"Life at the End of the Line" - Mark 8:31-38 - March 19, 2000
Since my name begins with "W" I know what it means to be at the end of the line. All through school I was either near or at the end, always with the Youngs and the Zimmermans. At every graduation I was in the last group to cross the stage and receive my diploma. In the classroom I always sat in the last row near the back of the room. I never knew what it meant to be first until I became a pastor. Now, I am always permitted to eat first at potluck dinners.
I must confess its rather nice to be the first one to go through the line. You get to choose from all the best dishes and you have first choice on dessert. I wonder sometimes if I would have a different outlook on life if my name began with an "A."
We live in a society where being "first" means everything. Everyone wants to be number one or be part of a group that is number one. Competition is the name of the game. Our motto is "win, win, win, me, me, me." To find ourselves at the end of the line in anything is absolutely tragic. None of us wants to come in last. No one wants to wait.
Then, along comes Jesus. He totally ruins our winning formula by saying the phrase, "For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it." What? Lose instead of win? This does not compute. This is illogical. This is now how we were conditioned to believe. Surely this must be a mistake.
Jesus, however promotes an ethic of "end of the lineness." Not only are we to lose to win, we are to "deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him." For Jesus its even worse. He is to suffer, be rejected, and killed by a hostile world.
Why did Jesus make such a difficult statement? Who in their right mind wants to lose? Its obvious that the disciples didn’t want to hear this either. Peter denied it. As a consequence he was rebuked. Jesus is trying to make the point that it is only by sacrificial living that we can truly be what God intends for us to be. Losing is everything. Winning is nothing.
Last fall we were returning from Tennessee (going North) on interstate 75. That is the busiest highway in the Midwest. Unfortunately we had to stop because of an accident. When we came upon the scene the highway patrol were letting a few cars pass. About the time we arrived at the place of the accident the patrolman held up his hand and asked us to stop. We were next to pass, only we sat there for almost 45 minutes. You could imagine how irritated I was. Had I passed just one more car in the last 30 miles I would not be sitting there going nowhere.
I tried my best to be patient, not something that is easy for me to do. Finally, the tow truck pulled away and we got the green light to continue on our journey. That incident, however taught me a valuable lesson. For the next hundred miles, there were no cars or trucks anywhere to be seen. We had the entire interstate highway to ourselves, all the way from Lexington, Kentucky to Cincinnati, Ohio. Driving that day couldn’t have been more pleasant.
Perhaps there is something to this business of saving one’s life by losing. Perhaps to be at the end of the line is not always a bad thing. The problem is, most of us would ever want to be in that position to find out. To "lose" does not mean that life will be bad or even unpleasant. It doesn’t mean we aren’t persons of worth or that our life can’t be meaningful and exciting. To save our lives by losing is a concept that is totally opposite to what we believe, yet one that Jesus says will work.
Since Christmas I have been dieting, trying to lose some of the weight I gained during the holidays. I have been fortunate to lose about 12 pounds. I must tell you that before I felt sluggish, tired, and sometimes depressed. Now I feel as though I have more energy. Some of my clothes fit better and I simply feel better about myself.
Few would argue that losing weight is a bad thing. But what if we applied that same concept to the rest of our lives? What if we became persons who gave things away instead of collected stuff? What if we were more generous with our money than always spending it on ourselves? What if we were more patient, and give others the opportunity to be in line ahead of us?
I believe that Jesus is saying to us that life at the end of the line can be rewarding. He doesn’t suggest that it will be easy. He does, however say that it has everything to do with believing in him. And the good news is that what follows his suffering and personal sacrifice is the resurrection. For Jesus, losing has everything to do with winning.
In the March/April issue of Homiletics, there is a story by an unknown author that says it all. An American businessman was at the pier of a small, coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.
The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late; fish a little; play with my children; take siesta with my wife, Maria; stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."
