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American Liturgy
Why God Still Loves Football
A sermon preached at Putnam Presbyterian Church, NY, February 11, 2024
Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Now, I know that the church calendar calls this Transfiguration Sunday, the Sunday before the beginning of Lent when we observe the story of Jesus climbing a mountain with three of his apostles, communing with great Hebrew prophets, and being revealed as the Messiah of God. But let’s be honest: you did not wake up this morning thinking, “Oh goody, it’s Transfiguration Sunday!” But many of us probably did wake up and say to ourselves, “Hey, the Super Bowl is on today!”
Super Bowl Sunday has become a ritual of American life. Even if your favorite team is not playing, even if you are not a regular football fanatic, chances are pretty good that you will sit down in front of the game tonight. Millions of Americans will do just that. And not just for the game: the hours-long pregame shows, the commercials, and the halftime show have become cultural events as well. The Super Bowl brings Americans together like few things do these days.
The Super Bowl is a religious event in some ways—a ritual of civil religion. About seven or eight years ago, I wrote a sermon called “Why God Loves Football.” A revision of that sermon ended up as a chapter in my most recent book, American Liturgy: Finding Theological Meaning in the Holy Days of US Culture. The point of that book was to say that many holidays in American culture can be understood as significant from a Christian point of view; Super Bowl Sunday is no exception. In that book chapter, I made a tongue-in-cheek case for why football was the holiest of all sports, and why I think it holds a special place in God’s heart. The real point of that sermon, though, was that football—and sports—can symbolize some good things about God and human life and culture, like the importance of family, community, and the gift of fun and leisure.
Continue readingUsing Culture to Inform the Church
‘Leading Theologically’ guest makes the case for fearless, faithful preaching around the Fourth of July, Labor Day — even Super Bowl Sunday
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE — Many preachers get a little antsy about preaching on and around secular holidays, among them the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Mother’s Day — and that biggest secular holiday of all, Super Bowl Sunday. In their minds, the culture and the church ought to be kept at arm’s length from one another.
But the Rev. Dr. James Calvin Davis, the guest Wednesday on the Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty’s podcast “Leading Theologically,” said he welcomes opportunities for culture to inform the church.
Read more at Presbyterian Mission.
Podcast Interview: Pastors4Pastors
I recently had the opportunity once again to appear on my friend Ken Broman-Fulks’s podcast, Pastors4Pastors. We had a lot of fun talking about the themes running through the essays in my book:
Most pastors either embrace our American holidays without question or try to ignore them and hope our congregations won’t notice, which they always do. Our conversation with James Calvin Davis, author of American Liturgy: Finding Theological Meaning in the Holy Days of US Culture, is both edifying and entertaining!
— Ken Broman-Fulks
You can listen here, or wherever podcasts live (including Amazon Music!) If you’re a visual person, you can watch the interview (which also includes two of our other Presbyterian friends) on YouTube.
Don’t forget to subscribe to Ken’s podcast to get notified of future episodes.
American Liturgy — New Book Announcement
I’m thrilled to announce that my latest book is now available to order! Official launch information will follow soon. In the meantime, here is a description and link to the publisher’s website:
American Liturgy: Finding Theological Meaning in the Holy Days of US Culture
How can celebrating the “holy days” of American culture help us to understand what it means to be both Christian and American? In timely essays on Super Bowl Sunday, Mother’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and other holidays of the secular calendar, James Calvin Davis explores the wisdom that Christian tradition brings to our sense of American identity, as well as the ways in which American culture might prompt us to discern the imperatives of faith in new ways. Rather than demonizing culture or naively baptizing it, Davis models a bidirectional mode of reflection, where faith convictions and cultural values converse with and critique one another. Focusing on topics like politics, race, parenting, music, and sports, these essays remind us that culture is as much human accomplishment and gift as it is a challenge to Christian values, and there is insight to be discovered in a theologically astute investment in America’s “holy days.”
James Calvin Davis 
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