Losers...

This past week, a friend shared with me this photo of a church van:

Now, I get what the sign is saying.  St. Paul puts it this way - “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:57).

But when I saw this photo, I went right up to our rector and said, “Jake, we need to buy a church van with a sign on the side that says - ‘Church for Losers.’ ”  Fr. Smith said he’d take it under advisement…Now, I get what the sign is saying.  St. Paul puts it this way - “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:57).

Here’s a scene that took place a few years ago at Disney World that encourages my version of a church van sign.  A man and his family were inside Cinderella’s Castle.  It was packed with kids.  All of a sudden, Cinderella appeared.  Instantly, all those kids surrounded her.  The man said that she was just stunning, with lovely hair and flawless skin and a beaming smile.

For some reason, the man turned and looked toward the other side of the castle.  It was completely empty, except for one boy.  The man said that the boy was perhaps eight or nine years old, but it was hard to tell because the boy was disfigured.  His face was deformed - and he just stood there watching, quietly and wistfully.

You and I know very well what that boy wanted.  It’s the same yearning that you and I feel, deep down inside, all the time.  But can’t you also feel this little boy’s fear - his fear of being fully known, his fear of yet another rejection, his fear of allowing himself to hope?

The young woman playing Cinderella looked over and saw the little boy.  Instantly, she headed straight for him.  She had to wade through that crowd of children, but she finally made it.  As she reached the boy, the other children grew quiet and stepped back a bit.  Cinderella knelt down right at eye level and kissed the boy on the cheek.  And as he started to cry, she wrapped her arms around him.

The names are different, but the story is the same - except that rather than a Princess of Disney, you and I have the Prince of Peace.  And rather than someone with perfect hair and flawless skin, you and I have someone who was dead and buried, who is now alive, and who wraps his arms around us losers with hands that have nail holes.

So bring your loser selves to church this Sunday.  The One who has won the victory, the One who is the Winner, will be proclaimed, sung about, prayed to - and experienced.

Love from one of your clergy losers

- Jim

PS - Remember when Johnny Damon referred to himself and his teammates on the Boston Red Sox as “a bunch of losers”  with a grin on his face during the 2004 World Series?  That’s what I’m talking about.