The Way of Cain: When We’re not Ready, and the Thief Takes Joy, Love, Peace, and Security

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
August 10, 2025
Proper 14, C
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Psalm 33:12-22
Luke 12:32-40

So, this is like the third or fourth week in a row where Jesus talked about the kingdom of God not being about being rich; the kingdom of God not about having lots of stuff; and the kingdom of God not about being against those we think are wrong, but rather being for other people. Once again, this morning we heard Jesus teach about giving to others, loving others, and finding the kingdom of God in that love of other people. Once again, we heard Jesus teaching that the peace and security for which we are longing comes not through our own power and position over others. We heard Jesus teaching that the peace and security for which we are longing comes from the love and support we give one another, asking the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to come among us all day, every day and lead us into that love. 

With Jesus continuing these teachings over and over, some might get tired of hearing (or preaching) the same thing over and over. Then again, as often as we hear Jesus’ teaching to love others, not worry so much, and stop making our lives about getting stuff and power, as much as we hear that teaching, we still tend to forget it. So maybe it’s good that we’re hearing this for the third or fourth week in a row. It kinda seems like Jesus really wanted us to take this teaching to heart and to live his words. 

“Do not be afraid,” Jesus said, because God wants to give us the kingdom. God’s desire for us is to live the kingdom, and unlike all the kingdoms and nations on earth, God’s kingdom is not about having power over others, ruling over others, wealth, might, or anything like that. God’s kingdom is what things are like when we care for one another, seek justice, and live in love.

So, “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said, because God’s desire for us is to give us that kingdom of caring, justice, and love.

“Be dressed for action,” Jesus said, and “have your lamps lit.” Be ready to live the kingdom of God at all times, and things are gonna be so great when we do. It’ll be like the master of the house coming home and finding us all serving one another and saying, “Come on, let’s have a party together.” Good times, good news, God wants us to have and live the kingdom of love.

Then Jesus said this kinda fearful bit about being ready and knowing when a thief is about to come, because “the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” That kinda makes it sound like Jesus is the thief we have to be ready for, so be afraid because Jesus is gonna come.

That just doesn’t make sense, and it’s not what the text said. Jesus started this whole teaching by telling us not to be afraid. Then he told us that God is not a thief but the one who wants to give us the kingdom. So, be alert and be ready to receive the kingdom, anytime and anywhere God gives it to you. Be ready always to live God’s kingdom of love.

Well, the thief wants to take the kingdom of God from us so that we can’t live it, and the thief can be lots of things. Sometimes being so tired and so stressed that you just don’t have time for anyone’s BS, even if they don’t really have any BS, that can be the thief. Sometimes the worries of life destroy any hope or joy we have in the present moment, and that can be the thief. 

So, Jesus teaches of a strong need to remain alert and ready to live the kingdom of God. Being ready means prayer. Being ready means seeking and calling on the Holy Spirit. Being ready means giving our hurts and our faults over to God and asking God to give back only that which we need.

What happens, then, when we’re not staying alert and ready? What happens when we stop turning all that we are over to God, when we stop inviting the Holy Spirit, when we stop counting on God and instead take control and rely only on ourselves? The thief comes. When we’re not alert and ready, the thief comes and takes joy, happiness, love, peace, security. 

When we aren’t staying alert and ready, the thief takes the kingdom of God for which we are longing. The thief takes the kingdom of God which we have been living. 

Sin is ever present, lurking just outside, we’re told in Genesis 4. When we are living in love and charity with others, seeking the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit, living in the kingdom, even sin is still “waiting at the door ready to strike! It will entice you,” we’re told, “but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7)

In Genesis 4:7 God was talking to Cain who was very angry that God had not accepted his offering of grains. Y’all remember Cain, one of Adam and Eve’s first two sons, Cain and Abel, and y’all remember that Cain killed Abel because God accepted Abel’s offering, the very best of his flock, and God didn’t accept Cain’s offering, the leftover crap grain that he had lying around. Cain got angry and jealous enough to kill his brother, all because God did not accept his offering of leftover crappy grains. 

It seems like Cain was living the kingdom of God until the thief came, and Cain wasn’t ready. Now, the thief didn’t come when Cain killed Abel. The thief had already been there. The thief came when Cain decided what offering to give to God.

Cain wanted the best for himself and gave whatever crap was leftover to God. That was where the thief took the kingdom from Cain. 

When people keep more than they need for many lifetimes and give some small percentage to charities, they are following the way of Cain. 

