© 1998 Rev. Gregory Young
© 1998 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
A little boy went to the grocery store and asked the clerk for a box of Duz detergent. The clerk said, “Son, what do you need detergent for?” The little boy said, “I want to wash my dog.” The clerk said, “Well son, that Duz detergent is pretty strong for washing a little dog.” The little boy said, “That is what I want.” The clerk said, “All right,” and he sold him the Duz, but he advised, “Now you be careful when you wash your dog. That detergent is very strong; it might kill him.” The little boy said, “I’ll be careful.” He took the box of detergent home.
About a week later the little boy came back to the store. The clerk recognized him and said, “Son, how’s your dog?” The little boy said, “I’m afraid he’s dead.” The store clerk replied, “Oh, I’m sorry, but I did try to warn you that the Duz was pretty strong to wash your dog with.” The little boy shook his head and said, “I don’t think it was the Duz that did it. I think it was the rinse cycle that got him.”
Sometimes it feels like we’ve been through the rinse cycle, doesn’t it?
The past few years have sent much of our sense of hope in life through the rinse cycle. A home-grown terrorist sets off a bomb in front of the Federal building in Oklahoma City killing scores of people, many of them children and we ask, “Is there any hope?” T.W.A. Flight 800 crashes to the sea killing all on board, and we ask, “Is there any hope?” A man or woman falls onto economic hard times, and they wonder how they will be able to provide for their families, and they ask, “Is there any hope?” A person struggles just to make it to the other side of the day, caught up in the grip of a dark depression, and they ask, “Is there any hope?”
This gospel which Jesus presented is the ultimate message of hope in the midst of despair and defeat.
If we could step back for a moment from the specific content of the gospel and ask ourselves this question, “What is it telling us, how does it apply to the tragedies and challenges of living? What would it say?” I suspect that the gospel is telling us something very significant. For it was in the midst of the worst possible atmosphere, one of the most depressing periods of history that Jesus entered our world. It was, the Gospel of Luke tells us, when Quirinius was governor of Syria that God entered the arena of human affairs in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. In this quiet and humble manner God began the rescue of our planet from its confusion and despair. This gospel which Jesus presented is the ultimate message of hope in the midst of despair and defeat.
Perhaps we will never know how much has been born out of life’s challenges, difficulties, and seemingly hopeless situations. Most of the psalms were born in the wilderness, yes even the joyous and thankful ones. Most of Paul’s epistles were written from prison. The greatest thoughts of the great thinkers have all passed through the fires of criticism and persecution. Some of the greatest accomplishments of human life have come from persons who at one time or another were stuck in the depths of some personal hell.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that hope never spread her golden wings but in unfathomable seas. And this is exactly what the gospel is trying to tell us: not to dismiss the tragedies of life, not to ignore that bad things happen, but that in the midst of that darkness to look for the light of the spirit of the living God, and to realize that no matter how terrible and oppressive the dark, the darkness will not overcome the light.
The author of the book of Hebrews is telling us that we have a sure and certain anchor for our soul in Jesus. I suspect that we all have learned how transitory, how fickle, it is to put the entire stock of our hope in the things of this world. When life’s storms rage and throw so much at us, we oftentimes discover that the lesser anchors we hope will keep us from going adrift on life’s turbulent seas do not hold fast.
The greatest thoughts of the great thinkers have all passed through the fires of criticism and persecution. Some of the greatest accomplishments of human life have come from persons who at one time or another were stuck in the depths of some personal hell.
Mark Twain and another man were walking to church one Sunday morning. As they stepped into the street, a heavy rain began. “Do you think it will ever stop?” the man asked. “It always has,” Twain replied. This bit of Twain humor is a commentary on life.
A difficult or unpleasant situation may seem to go on relentlessly. Like the heavy downpour of a dark storm, it will end; eventually it passes and the darkness turns to light. Some problems may feel so crushing, so persistent and consuming, that they may cause us to ask, “Will it ever end? Is there any hope?” When that doubt plagues your mind, remember that you are not alone in your darkness. Even in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death, even though the earth shake and the mountains fall into the sea, even though we make our bed, as the psalm says, in the pit of hell, God is with us to sustain us if we are but willing to accept God’s help. Through every trial and in the presence of every hardship, spirit-born souls are sustained by that hope which transcends all fear, because the love of God is shed abroad in all hearts by the presence of the Father’s divine Spirit. With God’s sustaining strength, and with the love of God expressed through caring human relationships, you will make it through the storm.
Last summer I was walking through the yard when I saw a tiny little spider seemingly suspended in the air right in front of me. It looked as if it were floating there, yet it was climbing. I looked up to see where it was climbing — to a high limb on an immense tree. Its task looked utterly hopeless. To make matters worse, the wind was blowing briskly, causing that little spider to lose ground in its effort to climb to that high limb. But nobody had told that spider that its goal was impossible, that its efforts were futile. That little spider didn’t seem to be discouraged by its slips and setbacks; it kept climbing, and eventually it did make it to that limb. Scientist and author Loren Eisley described our world as a place “where even a spider refuses to lie down and die if a rope can still be spun to a star.”
Why do you suppose that so many people come to church on Christmas Eve and Easter? Holiday Tradition? Perhaps, but I have another idea. 1 believe people are drawn to this place and others like it because on these holy days they know that these holidays should say something about hope, and they come, I believe, out of a yearning to have a sense of hope rekindled deep in their being once again.
In closing, let me remind many of you who remember the world famous, champion chess player, Bobby Fisher. He was known the world over for his brilliance and skill in the game of chess. One summer, while on vacation in Europe, Fisher continued his favorite hobby, visiting art galleries and museums. In one particular museum, he came across a very interesting painting. The picture so captivated him that he stood there approximately six hours, studying, staring intensely at it. As you might imagine, since he was a connoisseur of chess, the picture was of a chess game. It was, however, unlike any other game he had ever seen. On one side of the board sat the devil with a smug smile on his face. On the other side sat a young man with tears rolling down his face, sweat cascading down his brow, biting his fingernails nervously. The devil was reaching out to make the last move. The young man was terrified at the prospect of how the game would end. One look at the name of the picture reveals why the devil was smiling and the young man was petrified. The name of the painting was “Checkmate.” As the devil reached to make the last move, there was absolutely nothing that the young man could do to resolve or change the situation.
Having stood there approximately six hours, Bobby Fisher finally said to somebody nearby, “Bring me a chess board.” He duplicated on his board the game that was in the picture. After a few more moments, a smile came across Fisher’s face. He said, “Young man, I wish that you could hear me, for I have some good news for you. Things are not as dark and bleak as they seem. I have studied this game more than six hours, and I have discovered that it’s all right to allow the devil to make his move because after he makes his move, I have found that there is one more move on the board! Let him make his move; you will be the one who says, 'Checkmate,'because there is one more move on the board.”
My friends, whatever pain or suffering you bear, what ever personal darkness you may be walking through, please do not give up on hope, don’t give up on life. God is with us, and for us, telling us that there is one more move on life’s board! Christ comes to us, Emmanuel, and with his coming he brings to us the undefeatable hope of Spirit mastery and transcendence!
Gregory Young is pastor of St. John United Church of Christ in Germantown, Wisconsin.