and if you say that you're okay

i'm gonna heal you anyway

A sermon from 1 John 2:7-17

After preaching something as unlikely as Jesus CHOOSING to show up in that rag-tag congregation; the elder doubles-down on the strangeness of the sermon, and tells the folks sitting in the pew that morning that they’re not just Jesus’ cup of tea, they’re also his conquerors! His conquerors…

Imagine how that must have sounded! 

Never mind for a second that their congregation was beset by problems; and instead think about the list of victories the congregation had scored recently…

Having trouble??? 

That’s because they hadn’t actually conquered anything! 

At least, not yet. The congregation was still new. Too young. They hadn’t had a chance to win or lose anything!

And yet, their preacher tells them, they’ve conquered the evil one…

That’s like, before the closing ceremonies; before the game is even over, an official declaring the winner!

If the first part of the sermon was too unlikely, this part is too early!

…It’s kind of like this tradition that takes place every homecoming at the seminary where I went. Each year the freshman try to ‘capture’ the Luther statue by the chapel, and then dress him up like one of the professors…

Only, the sophomore who captured the statue the year before, are trying to stop the freshman, trying to keep “their statue.”

I remember being inducted into this tradition. 

The seniors, whose job it is to watch, drink wine, and make freshman answer theological questions before they can go back in the game, explained the rules. As they were going over them, one honest freshman raised his hand and asked, “but what if we can’t capture the statue.”

…At that, the senior just smiled, looked at us and said, “you’ll win.”
And then, she just left!

I remember thinking, “Yeah right!!!” I couldn’t be sure, but to me it looked like I was the only one of my classmates who had ever played sports before! *And I’m not that much of an athlete! 

Plus, I had heard one of the sophomores who played line at Penn State before going to seminary, was going to be guarding the base!
As far as I could see we didn’t stand a chance!
But we could only hem and haw for so long,, because at 11 pm sharp, the game began. 

As my classmates bravely, or foolishly, ran out there to try and capture the statue, I sat back to watched and see how it would go…

A few sophomores were out trying to catch unsuspecting freshman, but most of them were staying close to the base guarding the statue. And, sure enough, there was Matt—who played line at Penn—guarding the base. 

I watched as classmate after classmate was easily tagged out! 

Eventually we all gathered and tried to form a strategy. 

We tried sending mobs to distract the sophomore, while sending one classmate around back to try and sneak in. We tried forming a circle around a classmate to guard them so they could get through, but nothing worked!

As the night dragged on, I began to worry more and more that we’d be the class to drop the ball on this hallowed tradition! 

At one point, as a bunch of us were regrouping, one freshman made a desperate attempt to get to the statue by herself! 

…Lo and behold, though, each Sophomore who tried to tag her would either “slip,” “miss,” or fail to notice her al together.

It had been planned all along! Just like that, the game was over, we won! 

It turned out it was TRUE! We were always going to win!!! 

The outcome had been decided long before we got in the game!

And the elder is telling the congregation that’s the way it is for them.

…But the trouble is, life is rarely like that. Isn’t it?

As we like to say, “Nothing is guaranteed.”

My story, nice as it is, doesn’t really hold up to the way life so often works…

And if that’s what you’re thinking, than you can appreciate how the folks who first heard this sermon must have felt.

Believe, when the elder stood up and gave this sermon; that the members of the congregation were strong, that they had overcome; they didn’t just sit there and nod along!

After all, all the evidence pointed in the opposite direction!

Their congregation wasn’t winning anything! They were racked with bickering and attrition! They didn’t look strong! They didn’t look like conquerors! 

If anything, they looked like losers!

So imagine how it must have sounded to hear this sermon…

But it’s not that hard to imagine, is it? 

We’ve all been there. Those times when you come to church after a week when you can’t catch a break, while the pastor glibly climbs in the pulpit and talks about victory in Christ. But you can’t help but look around and wonder, where?

We’ve all been there because that’s the rub of any Real sermon. Any True one, anyway. There’s always a gap between what you hear in the sermon and what you see in your life, in the world.

Martin Luther called this the “hidden God.”

The God who hides under the opposite. The God who hides Life, under Death. Triumph, under Defeat. Light, under the Darkness. 

And you’ve dealt with this hidden God, too. Isn’t that what you profess each Good Friday when you call the cross, a tool of torture and death, life-giving? Isn’t that what you say when you confess that on the cross hung Jesus, who might have looked to the world like a loser, but was actually busy winning the salvation of the world?

To the world, the cross only and always looks like death, defeat, and darkness. But what we hear is, from it God gave Life Eternal, Victory beyond compare, and Light everlasting!

You see, when it comes to being Christian, our eyes aren’t nearly as trustworthy as our ears. What God is up, to can only be grasped by way of the ear. Our eyes can only see what is, but God has chosen to reveal what’s really going on by hiding it in Jesus’ death, in these words, your heart!

That gap between what you see and what you hear, it’s not hollow. It’s the place God brings the ultimate victory, Jesus and his cross! When you stand in that gap you are actually standing at the foot of the cross. You are carrying your own cross!

So if that’s where you are today. If you think all there is to see is defeat, death and darkness, while I stand up here telling you that, in all those things you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loves you; then you’re right where God wants you!

After a week of defeats, you’ve stumbled onto the winner’s circle! You’re just where you need to be to receive what God, in Jesus Christ, has chosen to give to you! Jesus’ own, life, death and resurrection! Jesus’ own victory and strength!
When you don’t have your own victory to look at, you are most ready to hear that Jesus has handed his over to you! When you don’t have your own strength to rely on, you are most ready to hear that Jesus will give you his!

We call that keeping the First Commandment!

You are strong. You have overcome. 

Only, your strength. Your victory, they are cross-shaped! They comes through these mere words, when your life is beset with defeat and loss, when you know what it’s like to carry the cross, you are being given something stronger than you know!

When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death; you must learn to walk, NOT by what you see, but what you hear! Because hidden in those shadows, in that death, is the salvation Jesus set out for you from the very beginning!

Those places the world will never celebrate, they are the ones Jesus CHOSE when he planted his victory flag at the cross!

…That capture the Luther statue game Gettysburg students still play, the real honor of it, is to get to be the senior who gives all the rules. Because no matter what, every year, at some point a nervous student will raise their hands and ask what if they don’t capture Luther. 

At that point, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about a promise. At which point, on cue, the senior will smile, say, “you’ll win,” and then leave.

And that’s how it is for you today! It’s not about winning or losing!

That outcome was decided long before you showed up! 

You’ve already won! The victory has been yours all along! You’ve even been given the cross-shaped trophy! 

And when you find yourself in that gap between what you’re hearing now and what you see all around you, then you will find out just how strong that trophy is. Just how capable it is of bridging that gap between what you see and what you hear!