PROPER 16A - Exodus 1:8-2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20 - 24 August 2008 - A sermon preached by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

Success in the Bible

 

INTRODUCTION - “Successful” as defined in the U.S.

 

Let’s suppose for a moment that I have just emigrated to the United States. I want to know how to be successful now that I am here. So I ask you, “What does it mean to be successful in America?” How would you respond?

 

Your answer would likely have something to do with coming in first place, with being #1. It would probably have something to do with being known, even famous, and having a high-powered job, a lot of money, and the right kind of things - an amazing house or two, an expensive car, the right kinds of clothes, the ability to take amazing vacations, etc.

 

The problem with this definition of success is that it doesn’t really take the success of others into account. In fact, this definition encourages competition to the point where others are often seen as rivals, obstacles, or even the enemy. In this way of thinking, there are only so many good schools, so many good universities, so many good jobs, and I must do everything I can to beat you to the punch, and get into that school and that university, so that I can out-compete you for that perfect job, so that I can afford to live in the right neighborhood and go to the coolest places.

 

And because we Americans tend to define success this way, if you do relationships really well, you don’t tend to be rewarded financially. If you invest a lot of time and energy in being a good parent, or in having a dynamic marriage... if you invest a lot of time and energy in being a good friend, or in being with and caring for those who are not in “power” positions - children, the poor, the sick, the lonely, the aged, you might be labeled a “saint” or a role model by someone along the way, but chances are you won’t be referred to as successful, or pointed to as someone to emulate if your really want to make your mark in this world of ours.

 

It is in this cultural context that the Church, and I would even say God, are crazy enough to put in front of us today stories of Egyptian midwives, Paul’s challenge to be a living sacrifice, and Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

 

LESSONS FROM THE EGYPTIAN MIDWIVES

 

A few minutes ago, we heard, “The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives..., ‘When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women..., if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she may live.” (Exodus 1:15-16) However, the Hebrew may be interpreted as “midwives of the Hebrews”, as in Egyptian women who were serving the Israelites. (See the note on this verse from The Harper Collins Study Bible, p. 80) This seems to make more sense. The Pharaoh asks his own people - Egyptian women, in this case - to do his dirty work, and participate in genocide.

 

 

What would you do? If the most powerful figure in your own country asked you to commit murder, and said it was for the good of your country, and to keep another ethnic group from growing too powerful and taking over, what would you do? Perhaps murder is too easy a case. (Though if you look at Nazi Germany, it certainly isn’t an academic argument.) I wouldn’t kill someone, perhaps you and I would say. But what if the scenario was a little bit different? What if you were asked to lie about someone, or spy on someone? Would that be okay?

 

If we define success as being “anything I can do to move myself up the ladder of financial wealth and influence”, then these women could have said, “Wow! The Pharaoh has come to us! Here is our chance to get in good with Pharaoh! Maybe he’ll give us some positions of real power and influence, if we follow through with his orders.” That was not the route they chose.

 

We hear, “But the midwives feared God” - that is, the God of the Hebrews. They did not do as Pharaoh commanded, but let the new-born boys live. (Exodus 1:18) The Pharaoh summoned the midwives - I bet they saw that one coming! - and asked why they allowed the boys to live. The midwives concocted a story. “These Hebrew women are so strong and quick that they give birth before we get there!” Not only did they not comply with Pharaoh’s orders. When he asked about it, they lied to him!

 

Next we read, “So God dealt well with the midwives... and because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.” (Exodus 1:20-21)

 

There is something a whole lot different than looking out for #1 going on here. Rather than take innocent lives, these midwives risked their own lives.

 

PETER’S CONFESSION

 

Jesus takes the disciples out of Galilee to a place further north, called Caesarea Philippi. It would have been sort of like going from Utah to Las Vegas. And there, as you stroll through the casinos and see all the people mindlessly pulling down on “the one-arm bandits”, as you walk down a street at 2 a.m., when every other person is offering to show you a good time, Jesus stops and says, “Hey, who are folks saying that I am?” The disciples have to gather themselves for a minute. “Oh, you mean back home in Galilee?” They thought for just a moment, and then just started rattling off what they had heard folks saying. “Let’s see. Some say you’re John the Baptist. Some say you’re Elijah. Others say you’re Jeremiah. Some have said you’re one of the other prophets.”

