Josh Broward
September 20, 2009
Genesis 12:1-3; James 1:22-27; Matthew 25:31-40
According to Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the wisest and most cunning human who ever lived. Unfortunately for him, this all led to some conflict with the gods. He stuck his nose into a love triangle involving Jupiter, and he fooled the gods of death two separate times, adding years to his life.
Finally, however, the gods won out. They sentenced Sisyphus to one of the most famous punishments in the history of the world. Every day, he pushed a huge round stone to the top of a high hill. After struggling all day to reach the top, the stone rolled back down to the bottom of the hill. Sisyphus punishment was meaningless work, forever. He was cursed with an unsolvable problem that he just had to fix.
When we hear the statistics of global poverty, we can feel a lot like Sisyphus. 3 billion people living on less than 2,500 won a day. 25,000 children die every day because of poverty. 2.6 billion people lack decent toilets or clean water. 1.8 million children die every year diarrhea.
When we talk in millions and billions, the problem of global poverty seems like an impossible mountain. We look at the pictures of the starving children, and our heart knows that we must do something. But our brain reminds us that we can’t feed billions. If we give 1 or 1,000 or even 100,000 kids enough medicine to prevent diarrhea, there will still be 1.7 million who die from it this year.
After a while, it all feels like rolling that stone up the hill, day after day. We can work hard. We can give our lives to helping others. Yet, it can still feel meaningless because of the millions and billions we didn’t help. Sometimes, it seems as if the whole world has the curse of Sisyphus. Sometimes, it feels like we’re cursed with an unsolvable problem we just have to fix.
So what do we do? Well, some of us keep pushing that stone up the hill. But others of us, give up on that all together. We just quit trying. Some of us even quote Jesus as support for giving up on the fight against poverty, “The poor will always be among you.” We forget that he also said, “Whatever you do to the least of these you to do to me.” But when there are 1 billion “least of these” who need our help, the problem just seems too large.
But we have special powers that Sisyphus didn’t have. In fact, we have three special powers that completely change the game.
First, we have the power of blessing. Sisyphus was cursed by the gods, but we are blessed by the one true God. The gods were against Sisyphus, but God is for us. God is for solving the problems of global poverty.
Listen again to the words of Psalm 113: “Who can be compared with the LORD our God, who is enthroned on high? He stoops to look down on heaven and earth. He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people!” (v. 5-8)
God is at work redeeming and healing our world. When we work to end poverty, we are working with God, not against God. We are working in the flow of his blessing, not against it.
In fact, that is how blessing works. Remember God’s promise to Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and … All the families on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). God has blessed us with the power to bless others. We are not like Sisyphus. We can make a real difference in the world. We have the power of blessing.
Second, we have the power of innovation. Insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting not to get the same results. In some ways, Sisyphus was cursed with insanity. It seems that every day, he actually thought that stone just might go over the top this time.
When we deal with poverty in the same old ways, we will get the same old results. But we are not insane. We have the power of innovation.
We have made major advances in medicine and science which have changed the world. We have discovered cures for polio and malaria. We have discovered vaccinations for the measles, hepatitis, and countless other diseases. Thanks to advances in farming technology, we can now produce enough food to feed every human in the world. As you’ll see in a video later, we can turn very dirty, deadly water into clean life-giving water. Science has worked wonders on the greatest problems facing our world. Now, we need to work on distribution.
The innovation of the internet is also changing our world. The internet has created a democratization of knowledge. Anyone with an internet connection can learn almost anything. And the internet is beginning to create a democratization of work. Almost anyone (with knowledge, skills, and the internet) can do almost any job from anywhere. This is radically changing the poverty scene. Good jobs are no longer defined by geographic boundaries. Now, instead of “teaching a man to fish,” we teach people to surf with a mouse, and we give them the tools to change their world.
Sisyphus was stuck doing the same things over and over and getting the same results every day. We are not stuck. In the book of Isaiah, God said, “See, I am doing a new thing!” (42:19). It’s time for us to do a new thing, too. We can change the world through the power of innovation.
Finally, we have the power of small. … Say what? … We have the power of small. You didn’t know about the power of small?! Think about it. Every day, Sisyphus rolled that huge bolder up the hill. Every day, when he got to the top of the hill, he the whole bolder rolled back down. What if Sisyphus started small? What if he was able to get out a hammer and a chisel and cut that huge rock into little pieces? Then, every day, when he walked to the top of that hill, he could take those little pieces and throw them way over on the other side. It might take a while, but eventually, there wouldn’t be any rock left. Now, imagine if a bunch of Sisyphus’s friends came and helped him. It would take a lot less time, right? Behold, the power of small!!
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-2). The Kingdom of Heaven starts small, but it grows into something big that provides shelter and food for others.
This is how God usually works. When God wanted to create the human race, he made Adam and Eve. When God wanted to bless the world, he started by blessing Abraham. When God wanted to set Israel free, he called Moses. When God wanted to help people around the world understand him and live in his good ways, he worked on his relationship with one little, stubborn group of people called Israel.
