Sermon – Can We Both Be Right?
2 Samuel 7: 1-7; Mark 9: 38-41
Farmville Presbyterian Church
7/21/24
We pick up today with a game of Monopoly. You may hate it; you may love it. That probably depends on how often you are the one holding all the properties in the end. Back in the early 1900’s, Lizzie Magie created the game to show how an economic system that rewards individuals is better than one that creates monopolies. The game was changed before it became the game we know today. If you have played today’s game, inevitably one person ends up running everyone else into bankruptcy, and she or he holds all the cards. That is what a monopoly is – one person, one company with all the marbles.
This is a zero-sum way of thinking, when all of us are competing for anything good and one person wins but another always loses. So much of the world is played like a zero-sum game in which you and I are fighting for limited resources, whatever those resources might be. The assumption is that it is impossible for all of us to win. It is impossible for us to share in what is good or true. Yes, we cannot even share truth.
I continue to be deeply troubled by the direction of American politics. It is not only in America that we are playing zero-sum, but I can only speak to my situation. We have always fought over ideas and claimed that the other is false or wrong, but we have shifted to where facts don’t even matter anymore. We rewrite history to suit our agendas, and we believe we are the only ones who possess any truth.
Since we are talking about games, let’s play a little thought game: can Republicans be right about some things? Can Democrats be right about some things? We proudly and thankfully have both in this space right now. Can each be right about significant and important things? Is it possible that both sides have important truths? If not, then our game is zero-sum.
When King David had won his wars and succeeded as King of Israel, he turned his attention to one goal that he thought would be pleasing to God and undoubtedly would have also pleased him. He wanted to build a temple for God – the God who had walked with him and provided for him and led him on an incredible journey through life to the place of power and authority that he had as king over the nation of Israel. One star missing from his crown was building the temple. Other nations built temples to their gods. Other kings had magnificent temples to show their devotion to their gods. Why should David not do the same? It is basic human logic. He would never have come up with the idea if he had not seen it elsewhere. In everything else, David had been blessed. Certainly, God would bless this endeavor, too. God’s prophet, Nathan, agreed wholeheartedly and had no qualms endorsing the plan. Of course, any respectable God would want to have a respectable temple. “Run with that ball, David, as fast as you can.”
This passage is very interesting in that both of these heroes of faith were completely wrong. God sounds pretty insulted to be assumed to be homeless. For centuries, God’s worship had been in the tents. The worship of God was wherever the tent or tabernacle was. Eventually, the tent was no longer moved around. It became lodged on one place, and I imagine David and others were embarrassed that they did not have a fancy temple for their god. While they thought they had the truth, though, they found out quickly they did not.
This was not just typical, run-of-the-mill truth. This was not whether it was going to rain later in the day or not. This was an important, deeply held truth related to matters of faith. David truly believed he was the man to give God a home on earth, and Nathan completely agreed. People are often deeply convinced about things important to them that are not actually true. The Apostle Paul is another excellent example. He was so certain he knew the truth and hunted others for it.
This is the picture we see concerning whether the earth was flat or the center of the universe. Witch trials, anyone? American slavery. The Bible should never be translated into common languages. These were all times of tragic falsehood when people died because they believed something other than what the people with power believed. Deeply held beliefs convinced some to hurt and kill others over what was false.
I need for us to see another way to look at truth. By no means am I trying to say everything is true. Facts tell us otherwise. But I am trying to get us to come to each other from a different starting point. Instead of “we cannot both be right” or “if I am right, you are wrong,” what if we began with “what is right about what you believe?” We know what we believe is right or true, but if we bother to hear and even respect what other people believe is right, we will absolutely learn something and be able to have a conversation.
We may even find out that both of us have truth to share.
Hearing the story from Mark’s Gospel considering this zero-sum idea means a little more to me now. The disciples were convinced they were the only ones who were true or right. They were the ones who followed Jesus day in and day out. No one knew Jesus like they did. At least, that’s the vibe of their answer. If someone else was doing things like they did, in their master’s name, then those others were wrong. Notice that they accused the other person of not following “us” and not just “Jesus.” Sounds arrogant. We do all kinds of things because we are afraid of losing. Jesus turned their whole fear inside out, though. Not only were the others not against us, but they were also on the same team. We are not losing anything, friends, but gaining when we see the value of the other. When we listen to the truths we both carry, we see we have more in common. When we listen to the truths of those who seem against, we may just find more friends than enemies. Yes, it is possible we can both be at least a little bit right. God, in this day and age, is much more glorified when we can find connections than when we cut others off, even when we think we disagree.
I love that Jesus leaves his little bit of teaching here with the burden on us. First, if someone (and that means anyone), shows us kindness in Christian compassion, the blessing is for THEM, God’s grace is for THEM, the reward is for THEM. SOOOOOOO… if we want to be the blessed ones in this scenario, we need to get the cups and water and share kindness to others in the name of Christ. Rather than toss negative feelings, share some kindness. Rather than push negative words, share some kindness. Rather than cling to negative assumptions, share some kindness.
We might want to get serious about this or we might not – we might want to keep others at enemies’ length with only us being right, but who receives the reward in that scenario? If we want to get serious about finding more shared truth in this world, that means we also must recognize where we might be wrong. We might even both be wrong about what we think is important, like with David and Nathan. No one has the corner on truth. No one has all the truth, and we all are operating from a pretty limited view of the world, as well-read and enlightened as we might think we are. We are human beings with all kinds of hang-ups and limits and brokenness. We can also, though, share humility, honesty, grace, and compassion that are all at the heart of this walk for greater truth. It is hard to admit when we are wrong, but we all must know we are wrong about some things. Honestly, we are wrong about more than we want to admit.
The church does not belong to us, the Kingdom does not belong to us, the truth does not belong to us. Jesus certainly does not serve us and our demands. Any care for us is entirely in the freedom of his love. We are the ones who are shackled to fear and propaganda and conspiracy theories and demonizing the other. If we really want to know greater freedom, be open to the truth our neighbor carries. If we really want to know greater compassion, be open to the truth the stranger holds. If we really want to know greater grace, be open to the truth that our enemy believes. No one is completely right; we are also none of us completely wrong. If we are willing to listen with our hearts, then we might just find we can both be right.
Let us pray…. Amen.