Exactly what kind of a race are we running here?
And is there a winner? How many winners? Is there just one gold medal given out? Or one every four years?
And are we sure we want to win the medal anyway? According to Hebrews, the “winners”…the ones of whom the world is not worthy…(which, by the way, has got to be the best compliment EVER)…are mocked and flogged, stoned and sawn in two, imprisoned, destitute, persecuted, and tormented….and to top it off – Jesus, the ultimate winner, goes to the cross in shame.
In a culture that loves “winners” like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles and Katy Ledecky — who dominate their sports like no one ever has….and prove that they are the best –I’m thinking, we aren’t going to like winning the race Jesus has set before us. Jesus’ “winners” aren’t the ones who come out on top. They aren’t the ones who have the most gold medals or make the most money or get the most votes. They aren’t the success stories that show us how much God has “blessed” us. Oh…I suppose you could say some are blessed. It’s true –Rahab doesn’t die…the Israelites passdc through the red sea to safety and freedom after generations of slavery…Daniel wasn’t eaten by the lions…Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not consumed by the flames. But don’t forget…they were still thrown into the furnace…and into the lion’s den…and they did endure years and years of brutal slavery only to find that freedom just led to hardship in the wilderness. Not exactly health, wealth and happiness abounding here.
This race we run…and it DOES feel like a marathon most days….isn’t about success and comfort…but about following Jesus. It’s not about joining a popular thriving church…but about drawing close to God. It’s about letting our whole lives be shaped by God – the way we see ourselves — the way we see one another — the way we see the world.
It’s about seeing this world as God’s world. I love how Jeremiah puts it…”Do I not fill heaven and earth?’…says the Lord. Isn’t this my world…aren’t these my people? How dare you say they aren’t? How dare you tell lies that some people matter more than others – how dare you ignore the poor and cater to the wealthy? How dare you care more about national security than the suffering of my children? How dare you uphold order and the status quo when people are being hurt?
Is not my word fire? Or a hammer…breaking the hard rock of your hearts into pieces?
This race we run…isn’t about keeping the peace…in fact. It will upset the peace, quite often. Because when we see the world like God sees it…and see people like God sees them…the things we’ll need to do to love our neighbors is going to royally tick some people off. Refusing to “go along” with others…and accept the unacceptable…will make waves.
Just ask a whistleblower. How many people have lost everything…EVERYTHING…throughout the centuries, because they dared to speak up against injustice? Daughters and sons of slaveholders who dared to call for abolition. Germans in the 30s and 40s who dared to defend their Jewish neighbors. American soldiers who came back from Viet Nam, repulsed by the atrocities they had been party to and refusing to keep silent. Corporate employees who dared to expose corruption. Police officers who break the “blue shield” and report another’s misconduct. Civil Rights activists who bring to light the dark underbelly of racism and sexism and nationalism.
People who stand up for those who are being trampled in this world…in God’s world…are likely going to get trampled themselves. They will not be “winners”… but they will be the ones of whom this world is not worthy. They are the ones who refuse to adapt to the ways of the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, in a speech given in 1963 at Western Michigan University…talked about the call of our faith which invites us to stand firmly against the prevailing tides…to be “maladjuststed” in a culture where the “well adjusted” accept the status quo. I’d like to share his words this morning:
Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word in modern psychology. It is the word “maladjusted.” This word is the ringing cry to modern child psychology. Certainly, we all want to avoid the maladjusted life…we all want the well‐adjusted life in order to avoid neurosis, schizophrenic personalities.
But I say to you, my friends…there are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men of good‐will will be maladjusted… I say very honestly that I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, to self‐defeating effects of physical violence…
In other words, I’m about convinced now that there is need for a new organization in our world. The International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment‐‐men and women who will be as maladjusted as the prophet Amos. Who in the midst of the injustices of his day could cry out in words that echo across the centuries, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I think King was on to something. I think Jesus calls us to a life of “maladjustment”. That’s the race we’re running. The God who looks at you, SEES you, and calls you ‘beautiful child’…invites you to see others with that same clarity. And to refuse to succumb to the way things are…to refuse to accept the weather report handed down by those who would tell us that some lives matter more than others…that it is okay to treat some people with less care…that people in faraway places have nothing to do with us. Instead…Jesus asks us to see our present moment as it truly is …to open up our eyes to see “God with us”…in this world…in this WHOLE world…and in one another. Jesus, son of God, Word of God incarnate… stands in the midst of the crowds…and says ‘why on earth can’t you see what’s happening right in front of you?’ God is here. This is God’s world…God fills the heavens and the earth. Let that truth sear through you – let it burn away all the lies and untruths that our world tells. And let it give you have the courage to live freely…with faith…refusing to “keep the peace” when others are hurting. Let it give you the courage to live freely…with faith…not seeing your worth in your success, but in the truth that you are beloved by God. Not worrying about getting it “right”…not worrying about “winning”…not worrying about being “the best”…but simply running the holy race in front of you. One step at a time. One day at a time. Keep on truckin’, my maladjusted friends. And do not be afraid.
Amen.
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