And let’s just talk about Jesus for a minute. Jesus was God on earth. Jesus embodied all of Israel’s history and all of God’s love and power. Jesus was the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to Israel. Jesus was the Messiah, and the Messiah was supposed to make everything right. But when Jesus died and came back to life, he had only a few hundred followers. As far as we know, he didn’t write anything down – except for one time scribbling in the dirt. He healed some people, but not everyone. He fed some people, but not everyone. He convinced some people, but not most.
After Jesus was raised from the dead, he was talking with his disciples, and his disciples said, “Jesus, is it time to get big? Are you going to do big stuff now and heal the whole world and make everyone know you?” And Jesus looks at his twelve apostles and says, “Umm, no. You are my mustard seed. It’s time for you to grow and spread out and be witnesses of God’s healing presence that you experienced in me.” (See Acts 1:6-8.)
We want big. We want awesome. We want to change the whole world right now. Let’s end hunger and poverty tomorrow. I think we should do big things, and I ask my government to give the big money to do the big things. But God says to us today, “Behold, the power of small. Never discount the power of small. Never forget that one small group of people loving one small group of people can change the world.”
Sisyphus was stuck working with the big rock and watching that big rock roll back down to the bottom every day. We aren’t stuck. God has given us the power of blessing, the power of innovation, and the power of small. By sharing what God has given us, through creativity and innovation, by working on one problem in one community at a time, we can change the world!
1,000,000,000 people try to survive on less than 1,200 won a day. But 1,000,000,000 is a HUGE number. Instead of getting lost in 1,000,000,000 and giving up, start with a different number: 1. 1 is easy. We can understand 1. We can work with 1. We can change the world with the number 1. Here’s how it works. I offer you the 1 CHALLENGE.
1 COMMUNITY: We can’t change every community, but we can change 1. Part of our church plan is to partner with one community in a developing nation. We will work with the same community for several years. We will visit them on mission trips. We will help them build the buildings they need to care for their people. We will share our resources with them. We will think creatively with them about their problems. We will learn from them, and they will learn from us. We’ll start changing the world by changing 1 community. Next week, after the worship service, we will have a short all church meeting to tell you about our two finalists for this long-term partnership. I hope you’ll come. We are going to change the world by starting with 1.
1 CHILD: Mother Theresa said, “If you can’t feed 100 hungry children, then just feed 1.” This is where we are starting – with 1. I challenge everyone in this room to sponsor 1 child. Many of you already sponsor children. Maybe you can increase your number to 1 for every person in your home. If we will all give up a little bit of cash – about 30,000 won a month, we can change the world for hundreds of kids and families. And it all starts with 1. Sponsor 1 child. (Talk to Amanda to sponsor a child today.)
1 MEAL: We all eat, right? We all eat every day. Well, take that meal and make it meaningful. At least, once a week, share 1 meal with 1 person who needs some support. Maybe it will be a new person at church. Maybe it will be someone who is having a hard time. Maybe it will be a coworker. Maybe it will be one of your students or neighbors. Changing the world can begin right here in Cheonan with us sharing 1 meal with 1 person 1 day a week. It’s just 1!
1 JOB: Most of us come here every week, and we enjoy the music, and maybe we enjoy the sermon (a bit too long perhaps), and then we go out and eat some snacks. But those snacks don’t just appear by magic. This room doesn’t become instantly clean when we walk out the doors. We don’t shove our kids in the Sunday School classroom and let them go wild. Everything about our community takes a little bit of work. For us to change the world, we have to start by nurturing this local community. We need you to have a job. Do something. Do anything! Just get involved. Find a way to help that fits you. 1 person, 1 job. Global revolution starts with a little bitty number called 1.
1 PIECE OF TRASH: We all walk places. Even if you have a car, you walk through the parking lot or through buildings or from one store to another. Everywhere we go, we see trash - sometimes a lot of trash. We can’t pick up every piece of trash we see, but we can pick up 1.
Just to show you what I mean, for the past week or so, I’ve been picking up 1 piece of trash every time I walk somewhere. And I’ve been saving it in this bag. I only picked up 1, just 1. But look at how much trash I collected throughout the week. Now, imagine what would happen if we all pick up 1 piece of trash everywhere we go, just 1. Imagine how KNU would look. Imagine how Cheonan would look. Imagine what would happen if other people started doing it, too. We can change our world in very practical and simple ways, and it all starts with a very simple number: 1.
We want to be a loving community that changes our world. We want to cause global change through local action. This vision starts with 1.
Here’s the 1 CHALLENGE:
1 COMMUNITY – Our church partners with 1 developing community.
1 CHILD – Each person sponsors 1 child.
1 MEAL – We share 1 meal every week with someone who needs extra support.
1 JOB – Every one of us finds 1 job to do to help out our community.
1 PIECE OF TRASH – We pick up 1 piece of trash when we are out walking.
Sisyphus had the most famous curse in history – endless labor with no results. When we think of the world’s problems, sometimes we feel like Sisyphus – like we just can’t do anything to make a real difference. But we have three things Sisyphus didn’t have: the power of blessing, the power of innovation, and the power of small. We can change the world, and it all starts with 1.
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