B, Pentecost 12 Proper 16 - John 6:63 "Paper, Scissors, Rock"

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63 NIV)

Paper, rock, scissors – which one is the strongest? One might think paper is not that strong but in the "Paper, rock, scissors" hand-game it smothers the rock. But then the paper is beaten by the scissors, which can hack paper to bits in seconds. Yeah but scissors are rendered useless when smashed by the rock!

Time, wealth, popularity – which one of these gives you advantage? Time is one element we most likely think about the least. But in this day and age there's a good chance it's what many crave the most. To have more time, to burn the candle at both ends, to find more hours in one day, to do all the things one believes they need to do to be fulfilled. This type of thinking makes fools rush in where angels fear to tread! It's no wonder one of the greatest health problems in our society today is a lack of sleep!

But then again how many times have we heard the phrase, "I'm bored!" Perhaps too much time on one's hands is also a problem. Too much time can leave us at a loose end. Some might become anxious – you just can't sit still! Maybe one finds themselves getting up to mischief with too much time, or left alone with yourself time might drive you insane. Too much or too little time, exposes just how open time is to be abused.

Perhaps it's not time but wealth you see as the thing which will put you out front. If I just had a million dollars, I wouldn't have anything to worry about. If I just had a thousand dollars! If I just had a hundred dollars, ten, five, even one dollar! If I just had another five cents I wouldn't have to break that fifty dollar note and have all that wretched change in my wallet!

I want to be rich! What is it to be rich? To have a drink of water on a hot day! To have a coat on a cold day! To have a breath of air when you're starved of oxygen! To have food so stomachs are fed! To be able to go on holidays once, twice a year, rather than every two or five years. How can I get more money you ask yourself? To buy a new car, another car, to have a bigger retirement nest egg; how rich is really rich?

Perhaps wealthy people are movie stars or business entrepreneurs at the blackjack tables blowing cash like it's going out of fashion. Or maybe it's the little old lady who lives like a pauper but has ferreted away every penny she's ever come across and is secretly sitting on a fortune.

Maybe to be rich is to have family, parents, children, peace, contentment, or to be loved. Is a rich person one who is free in every way or one who has a boundary on every side? Why is it when one has wealth of any kind, it never seems to be enough, or life is consumed by worrying how to keep what one has acquired?

If it's not time, or wealth you're looking for then perhaps its popularity. You may have wealth, you may have all the time in the world, but you want to be liked or noticed. Maybe you're not accepted by others, you crave clothing, you want to look good, lose the wrinkles, fill in the bald spot, get rid of the pimples, look good to others.

But then again perhaps you're too popular, good looks are a curse, you've become arrogant or a neurotic nitwit. How often have the popular people been the ones who have become criminals, or the person with the looks and figure is taken advantage of for someone else's gain?

Is the popular person, one who is young and can move with speed, is it a woman gifted with caring for and nurturing others, or is it the experience of the wirily old character whose been around the block many times before. Perhaps it's the short, the tall, the muscular, the petite, the feminine, or the rugged. O Lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way!

However, all of us are far from humble, and there's not a chance we're perfect in any way, even in the slightest! With all human strengths, there are even greater weaknesses kept out of sight. Just like paper, rock, and scissors one merit can always outclass another. Time, wealth, and popularity might be sought after qualities for strength, but where we have one of these qualities there will always be desire for another. Each of these three can be abused in themselves so that those who covert time seem to never have enough; those who are wealthy suffer from immeasurable poverty despite being able to buy anything they want; and those who have popularity still find themselves miserable and lonely.

There is one quality or merit that outdoes all the rest, but it's different to the things we value and seek in ourselves.

As for wealth: One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. A man's riches may ransom his life, but a poor man hears no threat. (Proverbs 13:7-8) So we hear in Proverbs where we're also told… Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. (Proverbs 15:16) Also… Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honour and life. (Proverbs 22:4)

The writer of Proverbs goes on to make this wise statement: Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8-9)

Although we may always have a desire for more riches and wealth, Jesus tells us as he tells the people of Smyrna in Revelation… I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution… Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Those who have an ear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Rev 3:9&10)

So what is it to be rich, what is real wealth? And what about time or popularity? Before whom is our popularity important? And how do we get this popularity? You may feel downtrodden but such is your popularity that you're inheriting a crown of life.

And as for time, we have no control over it but there will come an eternity of timeless joy, which we can't even begin to comprehend in time.

Jesus tells us in John 6:63… The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (NIV) Other English translations are no less blunt… Human strength can do nothing. (CEV) The flesh is no help at all. (ESV) The flesh profits nothing. (NKJV) Human power is of no use at all. (GNB) And, the flesh is useless. (NRSV)

Get the picture! It's not us who hold any sort of power, especially the strength needed for life, the power to persist in perfection.

Paper, scissors, rock? No, none of these win this game! Jesus Christ crucified! He's got the whole world in his hands. Time, wealth, popularity? None of these either, they're all perishable! The Spirit gives life, to you. Your nothingness, your uselessness — is taken in God's hands because he loves you.

Jesus came into time, to lose his life and have his time cut short, only to be raised to life and eternally glorified. He gave up his eternal crown as the Son of God and bore the crown of thorns — a poor wretched man on the cross. He didn't seek popularity or status but remained faithful to the Father, even though it meant total abandonment on the cross.

We might play "paper, scissors, rock" as a hand game to see whose best. But it's no game when it comes to trusting in he whose hands bear the scars of nails which have saved you from what human wealth, time, and popularity cannot do.

Jesus says to you… The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63) So be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10) Because Christ lives in you that IS what you are, when you remain in him! Amen.

Let us pray the response of Saint Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6: 68-69) Amen.