Andrew Carnegie - Steel Tycoon

“I have way more than enough for myself, way more than I need. Oh, others are suffering. Here they can have this leftover stuff that I don’t need. Here, they can have this piddling amount that I’ll never miss.” That’s the way of Cain, when we’re not ready and alert, and the thief comes telling us we’ll never be ok without more than we need and we need to keep the very best for ourselves and give whatever’s leftover to others.

I realized as I was writing this, that a lot of charitable giving is given in this very well-intentioned way. I’m not saying this to dig down on anybody. A lot of charity is given with a heart that truly cares for others, and yet so often we’re still following something of the way of Cain. Keeping far more than is needed. Giving largely what won’t be missed.

This is not because of evil hearts full of hatred and contempt. The reason we often give is because we care deeply about others. The reason we often give only what won’t be missed is that we still tend to place our security in our stuff and in our own power, and when we do, sin, in the form of fear, is waiting at the door, ready to steal the Kingdom of God away from us. By having us hold on to more than we need, trusting in ourselves and in our stuff, sin has us follow the way of Cain, taking from us the love, joy, and peace of kingdom of God.

 

So, Jesus teaches, “Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven.” Do not be afraid, for it is God’s desire to give you the kingdom. So, be ready, stay alert. Realize that sin is always at the door, ready to steal the kingdom away from you. Sin is always at the door, telling you to trust in yourself, and in your stuff, and in your own power. Sin is always ready to snatch love, and joy, and peace away from you. 

So, when we give to others, we don’t give only what we’ll never miss. We live lives of love and prayer, constantly seeking the help of the Holy Spirit that we may truly live for one another, giving the best of ourselves to one another, and receiving God’s kingdom as we do.

Beautiful Neighbors

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
July 27, 2025
Proper 12, C
Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
Psalm 138
Luke 11:1-13

Eventually, maybe one day, I’ll feel complete. If I gain enough success in life, I’ll feel like I have accomplished enough to feel good about myself; or maybe if I earn enough money, or get enough stuff, then I’ll feel like I’m ok. That’s kind of ridiculous, yeah? The thought that I’ll finally be a whole and complete person if I only have enough, well, that’s a ridiculous thought, and I’m guessing that if you asked just about anyone if they need more money or success or stuff to be a whole and complete person, they’d likely say, “no,” and yet the drive for more is still there.

What drives us to have more, to get more, to be more? What gnaws at our subconscious telling us, if we just have this one more thing, if we can just achieve this, then we’ll be ok? Something seems to be telling us that as we are, we’re not good enough. Perhaps that starts at a young age?

I was watching a movie about Mr. Rogers the other day. Y’all remember Mr. Rogers, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, the kids show on PBS years and years ago? “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Won’t you be, won’t you please? Please won’t you be my neighbor?” He was so kind, and on his show and in his life, he showed others how to be kind. He had a great love of children, and he taught kids how to deal with their emotions and showed them how wonderful they were. 

One thing Mr. Rogers talked about was how wonderful and beloved kids are, not because of who they’ll be one day, but that they are wonderful and beloved just as they are. 

What if, as kids, we already know we are complete? What if, as kids, we already know that we are valued and loved just as we are, not because of who we’ll one day be?

Perhaps then we wouldn’t feel the need for enough money, possessions, or success to feel whole. 

I’m not saying this to knock anyone’s parents, but I’m guessing we’ve all had people in our lives who in one way or another made us feel like we had to achieve something to be ok. Think about some of the messages we often get as kids. “Don’t cry.” “Be quiet.” “You shouldn’t be so angry.” “Stop being so sad.” “Smile more.”

Mr. Rogers pointed out that saying things like that to kids makes them feel like they don’t belong, like they aren’t good enough as they are, like their emotions aren’t welcome. Kids are trying to figure out how to belong, and a lot of the messages they get are, “You don’t quite belong in this adult world. You need to change in order to be ok.” This makes sense because parents are trying to prepare their kids for adulthood, but kids often get this notion that, “I’ll be good enough, I’ll belong, once I have achieved” whatever it is: enough money, enough success, enough fame, enough stuff. 

For Mr. Rogers, encouraging kids wasn’t about telling them how great they’ll be when they’re grown? For him, encouraging kids was about telling them how great they are now.