 

Then Jesus asked them a much harder question, right there in Caesarea Philippi. “But who do you say that I am?” I’m thinking things got quiet for a while. Perhaps some of them looked away from Jesus, off into the distance. Some of them looked down at their sandals. Probably all of them thought to themselves, “I wondered when he was going to ask us this, and now he has, and I still don’t feel ready to answer. Yet there is nowhere for me to hide. He’s right there, and it’s just the twelve of us with him, and - oh, my God, I wonder who will speak up first!” And just then they heard Peter say - (Good old, impulsive Peter. You can always count on him to say something! Whew!) - “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

 

Sometimes, despite his tendency to blurt things out, Peter got things right. Jesus indicated this was one of those times, and called Peter “blessed”. But it’s quite interesting, what Jesus said.

 

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17) In other words, “Don’t get all full of yourself, Simon Peter, thinking that you are smarter than all the others, and therefore better than all of them. I’m commending you because you didn’t review what everyone else was saying about me, and then decide which argument made the most sense. You just opened yourself up to the guidance of God, and trusted that. Remember this day. Remember what this feels like. On this kind of faith and trust I can build a church.”

 

PAUL’S ADVICE TO THE ROMANS

 

As Paul makes the shift in the Letter to the Romans from theology to how the Christians in Rome should act, he says to them, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

 

Evidently, conforming to the expectations of the society was just as common in Rome around the year 58 as it is in the U.S. - 1,950 years later. Paul says, “Forget all that conformity stuff. Don’t get sucked in to the culture’s definition of success. A Christian should be concerned with how he or she can be transformed, and what is going to transform you is discerning and doing the will of God.”

 

People can ask you how you discern what to do in two radically different ways. One way: What are people around you telling you that you should do? (What do your parents and friends say you should do, or what does the wider culture say you should do?) That is a different question than this one: What is God calling you to do? (In other words, what is God’s will for you?)

 

FAITHFULNESS

 

Today’s three lessons are a very good sample of what the Bible says, in general, about success. If you go to the Bible and look for all the places where it says “look out for #1", you’re going to be disappointed. Instead, you’re going to find what we’ve seen in these lessons today. Success is defined as being faithful. The people who are commended by God are midwives who fear God, a disciple who discerns who Jesus is by going inside, listening, and trusting the guidance of God’s spirit. And the man who says “forget about being a conformist to the world’s ways” is a man who had a radical experience of transformation - initiated by God - and says that all the things he used to consider marks of success are now “rubbish” to him, are nothing but garbage, because of “the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ” as his Lord. (Philippians 3:8) And this man encourages the other followers of Jesus: discern the will of God, and do God’s will.

 

DOING GOD’S WILL

 

You might say, “But what does God call me to do? What does God’s will look like?” Sometimes I think we make discovering God’s will sound harder than it is. Though it has unique twists for each of us, since we all are unique, doing God’s will involves certain common elements.

 

Doing God’s will almost always involves getting your ego out of the way. It involves doing something that challenges you to grow as a person. It usually has something to do with learning to be generous, whether that be with your time, your money, or in your ability to listen. If what you are doing is blessing someone else, that’s a pretty good indication that you’re doing God’s will. Does is build up another person or is it good for the community or the earth or other living creatures in some way? That’s an indicator. Does it involve doing justice for someone who needs justice, or reconciling people who have been at odds (and you might be one of those people)? If so, that’s almost surely following the call of God. Does it involve you doing something that leads to you growing in gratitude towards God? If so, then that is almost certainly you doing God’s will. Does it involve listening and discerning for the guidance of God’s spirit, following in the footsteps of the midwives and Peter and Paul? That’s doing God’s will, too.

 

CONCLUSION

 

When you throw advertising into the equation, you literally have thousands and thousands of voices - even millions over the course of a lifetime - telling you what success looks like. In the Bible, you have 66 books to look at, maybe a couple hundred key stories to read, and let’s face it - the voices in the Bible are completely outnumbered by the voices of the culture. But the voices in the Bible are all ultimately saying one thing. Are you listening for the voice of God, and what God is calling you to do? To put it in a slightly different way: Are you trying to be faithful?

 

God looks at all of us scurrying around, deluged by voices and activities and things. I realize I would have to be awfully presumptuous and arrogant to try to tell you what God is thinking, but if the Bible is any indication, and I would suggest to you it is, then I think God is looking around for signs of faithfulness. Does any of our running around, any of what we do, have anything to do with being faithful to God? If it does, let’s celebrate that today, as we continue to worship, and as we work together in the Harvest Auction. And if what we’re doing doesn’t have much of anything to do with being faithful to God, then let’s not go home today and immediately immerse ourselves in doing the same old things. Let’s go home, and think about what that means, and open up ourselves to the reality that God wants to transform our lives, and let’s say to God for the first time or for the 101^st time, “Come, Lord. I need you. I really need you. I get distracted so easily. Help me come to you, and learn from you, and be about doing things that really matter - to you. I want to know you and love you. I want to be faithful. I could sure use your help. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”