07/04/21 - God's Long Game - Westminster Presbyterian Church Westminster Presbyterian Church | Serving God and others with open mind, hands and heart - 07/04/21

07/04/21 – God’s Long Game

GOD’S LONG GAME

July 4, 2021
6^th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Sam. 5:1-10; Ps.48; 2 Cor. 12:2-10; Mk. 6:1-13
Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

“Whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” Do we actually believe the words attributed to the Apostle Paul? There’s an old saying: “The race may not go to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that is definitely the way to bet!” Our scripture texts today remind us that the bible contradicts that message. God goes against our odds. God plays the long game.

In our Old Testament reading, David’s saga continues. A shepherd boy, the youngest of eight boys, is God’s choice to be the second king of Israel. Who would have thought? David is now the start of a new line of Israel’s monarchy, replacing Saul. Today the text seems to have less drama than previous readings. The verses announce David’s success in uniting all the tribes of Israel under his rule. What the lectionary selection leaves out is a dramatic event in which King David acts like a victorious king in God’s image, not the world’s image.

The tribes of Israel were divided into two kingdoms, Israel to the north and Judah to the south. By this time David had many military victories on his resume. The northern king, Ishbaal, one of Saul’s sons, sent a diplomat, Abner, to negotiate the merger of the two kingdoms into one, under David. King David gave Abner a royal greeting with fanfare and feasting. With the agreement sealed, Abner went on his way to the north. During his journey, men loyal to David captured and killed Abner. When they returned to boast of their deed to David, David was livid. He called for all the people of Judah to go into mourning for a great man, who had been slain by one of their own. Back in the northern kingdom of Israel, some men, who hoped to gain favor with their new king, beheaded King Ishbaal. They brought Ishbaal’s head to David to boast of their loyalty to him. Wasn’t this the normal practice of war when one king was dethroned by another? But David acquired his dominion over the northern kingdom of Israel by diplomacy rather than bloodshed. David was horrified when presented with Ishbaal’s head and had the guilty parties executed. He had Abner’s body and Ishbaal’s head buried together with honors.

This was leadership that modeled faithfulness to God’s will for justice and mercy, for unity based on the common good rather than domination of one people over another. Like the patriotic song we will sing at the end of the service, David looked to God to guide him to be a leader who would ‘Mend thy countries’ every flaw,” as written in the hymn “O Beautiful, For Spacious Skies” or “America the Beautiful.” When we sing it, listen carefully to the words. The song is a prayer to God. There are no bombs bursting, no bullets flying, no enemy defeated. The song gives thanks to the natural beauty of the land. It expresses a desire for unity and “brotherhood.” “Servanthood” can be substituted for the word “brotherhood.” The prayer beseeches God to “mend thy every flaw,” asking for help and guidance when reform is needed.

In our epistle reading, the Apostle Paul was faced with a challenge to his leadership of the Corinthian church he started. It seems that after Paul had established the Corinthian congregation and went on to other places to plant churches, his leadership was questioned. Both letters attributed to Paul were written to the congregation in Corinth to address the conflict over the legitimacy of Paul’s leadership. It appears that other Christian missionaries boasted of having personal spiritual experiences that gave them more authority to lead the church.

Although Paul is reluctant to boast, he begins his response to his adversaries by topping their spiritual experiences. In a demonstration of his humility, he makes his claims in the third person – “I know a man”—to distance himself from his boast of also having a dramatic spiritual experience – his with the risen Christ. Unexpectedly, he goes on, to admit a weakness: “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.”

Readers have had a field day speculating on the nature of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” All we know is that it was something about Paul, himself, which he could not change. You can probably think of many “thorns in the flesh” that make life difficult in our society. It could be something about one’s physical appearance – skin color, size, age, gender or physical handicaps. Or it could be a mental illness. We will never know the factual truth of Paul’s weakness, but the spiritual truth is that Paul’s thorn is a mirror for our own weaknesses that inhibits our hearts being free to love and serve God. Paul’s prayerful appeals to God to release him from the grasp of his weakness were denied. Paul came to realize that God used him, through his weakness, to serve God’s purposes. Paul reports having received a message from Christ:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness”
(2 Cor. 12:9)

Paul, having been given a lemon, makes lemonade:

“So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power
of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Paul presented the Corinthians with the paradox that to be strong in Christ one must be weak in the things that made for worldly success. These are prophetic words. As we read in our gospel text for today, there were many who did not see his words as good news. In Corinth, new evangelists, who Paul sarcastically called “super-apostles,” may have preached a gospel that promised less sacrifice and more worldly success. These were words people wanted to hear. But Paul preached the gospel of a Savior who sacrificed his pride, gave up all his power and control in the most powerful act of love and compassion the world has ever known.

Christ challenges us to open our hearts to allow God to turn our weakness into God’s strength. Even our pain can become a source of healing. Like Paul, our pain can open our sensitivity to the suffering of others and inspire us to compassion and healing. God used Jesus’ crucifixion to turn the cross, a symbol of humiliation and death, into a symbol of love and new life with his resurrection.

In our gospel reading, Jesus returned to his hometown after performing healing miracles everywhere he had been. Yet, among his own people, he was rejected. Was it envy or fear that hardened their hearts and closed their minds to Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God? The crowd in Nazareth dismissed the tales of his power and tried to expose his weakness as a mere mortal like themselves. They did not realize that his humanity is what made his power so astonishing. His power from God was made perfect in his weak human body.

Jesus warned his disciples that, like him, they would experience setbacks and defeats. He told them: “Shake the dust off your feet.” In other words, ‘Let go of the experiences of rejection, just keep moving. Keep fighting the good fight with your preaching, teaching, and healing. Don’t allow yourself to be enslaved by resentment or fear.’ He sent his disciples out into the world to spread the good news of God’s kingdom in word and deed. Jesus assured the disciples they did not need the worldly resources expected for success. He encouraged their perseverance: “If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” (v.11) In other words, as prophets for God’s kingdom, do not become discouraged or disillusioned when you encounter pushback from forces of evil in the world.

Jesus did not choose to send the brightest, the strongest, or the most gifted speakers. Jesus chose to send the ones who followed him, the ones who had opened their hearts to him. We, too, have received Christ’s invitation to do what he sent his 12 disciples to do. Even with our weaknesses, with Christ’s power within us, his good intentions for the world will not be blocked by either human or demonic forces – even when people’s short games of greed and injustice seem to put the odds of winning in their favor.

The late congressman, John Lewis, spoke words of encouragement to us for times when the world seems to be against us and winning its war:

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

God plays the long game and will not be defeated by humanity’s acts of disobedience and destruction. This is what Paul told his congregations experiencing conflict and persecution. This is what Jesus told the 12 who were commissioned to spread the gospel. Paul assures us: “Power is made perfect in weakness.”

With our hearts and minds open wide, God can reach in and turn our weakness to strength. With this power within us, the improbable, even the impossible can happen. With only a sip of wine and a small piece of bread, with Christ’s presence for us and within us, we can be empowered to unite for the common good and freed to do what Christ sends his disciples out in the world to do – to give food to the hungry and drink for the thirsty, to do justice for those treated unjustly, to heal the sick, to welcome the stranger, to be the balm for those that are wounded by ways of the worldly. That is God’s long game and a sure bet for us.

Amen. May it be so!

My Story

“Throughout the week, there are many worldly things pulling me away from my commitment to God. I come to church on Sunday at Westminster to reconnect and renew my relationship with Him. Part of my worship is to ask him for forgiveness for my lack of faithfulness. I leave, reminded that he loves me, forgives me, and walks beside me every day. What a profound blessing that is!”