How children feel about themselves is what I care about most. If we can help our children feel accepted and valued when they are small, they’ll have a better chance of growing into adults who can feel good about who they are, too. – Fred Rogers

That’s right in line with the teaching Jesus offered us in our Gospel today. “Take care!” Jesus said. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Jesus told this to a man who wanted what he felt was his share of his family’s inheritance. 

Was this guy really struggling for money, or did he just want more to feel better about himself, to feel complete, to feel worthy? He didn’t say he was impoverished, and you’d think he would have led with that if it was the case. No, it sounds like the guy was hacked off that his brother was getting more than he was. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair, and if he could only get more of the inheritance, then he’d be ok, and it was all about comparison. 

He had enough, but he had less, compared to his brother, so he felt some aching, some longing to be complete. Jesus taught him, though, that having more or less doesn’t make us more or less. Having enough for status doesn’t actually improve our lives, and we don’t need it to be healed and loved.

That goes counter to some preaching that’s out there. Name it and claim it? Give your money to whatever ministry, and God will bless you with even greater wealth? That kind of preaching ain’t about the gospel. The name it and claim it preaching is simply feeding into our insecurities of not belonging, of not being enough, of not having enough. Rather than telling us the truth of God’s love for us, as we are, for who we are, the name it and claim it preaching is fueling the lie that we need more in order to be ok. 

Jesus wants us to know that our lives are not made complete by status, wealth, success, and stuff. Our lives are made complete by love. 

There was a study done about wealth and happiness, showing that having tons more money that you need doesn’t actually make you happier. Now, for a person making $30,000 a year to get a salary increase to $60,000 a year, they end up much happier. So much less stress and so much more freedom, not worrying nearly so much about where food is gonna come from or if they can afford rent. That doubling of salary from $30,000 to $60,000 makes a huge difference in happiness. 

For a person making $500,000 a year, however, if they double their salary to $1,000,000 a year, they don’t actually end up much happier. They can certainly buy a crud ton more stuff, but that doesn’t tend to translate to improved quality of life or improved happiness. 

It turns out that modern social science is learning the truth that Jesus taught a couple thousand years ago. Our lives are not about having a bunch of stuff, and our lives aren’t actually made better by having a bunch of stuff.

 

The happiest people are those who have quality relationships with other people. Again, that’s what Jesus taught and how Jesus lived. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God and having riches in the Kingdom of God, he was talking about the love we have for others and they love others have for us. 

Here’s the Gospel secret, or not so secret, God has that love for us, and we don’t need to be better, do better, earn more, or have more to earn God’s love. We’re already complete, and we’re already completely beloved just as we are. 

“Jesus, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 

“Dude, I ain’t here to make you rich, man. I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to be. You’re already complete. You’re already whole. You already belong to God’s family just as you are.

Eternal Life Is for After We Die, and other Ridiculous Things Preachers Say

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
October 13, 2024
Proper 23, B
Amos 5:6-7,10-15
Psalm 90:12-17
Mark 10:17-31

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That’s what the man in today’s gospel story asked Jesus. Of course he buttered him up a bit first, calling him “good teacher.” Maybe he was just being polite, but he also seems a little bit smarmy to me, like he was trying to butter Jesus up a bit to prove that he really was worthy of eternal life, that he really would get the best of everything. It seems that this man’s only real interest was himself and getting into God’s good graces.

Notice that his initial question was totally selfish. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He wasn’t interested in helping bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth. He wasn’t interested in healing the wounds of the world. 

No, his only interest was himself. “How can I make sure things turn out as well as they possibly can for me…and only me?” He asked. “I’ve got enormous riches, I have no interest in helping others, and I want to make sure I have the best of everything after this life too.” Like I said, kinda smarmy. Selfish.

Of course, wanting to be worthy of God’s rewards and wanting to inherit goodness for himself, that probably went along with what he’d been taught. Keep God happy with you. Make sure to follow all the rules just right so you don’t make God angry. If others aren’t following God’s rules, make sure to stay away from them so you don’t get defiled by them. Look out for you and yours. Follow the laws, and God will reward you. Sound kinda familiar to some?

The trouble is, such a selfish way of life is completely misunderstanding scripture; misunderstanding the laws of God; and misunderstanding salvation, eternal life, and the kingdom of God.

Making sure things turn out well for me is not the way of the Kingdom of God. Making sure things turn out well for me is not inheriting eternal life. Making sure things turn out well for me is not, in fact, salvation.

