The theologian who lives at our house, not me, but our nine year old Bailey, came up with another insight the other day. He said, "Daddy, have you ever noticed how we always talk about sins and what people do wrong at church? Why don't we ever say anything about what we do right, about the good things people do? People aren't all bad, you know." I think he may have a point there. Maybe as Christians we need to pay some attention to what we need to do with our human strength along with our struggles with what to do about our weaknesses.

In a recent Sports Illustrated magazine was a story which gave testimony to human strength, in this case physical strength and determination. It was an account of this January's 'Hawaiian Triathon' which is a triple marathon. Thirteen people entered the three-part race. The first leg of the race was a 2.4 mile swim in the windy, choppy surf of Oahu. Then the contestants came ashore to bicycle for 112 miles around the island. Off the exercise in duration and exhaustion, they ran a 26.2 mile marathon footrace. Five-year-old Tom Warren won with a time of 11 hours and 15 minutes. Warren had trained by doing such things as 400 situps in a sauna. By the way, a woman whose name is Lyn Lemaire from Boston came in 5th with a time of 12 hours and 55 minutes. To a person like me who feels like he's going into cardiac arrest after 15 minutes of running, these examples of human strength are amazing. Human strength is a reality. 

I have always appreciated the writings of the psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow, as some of you may know, decided not to zero in on the problems of human beings: their anxieties, neuroses, phobias, and depressions. He had the idea that we humans who want better life for ourselves and others ought to concentrate our energies not on discovering more about our hang ups but on our capacities for strength and creativity. We humans need to know not only what not to do but also what to do with ourselves. Humans have put a man on the moon, transplanted hearts, calculated the movement and constitution of the universe. And these things need to be acknowledged when we castigate ourselves for building bombs and producing junk foods.

Yet here we may begin to touch the real issue about human strength. Human strength has built the hospitals, but it has also built the Auschwitzes and the napalm flame throwers. Aspiring men and women have made it to the top, but sometimes they have ruined their health and ravaged their families on the way up. With all due respect to Bailey's observation, the church has to deal with the consequences of the way we humans treat ourselves and each other not only because we are at times victims of human weaknesses but also because we are at time victims of strength. Sometimes our muscles and brains work against us. 

Mark gives us a case study of a guy who was a victim of his success and strength. ‘Hey Jesus,' he calls, 'what do I need to do to have eternal life?' Now, we must understand that in the New Testament "eternal life" refers not so much to a quantity of life after death but to a quality of life before death. Other ways of asking the question in line with the 'Hey, Jesus, how can I have true meaning of "eternal life" in the New Testament sense are: ‘Hey, Jesus, how can I have a life that is happy and worth the effort?' Or, ‘Hey, Jesus, what's worth living and dying for?’ Jesus answers by saying a life that brings joy and satisfaction has to do with human relationships: don't kill, steal, cheat or cheat on people, he says. Thta’s what the ten commandments are about: relationships. And sure enough, the rich guy says he has those things covered. You see, this fellow is no loser. But then Jesus challenges him to change the whole direction of his life.

"Sell your stuff and give it to people who need it. Then come and use all your muscles and smarts for me.” And that's when the rubber hit road. 'Wait a minute Jesus, I've got a lot invested in the Jerusalem stock market, my construction company is about to get a big government contract from the Romans, and my wife and I are getting ready for a Mediterranean cruise. Oh, Jesus, can't I write you a little tax deductible check, and still do my life the way I want to?' Jesus says, 'I'm not asking you to give up your talents and strength, I'm just asking you to use them for me so that you and people around you will have a life worth living, a life with joy that your money and influential friends just can't get you.’

I have a few notions about this Christian use of strengths. 

(1)  First, in order to get our strengths straight, we need to remember that the raw material of human strength and success is not something you get but something you are given. We winners know a lot about active strength. We are proud of how we have worked hard and have gone after that on which we have set our sights. Our sheer willpower and determination have faced difficult obstacles. And that may all be true. But what we need to really come to terms with is the passive side of successes and talents.

You see, the passive side of our strength refers to that which we were given to fight with and to go after our goals with. The skills of your hands may enable you to play beautiful music, perform delicate surgery, or bake a loaf of bread. But what did you do to have the basic motor skills, eye-hand coordination, and ability to develop the skills? That was simply a given you have chosen to develop. Your brain may be able to understand Einstein's general and special theories of relativity, a complicated component of a missile or rocket, or the way to teach a four- year-old her ABCs. Yes, you went to school and stayed up nights studying. But what one thing did you do to have a brain that could function thusly? We take pride not only in ourselves but our children. Yet what did you do to give ourselves the biological ability to pass on life?

Nothing. Eyes, hands, brains are among the givens of life. Yeah you! And yeah me! We have done something with those givens, but it all began with the givens.

Some may attribute these givens of human strength to their lucky stars or chance. Christians thank God for their marvelous factory installed equipment. And when we recognize God behind our strengths, talents, and successes, we realize that what we do with ourselves isn't only our business; it's also God's business. 

I have enjoyed the mysteries of Harry Kemaluan about the Jewish Rabbi Small. Rabbi Small manages to get himself involved in detective work while leading his congregation in Barnard Corner, Lassachusetts. Each of the seven books has a day of the week in the title: Friday, the Rabbi Slept Late, Wednesday, the Rabbi Saw Red, etc. In addition to a good who-dunit, the books give insights into Jewish religion out of which came Christianity. Catholic Police Chief Lanigan and Rabbi Stall discuss Christian and Jewish prayers. The rabbi observes that Jews spend most of their prayers thanking God for things while Christians seem to spend most of their prayers asking God for things. In order to get our lives straight and our strengths straight, I think we “strong” need to remember to thank God for the givens of our success along with patting ourselves on the backs for what we have gotten for ourselves. 

