In the text before us, from Mark's Gospel, Peter has just
recognized that his
master is the Christ, the long awaited Messiah. Praised by his
Lord, Peter is
convinced that he is about to WIN in the biggest way possible.
After all, he
has seen his master perform miracles. Thus, when Jesus begins to
bring Peter
and the other disciples down to earth by revealing that the kind
of Messiah
he is called to be is not that of a "miracle worker, or a
"conquering king,"
but that of a "suffering servant," Peter utters his
words of disbelief and
disapproval.
Few if any of us find it easy to accept the idea that loss means
gain; or
that strength comes from weakness. We are so intoxicated
with winning that
Jesus' words about "losing" in order to
"find" and, choosing the way of the
cross, is no easier for us to accept than they were for Peter.
Choosing
between becoming rich and famous or poor and obscure is, in the
minds of most
reasonable people (devout Christians included), a "slam
dunk."
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" which debuted on ABC
last August, has
Americans glued to their television sets. While I know very
little about the
show, having watched it for the first time only last week, I
understand that
it attracted 26 million viewers on the first night of the
November sweeps
period.
I also read, that the Fox network, sensing people's need for
greed, quickly
introduced a similar show in November, called Greed, with a $2
million
jackpot. "Greed" the behavior, I have witnessed first
hand; "greed" the
television program, I have not yet seen, but I read somewhere
that the host
of "Greed," treats the cash like candy. Contestants
who compete as teams are
encouraged to smell and feel the money. One wrong answer and the
team loses
everything. Needless to say, on the night "Greed" was
introduced, Fox doubled
its normal viewing audience.
Like it or not, the greed stakes are growing upward and onward!
Fox, upped
the ante for the February sweeps with a show called "Who
Wants to Marry a
Multi-Millionaire?" I'm not even going to go there.
I'm sure you've all seen
or read the news bulletins describing that fiasco.
Returning to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," let's
pretend for a moment that
this is Regis Philben's "million dollar question":
"Is the Nobel Peace Prize awarded in Stockholm or
Oslo?"
I know that would be too easy for such high stakes, but quite
honestly, it is
a question that stumped me for many years. I've known since
boyhood that
Alfred Nobel was Swedish, therefore, if I had been a contestant
10 or 15
years ago I might have gone with Stockholm. True, Oslo has a
familiar ring to
it, but I would have stayed with Stockholm and Regis would have
said:
"Is that your final answer?"
To which I would have said: "Yes!"
And, Regis would have said:
"You lose. The correct answer is Oslo. The Nobel prizes for
Physics,
Economics, Chemistry, Medicine and Literature are, in fact,
awarded in
Stockholm, but not the Peace Prize. It is presented by the
Chairman of the
Norwegian Nobel Committee in the presence of Their Majesties the
King and
Queen of Norway and an invited audience".
I think that we can all agree that, as a nation of people, we
are suffering
from "millionaire-itist" and we're not sure what to do
about it. We tune into
programs like "Greed" and speculate about what comes
next: A Fox, ABC, or
other network's program entitled: "Lust?"
"Gluttony?" "Sloth?" --- or one
of the other remaining Seven Deadly Sins? Don't be surprised!
What would you be willing to do for $10,000,000? A
representative number of
Americans polled almost ten years ago answered as follows:
o 25% would abandon their entire family---parents and
grandparents,
brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins.
o 25% would abandon their church.
o 16 % would give up their American citizenship.
o 16% would leave their spouses.
o 10% would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free.
o 7% would kill a stranger
(James Patterson and Peter Kim, The Day America Told the Truth,
1991.)
Actually, I'm surprised the percentages were as low as that. I
would guess
them to be much higher today.
We are, as a nation, also gambling more than ever and racking-up
ever larger
credit card debts. We are trying to save our lives by building
bigger barns;
but Jesus says we've got it all wrong and he poses a question
contestants on
Greed might find hard to answer:
"For what will it profit a man to gain the whole world yet
forfeit his life?"
By implication, Jesus finishes his questioning of Peter and the
other
disciples in much the same way as does Regis Philben on his quiz
show.
"Is that the way you really want it, Peter?"
"To put self before the Gospel?"
"To hang-on to your life no matter what the cost?"
Is that your final answer?
". . .your final answer?"
In the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life," (of
which our own Tim
Anderson is more than a casual observer), Old man Potter thinks
that George
Bailey is a loser. The two men head up rival banks in the little
town of
Bedford Falls. George never takes advantage of the bad luck of
others as
Potter does. Instead, Bailey is always trying to help them with
unsecured
loans. When Potter manages to hide some money belonging to
George's bank, the
latter's bank is faced with ruin. The unscrupulous Potter lets
it be known
that funds are missing and a bank examiner is called in.
George is so upset and demoralized, he wishes he was dead and
actually comes
close to committing suicide. But, an angel rescues him and then
proceeds to
show him what the town would have looked like if his wish had
been granted.
With Potter owning and running everything, many of the folks
that George had
aided, became failures---even died. It was not a pretty sight!
Then, George returns home, where he finds that people have
rallied to his
side, each bringing a small amount of money to place in the
bank. George is
no richer than before, at least in terms of money, yet his
brother declares
that he is the richest man in town. Potter, on the other hand,
is entirely
alone the last time we see him.
It is the paradox of faith in Jesus that it IS in giving that we
receive; and
it IS in losing one's life that one finds it. It IS
in entering into the
pain of the world and experiencing our own "crosses,"
that we find our
greatest joy. And, at the same time, the world around us
works hard to
convince us otherwise---that the secret to happiness is finding
ways around
the "cross," avoiding anything and everything
uncomfortable or too tough.
That we should worry less about being good and simply do what
"works" for us
in the moment.
Theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, stated in his book Ethics:
"In the cross of Christ, God confronts the successful man
with the
sanctification of pain, sorrow, humility, failure, poverty,
loneliness and
despair." (The World Treasury of Religious Quotations,
Ralph L. Woods, ed.)
I know from personal experience, that talk about death and
suffering and
rejection, within the context of religious faith, seems odd to
many whose
friendship I value and respect. In the eyes of many
Christians such talk
seems odd. And yet, if you are devoted to the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, you
will see faith as a call to greater sacrifice and perhaps even
suffering.
What the world cannot see, or chooses not to see is that while
Christian
Faith may not offer the world the only "way" toward
greater hope, it offers
the world THE fullest and most lasting HOPE! Amen!
