Something More Than Defeat: Psalm 98; I John 5: 1-6
A few years ago, a friend of mine was going through a mopey, whiney time of life. He wasn’t clinically depressed, or at least the doctor said not, but he was still down in dumps, or as my grandmother used to say, he was “down in the doldrums of life.” Now his mother was a wise, wise woman. She knew when to offer comfort, when to offer strength, and when to give a good, hard push. So, one night he called her moping and whining about, complaining about everything despite having a rather good life. Finally, his mother gave a truly startling response. She said, “Well, son, I don’t know what to tell you, you’re just gonna have to suck it up, deal with it, and get on.” He was, at first, shocked that she didn’t speak sweetly and comfortingly. But this good, hard push is exactly what he needed to overcome this defeat he was bringing on himself.
Friends, as we continue our series on something more, we are reminded that faith teaches us to live in the knowledge that Christ has given us victory over trouble, sin, and even death itself. We do not have to live in a place of defeat and doldrums because there is power in blood and victory in Jesus, to quote the old hymns of the church. This morning we look at two things that remind us of our victory. The first is overcoming the defeatist attitude in our life and our being, the second is testifying to this hope that we have.
Overcoming defeatism in our lives is not easy. Sometimes it’s just a belief we are convinced of, and sometimes it’s tied to deeper psychological issues. Medicine and therapy can deal with those issues and struggles (and I stress the need for this if those issues are diagnosed), but for the spiritual side, we must change our hearts and minds from a belief of ultimate defeat to a mindset of victory in Jesus. In 1952, a minister from New York, named Norman Vincent Peale, published a book titled, The Power of Positive Thinking.” It became widely panned by psychology for being pseudo-science. It was panned by theologians as being just a bit theologically wonky (that’s a technical term). But the general public loved it…including several presidents and well-known ministers.
Much of the book is probably not going to solve every problem you face in life; however, there is a bit of validity to the idea that if you fill your life with defeat and negativity every single day, you will end up with a self-fulfilling prophecy. Psalm 98:2 rejects this negativity and proclaims, “The Lord has announced his victory and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!” Consider this, if you fill your body with huge amounts of sugar every day, you’re going to become sick and diabetic. If you eat significant quantities of raw chicken, you will likely end up with salmonella poisoning. If you eat healthy and exercise the most likely outcome is (usually) good health. Likewise, if your spiritual intake is constantly filled with evil, suffering, defeatism, and negativity, you will have no room for the goodness, and the wonder of God’s love and presence. The past year and pandemic have taught us so clearly, that whatever Godly wisdom or worldly foolishness you fill your mind with, there is where your faith and growth in God will go.
Our faith is very simple in so many ways— “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God,” we hear in verse 1 of I John 5. The second verse adds to this: “We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey [God’s] commandments.” Sometimes obedience comes in hearing God’s call to some kind of ministry or mission. But sometimes, obedience is having the faith to respond when God calls (much like my friend’s mother), “You’re gonna have to suck it up, trust me, and get on.”
This tougher side of God is a bit harder of a pill to swallow sometimes. It’s easy when we talk about God being loving and supportive and warm, but sometimes God can sound less warm and gentle and more like a drill instructor. Look at how many times Moses was given tough directions. Look at God calling out to Jonah in his defeatist, angry time. Look at God wrestling with Jacob. God is going to get our attention, and God is always going to win the battle with us. The good news is, God gives us victory too, through our faith, and through our work to follow God and Christ’s example in this world.
Therefore, we can sing God’s praises and feel our spirits lifted at the reminder that God has conquered all the evil of this world, and we testify to that great hope we have. The Psalm calls us to “sing a new song to the Lord, for [God] has done wonderful deeds.” Over and over the Psalm talks about life, earth, and creation singing God’s praises for God has “won a mighty victory” and “shown his saving power.” I John 5:4 says it most clearly, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we can achieve this victory through our faith.” That is a powerful point we can share with others. No matter how troublesome things are here and now, the end of our story is victory, joy, and hope.
For many of us, that’s where we need to live—in the reminder of hope, in the reminder that life is not about ticking away the minutes until we die. Our time here is about making the most of every situation, proclaiming the love of God at every single turn, and embracing this hope that there’s something more than being plunked in the grave and that’s it. God has made a promise that there is something more than death and defeat, and we are to have faith in that promise. In living that faith, we love, embrace, help, heal, and strengthen those on this earth who are in need, just as God gives us strength and help and healing when we are in need.
One of the many empowering things I found in this church is a number of strong mother-figures who have led, supported, and guided me and this church with great wisdom from God. One of those was a lady named Barbara Wright. She died in 2012, so many of you would not have even met her. She was a hoot to be around. I’ll never forget visiting her one Sunday after church. She was so overwhelmingly excited, and as I learned, not necessarily by my visit, though she was happy to see me. By this time of her life, she was taking regular chemo, was on oxygen, and rarely got out of the house except for a few short trips. But this day she was bubbling with joy. She wanted me to come and look at her new washing machine. She had bought a new, front-load washer with more buttons on it than an airplane. And she had read the instruction book cover-to-cover to know exactly what each and every one of them did.
I’m sure I must have looked a bit funny. She said to me that she knew it might seem silly for a woman of her age and condition to buy such a thing. But with a smile she added that she’s only going to die once, and every other day she gets to live, and by golly, her clothes will be good and clean when she gets to heaven. Sometimes in life, we have to remember that God has overcome defeat, overcome death with life, and so we can tap into that holy and heavenly power to still ourselves for resolve, deal with it, and get on. Each time we do, the God who created all of earth, offered grace to humankind, and loved each and every one of us will be there to give us the strength and hope over and over again. May God bless you this Mother’s Day. Amen.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/2231270913677063