The Card Game of Life

 

This morning is the last Sunday of 2010.  We begin a new year this Saturday.  It will be 2011; already.  Time goes by in a hurry whether you are having fun or not.  I am glad time is marked into years.  I enjoy the rhythm of cycles.  I like seasons.  I like change.  I like the idea of starting over; things ending and things beginning; new opportunities; closing out the old; refocusing on things new and reviewing things completed.  It's a time for fresh starts.  The earth has made another trip around the sun and we are still here.  We are about to begin a New Year. 

 

As I think about the New Year, like most people, I am drawn to making resolutions.  How do I want to be different in 2011?  What do I want to change in me?  What things do I want to do, to be better next year?  It just seems like a great time to make changes.  It is kind of silly.  Why do I think I am going to be any different in 2011 than I was in 2010? How long will my resolutions last?  I don't know.  It just seems like the right time, for me, to make some changes.  So, the goal in this sermon is to point you in a direction for a specific New Year's Resolution. 

 

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I recently read a book entitled, "God Work, Confessions of a Standup Theologian" by Randy Harris.  I have stolen a metaphor from his book.  This metaphor is the starting place for a New Year's Resolution. 

 

I call this metaphor the Card Game of Life Metaphor.

 

Those who know me, at all, know I love to play games.  Playing a good game, with people I like, is one of the things I enjoy most in this life.  If you want to play a game, I am ready.  That is why the Card Game Metaphor is meaningful to me.

 

One of the games that we used to play was a card game called Rook.  How many know Rook?  It was a game my dad taught me.  It was a popular game in Kentucky and Tennessee, maybe the South.  The reason in was popular in Kentucky was because it was not played with regular playing cards; which I might add, are sinful.  Regular playing cards are used to do bad things.  I'm not sure why, but Rook cards are not sinful.

 

 Rook is basically the same game as Spades, or Bridge or even 42.  It is in the family of bidding card games.  It is a four player game in which two people play as partners against the other two.  You bid on how many points you can score.  Then the partners play together to reach what they bid or they go set.  You don't have to know any more than that, about Rook, in order to appreciate the Card Game of Life Metaphor. 

 

Let's quit talking about it and get to it.

 

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The first thing you have to do when you are going to play Rook is decide who your partner is.  This is really important.  It you have a lousy partner; you are most likely going to lose.  If you decide to play the game by yourself or ignore your partner, you are likely going to lose.  It is playing together and knowing how your partner thinks and plays, and working together, that makes the game of Rook fun.  And you will likely win.

 

Here is the metaphorical part.  In the Card Game of Life you must also pick your partner carefully.  I am not talking about who you marry or who your best friends are.  I am talking about God.  Let me suggest that in the Card Game of Life you pick God as your partner.  In the Card Game of Life, you want God sitting across the table from you! 

 

That is the point of the book of Revelation. Despite how bad everything looks in the world, if God is your partner you are going to win! 

 

Revelation 20:7-9  When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison  and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth-- Gog and Magog-- to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

 

If God is your partner in the Card Game of Life, he will make the plays which ultimately win the game!  You can't lose if God is with you! 

 

Here is the great part.  God is saying, "Pick me!  Pick me!  Pick me!"  If you want to win, in the Card Game of Life, pick a good partner! 

 

But what does this mean?  How do I pick God as my partner?  How does this work?  Let's keep working on our metaphor.  It gets even better. 

 

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The 2nd thing you have to do when you are playing Rook is you have to deal the cards.  Then you must play the cards you are dealt.  This is where the metaphor really begins to connect to me.  Everyone is dealt his or her cards.  The deal is not fair.  The deal is not just.  Not all hands are created equal.  You just get the cards you get.  The cards are what the cards are.

 

I often complain about the cards I am dealt.  Why am I not as smart as _____?  Why am I not as good looking as ______?  Or be as creative as ______?  Or have as much money as _______?  Or have the great kind of job ______?  Or be happy like ______?  When we look around it is easy to whine that I didn't get the cards that I wanted.  "This hand is terrible."

 

On the other hand, pun intended, you may feel superior to others playing because you have better cards.  "At least my hand is better than _______."  Really?  You are going to brag about the cards you were dealt?

 

Here is the metaphorical point.  You have the cards you have.  Whining is not going to change them.  The circumstances… the challenges…. the problems…. the struggles… we each face in life are real.  We can quit or we can we can play the cards we are dealt.  Listen to James advice.

