B-19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 13 August 2006
2 Samuel 18: 5-9, 19-23, 28-33; Psalm 130
Ephesians 4: 25-5:2; John 6: 35, 41-51

Have you ever had the embarrassment of beginning to tell a story, building it up, and then forgetting what the ending should be? We get the story going, making it better and better, we trim it up and drag it out, pad it and develop it, and then – we muff the punch line. Just where the climax should be, the whole thing collapses into anticlimax. When we get to the point, it isn’t there.

Now this, I think is a kind of parable of our situation. We have the materials, all the verbs and adjectives and nouns, to tell a great and glorious story about humankind: verbs that could describe our restless progress and soaring creativity; adjectives to paint our fabulous advancements and glorious achievements; and nouns to name the things that mark our glorious accomplishments and most sacred values – except, it seems we often forget the point of it all.

What does it all add up to? What is the whole story of human advancement getting at? What is the payoff?

Just because we ask such questions as these about ourselves, we know that we do not live at the climax of a well-told story. Rather, it seems we live at the embarrassing anticlimax of a clumsily told joke. We have made a lot happen, to be sure, but we don’t really know what for. If there ever was a point, it seems humankind may have missed it.

King David’s forces were engaged in a civil war – putting down an insurrection not unlike the one we see going on in Iraq today. David’s forces had prevailed, but one of the casualties of that war was David’s own son, Absolom. Now, it would not stretch the truth to say that Absolom was David’s problem child. He had gone from bad to worse over the years, with a rap sheet of trouble and poor judgment a mile long, ending with open rebellion against his father – treason. Even so, he was King David’s son and news of his death would not be easy for the King to hear. No doubt, for David, it would be particularly painful because his son’s death would cut off any possibility for reconciliation.

The question arose, then, as to who should bear the double news of triumph and tragedy to the anxious monarch who was about to be broken by the price of his victory. Two runners were available to carry the report. One was Ahimaaz, Jonathan’s friend, whose father Zadok was a custodian of the sacred Ark of the Covenant in David’s court. The other was a Cushite who remains unnamed for us. Ahimaaz asked for the assignment, but General Joab, who knew each of the men and who also knew the sensitive nature of the message to be borne, sent the Cushite. But Ahimaaz was not to be so easily by-passed. He continued to plead to be allowed to run, and Joab finally gave in.

Taking a short cut, he arrived first before King David. Anxiously, David asks, "What news do you bring, Ahimaaz?" But, of course, the runner had not been told what to say, so he improvised: "All is well." But that isn’t what the King wants to know. "How is my son, Absolom?" And then the young courier goes to pieces. There was a reason why Joab had not entrusted the message to him. He was not up to the task. Stuttering and stammering, he has nothing meaningful to say, and in anger the King waves him aside.

At that moment the anonymous Cushite arrived, and with him a simple and coherent account of what had happened in the battle – the victory had been won. And again came the awful question from the heart of a worried father: "Is Absolom safe?" This messenger knew just how to break the news; Joab knew how to judge his men. "May all the King’s enemies be as that young man is." The king knew all he had to know, but he knew it in a way to which he could react with dignity and nobility. This runner proved himself responsible, because he remembered why he had run. He hurried, not just in order to arrive in the King’s presence, but because he had a message to deliver. He put on the pressure because he had a point to make.

So this story gives the palm to the Cushite, and as long as we stick to the narrative, we nod assent. But is that the way we ordinarily slant our judgments about ourselves and others? Do we actually honor seriousness over speed? Or are we not prone to give our cups and ribbons, our Oscars and Emmys, to the modern day sons of Zadok, simply because they run so well and always finish first – and thereby turn away from those less spectacular people who may come in later but bear important tidings and carry serious responsibilities. We pay professional ball players, for example, more in a year or two than many teachers make in a decade.

