Prepared as part of an assignment for P501, Dr. Teresa Fry Brown at Candler School of Theology. First Sermon.
(Whistle) Iron Will. Iron
Will is a true story of a young man who was yanked out of boyhood in the early
1900’s when his father died in a mushing accident. In order to help save his
family’s farm he entered the race known as the Iditarod. It is a grueling 522-mile
dog sled race over rough wilderness terrain. The prize is $10,000. Will
Stoneman is young. Will Stoneman is green. Will Stoneman is up against seasoned
professional and ruthless racers, and he is too young to race. He seems to have
a friend in yellow journalist Harry Kingsley that convinces the race director
to allow Will to race even though he is too young. Kingsley’s motive is a front-page
story that will advance his career. His race is sabotaged by the other racers.
His lead dog is poisoned. He sleeps only one hour a night and barely stays
ahead of the racers. Life as he knows it is at stake. His life. His mother’s
life. And his mentor’s life. He digs deep not only to train, but to live
through the race.
What do Jeremiah and Will
and you and I have in common? WE are young. WE are called to do something
extraordinary. WE face obstacles to our calling including people who would
rather see us die than succeed. WE face moments when we are tired and
frustrated and want to give up. And we want to know why evil men succeed. Will’s
story impacted my life as single mom, athlete, and Christian. I could relate to
the fight to save my life as I knew it, facing financial hardship, people
depending on me to step out of my comfort zone to save my family from being
homeless or broken. And especially in trying to understand why ruthless people
exist. My questions to God have not been much different than those we find
Jeremiah asking God in our scripture today.
“You
will win, O Lord, if I make claim against You, Yet I shall present charges
against You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are the workers of
treachery at ease? You have planted them, and they have taken root, They
spread, they even bear fruit. You are present in their mouths, But far from
their thoughts.”
“You have planted them.”
Really? Why does God plant wicked people? IS It not enough that they
exist on their own, now we see that God plants them? Who are the wicked people
planted in your life that challenge your very existence? Who are you called
to minister to?
Jeremiah was a prophet to
Judah, Israel and Jerusalem. He was known as the weeping prophet. His message
was for people to turn back to God and honor their covenant. As a covenanted
people, they were facing the consequences of breaking their covenant with God.
God’s plan was to send them into exile into a foreign land among foreign people
who worshipped foreign gods. These are God’s people. God’s chosen. God’s
chosen who had strayed from the covenant. God’s people who had become wicked. Why
didn’t God just fix the situation? Why does God just allow people to keep on
doing evil? And why does God plant evil people … who prosper. Who are the wicked
people planted in your life that challenge your very existence? Who are you
called to minister to? Who are God’s people in your life that need your word?
We like to compare
ourselves to people who are “bad” and lift ourselves up to say “at least I don’t
do that.” I know I do. It’s how our brain works to compare ourselves to others
and measure where we are, who we are, and see where we stand on that invisible
measuring stick that doesn’t really make a difference. Jeremiah says:
“Yet You, Lord, have noted and observed me; You have
tested my heart, and found it with You.”
Jeremiah is human. He
compares himself to those he is up against, his enemies who threaten his life.
He
compares himself to those he is called to minister to.
WHO
ARE YOU CALLED TO MINISTER TO? Who are the wicked people
planted in your life that challenge your very existence? Who are God’s people
in your life that you called to minister to?
His complaint is against
the very people that God has called him to preach to. His complaint is against
the very people who God has planted, wicked yet they prosper. He is up against
impossible odds, so his solution seems like a better one, right?
“Drive them out like sheep to the slaughter, Prepare them
for the day of slaying!”
Kill the enemy!! Kill
those people whom I am called to preach to!! Kill those people that I am called
to minister to. They are wicked!! They are better off than me!! They are making
my life miserable!! Kill them so that my life will be easier. Who are the
wicked people planted in your life that challenge your very existence? Who are
God’s people in your life that you called to minister to?
Jeremiah
continues his complaint … “How long must the land languish, And the grass of
all the countryside dry up? Must beasts and birds perish, Because of the evil
of its inhabitants, Who say, “He will not look upon our future”?
How long will climate
change last? How long will God allow the corporate moguls and government
officials who make poor decisions that cause this entire planet to suffer?!
Kill them all God so that my life will be easier. That is basically what
Jeremiah is asking God to do. Kill them so that my life will be easier. That
seems like a desperate cry from someone who is supposed to be God’s man of the
hour. We have seen this philosophy among our fundamentalist Christian brothers
and sisters who would rather see gay and lesbian people die, transgender people
die, abortionist doctors die, or the man or woman on death row die. Kill them
all so that my life will be easier. Who are the wicked people planted in your
life that challenge your very existence? Who are God’s people in your life that
you are called to minister to?
Yet God has planted them.
God’s ways are not our ways, and God simply responds to Jeremiah:
“If
you race with the foot-runners and they exhaust you, How then can you compete
with horses? If you are secure only in a tranquil land, How will
you fare in the jungle of the Jordan?”
(Whistle) Where is your
will? Where is that place inside of you that digs down deeper to endure the
race, to face the odds, to face your enemies, to face those that you are called
to minister to? Where is your will to follow your calling? How rough will the
terrain be before you give up? How many times will you cry out “Kill them all!”
so that my life will be easier … Or will you train? Will you set aside your
comforts? Will you get up early and go to bed late? Will you continue in the Word
of God? Will you pray without ceasing for those who hate you? Will you question
God, or will you persevere? Will you minister to those you have been called to
minister to regardless of how wicked they appear? Will you remember that God
has planted them?
We have a bigger race
tomorrow than what we face today. Your will determines how well you compete. Will
Stoneman won his race. He is remembered as Iron Will. How will you be
remembered at the end of your race? Where is your will?
Bibliography
Haid,
Charles, director. 1994. Iron Will. Walt Disney Pictures. VHS. Featuring
Mackenzie Austin and Kevin Spacey.
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