 

James 1:2-5  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

 

You are dealt the cards you are dealt.  They are what they are.  Recognize the challenge.  Buck up.  Quit Whining. 

 

This leads me to the next metaphorical observation in the Card Game of Life.

 

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You have to play the cards you are dealt.  You really do have to play.  The cards are real.  The play is real.  You have freedom of choice to play the cards poorly or with skill.  It does matter.  It makes a difference. You can't just play them any old way.  The choices you make in life make a difference in the game. 

 

We are not playing "Chutes and Ladders."  Do you have any choices Chutes and Ladders?  No.  You just roll the dice and whatever happens, happens.  The cards we play make a difference to our lives.  It is my first law, "If it's stupid don't play it".  And the corollary; "If it's smart; if it is a great play, play it!"  

 

Be a real player.  Be involved in your life.  Make good plays with the cards you are dealt.  This is getting close to the New Year's resolution thing we are thinking about.  

 

James 3:13  Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

 

We are called to make real plays. 

 

"Okay, I get it.  I chose God a long time ago to be my partner.  I am who I am and have the cards I have.  I have always tried to play them as well as I could.  What next?"  Here is where the metaphor is spectacular.

 

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We don't play alone.  Remember, we have a partner.  God responds to our plays.  God watches the cards we play and then covers our mistakes and turns poor plays into victory.  The Bible is amazingly clear on this point.

 

Romans 8:28   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

 

Joseph says to his brothers…

 

Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

 

God takes our plays which may be good or may be okay or may be sorry and he works those plays into something amazing.  He can turn our failures into triumphs!  I told you it was important to pick a good partner.  God works in our lives and can win the hands which we think are lost!  Isn't this thought spectacular?

 

 

2 Corinthians 4:6-10  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

 

God takes who we are and our plays and let's Christ shine out from us to win.

 

Going along with his thought, is another metaphorical observation.

 

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The other team shows up.  We are not playing solitaire.  We are not playing Chess.  We are playing Rook and there is another team who also makes plays.

 

Ephesians 6:12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 

Everything that happens in the world is not, necessarily God's doing.  There are those out there who want to beat us.  There is evil in the world who plays against us; who want us to defeat us.  They want us to play poorly.  They  want us to stop trusting our partner. 

 

We must be careful our opponents are clever and they want to win.

 

Consequently, there is another metaphorical observation.

 

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We will lose some hands.  The powers of darkness win some hands.  No one experiences only winning hands.  Life is not a series of unbroken spiritual successes.  We all have our spiritual failures. 

-Abraham lied about Sarah.

-David committed adultery.

-Peter denied Christ.

-Judas betrayed his Lord.

 

What matters is that we keep playing.  We come back to the table.  We repent and get dealt a fresh hand of cards.  We don't allow our failures to keep us out of the game.

 

This is hard.  My temptation is to quit.  If Tanya were preaching this sermon, at this point, she would tell you about a different game; Mancala.  It is a dumb game that I don't play anymore, ever.  Because I can't ever beat her.  That is what our opponents want.  If we lose a few hands, then we are tempted to quit playing. 

 

1 John 2:1-3  My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.  We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

 

Quitting is the only way we lose.  If we allow the hands we lose to drive us away from our partner and surrender we lose.

 

This leads me to my last metaphorical observation, which was also my first observation.

 

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We win in the end.  The Card Game of life is not really a fair game.  If God is your partner, you will when in the end. 

 

2 Corinthians 1:19-22  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes."  For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.  And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

 

Yes is a wonderful word.  God has made us a promise, that if we keep playing, the answer to all his promises is, "Yes!"  He sealed us by the Spirit guaranteeing us that we ultimately win!  I told you want to pick God as your partner; he never loses! 

 

Now, let's apply the Card Game of Life metaphor to a specific 2011 New Year's resolution.

 

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In 2011 I want to learn to play the game better.  I hate playing stupid.  I want God to be proud of me. When I used to play Rook with my dad, whenever I would make a great play he would  say, "That's my partner."  I want God to say that to me, "That's my partner."  I want to know my partner better.  So, I have a New Year's resolution that I want to invite you to join me in making.  My resolution for 2011 is Drawing Closer to God.  I am going to spend 2011 attempting to draw closer to God.  Does that sound like a worthy resolution? 

 

My plans for 2011 are to preach and teach on how it is we play our cards to get closer to our partner.  As a theme verse I am going to focus on …

 

^NLT James 4:8 Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.

 

What if we, as a congregation, got really close to God?  What do you think that would change?  I am excited about what will happen to us as we learn to play with our partner!