(2) Second, the Christian use of human strengths means that we use those abilities in the right way and right direction. As mentioned in communion a couple of weeks ago, the guy who runs 50 yards for a touchdown only to discover he has run to the wrong goal may make for a funny story. But it makes for a tragic life in reality, particularly if it is your or my life. My second point is this: UNLESS WE WITH GOD'S HELP MASTER STRENGTH NAVIGATION, THEN WE WILL BECOME VICTIMS OF OUR MUSCLES, MOUTHES, AND BRAINS.

Alan Alda, star of MASH on TV, has written and played the leading role in a movie entitled "The Seduction of Joe Tynan". In the film Joe Tynan is a popular U.S. senator who champions the cause of the underdogs of society. He is so successful and popular that he becomes a presidential possibility. Yet the marital and family costs are high for Tynan. He loses touch with his teenage daughter who begins to have troubles related to her father's lack of attention. His marriage almost flounders because of his total absorption with success and career. A moving scene occurs when he tries to persuade his wife not to leave him for his affair with his success. He says: "Look, I can take the kind of energy I have put into my career and put it into making our family and marriage work. His wife answers with a question, "But will you?" 

What I am getting at is this. When I look at the people of First United Methodist Church, Huntsville, Alabama, I don't see the faces of the beggars, cripples, and outcasts who came to Jesus to put their lives together. I see in you and in me people who have become so successful in putting their own lives together that we think we really don't need much help. I see in your face and in my face that strong, rich man who had so much to offer to people all around him if he would only use his brain and muscles in the right direction. All of us have our problems and heartaches, to be sure, yet have you ever contemplated the strength in this congregation? In our midst are special people in government, law, politics, the courts, business, medicine, construction, education, social services, national defense, space exploration, the arts, music, human relations, childcare, handcrafts, cooking, agriculture, finance, transportation, communications, and last but not least, domestic engineering. You name the strength and talent for making our home and community the caring place God wants them to be, and we have it! Like the young man who stood before Jesus on that day long ago, we have to answer a question which will not go away: What in God's name, what in your name, are you going to do with your strength and power? Will our family, church, and community be victims of our strength abused or will we be victors because we use our talents and power for God and each other? Are we out for all we can get at home and work? Or are you and I out for all we can have together? You answer that question one way or another every day in the way you treat people, spend your time, get and spend your money.

It isn't easy or always apparent to know exactly what we need to do at home, in our professions, or in society. That's why we need each other, God, and the church for strength navigation. But with all excuses put aside, we all know many times that it is not a matter of whether we will use it. We have the strength of whether we have the power but a matter to be more giving than demanding, more listening than mouthing at home. 

We have the time and money to do more for the work of Christ's church. We know when we are taking advantage of people in our professions. The question is will we do anything about it? Will we use our strengths in the right direction? 

One day, smarty pants Lucy found a very sad Charlie Brown. "I feel terrible. When questioned, he said: If I knew just one person like me would feel so much better. "Lucy can't believe it, “You mean, Charlie Brown, if just one person said they liked you, you would be happy?" "That's right," he said, his face showing the expectation that she was going to say it. Lucy draws her breath, but alas to no avail. She mutters: “I just can’t do it.” Begging Lucy's pardon, and begging the pardon of the Lucy in you and me, it must be said, "Oh, yes, you and I can. But will we?" 

(3) There is a third and final thing I'd like to say about this business of getting our strengths straight so that we don't do more damage than good with our smarts. We “strong” know only too well how the weak of the world need us. But there is another side. IT IS THE WEAK WHO SAVE THE LIFE OF THE STRONG, TOO. 

There is a story of a tribe of Indians who once lived by a raging stream in what is now Mississippi. Few had ever dared crossing the stream because they feared being washed downstream by the current. One day, an enemy tribe surrounded them. Quickly, the braves met with the chief to decide what to do. Two alternatives were offered. One brave suggested that it would be better for the strong men to make a break for it across the stream and leave the women, children, and old behind. The logic was that it was better for some to make it instead of staying and all being killed. The noble other alternative of staying to protect the non fighters promised a not-so-noble massacre. Yet, at the last minute, they decided they would not desert the others. The strong braves put the weak, young, and old on their backs and in that way struck out across the raging stream. Miraculously, they made it. They made it because the weight of the weak on the back of the strong anchored them so they could make it to the other side without being washed downstream.

That's sort of what Jesus told the rich young man. Instead of worshiping your possessions, share them with the poor, and both of you will have a better life. I think it is still true: the weak save the lives of the strong. If we strong, technologized nations would use more of our expertise on ways to feed the hungry and heal the sick instead of building bombs, then we all might live longer and breathe easier. When we listen to the calls of people in our society that need our hugs and gifts, then we are interrupted from our obsession with what we can get. Responding to the hurts, hungers, and needs of others can keep you and me both honest and human. My wife and children have ways of saving me from myself. They are always there to remind me that what I think is so important may not really be all that important. They remind me of the "thens" of life when I am so preoccupied with the "its" and "stuff" of life. Without the so-called weak to call on us to care and share, then we so called strong wind up making ourselves and everyone else miser- able with our heroic touchdowns at the wrong goals.

You and I have amazing talents and strengths. Remember the basics of your hot stuff are the givens from God. Give him some thanks as you pat yourself on the back. Second, we need the help of each other, our God, and our church to enable us to navigate our strengths in the right direction. Strength used the wrong way turns our successes to disasters. Finally, before we are too cocky about what to do with the weak in the world, remember that the weak may be the ones who save us who think we are so strong. Amen!