Eternal life, the kingdom of God, and salvation itself are “Love God, and love people.” Anything that helps you do that is following the ways of God. Anything that helps you love God and love people is inheriting eternal life. See, eternal life is the life of God, and when we love God and love people, we are living the eternal life of God. If any want to inherit eternal life, love God and love people, and you’ll find that you are living the eternal life of God here and now.

For the man asking Jesus about what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, he seems to have been thinking about life later on, after life here on earth. He somehow had the life of God detached from this life. He seems to have had the ridiculous notion that life here on earth is just setting us up for something better or worse later on, as though the only point of this life is the next life. Does that also sound familiar to some? That’s insane. The point of this life is this life and how well we love God and love others in this life.

We were made to be people of love. We were made to be people who support one another and care for one another. We were made to care for the earth, this beautiful home God has given us.

You may have heard a song called, “Made to Worship,” with a chorus which begins with, “You and I were made to worship.” My response in hearing that chorus has always been, “No we weren’t,” because I thought the song was saying that we were made for the purpose of being in churches singing to God. That sounds to me like we were made to make God happy be stroking his ego. If I’m religious enough, God will be happy with me and will reward me. That’s insane. That’s not what we were made to do.

So, when I was preparing this sermon, I thought of the song “Made to Worship” as an example of religion gone crazy, and then I looked at the rest of the lyrics, and it’s actually talking about living the kingdom of God.  “You and I were made to worship; you and I are called to love; you and I are forgiven and free. You and I embrace surrender; you and I choose to believe, then you and I will see who we were meant to be.”

Loving others. Accepting and surrendering to God’s forgiveness and the freedom God gives, choosing to believe in God and in God’s ways, despite them not always making sense to us…by doing those things, the songs says, we will see who we were meant to be. We’ll see that we were meant to be people of love. Our worship is meant to help us understand that above all, God desires us to love one another, and then when we do, we find that love to be our true worship of God.

Now, when the man asked Jesus about inheriting eternal life, Jesus responded that the man’s wealth was getting in the way of him loving God and loving people.

“What are you talking about, Jesus, I can have as much wealth as I want. There ain’t no law against it.” True, there’s no specific law against having great wealth, but Jesus’ teaching asks us, “Does what you’re doing help you to love God and to love people, or does what you’re doing make loving God and loving people harder?”

For the man who asked Jesus about inheriting eternal life, his great wealth was making loving God and loving people harder for him. We know this because when Jesus suggested that he sell some of his stuff and give the proceeds to the poor, he walked away from Jesus. He loved his stuff more than he loved people in need. Love God and love people was eclipsed by, “But I really love my stuff.”

Jesus taught that even though there ain’t no law against having as much money as you want, the reason one would have all that wealth is to care for other people, to love God by loving people. Jesus told a parable of a wealthy landowner, who paid everyone who worked for him a full, living wage. Even folks who were only able to work for an hour got a full living wage.

The man in Jesus’ parable had more than enough, and he had love in his heart so that what he did with his stuff was to make sure others had enough as well, not just enough to barely scrape by, but truly enough. Using his wealth to make sure that even those who could only work an hour had a living wage, that was his worship. That was inheriting and living eternal life, not in some after-we’re-dead future, but right then and there, because his life wasn’t bound up in his money, his stuff, for his sake. His life was bound up in the love and care he had for others.

The man who asked Jesus about inheriting eternal life was primarily focused on himself, and any salvation this is primarily focused on things turning out well for me is ultimately not salvation but just more love of stuff. In such a false salvation the stuff we love is just ourselves, and a salvation centered on self is not eternal life; it’s just selfishness.

Jesus showed us in his life and ministry what salvation truly is, what eternal life truly is, and what the Kingdom of God truly is. “Love God and love people.” Whatever helps us love God and love people is true worship of God, and a life lived by loving God through loving people, that is eternal life.

All People Are of Infinite Value to God. Nations, Not So Much.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
July 21, 2024
Proper 11, B
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 23
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

 

When Jesus saw a great crowd, hungry for his teaching, he taught them because he had compassion on them. When people heard that Jesus was near, they brought to him those who were sick and in need so that he would heal them. Jesus spent a huge amount of his time healing people, teaching people, sometimes in crowds like we heard today, and sometimes with individuals, like we also heard today.

The Jesus revolution, the world-healing movement of Jesus was lived through healing and teaching people. He taught people to came to him and wanted to hear what he had to say, and he healed people who came to him and wanted to be healed.

