Sunday "100 %" 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 Mark 12:28-34 |
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Of all the many arguments advanced by theologians for belief in God, the one I have always found most interesting is called “Pascal’s Wager.” The seventeenth century French philosopher Blaise Pascal said this:
Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that God exists.
Interesting idea. Either you bet that God exists or that God doesn’t exist. But you have to risk. What are the possible outcomes? If you bet for God and God does exist, you win big - you go to heaven, have eternal life, happiness in this world, etc. If you bet that God doesn’t exist and it turns out that God does exist, you lose big - you go to hell, eternal suffering, etc. Now, if you bet that God does exist and it turns out that God doesn’t exist, what have you lost? You will get happy benefits in this life (sense of peace, trust, love), though not eternal ones, but that is still a pretty good outcome. If you bet that God doesn’t exist, and that turns out to be true, you are no worse off, but you’ve lost the happiness you could have had if you had (albeit) mistakenly believed in a non-existent God.
Now obviously this is not a “proof” for the existence of God. It is rather an encouragement to take the leap of faith, a recognition that in order to know God, one must gamble. Our tradition uses many earthly examples to describe how God works – the loving father who welcomes back his prodigal son shows us God’s forgiveness; the courtroom scene with God the Father as the judge, each of us as the accused, and Jesus as the defense attorney shows how God’s compassion and God’s justice are reconciled. Or, in medieval battle, we are the captured prisoners, and Christ is the ransom that sets us free. All dramatic moments of crisis. With Pascal’s Wager, we find ourselves at the gaming table. Imagine those movies set in places like Las Vegas or Monte Carlo, with all these high roller society types huddled around the roulette table. “Place your bets, Ladies and Gentlemen!” And Grace Kelly whispers, “Everything on 15 black.” The crowd gasps. The wheel spins.
Why is this such high drama? For a number of reasons. Of course, it is win or lose. There is no middle ground. If you are going to play the game, you are agreeing to risk something. And the higher the stakes, the greater the drama. If you risk little, you gain little, lose little. No drama there. And, of course, that’s the excitement. And, obviously, where money is involved – the risk is real in a different way from simply winning or losing a game for fun. To enter the risk of gambling forces us to face how we feel about our money.
With the possible exception of Heaven, money is Jesus’ favorite subject. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (not the other way around, which we prefer). Part of our Jewish heritage is the tradition of the tithe, giving 10% off the top, of the first fruits, to God. In the United Church of Christ, we encourage what we call the “half-tithe” or 5% off the top. Such recommendations are intended to be helpful in organizing your budget, dealing responsibly with the treasure God has put into your hands, and finding some sense of peace in the midst of competing demands and the growing number of requests from worthy causes. All this is well and good.
But at the core of this are some basic assumptions that Jesus and our biblical heritage share. They are simply these: that everything we possess, especially our treasure – our money and our wealth and all our resources, belong to God and not us. We did not earn this wealth, we are in no way entitled to it, because it is all a gift from God. To the degree that we are generous in letting go of our wealth, we are giving thanks and praise to God. To the degree that we cling to that wealth, we are claiming for ourselves credit and praise that really belong to God. Everything, including life itself, is God’s gift to us. It is not about our entitlement, but God’s generosity. Now we all know how complicated that can get in its working out. We know that it is wise to set aside savings, for our old age, and for the sake of our children. We know that to live in financial chaos is debilitating to the spirit. There is truth in the saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” All true. But, the essential spiritual truths are deeper and longer lasting. Prudence, caution, the careful husbanding of resources can drift over the line into an attitude that what is mine is mine because I earned it, I am entitled to it. Then God has been pushed out of the picture. Jesus reminds us of the man who has filled his barns with goods, has a brimming bank account, and believes he has arrived, at the top of his game we’d say today, to that man God simply says, not “Well done, good and faithful servant,” but “Fool – this night your soul is required of you.”
Which brings us back to Pascal’s Wager and the gaming table. If faith is a wager, as Pascal suggests, then you have to put all your chips on God. You can’t hold anything back. That which you hold back will claim part of your soul. You can’t place your bet on God and have your fingers crossed behind your back. Either you stand naked before God or not. After all, one of the results of the first sin of Adam and Eve were those fig leaves. Faith is a risk that forces us to decide 100% for God or against God. Either we are willing to let go of our attachments totally or not at all. No middle ground. The remarkable New England Puritan poet Edward Taylor wrote a poem about our tendency to want to have things both ways and our fear of choosing God whole-heartedly.
Not yea, nor noe:
On tiptoes thus? Why sit on thorns?
Resolve the matter: Stay thyself or goe.
Be n’t both wayes born.
Wager thyselfe against thy surplice, see,
And win thy Coate: or let thy Coate Win thee.
When we are willing to wager on God 100%, willing to let go of all we have and desire most, God’s generosity gives us back what we need and in greater abundance than we can imagine. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac did not result in tragedy, but in the return of a son to this father, as an unmistakable gift.
Jesus was asked what the great commandment was. His simple answer was love God one hundred percent. Love your neighbor as yourself one hundred percent. 100% is the goal of this year’s Stewardship Campaign. I believe we can understand this challenge in two ways. First of all, it is the goal of one hundred percent participation by every member and friend of Christ Congregational Church. It is the goal that everyone connected with this congregation will pledge of their time, talent, and treasure in whatever amount they prayerfully determine. This is an appeal to the whole body of Christ, the whole people of God. As St. Paul reminds us this Body of Christ is made up of people with differing gifts and abilities and resources. But every person from the most prodigiously gifted to the most humbly equipped is invited to participate. Why is this important? Because the truth is that you really do spiritually become what you participate in. The cause that you support becomes part of the fiber of your being. The ways in which that cause blesses and enhances the world also blesses and enhances you. You cannot help but be engaged in that which you give to. One hundred percent participation means one hundred percent of the people of Christ have the chance to be fully engaged in the Body of Christ.
And secondly, one hundred percent participation means that you personally are invited to participate one hundred percent. Let the pledging of your time, talent, and treasure be truly reflective of your faith wager on God. Let it reflect your putting all your spiritual chips on God’s winning number. In practical terms, does this mean you follow Jesus’ advice to the rich young ruler - that you decide to sell all you possess, give the proceeds to the poor and then follow Jesus? As outrageous as that seems, never forget that there really are many people in the world who actually do that. So don’t rule that out. Does it mean that you increase your current pledge toward the half-tithe or even the full-tithe? Does it mean that you commit to volunteer on something new – a project or initiative that inspires you and invites you? That is between you and God. Where is obedience to the voice of God leading you? How do we listen? The easiest way to hear the voice of God is to make the wager. Take the risk. Put all your chips on God and then listen and watch. You will not be disappointed. AMEN.
