Monday, 18 October, 2004

This week's devotions are written by Vicar Steve Bond.



More from Marva Dawn's Powers, Weakness, and the Tabernacling of God…



"This is the major paradox of the Christian life: in our active weakness, God's power is at work through us. Faithfulness is required, but success is not….The church's call is to exorcism, rather than effectiveness. Perhaps one of the most recalcitrant spirits that needs to be exorcised is that of needing to be effective."



"Success" is one of those words in the American vocabulary (along with "freedom," "progress," and others) that is thrown around so frequently that it almost loses its meaning. Parents dream that their children will be "successful." The CEOs who make millions for their shareholders and the coaches who win impressive victories are labeled "successes." Moving from rags to riches is synonymous with living a "success story." Churches, too, want their campaigns to be successful-which often means raising enough money or achieving a particular result. Whatever "success" is, it usually seems to mean having enough raw power, talent, or skill to get what you want. Success, as I hear it used, suggests that I have worked hard enough to earn what I'm after or win a prize.



Jesus, however, does not seem interested in success on those terms. Seemingly, if his goal was to establish a worldwide order of justice, security, and peace, he failed. Even if his intent was converting people to a bold, unflagging faith, he was unsuccessful - as the footprints leading away from the empty tomb left by unbelieving disciples fleeing in fear and confusion will attest. For Jesus, success is not about my working hard enough to get what I want. It is rather the faithful surrender to God that says, "Not what I want, but what you want" (Mark 14:36). That is all the success Jesus cares to have, even though it leads to a cross.



For us as followers of Jesus, our greatest success is to offer ourselves to God in the empty-handed trust that God will take care of the rest. In fact, the God revealed in Jesus seems to undo the whole logic of success, for this God has claimed us "while we were still weak," as Paul says (Rom. 5:6). This God has loved us in our unloveliness, and that love has come in the form of a cross. Maybe success looks a lot more like surrender than victory.



Connection: How would I approach my life and my work differently if my first question were not "what must I do to get what I - or my company or my peers - want?" but rather "how can I be faithful to the God who loves me?" What kind of freedom would that bring? What new challenges would it bring?



Empty our hands, Lord, so that you can use them in your service, and open our hands so that we can receive the gifts of your grace.