broken” and trained. While it has been certified as a healthy animal, the value and worth of the yearling has nothing to do with its accomplishments. Its value is dependent completely upon who its parents are, and what the buyer sees as its potential. Last week a colt sold for $2.2 million, not because of anything the colt has done, but because its sire is a stallion named “Tapit”, and its dam is a mare named “Justwhistledixie”, both of whom have won races and/or produced race winning offspring.

The apostle John once wrote in a passionate exclamation “Behold! ("gasp" – I like to add a gasp) What manner of love the Father has granted to us to be called the sons and daughters of God!! For that is what we are!!” It’s not because of anything that we have done, or any inherit merit of our own. We are untried, unruly, and in many ways still being “broken.” And yet God, THE God of the universe, the One who made everything and in mysterious wonder keeps it all going beyond our comprehension, has seen fit to call us His dearly loved children. Our worth, our value is found in who He is, and our potential is determined by the buyer, Jesus Christ, who laid down his own life to pay the purchase price or “redeem” us from this world. In fact, He himself becomes our potential. Since potential is based on a possibility, I guess it’s not really potential any longer. Through Christ, I become a sure thing, a sure bet.

However, the reality is, even though I went and observed the auction, I still don’t know anything about horses. In walking around the horse park the other day, Jain and I tried to watch what the buyers were doing as they “window shopped” and examined the yearlings they were willing to bid on. To me, aside from color, size, and the temperament of the moment, one colt was pretty much just like the next. To my untrained eye, they all stood alike, walked alike, and had pretty much the same gait. I would not be able to determine a future champion to look at it. Likewise, I don’t know enough about horseracing to recognize the difference in the sires. Names like “Bernardini” and “Distorted Humor” mean nothing to me, but they mean a great deal to the people who are investing so much in the next generation. Jain and I picked out a fine looking grey filly, #885, and watched as she went through the whole process. She sold for a mere $50,000.

Likewise, John went on to say that the people in this world don’t recognize us as the children of God because they don’t know God. To the world, we may just be ponies, but that’s because they don’t recognize the name of God for Who He really is. They don’t understand the purchase price. But that doesn’t change our identity, nor does it change our worth. God sets my worth; Christ says my potential is in Him, regardless of what anyone else may say.

John’s ecstasy is exactly the point at which my thoroughbred metaphor falls flat. The reality is that we’re not just some economic exchange for God. We’re not simply property or even just his royal subjects (though His kingship is a critical point to remember). John is rejoicing because we have been declared the children of God as a result of his great love for us. And so while our time on earth is compared to a race where we are striving towards a finishing line, the prize is not a gold cup or a bit of temporary prestige. No, we are running into the arms of our Father, like a soldier returning home from war, or a bride waiting for her bridegroom, or a child lost in the woods being returned to his parents . To be with Him at last is the prize. May we run this race unfettered, in absolute excitement and eager anticipation of the reunion that awaits. May we run with the knowledge of our bloodline and whose we are, and may that spur us on to live, if I may stick with the analogy, like thoroughbred champions.