Jesus didn’t topple King Herod’s corrupt government. Jesus didn’t raise armies to destroy the oppressive nation of Rome. Jesus changed the world through the lives of people. Jesus truly loved and cared for people, and his desire for us, his teaching to us, was that we would do the same.

This is in stark contrast to King Herod whom we heard about last week and the ancient kings of Israel who had led them so poorly. The ancient kings amassed great wealth for themselves, partly to show power and strength to other nations. The ancient kings dealt unjustly with the people. They cared for those with wealth, power, and influence to increase their own wealth, power, and influence, and at the same time they ignored and worsened the plights of those with less, those who seemed unimportant in their eyes.

Herod did the same. As king of an occupied nation, semi-autonomous, kinda, he was supposed to be leading his people according to the ways of God, but he was trying to keep Rome happy and keep the people from rising up against Rome. He of course, then had his courtiers and officials to placate, his influence to maintain, so, John peacefully spoke out against the crown, he had him beheaded on the whim of a young alluring girl and her mom. Amidst so many powerful forces and the pressure of everything weighing on him, Herod led his people further down the path of destruction, dealing in the same injustice and oppression of the kings before him. Herod cared for those with wealth, power, and influence and ignored and worsened the plights of those with less, those who seemed unimportant in his eyes.

I’d say there’s still plenty of that going on today in plenty of places, with plenty of rulers and leaders. Now, I’d guess that folks all along the political spectrum could hear my words and think I’m preaching against the particular politicians or candidates they don’t like.

I’m not.

I’m not preaching for or against governmental powers. They all have their place in seeking justice and wellbeing for all, but when I look for how to truly love and care for people, I don’t look to our government because Jesus didn’t set up our government to live out God’s mission in the world. For Jesus, shepherding the people wasn’t about setting up his new dynasty on the throne. Jesus shepherding the people was about caring for all people, poor and rich, exalted and lowly. Jesus’ way was to love and care for others, not to increase his power to impose his will in the world.

Jesus saw Rome as an occupying nation over Israel. He knew Rome was going to overtake and destroy Israel, and he let it happen. Jesus didn’t lead his people into an armed revolt against Rome. He didn’t sacrifice others’ lives to make the nation secure. Jesus cared for the lives of those who were there. Whether Israel was its own nation, or whether they were oppressed by Rome, or even if they were destroyed by Rome with the people of Israel scattered, Jesus cared for the people in the same way.

Rather than bring about some greater good for “the nation” by sacrificing the lives of the people, Jesus let destruction happen to the nation, choosing instead to love and care for people, not treat them as tools for his purposes.

Amidst Rome rising up and threatening to destroy Israel, Jesus’ way of healing and teaching folks may seem a bit small and unimportant. Shouldn’t he have made the

nation great? Well, trying to make the nation great was certainly the way of the previous kings, but that wasn’t the way of God. Nation will rise against nation, God taught, and in the midst of nations rising and falling, God’s way for us is to love and care for one another. It may seem insignificant, but the key is that all people, each person, are of infinite value to God. Nations, not so much.

Great tumultuous upheavals are going to happen. We’re not going to prevent such things. God hasn’t taught us to. In the midst of great upheaval, God has taught us to love one another.

Late Archbishop of Canterbury Arthur Michael Ramsey wrote,  

Amidst the vast scene of the world’s problems and tragedies you may feel that your own ministry seems so small, so insignificant, so concerned with the trivial. What a tiny difference it can make to the world that you should run a youth club, or preach to a few people in a church, or visit families with seemingly small result. But consider: the glory of Christianity is its claim that small things really matter and that the small company, the very few, the one man, the one woman, the one child are of infinite worth to God. Consider our Lord himself. Amidst a vast world with its vast empires and vast events and tragedies our Lord devoted himself to individual men and women, often giving hours and time to the very few or to the one man or woman.

Loving one another is how we can bring about change in the world. If we set our minds on bringing about some greater good, but sacrifice loving and caring for individuals to bring those greater goods about, then we’re following the ways of Herod and the kings of old. Preaching, teaching, forcing change without genuine love for the people involved is to scatter God’s flock, to drive them away. The way of Jesus is to love and care for others. No good that we’re trying to achieve can come at the expense of people. Jesus showed us that in the infinite value he placed on each person whom he taught, the infinite value he placed on each person he healed, the infinite value he placed on each person he just had a conversation or a meal with.

No act of love or caring that we give to another is every too small to matter. Even the smallest act of love that we give can be the greatest thing in the world.

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