A Long Shot

Can anyone think of a time, when you have taken a ‘long shot’?

            The expression probably originated with horseracing. So I’m not asking for anyone to admit anything - out loud - that you don’t want to: because expression “long shot” has come to be used in a lot of other contexts. In the case of horseracing, a long shot was a bet, on a horse that didn’t have much chance of winning. The odds weren’t very good.

            But - there are a LOT of situations in life, where the odds aren’t very good, it turns out.

            Is anyone trying to sell property this year?

                        The odds aren’t very good that you’ll get top dollar.

                        But if you have to pay for your mom’s care and the bills are due…

                                    You take the long shot.

            Maybe your long shot was done for love…

Which might include standing in the rain at a particular bus stop hoping to catch a glimpse of an elusive but beautiful someone - who you once saw get on the bus there…

Maybe your long shot was in basketball or golf…

            Maybe you made a half court shot, or a chipped it into the cup out of a sand tap…

            Maybe you missed.

            The chances are - - that if you have ever taken a long shot you did miss.

                        That’s the definition of a long shot!

            So why take one?

                        Well, ever make one?

                                    It feels pretty good.

                                    It feels good to beat the odds.

            One of my favorite scenes on the original Star Wars movie is when Han Solo approaches an asteroid field at light speed in his late model spaceship, the ‘Millennium Falcon’, in order to escape those who are chasing him. And that golden robot C3PO at his side says, “…but sir, don’t you know that the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field are approximately three thousand seven hundred and twenty to one!!" And Han Solo looks at C3PO and says, “Never tell me the odds”. And then he heads straight into them…only to emerge safely on the other side.

            That’s why we take long shots:

                        It feels good to make them…and sometimes we do.

            But I think there’s even more to it than that.

            The “Parable of the Sower” - so called - is the story that Matthew’s gospel reports Jesus telling to a great big crowd gathered on a shoreline. It is our gospel reading for this morning, and it is a story about unlikely odds. It is also a story - Jesus later tells his disciples – that is intended to tell us something about the “Kingdom of Heaven”.

            So part of the something more - - about long shots - - has something to do with the “Kingdom of Heaven” as Jesus describes it…

            They are somehow connected…

            So what happens in the story?  Well:

            A farmer goes out planting SEEDS - but of the four kinds of SOIL the seeds land on - only ONE allows the seed to really take ROOT and GROW.

            1 out of 4

            Not the best odds.

            So the question is do we trust God enough to go with it?

            Or to put it another slightly more challenging way: If we’re willing to take a long shot - simply based on our own ego - and our desire to beat the odds - shouldn’t we be ready to trust God to take us to the Kingdom when we have a one in four chance?

            Yes there is weedy and rocky soil out there.

            Yes, there are dangers, toils and snares…

            But we already KNOW that.

            And this is GOD that Jesus is talking about.

            Consider the story one more time as Jesus tells it. Jesus starts with a picture of ABUNDANCE. A farmer is throwing seeds into the air with NO regard to where they land. This is not good farming technique! This is seeds in abundance falling EVERYWHERE!

            That’s how God does it.

                        Abundantly.

            But even though GOD is abundant…it turns out that LIFE…sometimes is NOT.

            The FINE PRINT is that, even though the seed is scattered in abundance…3 out of 4 types of life situations will kill the seed.         

            The fine print is that life takes God’s amazing abundance and attaches a label that says, “…void where prohibited by law; not valid during black out dates; batteries not included; subject to ticket terms and policies of management; certain other restrictions may apply”.

            Some seed gets devoured, some is scorched by the sun, some is choked to death…

            BUT…a FEW seeds…DO live.

            And those seeds PRODUCE with amazing abundance.

            Those seeds produce so much that you can hardly believe it.

            Those long shot seeds…not only grow…they beat the odds!

            When we add…God multiplies.

            OK…but what does that REALLY mean for us?

                        We who are NOT God…?

                        Should we take the long shot     or not?

            I think that what we often do is we try another strategy. Instead of taking the long shot - we try to change the odds. We think that this is the prudent thing to do. We think that taking the long shot is great for God, but risky for us. And so we try to control the situations in life that come our way, out of a sense of responsibility.

            Or is that just me?

            What we do is we try to reposition ourselves for better odds.

            We manipulate situations so we will have a better chance of success.

            And what we certainly do NOT do is…to trust God.

                        Or really even believe in God…when it comes right down to it.

                        We pray for God’s help…but we act like it all depends on us.

            Take the story of Jacob and Esau as an example. The Old Testament story for this morning from Genesis is about two brothers who struggle.

            They are twins who are VERY different. They act differently and look different.

            One is smooth and one is covered in hair.

            Jacob and Esau.

            Jacob grasping at Esau’s heel as they are born. Struggling. NOT wanting to be born SECOND. Wanting to be the first born.

            Why…because first born sons have much BETTER ODDS in life.

             In those days the first born son got it all. Being the younger son, even by a few seconds, meant that Jacob would have very few rights. He would be in a category with a widow and an orphan. He is the weaker one.

            And so he becomes the sly one. The trickster.

            And in this initial birth story, he grasps the heel of his brother, and tries to change his odds in life. And this initiates years of more of the same.

            Jacob the younger struggles against his own identity.

            He tries to be someone other than who God created him to be.

            He tries to change his odds in life.

            And he lives seemingly UNAWARE of the amazing fact of who he WAS:

                        God’s chosen one.

                        Because God chooses weird.

                        God always takes the long shot.

                                    AND…God always MAKES the long shot.

            So back to the question:

                        What should WE do?

                        Should we take the long shot?

                        Or should we struggle to try to change the odds?

            How about this:

                        Start by simply paying attention.

            What I mean by that is this: When a long shot is made…sometimes it’s a God thing. Sometimes God is at work when a long shot presents itself. Sometimes.

            But I’m not saying that EVERY time someone takes or makes a long shot it’s a God thing. Sometimes people just get lucky. Sometimes the greedy people win. Sometimes the good die young. And it rains on the just and on the unjust.

            But…

            What I think the texts are saying this morning is this:

            When God DOES show up…this is what it feels like.

            When God DOES show up it’s like when we make a long shot.

            It’s that feeling when the hair stands up o the back of your neck.

            And sometimes it DOES happen.        

            Call it the work of the Holy Spirit.

            So-----pay attention for it.

            And in the mean time, let’s not despair when the odds are down.

            And in the mean time, let’s not think it all depends on us.

            Our God is a long shot God.

            So for us at Westminster, when we face challenges, may we have the courage to trust.

            When we feel like we are not on course in our personal lives, when we are “prone to wander” like you will hear about in the words of the amazing hymn that is the Offertory this morning, when we are wandering and lost in our lives, may we have the courage to trust. 

            Because God does weird stuff.

            God does NOT do predictable normal stuff.

            Stewardship this year will be a challenge. We all know that.

            But we have to at least give it our best shot.

            And we are not alone in it. We have this new amazing clergy couple to guide us forward.

            They are here to help us make this shot.

            They are here to remind us that God is not done with us.

            God is doing a new thing.

                        Right here at Westminster.

                        Right now.

                        Today.

                        In this church, and in your life.

            The future is right here before us.

                        This is our shot.

                        And frankly it doesn’t look like as much like a long shot as some things I’ve seen.

                        So if God can make it work with a guy like Jacob…

                        And if there are enough seeds to fling them around abundantly…

                        What are the chances that God will just leave us now?

                                    That, my friends, is the only long shot.

                                    God will not leave us.

                                    Not now, not ever.

                                                            Amen.