Finally! Something simple and straightforward! Something practical and down-to-earth! And something everyone can understand without a pastor!

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.

After all, what's the old saying? Everyone loves a winner? So why should god be any different! So Paul gives us his advice. Advice we can ALL take to heart! RUN! RUN WITH ALL YOUR HEART! RUN WITH ALL YOU SOUL! RUN WITH ALL YOUR MIND! RUN WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH! RUN IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU MAY WIN THE RACE!

Good advice! Great advice! All from the man who, last week, wrote, "I do what I do not for the reward, but because of the gift!" Good advice! Great advice! Especially when it's given to a nation of competitors just like us! All from the man who... in this save letter... just a few chapters from now... will write, "I am what I am by the grace... by the charity... by the love... of god!"

Paul - if he believed anything - believed that life was a gift from god! All of life! Everything he had! Everything he was! Free! Unearned! Undeserved! Pressed down! Shaken together! Running over! Every thought! Every feeling! Every word! Every deed! Nothing more... Nothing less... than an echo... than a reflection... of that grace! So, when we read the words, "Run in such a way that you may win it!", we have to realize that in Paul's mind, we've already won! We've already won! In Christ, the race has been run! And in Christ, we have already crossed the finish line!

Of course, there will always be those among us who have to be better... more... Constantly competing... constantly comparing... And, to be honest, they'll do doubt accomplish what they hope to achieve! But Paul wasn't writing to them. He was writing to people just like us... people like you and me... people whose best days - at least, running wise - lay behind them. You know what I mean. I've talked to some of you about it. Back when running was smooth and easy! When we'd run all day long... playing tag... playing chase... No aches! No pains! But, now... People who for the most part wouldn't even consider running... let alone running a race to win... Arthritis! New hips! Knees! COPB! Back problems! We're happy just to get out of bed most mornings! No, Paul wasn't talking to Olympic hopefuls. He wasn't talking to the best of the best. He was talking... writing... to people just like us! And god chose, writes Paul, at the very beginning of this letter... God chose what is foolish... God chose what is weak... God chose what is low and despised... Things that are not... to reduce to nothing things that are... SO THAT NO ONE MIGHT BOAST! SO THAT NO ONE MIGHT BOAST!

It's such a plain... clear... simple... straightforward... practical... down-to-earth... passage! But we have to be careful! Be careful that we don't grab onto the exception instead of the rule!

Run in such a way that you may win it.

Even Paul believed in something more than winning! And that something was in being loved! In being loved and in loving!

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize?

It's unfortunate that this will be the last passage we read from 1st Corinthians, this year. We'll miss the climax... the finale... of it all just four chapters from now... As Paul sings of the power and the glory of love! "But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way..."

If nobody loves me... If I don't love anybody... what does it all matter!?!

If I run the race... with all my heart... with all my soul... and if I happen to win... Without love, it's all meaningless! Running the race! Even, winning the race! Is not what faith... what believing... is about! Faith... Believing... if about nothing else... is about being loved! About loving! When I'm loved... when I love... there's nothing I can boast in... nothing I can brag about... None of it has to do with my reason or strength! None of it is my power or endurance! It's all god! It's all god! From beginning to end! From start to finish! God's amazing grace! God's astounding charity! God's astonishing love!

Contrary to popular opinion, in that grace... in that charity... in that love... we are all winners! Each of us! Every one of us! None faster! None slower! None leading! None trailing! And the trophy we are given is the cross! It's a gift! It's all a gift! The outcome! Even, the race itself! We don't run IN ORDER to win. We run because we've ALREADY won!

Sure, it all seems so simple and so straightforward! So practical and down-to-earth! As if anyone could understand! But, then, maybe that should have been a clue! Because if something doesn't pinch a little... If it doesn't chaff... If it doesn't make us wriggle... If anyone... If everyone... believer and infidel... can hear a verse and say, "Amen!" Well, then maybe... just maybe... what we THINK is the gospel... really isn't. For truly good news takes the hopes and the dreams of this world... everything we stand for... all we believe in... Good news flips it all upside-down and turns it inside-out! More often than not, what we take as the word of god is nothing more of the same old same old we've lived by for a long, long time.

Paul isn't crying out, "Try your hardest!" or "Do your best!" He's not shouting, "Run as if your life depends on it!" He's saying, "Run! Run, all you who are stiff and bent! Run, all you who are weary and worn! Run, all you who haven't run in decades! Run, with your whole heart! Run, with all your being! Because you have already won! You have already won! The trophy! The ribbon! The medal! Is ALREADY yours! It was yours before the gun sounded! Yours in the certain and sure love god has had for you all!"

My friends, fight the good fight! Run the race! Keep the faith! The victory is ALREADY yours! God loves you! God always has! And god always will! After all, that is "The gospel of the Lord!"

I hope I'm not oversimplifying too much... to say that capitalism is about making money. No judgments intended! Capitalism is about making money! Basically, if you have something someone else wants... something someone else needs... say a product... of an idea... or a talent or skill... you can make money! And the more someone needs it... or the more you're able to convince them they need it... Well, the more money you can make! Bottom line, capitalism is about making money. That more money the better!