The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat; with the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, señor, how long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "Fifteen to twenty years." "But what then, señor?" The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich; you would make millions." "Millions, señor? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
Dr. Keith Wagner
"You Got to be Kidding!" - Gen. 17:1-7,15-17 - March 16, 2003
In the Spring of 1980 I called my boss and told him I was going into the ministry. "You got to be kidding," he said, with total amazement. "Yes, it’s true," I replied. I have decided to give up my sales career in the medical equipment field and be a minister. I was in my early thirties and since college I had been in sales and marketing. My undergraduate degree was in Business Administration. My decision to leave the business world and enter the ministry came as a surprise to a lot of people.
Have you ever been surprised with astonishing news? Has a change of events caught you off guard? Has God intervened in your life and made what seemed impossible a possibility?
When God told Abraham he would have a son at the age of 100 he laughed. "You got to be kidding," he must have thought to himself. Imagine, his wife, Sarah, was 90 years old. For God to give them a child at that age would have been preposterous.
My wife has a co-worker who recently turned 40. A few weeks ago she discovered she was pregnant. She and her husband were not attempting to have a child. In fact they had been told by their doctor that the likelihood of having another child was improbable. However, they were surprised to learn that their family will be expanding later in the year. Needless to say they were shocked, but pleasantly surprised.
God surprises us all the time. Here at St. Paul’s we have been considering the purchase of an electronic keyboard for our church organist. The item was not budgeted this year and other priorities have been placed ahead of it. Surprise! A family lost a loved one recently and decided to purchase the keyboard in memory of their mother. The instrument will be here in time for Easter, thereby enriching our music capabilities for the Easter Season.
God never ceases to amaze me. I believe that God surprises us every day but we are not accustomed to giving God the credit. We tend to credit surprises to our own hard work or just call it plain old good luck.
We tend to live our lives without the expectation that God will surprise us. Rather than be optimistic we tend to say things like, "that’ll never work," or, "there’s no way." We also live with the age old problem that "we get what we deserve." God, however is always creating and intervening and because of God’s grace, great things happen. God is a giver of surprises and wants us to believe that a surprise can come at any moment.
When I was called into the ministry in 1980 I began to make the transition from the business world to a life of ministry. I was well into my career and the complexity of making that transition seemed impossible. But from the day I said "yes" and surrendered to the will of God, to the day I gave my first sermon was 120 days. Both educational and financial windows opened for me to make that journey. I never ceased to be amazed at how God works. God is absolutely incredible and over time I have learned to be patient with God and watch things unfold.
That is not to say that change isn’t a struggle, for it can be. For Sarah and Abraham to have a child in their later years must have been a tremendous challenge. For a woman to give birth is a struggle in of itself. In the process of transition life can be like a roller-coaster. There are ups and downs, twists and turns, that keep us off balance. Nevertheless, it is a journey on which we are not alone.
To understand that God can do the impossible we have to be willing to surrender to God’s impossible ways. Because we are people who like to be in control that is not an easy task. "Walk before," God said, "and be blameless." In other words be willing to make the journey and yield to God’s will.
I believe that surrendering is one of the most difficult tasks we face as people of faith. We are so influenced by a world that has to be in control and fosters individual independence that we are not in the habit of letting go and yielding to God.
In the beginning, Abraham bulked at the possibility of having another son. As time went on, God made a believer out of him making good on God’s promise. Sarah did in fact give birth to Issac. As the rest of the story of Abraham unfolds, we find him surrendering to God even when it made no sense.
God promised the family of faith would grow and it did. In spite of denying the impossible with laughter, Abraham and Sarah become parents a second time. God expanded their family and the faith community continued through their lineage. One of the greatest legacies we can give our children and grand-children is the promise that faith will continue and that the presence of God will be with them forever. To accept the ridiculous and absurd ways that God works in our lives is to live with a bold faith.
The God we worship is full of surprises. The God we worship can do the impossible. The God we worship promises us future growth and the continuation of the faithful forever.
Dr. Keith Wagner