Sand - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
July 07, 2024
Two Sundays ago I spoke with you
about how when we’re suffering trials and tribulations, it can feel like we’re
in a boat in a stormy sea, alone, in danger, and forgotten by everyone, even
our Lord. And based on a story in Mark’s
Gospel about a storm like that on the Sea of Galilee, I encouraged you to
always look for Jesus, because he is there in the boat with you. He cares, and he won’t abandon you.
This morning, I want to continue to
address this topic of struggles and suffering, because it’s a reality for all
of us. But this time I want to do so
with a very different metaphor, that of sand. If you’ve ever been to the beach for a
vacation, you know what happens. Almost
inevitably, you end up bringing some of that sand home with you. It gets in your shoes, your luggage, and ends
up tracked all over your house after you unpack. A little poem by Helen H. Moore sums it up
nicely:
Sand in my swimsuit, Sand in my
hair,
When I go to the beach, Sand gets
everywhere!
I wonder, I wonder, Oh, how can
there be
Sand left at the beach, When
there's so much on me?
Sand is a way for us to think about
all those nagging things in life that we can’t seem to brush away, clean up, or
eliminate. It represents our trials, our
struggles, and our sufferings. Whether
or not you’ve been to the beach recently, we
all have that kind of sand, don’t we? Some of that sand is self-inflicted; it comes into our lives because of our
own bad choices. It’s like a big bag of
wet, heavy sand of regret, guilt, and shame we drag behind us every day. It weighs us down and wears us out.
Other sand comes into our lives
through no fault of ours. We didn’t want
it, ask for it, or choose it, but there it is, all around us. This is the sand of advancing age, disease,
injuries, accidents, and the losses of our loved ones. It’s life-changing sand that alters the way we
live. It’s sticky sand we can’t
escape. It threatens to overtake us,
redefine us, and suffocate us. It often
feels so very unfair.
Then there’s the sand that others
dump into our lives. This too isn’t sand
we asked for or deserve. It’s the job
loss you’ve suffered because the economy tanked. It’s the boss who treats you poorly. It’s the neighbor, friend, or family member
whose problems spill over into your life. It’s the worries about your children, your grandchildren, or your
parents that keep you awake at night. We
get caught in the dunes of someone else’s sand and try to move forward but our
feet can’t get any traction in all that sand.
We of course aren’t unique. This kind of sand has always been part of
life. We see it all throughout the Bible. One of the most famous examples is in
today’s reading from 2 Corinthians. There
we find Paul reminiscing about an incredible heavenly, out-of-body experience
he had 14 years earlier. That experience
had a life-changing impact on him.
Now that doesn’t sound like
sand, does it? But Paul knew that having
such an extraordinary spiritual experience carried danger. He might be tempted to see himself as holier
and better than everyone else, and be puffed up with pride and boasting. Or he might so long for a return to that
moment of spiritual ecstasy that he’d become insensitive and blind to all the
beautiful little miracles in the here-and-now. Paul reminds us that even our good times can become sand if we
make an idol of them.
So what happened to Paul? He tells us in this letter that “a thorn was
given me in the flesh… to keep me from being too elated.” Or, to put it in the terms we’re using today,
some serious sand dumped into Paul’s life. What was it? Paul doesn’t say and
we don’t know for sure. Scholars have
speculated for 2,000 years about it. It
might’ve been a physical, mental, or emotional ailment that plagued Paul. Maybe it was a temptation or compulsion he
couldn’t shake. Or maybe Paul’s sand was
people who persecuted him. Did God pour
this sand into Paul’s life or did it come from another source? That’s not for us to judge with respect to
Paul or anyone else. All we know for
sure is that Paul’s sand was a terrible burden to him.
But Paul’s sand wasn’t going to
simply blow away. It’s the same for much
of our sand. The winds won’t disperse it and we can’t simply
sweep it away. I would love to promise
you that if you just pray hard enough or do more good works, all your problems
will magically disappear. But for
whatever reason, that’s not how life works. That’s not how our God works.
So, friends, if there’s going to be
sand in our lives, what do we do about it? How are we supposed to handle it? Do we shut down, crawl into the fetal position and cry ourselves to
sleep? Do we grow angry and bitter and
become sand to others as our anger and frustration builds and then eventually
explodes? Or maybe we lose hope and just
give up.
What did Paul do? He tells us he prayed. Knowing Paul as I think I do, I bet those
prayers were fervent, fiery, passionate, brutally honest, knock-down-drag-out
sessions with the Lord. And yet Paul,
this holy, saintly spiritual master did not get what he wanted. Instead, he got what he needed. Jesus responded to Paul’s prayer by telling
him, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
Suddenly Paul saw his sand with new
eyes. No longer was it a source of
perpetual sadness, shame, or frustration. By Christ’s grace, Paul’s sand was transformed from a stumbling block to
a steppingstone. With this fresh
understanding, Paul was able to make peace with his sand and say, “I am content
with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities for the sake
of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” You see, Jesus wasn’t going to remove Paul’s
sand. But he helped Paul see how that
sand was making him a better disciple and a better person because of how that
sand bound Paul more tightly to Jesus.
How does this apply to us? Well, I certainly encourage you to be honest
in your prayer life. Go to God in
boldness and ask for your sand to be taken away. There’s nothing wrong with that. But in all our prayers, Jesus reminds us to
add, “thy will be done.” Because
sometimes, for reasons that often aren’t apparent to us, Jesus will decide it’s
best for us, as it was for Paul, that our sand remain with us. But why? Well, there are probably lots of reasons, but
they might only make sense much later, and perhaps only on the other side of
heaven. But at bare minimum our sand can
be a blessing insofar as it obliterates the notion that we alone can do everything, be everything, solve everything and fix everything. Our sand destroys the myth that we are independent superheroes who don’t
need a family, friends, a church, a community, or Christ to make our way
through this life. The sand drives us
from our pride, drives us from our tendency to set ourselves up as gods, and
ultimately drives us to our knees…
And there, we at last hear a
voice. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in
weakness.” As those words sink into
our hearts, all the sand that was burying us becomes, by Christ’s grace, the
holy building blocks with which we construct castles of love, forgiveness and
hope; castles that become a holy dwelling place for our Lord; castles where we
are healed by his wounds so we too can be wounded healers;
castles where our weaknesses reveal our strength in Christ and bind us to him…now and for eternity. Thanks be to
God. Amen.
Sermon
Text: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Gospel
Text: Mark 6:1-13
1 [Jesus] came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On
the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were
astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this
wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his
hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of
James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with
us?" And they took offense at him.
4 Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their
hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few
sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the
twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the
unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey
except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to
wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them,
"Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave,
shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast
out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2024 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
BACK