A minister friend tells of her conversation with the owner of a large, successful business – what incentives had there been? What gave him a sense of accomplishment? It was Joab’s question: Why should you run? She asked, "Were you motivated by concerns for your patrons or employees? Have you assessed the economic and social importance of your business?" And the reply: "No, I haven’t given much thought to those things. My main satisfaction has come from the love of the game, and winning in the end. I’ve had to overcome some pretty significant obstacles and handicaps, and contend with some bitter opposition from my competitors. But I’ve beaten them all – and I came out on top." He had been a very successful runner, this modern day son of Zadok.

But you really do have to hand it to him: he came a long way against the odds. He’d thrown tremendous stocks of energy, intelligence and spirit into the contest. And it was no small thing he had achieved. He had run in order to get ahead. But when he got there, there was no reason for being there. He didn’t know what to say, couldn’t explain why he had hurried – except for the thrill of the thing.

Here is a statement from the rational describing the mathematics curriculum from a state Board of Education: "…our students need to meet these standards in order for them to be well prepared for careers in the 21st century, and in order for our state and country to have suitable employees in the 21st century." No mention is made of students becoming concerned, thoughtful, and involved citizens. No mention is made of the psychological and moral development of the student. Careers and employment are the values named and thus, the values taught.

But, of course, our culture likes it that way. These are the values that get a big hand from the galleries of our world. But from a moral and social viewpoint, it could reflect the goals of an oyster bed. Those oozy grey creatures at the bottom of the bay would seem to have just as much of an idea why they are there.

This seems typical of our culture. I don’t really mean to be entirely negative. We’ve come along way in the arts and sciences. But we seem more interested in the process than the results. There is no better example than this oddly named travesty called the "No Child Left Behind" Act that has been foisted on our public education systems by politicians who know next to nothing about education. It is a system that blames schools and teachers for circumstances that are both not of their making and outside their capacity to change, and then punishes them for not doing so. It ignores the blatant realities of race and class in our society, and endangers both public education and the basic democratic values of this our country.

There are some serious questions that face our culture and our nation – indeed, that face each of us as we think about our lives and directions. Why are we running? What is the point? Will the story ever have a climax, or will it finally just collapse into anticlimax? When we get there, is there any reality to the message? Will there have been any reason for the haste? Are we to conclude, then, that speed is not important, or that it isn’t important to excel, to come in first? Not at all. Our gifts and talents, whatever they may be, are given to us to exploit to the utmost. Obligation comes wrapped in the same package with advantage, but we must understand that it is not speed and excelling alone that are of ultimate importance. What is significant in the eyes of God are the reasons we are in the race to begin with. Why are we running?

The current issue of Newsweek carries an insightful interview with Billy Graham as he reflects on politics, the Bible and the prospect of his own death. Now, to be honest with you, though I have always respected him, I’ve not always been a fan of Dr. Graham, though Sara and I have had the pleasure of spending some private time with him over dinner and I once shared the platform with him. But it is clear from this Newsweek piece that he has aged well and with humility. I’m sure we have both changed over the years, and as a result we seem to have come closer in our views and outlook. Asked whether he believes there is a place in heaven for good people of other faiths -- Jews, Muslims, Buddhists – Dr. Graham responded that those are decisions only God will make. "It would be foolish of me to speculate," he said. "He said he gave his own son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have. … Salvation is the world of Almighty God, and only [God] knows what is in each human heart." He has run a good race and arrived with a message this war-torn world badly needs to hear!

I am quite convinced that God isn’t very concerned with who gets where first with the most, or even last with the least. What is really important is why any of us are in the race at all, and what we have to say when we get where we are going. Are we simply muscles in motion, or is there a purpose driving our lives toward useful and holy goals? Maybe we can learn why we are running as we run – discovering our fellowship with God through caring for others, loving God through love of neighbors, serving God by serving God’s people in the church and in the world – and recognizing in the process that all people are God’s people. If we can hear this, then we may know, at the last, what the race of life is all about, and why we are in the running.

[Copyright 2006, John C. Bush.]

NOW, GLORY, HONOR AND THANKSGIVING
BE TO OUR GOD,
AND TO GOD’S NAME BE PRAISE
THIS DAY AND FOREVER. AMEN.