That's the lesson we've all learned. From the first yard we mowed! From the first baby we sat! And, to be honest, we've learned that lesson well! Unfortunately, most of us, though, have never found that one special something that could make us really, really rich! But it's not for trying... It's not for fantasizing... Capitalism is about making money. And, as the thinking goes, if we make enough, everyone... everybody... will benefit!

It's a way of thinking that's been engrained in all of us. A reason for being... for doing... that just about all of us share here in the good old U.S. of A. It's in the air we breathe. In the water we drink. And so, it really shouldn't come as a surprise... as a shock to us... if capitalism has influenced the way we do thing here in the church. It's only normal. Natural. In fact, we should be shocked if it hasn't!

We've created the church... or, rather, we've re-created the church... in our own image! Church is a business! In some cases, a very, very big business! The pastor is the C.E.O. The council the board of directors. The members of the congregation are the shareholders. More often than not, worship is the product. The songs we sing... the prayers we speak... the words we hear... the merchandise! And the offering... well, the offering is the price of admission! All the unchurched... or, more accurately, the "other" churched... are potential customers. Evangelism means advertising. And customer service is our ministry. It's almost too scary how easy it is to describe! Of course, when all is said and done, the bottom line is the bottom line! Profits and losses... Income and expenses... at the end of the year must balance. The people of Andrews aren't the only ones... who love god... who love country... who support free enterprise... We all do! Some more successfully than others!

Capitalism is -the church is - about one thing. Making money! One problem, though. Capitalism and faith don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. The church has been around a long, long time. Lots longer than has capitalism. Faith has functioned - and thrived - under other economic systems. The word's been proclaimed purely... the sacraments have been administered faithfully... under capitalism... and communism... and socialism... It's functioned and thrived under mercantilism... and feudalism... and at some times and in some places there wasn't any "ism" at all! Economies - capitalism included - as far as believing is concerned... Economies are as impartial and as unbiased as the paint on these walls! One is not more benevolent... or less malevolent... than any other! Because, you see... the church is not a business! The church IS NOT a business! We're not about buying or selling! We're not about making money! We are about love! We're about love! Being loved by god! Being loved by the people around us! And, then, going and doing the same!

Here, in the church, we aren't capitalists... We're not capitalists any more than we are anything else. You see, we have our own economy here. Our own way of doing things. And that way is called GRACE! It's called GRACE! What god has given to us, god has given freely and generously! Unearned and undeserved! And we give it all away to those around us the exact, same way! Freely and generously! Unearned and undeserved!

It appears, from the second reading, that Paul was being accused by his "detractors" of doing what he did for what he got out of it! He was proclaiming the gospel... administering the sacraments... for purely personal reasons! For selfish reasons! And so, he wrote to the church in Corinth a very simple message... IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! IT DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! In this economy... in the economy of the church... in the economy of faith... everything we have... everything we are... is a gift! A gift from god! And a gift from god's people! It's charity! Grace! Nothing we've said... Nothing we've done... Nothing we've decided... has earned us anything! We deserve nothing! It's all a gift! An expression of god's commitment... of god's devotion... to us all!

Think about it for a moment... What more can we expect, when god's given it all?!? What more can we expect in response to our feeble, half-hearted efforts?!? "In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us"! What more could I possibly ask for!?! What we do here... Who we are... is not about capitalism! Not, even, capitalism with a not-for-profit twist! It's charity! It's grace! it's love! The kingdom - the reign - of god, you see, has an economy all its own! God has given! God gives! With all god's heart! With all god's soul! With all god's mind! With all god's strength! And we... you and I... go and do the same! Gift to gift! Offering to offering! Legacy to legacy! No strings attached!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that..." we might have this amazing building?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that..." we might fill these pews Sunday morning after Sunday morning?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that..." we might pay our bills on time?

There has to be more to it than that! Something more worthy... more deserving... of Jesus' "holy, precious blood" and "innocent suffering and death"! Something longer and thicker than that bottom line!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that..." we, too, might be given by god to this broken... this shattered world! Given in the same way! Given for the same reason! "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that..." we, too, might be given... freely... generously... without limit... without measure... unearned... undeserved... Given to the world just as god gave Jesus! Just as god gives Jesus still!

Capitalism? Or socialism? Conservative or Progressive? Here... in this place... we call it faith! We call it hope! We call it love! That's the economic system under which we live and move and have our being! Everything... Absolutely everything... is a gift! Everything we receive! Everything we provide!

No. I'm not being too simple. Capitalism is about making money! And there's a difference! A difference between the life I live as an American and the life I live here... with you... As an American, I live by the sweat of my brow and the strength of my arm! As an American, I take pride... I take pleasure... in what I have accomplished... in what I have achieved... But as a child of god... as a child of god. .. I know my life is not my own. It is nothing more... nothing less... than a gift! A gift god has given... A gift god has granted... gently... kindly... tenderly... Everything we are... Everything we will, ever, be... is a present! Every word we speak! Every action we make! Every thought! Every choice! Every decision! Nothing more than an echo... than a reflection... of what god has first done for me... of what god has first done for us! Each of us! All of us!

We have been saved by grace! We are being saved by grace! And, my friends, our mission... our calling... is to go and do the same!