Rubber Snakes and the Life of Faith

August 18, 2010

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

There are many variations of the classic children’s game “Hot Potato,” but never a version involving a rubber snake and an iPod. While vacationing last week in Florida, our two daughters Grace and Madelyn were in the back seat of the car inventing the new version of the game.

You know how the game usually works. Children take turns tossing the “potato” to each other quickly. When the music stops, the child holding the object loses the game. Madelyn found a toy rubber snake on the floor of the car to serve as the potato, and they used my iPod to play the music. The two of them began tossing the snake back and forth, while Grace started and stopped the music. That’s right: Grace was not only playing the game, she was controlling it.

You can imagine how the games played out. Grace would stop the music whenever her sister was holding the snake. She would keep the music playing whenever she had it in her hands. After a few minutes of spirited play, and a pretty lengthy winless streak, Madelyn said, tersely, “I don’t think this is working.”

The preacher in me made a quick connection to the story of Abraham, the subject of our “Hebrews Hall of Fame” sermon this Sunday. You know the story well. He was called by God to pack up all his belongings and take his family on a journey that would lead to an unknown, and permanent, new residence. He learned that following God means that you can’t control your own music. You move forward in life, taking everything it gives you – joys and sorrows, triumph and heartache – not knowing whether, in any given instant, you may be stuck holding the hot potato for the time being.

Unlike Abraham, we try to seize control. We attempt to master all of life’s variables, to distance ourselves from trials and suffering, only to discover that such efforts are feeble in the face of inevitable pain and struggle.

Abraham offers a different alternative. One of trust and faith, irrationally believing in a God who offered promise without any proof. Yes, I suspect that Abraham still had his doubts. Maybe he second-guessed himself – and God – throughout this dusty desert journey. But at no point did he decide that he knew better than God.

Anne Lamott wrote: “The opposite of faith is not doubt; it is certainty.” It is being too sure of yourself, arrogantly believing that you can negotiate around every one of life’s potential pitfalls. Whenever we try to insulate ourselves against mystery, ambiguity, and hardship, we learn pretty quickly that we can’t. We are subject to forces beyond our ability to predict them or anticipate them. We simply can’t control the music.

So, we must choose to live a life of faith. To embrace ambiguity, and forge through the hardship, believing – even when the evidence shows otherwise – that God is leading us to a place of new hope and new life. That’s why Abraham is hailed as a hero of the faith, and that’s why he is an example to all of us.

Join us this Sunday as we learn more about his amazing story, in a sermon titled, “Faith Takes a Journey.” Come lay down your own self-assured tendencies, and release them to a God who envisions your destination ahead.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org



Hebrews 11:8-12
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.’