In God's Kingdom, We All Have the Capacity to Participate.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
June 30, 2024
Proper 8, Year B
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Psalm 30
Mark 5:21-43

Last week, we had a Bible study, and the question came up, “What is success?” There were a lot of answers that people gave, things like having love in your life; being at peace; having enough, not more than you need, just enough; seeking and living God’s will. All of the answers we came up with for what success is were right in line with Jesus’ way and teachings, and all of the answers we came up with were very different than what our fears, and advertisers, and big whigs in society may try to tell us success is.

To advertisers and companies selling products, success is having enough money to afford their products. Success is having a really big house or a really great car. Success is in riches. Even some preachers will tell you success is in riches…at least that’s what they’ll tell you God wants for you and how you can know that God has blessed you. All of those preachers are preaching against what Jesus taught. I’m also pretty sure all of those preachers tend to ask for a lot of money. They show their monetary success, tell others that such riches are what success looks like, and they sell that image, wrapped up in Jesus, which makes them more money.

Jesus didn’t teach that success was in riches. Jesus didn’t spend his ministry getting rich off of others. He certainly could have. We saw this in Jesus’ healing ministry. Let’s face it, he could have made a killing going from palace to palace, healing the infirmities of all sorts of rich folks, and charging as much as he wanted. They’d’ve even paid more just because he made his services exclusive to the rich, so they’d’ve known they had something special that no one else did.

Wealthy, powerful, Jesus could have had it made, and he certainly wouldn’t have been crucified, not with wealthy and powerful benefactors to keep him out of harm’s way.

Jesus could have done that, but of course he didn’t.

In the story we heard today, Jesus healed a woman who had a wound that wouldn’t heal for 12 years. She was a nobody, not wealthy, not powerful. She was just some random person who needed healing, and she received her healing from Jesus. Then, we saw him heal a little girl. Now, this little girl was someone kinda important. She was the daughter of a synagogue leader, an important person in their city. Jesus healed her as well and then, just as with the woman on the street, received no money or glory. He told them to keep quiet about the healing and to get their daughter a sandwich. 

God didn’t become human to be glorified and have his ego stroked by us. God didn’t become human to join just with the rich and powerful, and God didn’t become human to join just with those in poverty. God became human to join with all of us: rich and poor, powerful and powerless, all of humanity without exception. Jesus healed wealthy folks, and Jesus healed folks who were begging on the street.

That was success for Jesus. Not power, not accolades, not money, not glory. Nothing that people with something to sell want to call success, interested Jesus. The power, the money, nothing that much of our society wants to sell as success had any interest for Jesus. 

See, in God’s kingdom, all are important, not just a seemingly successful few. All are one with God. Those some want to exclude? God includes them. Those some find icky and objectionable? God finds holy and beloved. 

Success in God’s kingdom is how well we love one another, how we help one another heal, how we embrace all people: rich and poor, downtrodden and uplifted. As the church, that is the success that God calls us to, loving one another, embracing one another, helping one another heal. 

As the church, we all have a part to play in God’s kingdom. We all have something to offer. We all have the capacity to participate. That’s what we see in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. 

Paul was writing to the Corinthians, telling them about a church that had very little money and still shared what they had to assist others as there was need. Paul was then asking the Corinthian church to do the same.

Paul was making the point that the wealthy church wasn’t better off or more successful than the less wealthy church. Their success was in how they lived out their love and community in the kingdom of God.

Their success was not in how much money they could share. Their success was in how lovingly and freely they shared whatever they had. 

There’s a segment on National Public Radio called “Unsung Heroes.” On one of the shows, I heard the story of an unsung hero who simply sat with a woman while cried. He was a stranger to this woman, and he saw her crying on the sidewalk. So, he sat with her for a couple minutes and rested his hand on her shoulder. Then, as simply as he had come, he stood up and walked away. 

That small gesture of compassion and caring made a huge impact in this woman’s life. She knew she wasn’t alone in what she was going through. This stranger whom she never saw again, brought about great success in the Kingdom of God, simply sharing what he had, a bit of time, a hand on a shoulder, a gesture of support and caring. It didn’t take wealth, fame, or power to bring about the kingdom of God. When we offer whatever we have to others, that is success in the kingdom of God. 

So, I’m going to end with a song that I wrote about what success can look like. Spoiler alert, it ain’t about money and success in careers and what not. It’s about the people we love and support. Also, the line in the song, “All that is gold doesn’t glitter,” is quoted from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is called, On Solid Ground.


On Solid Ground
words* and music by Brad Sullivan
* “All this is gold doesn’t glitter” from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
His life was all laid out, before his family college line,
Fulfilling the hopes and dreams his parents had in mind,
With wealth and wisdom like many of his peers,
And yet he felt a stranger, alone in hopes and fears.

He grew into a young man, success the only road.
The sky was the limit, and a limitless load,
So when he quit school with his girlfriend, he threw it all away,
Or so his parents said, and so “they say.”

But all that is gold doesn’t glitter,
And not all heads were meant to wear a crown.
That tower he’d been sold was cold and bitter,
So he’s standing with his feet on solid ground.

A baby came along, sooner than they’d planned.
She was selling houses, he his music in his band.
They never had a pot of gold. Some months the ends just met,
But with their friends, they lean upon and haven’t failed each other yet.

‘Cause all that is gold doesn’t glitter,
And not all heads were meant to wear a crown.
That tower he’d been sold was cold and bitter,
So he’s standing with his feet on solid ground.

Cause life’s not a race full of wrangle and rancor, 
Climbing the bodies of those we would conquer.
The race for the top ends for most in a fall,
With all of the world or nothing at all.

His parents often visit and see the grandkids play.
They’ve even stopped their comments about the life he threw away.
They finally see his values, o’er the lavish lies.
Success is how they share their joys and soothe each other’s cries. 

‘Cause all that is gold doesn’t glitter,
And not all heads were meant to wear a crown.
That tower he’d been sold was cold and bitter,
So he’s standing with his feet on solid ground.

See the video of the song here:
https://youtu.be/F9DRn9IFEao