A Gospel For Losers
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series VI, Cycle B
Object:
A fellow is standing at a bar, just looking at his drink. For a solid half-hour, he just stares at it. Suddenly, a big trouble-making truck driver steps up next to him, takes the drink and chugs it down. The poor schlemiel starts crying.
The truck driver says, "Come on, man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I can't stand to see a man cry."
"You don't understand," says the first fellow. "This day is the worst day of my life. First, I slept through the alarm this morning and got into the office late. My boss fired me on the spot.
"I left the building to go to my car and found, that in just the few minutes I had been inside, it had been stolen. The police were no help; they said I was probably out of luck. No duh!
"Luck? I got a cab to return home, and when I left it, I realized that I had left my wallet and all my credit cards on the backseat. I tried to get the cabbie's attention as he drove away, but no, off he went.
"I got inside the house, much earlier than anyone had expected. Surprise, Honey, I'm ho-ome. I found my wife in bed with the gardener.
"I left home and came to this bar. I stood here seriously thinking about ending it all. And I was ready to do it. Then you showed up and drank my poison...."
A loser! There are loads of them out there. Ever watch Seinfeld? The hit show owed a lot of its success to a twisted sense of humor and a charming cast that could make even horrible behavior seem amusing. The character of George Costanza is the "loveable loser" in the bunch. George's character is based on the real-life cocreator of the show, Larry David. Larry has the same pessimistic attitude toward life as George does. In 1993, when Larry won an Emmy for best writing in a comedy series, the opening line of his acceptance speech was, "This is all well and good, but I'm still bald."1 Loser!
Ever feel that way about yourself? If you do, I have a word from the Lord for us, a word that will help us keep going when we feel we have let God and everyone else down. The word is found right at the beginning of our text found halfway through the book of Jonah. Listen: "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time ..." (Jonah 3:1).
We know what led up to this. God told Jonah to go to Ninevah; Jonah deliberately disobeyed. He ran off in the opposite direction in a hissy fit, because he knew better than God, that Ninevah had no right to survive -- they were the Nazis of their day. They were awful! Jonah split rather than take the chance on a Ninevite Nazi revival. Then there was that storm at sea, the big fish, and history's first submarine ride. Finally, Jonah is barfed up on the beach -- loser -- and we read, "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time...." God is giving this loser another chance.
There is gospel in that. There is a word of grace. There is good news for those who need a second chance, or a third chance, or a hundredth chance. It is a gospel for Peter (who denied his Lord), for Paul (who persecuted his Lord), for Jonah (who ran away from his Lord), and even for you and me.
I read what Paul wrote to the Corinthians and wonder if maybe this was God's intention all along. God makes wonderful use, and perhaps the best use, of losers! Paul writes to his friends at First Church, Corinth, and recounts a long list of trials and tribulations that he has suffered. But he is not ready to give up. It is "through God's mercy that we have this ministry" (2 Corinthians 4:1 ff), he says, and that is why "we do not lose heart." He considers the gospel of Jesus Christ a precious treasure that needs to be shared with the world, and then he admits, "we have this treasure in jars of clay...." What? A precious treasure in such a fragile and humble container? Apparently, this has been God's intention all along.
I love the way the apostle Paul affirms that in his own experience. "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Down but not out.
Did you look in the mirror this morning and see a loser? Well, seeing a loser might be like seeing beauty -- it is in the eye of the beholder. The American sports world's attention will soon turn to major league baseball as spring training gets underway. Of all the spectator sports, baseball is my favorite. I know, I know -- some folks think the pace of the game makes it about as exciting as watching paint dry, but there is an elegance to it that I find uplifting, and especially when it is done well. But what is "well"? Do you realize the best hitters in the game only succeed about a third of the time? Seven out of ten at-bats end up in failure. Hmm ... that would make them big time losers in almost any other job (except perhaps weather forecasting), if anyone cared to think that way. But no one does.
It was baseball's opening day in 1954. The Milwaukee Braves and the Cincinnati Reds played each other, and a rookie for each team made his major-league debut during that game. The rookie who played for the Reds hit four doubles and helped his team win with a score of 9-8. The rookie for the Braves went 0 for 5. The Reds player was Jim Greengrass, a name you probably have never heard. The other guy, who did not get a hit, might be more familiar to you. His name was Hank Aaron. Loser, right? Except for being the player who became one of the best home run hitters in the history of the game!2
I remember a wonderful Michael Jordan Nike commercial a few years ago showing this nine-time All-Star, four-time MVP, two-time Olympic gold medalist, this once-in-a-century icon arriving at the game, heading to the locker room. His stride is easy, his smile secretive and knowing as he moves down the gauntlet of fans and well-wishers. He walks like a winner. After all, he is Michael Jordan, the man who made the impossible seem routine and the merely difficult look easy. Yet in the voice-over he says: "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost more than 300 games. Twenty-six times I have been trusted to take the game-winning shot ... and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."3
What? Failure is why he succeeds? Being a loser has made him a winner? Absolutely. There is a reason to go through ordeal; there is value in adversity. We become tougher in the trial and learn that failure is not fatal. And occasionally, one even becomes truly great.
A gospel for losers? Is there really such a thing? Listen one more time to some heartening words: "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time...."
