Trivial Pursuit for paper
Let me start with a piece of trivia. About 600 years ago England’s graveyards were filling up, so it was decided to reuse the graves. As they dug up the old coffins they discovered scratch marks on the inside of some coffin lids. Since medical science was very primitive they realized that some people had been buried alive. To remedy this, a string was tied to the wrist of the deceased. This string lead through the coffin and up through the ground and was tied to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. That’s where the saying “graveyard shift” came from. If the bell would ring they would know that someone was “saved by the bell” or he was a “dead ringer”.
When you think about it, our daily lives are made up of quite a bit of trivia – lots of little insignificant things. I’m thinking of things like brushing your teeth, combing your hair, eating breakfast cereal, having a shower and so on. When our obituary is read at our funeral those at the service won’t hear about all those events that make up 90% of our life – those little trivial things.
The world is really good at making trivial things seem important. The people involved in advertising know exactly how to make trivial things seem so important. Drink this brand of beer and have many happy moments with friends; use this deodorant or nobody will want to be near you; buy that car and all your friends will be green with envy; use this cleaning product or your counter will be full of bugs of all kinds. Advertisers try to convince us that the purchase of these things is more important than anything else in the entire world. And would you know it, so often we fall for it, hook, line and sinker again and again. It’s so easy to turn anthills into mountains. So many marriages today are on the rocks because they are majoring in the minors. Their partner squeezes the tooth paste from the middle instead of the end and so on.
Well, what really are the important things? For a start God is important for Christians. Now I know I hardly needed to say that, everyone here in this audience knows that! But we all know how often we forget what is really important and get everything out of perspective. The existence of God and his love for you and me is far more important than knowing the exact age of the earth, for example. The undeserved and unmerited love of God for us is far more important than knowing all the details of how vast and awesome the universe is.
That God has adopted us into his family through the water of baptism and promised to always walk by our side during the good and bad times in our journey through life is more important than having lots of money or owning the biggest house in town. There is nothing more important in the entire world than the special love that he has for each of us. Our faith may well be #1 on Sunday, but by Tuesday that new boat or house, or car may have pushed our relationship with God to the side. No, major expenditures such as these are not trivial, that is until you compare them to our relationship with God.
Jesus died. And he was raised again. This is the most important piece of news to have ever come into our world. Jesus died for our sakes. He went through all of that just for us, simply because he wants us all to share in the joy of eternal life. If you want to know what the most important thing in this life is – this is it. Jesus and everything he has done for us. Not just on Sunday, but everyday!
The evangelist Paul once thought Jesus and all he had done for mankind was not just trivial but untrue, and merited Paul’s total hostility, until he met Jesus. His priorities changed dramatically. “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” Philippians 3: 7 – 9a
Whatever Paul had considered as important prior to his conversion is no longer his first priority. Once Paul thought his heritage as a Jew, the festivals and ceremonies of the Jewish religion, and obedience to the law, were the most important things. But in comparison with Christ all of this pales into insignificance, or to use Paul’s word, “I consider them rubbish”.
There is nothing trivial about Jesus Christ – his suffering and dying for us. There is nothing trivial about the special relationship that we have with our heavenly Father through our Baptism. There is nothing trivial about the presence of our Saviour in our everyday lives as he comforts, guides and supports us. There is nothing trivial about the promise Jesus gave that “All who live and believe in him will never die” but will enjoy life in heaven forever. There is nothing trivial about the impact you and I can have on our world as we seek to serve our fellow human beings through the love of Jesus. In Jesus Christ there is life, eternal life. There is nothing trivial about that!
Blessings