9-18-2005

Celebrating the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!

"The Win-Win Option"

September 17, 2005

   According to Eric Partridge, author of “A Dictionary of Catch Phrases American and British,” the catch-phrase, "You can't win" originated in the United States and was in use by 1950. It expresses a sense of futility about hoping to succeed or, even, to get anything done. The elaboration of that phrase, "You can't win for losing," with its added play on logic, was around in the 1960s. It means that losing keeps you from winning; you can't win because things keep going wrong. People would say it when something unexpected or a bit of bad luck spoiled their plans.

   People use catchphrases such as “You can’t win for losing,” as a literary or speech technique to make a point which will be quickly understood and fun to use.

   In our Scripture this morning from Exodus we find this absolutely fascinating and rather humorous literary technique, whereby the writer portrays a very large group of people (hundreds of thousands of Israelites) coming together in a sort of unison chorus, speaking the exact same words to their leaders (Ex. 16:2,3). I’ve called this literary technique ‘specific exaggeration’ because it is a specific quote attributed to a significantly large number of persons in order to exaggerate the fact—for emphasis—that there was a general consensus among those within earshot of the writer.

   I believe that the writer was quite intentional about this literary technique because it so strongly points out the hilarious ridiculousness of the Israelites’ complaining. It is indeed laughable that the Israelites, of all people, would be the biggest complainers in the mid-east because they were also the biggest beneficiaries of God in the world. This passage of Scripture is also part of a larger literary technique known as repetition.

   In repetition, the writer sets forth the objections or complaints of the people, which is inevitably followed by God responding with an outlandishly generous act. This technique is repeated over and over until the chapter or scroll is complete and a new subject area begun.

   The point of both specific exaggeration, and repetition techniques is to cause the reader to become impatient with the forever complaining Israelites. The reader is supposed to be thinking that the Israelites must either have the shortest memories around, or they are the most ungrateful and shortsighted complainers around.

   The reader is left wondering, why don’t the Israelites learn, after so many times, to simply ask God for the things they need? And why do the Israelites complain against Moses and Aaron who are not the cause of their troubles, but are simply the ones who have obeyed that which God had asked of them for the benefit of all?

   We are to be thinking—why couldn’t the Israelites believe that if God had the power to set them free from the Pharaoh of Egypt, would not God have the power and the will to save them from all else on their way to the promised land? Couldn’t they see that all they were going through would ultimately be overcome by the God who, time after time, keeps them fed and watered, alive and moving?

   The writer of Exodus also makes it clear that the Israelites had the least patience of any people and seemed to be the most ungrateful among all the nations. This strong, exaggerated writing style was emphatically used because the writer believed that anything less would not catch their attention, leaving the hope of their reform and transformation greatly diminished.

   I love this writer’s style because it generates so many different emotions while reading it. It ultimately causes me to ask myself, “Do I complain? Worse yet, do others know me as a complainer? Is my Christian witness being destroyed because of my negativity?”

   It is so easy for us to see the shortcomings of the Israelites because the writer has so cleverly and artistically put it forth in this beautiful style of writing. But what of our own lives which are not printed out in black and white? Do we fail to place our trust and hope in God? Do we complain rather than praying and having faith in God’s care? We need to use caution because complaining is much easier to do than praying, hoping, or placing one’s faith in God.

   Sometimes we complain simply to get our own way. We know what we like and what we want, and complaining seems to be the most efficient way of causing others to grow weary and give in to us. But giving in to negativity is a most destructive force. Instead, God calls us to ‘give in’ to faith, hope, and love, counting our blessings, not complaining about a delay in their receipt.

   Our Scripture from Philippians carries this one step further. Not only is complaining contrary to Christian growth and experience, but it has no place in Paul’s understanding of the Good News.

   Paul refuses to complain – he has learned the lessons from the writer of Exodus. “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain,” says Paul. In other words, whether he lives or dies, he finds contentment in his faith in God. If he lives, life is filled with all the possibilities found in the Christian way of life and thinking including the rough and treacherous times. We are transformed from mortals who die with no hope, to followers of Christ who pass from this life to the next.

   Jesus said he has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly and Paul was having the time of his life—in spite of being persecuted and sent to jail for preaching. Jesus also said that he has prepared a place for us in eternity that will transform us even further into the joyous spiritual experience.

   To paraphrase Paul, one could say, “To live is to be fulfilled with purpose, destiny, and a strong sense of hope, while dying is an inexplicable gain.” Paul, well aware of his complaining Israelite ancestors, adds an additional dynamic in this writing to the Philippians as he says, “Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . and be in no way intimidated by your opponents.”

   Our opponents today are much like the opponents of Moses and Aaron in Exodus. They are all around us—even some of our friends! They seek, or even unknowingly, go about destroying hope and faith by a complaining and negative lifestyle. Paul strongly encourages us to in no way be intimidated by those who speak with untransformed tongues or unregenerated spirits. We are not to allow ourselves to be influenced by anything that would distract us from the Good News of hope and expectation.

   In other words, let’s not get caught in the trap of “not winning for losing.” Those who allow themselves to be complainers with negative speech, have already lost — they are not enjoying the truly transformed life in Christ. Maybe the Christian version of this catchphrase ought to be, “You can’t win for complaining.”   Rather, we are to give thanks and praise in all things and at all times because God is good in all things and at all times. That reminds me of another responsive catchphrase, “God is good … all the time … all the time … God is good!” Let us choose Paul’s “win-win option” for all time. Amen.

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