____________
1. Greg Gattuso, The Seinfeld Universe (Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, 1998), p. 160.
2. James Merritt, Friends, Foes & Fools (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holmes, 1997).
3. Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald, Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services, quoted in Clergy Journal, 5/97.
The truck driver says, "Come on, man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I can't stand to see a man cry."
"You don't understand," says the first fellow. "This day is the worst day of my life. First, I slept through the alarm this morning and got into the office late. My boss fired me on the spot.
"I left the building to go to my car and found, that in just the few minutes I had been inside, it had been stolen. The police were no help; they said I was probably out of luck. No duh!
"Luck? I got a cab to return home, and when I left it, I realized that I had left my wallet and all my credit cards on the backseat. I tried to get the cabbie's attention as he drove away, but no, off he went.
"I got inside the house, much earlier than anyone had expected. Surprise, Honey, I'm ho-ome. I found my wife in bed with the gardener.
"I left home and came to this bar. I stood here seriously thinking about ending it all. And I was ready to do it. Then you showed up and drank my poison...."
A loser! There are loads of them out there. Ever watch Seinfeld? The hit show owed a lot of its success to a twisted sense of humor and a charming cast that could make even horrible behavior seem amusing. The character of George Costanza is the "loveable loser" in the bunch. George's character is based on the real-life cocreator of the show, Larry David. Larry has the same pessimistic attitude toward life as George does. In 1993, when Larry won an Emmy for best writing in a comedy series, the opening line of his acceptance speech was, "This is all well and good, but I'm still bald."1 Loser!
Ever feel that way about yourself? If you do, I have a word from the Lord for us, a word that will help us keep going when we feel we have let God and everyone else down. The word is found right at the beginning of our text found halfway through the book of Jonah. Listen: "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time ..." (Jonah 3:1).
We know what led up to this. God told Jonah to go to Ninevah; Jonah deliberately disobeyed. He ran off in the opposite direction in a hissy fit, because he knew better than God, that Ninevah had no right to survive -- they were the Nazis of their day. They were awful! Jonah split rather than take the chance on a Ninevite Nazi revival. Then there was that storm at sea, the big fish, and history's first submarine ride. Finally, Jonah is barfed up on the beach -- loser -- and we read, "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time...." God is giving this loser another chance.
There is gospel in that. There is a word of grace. There is good news for those who need a second chance, or a third chance, or a hundredth chance. It is a gospel for Peter (who denied his Lord), for Paul (who persecuted his Lord), for Jonah (who ran away from his Lord), and even for you and me.
I read what Paul wrote to the Corinthians and wonder if maybe this was God's intention all along. God makes wonderful use, and perhaps the best use, of losers! Paul writes to his friends at First Church, Corinth, and recounts a long list of trials and tribulations that he has suffered. But he is not ready to give up. It is "through God's mercy that we have this ministry" (2 Corinthians 4:1 ff), he says, and that is why "we do not lose heart." He considers the gospel of Jesus Christ a precious treasure that needs to be shared with the world, and then he admits, "we have this treasure in jars of clay...." What? A precious treasure in such a fragile and humble container? Apparently, this has been God's intention all along.
I love the way the apostle Paul affirms that in his own experience. "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Down but not out.
Did you look in the mirror this morning and see a loser? Well, seeing a loser might be like seeing beauty -- it is in the eye of the beholder. The American sports world's attention will soon turn to major league baseball as spring training gets underway. Of all the spectator sports, baseball is my favorite. I know, I know -- some folks think the pace of the game makes it about as exciting as watching paint dry, but there is an elegance to it that I find uplifting, and especially when it is done well. But what is "well"? Do you realize the best hitters in the game only succeed about a third of the time? Seven out of ten at-bats end up in failure. Hmm ... that would make them big time losers in almost any other job (except perhaps weather forecasting), if anyone cared to think that way. But no one does.
It was baseball's opening day in 1954. The Milwaukee Braves and the Cincinnati Reds played each other, and a rookie for each team made his major-league debut during that game. The rookie who played for the Reds hit four doubles and helped his team win with a score of 9-8. The rookie for the Braves went 0 for 5. The Reds player was Jim Greengrass, a name you probably have never heard. The other guy, who did not get a hit, might be more familiar to you. His name was Hank Aaron. Loser, right? Except for being the player who became one of the best home run hitters in the history of the game!2
I remember a wonderful Michael Jordan Nike commercial a few years ago showing this nine-time All-Star, four-time MVP, two-time Olympic gold medalist, this once-in-a-century icon arriving at the game, heading to the locker room. His stride is easy, his smile secretive and knowing as he moves down the gauntlet of fans and well-wishers. He walks like a winner. After all, he is Michael Jordan, the man who made the impossible seem routine and the merely difficult look easy. Yet in the voice-over he says: "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost more than 300 games. Twenty-six times I have been trusted to take the game-winning shot ... and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."3
What? Failure is why he succeeds? Being a loser has made him a winner? Absolutely. There is a reason to go through ordeal; there is value in adversity. We become tougher in the trial and learn that failure is not fatal. And occasionally, one even becomes truly great.
A gospel for losers? Is there really such a thing? Listen one more time to some heartening words: "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time...."
____________
1. Greg Gattuso, The Seinfeld Universe (Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, 1998), p. 160.
2. James Merritt, Friends, Foes & Fools (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holmes, 1997).
3. Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald, Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services, quoted in Clergy Journal, 5/97.
