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.