Saliere Bargains With God - Sept. 8, 2013

Saliere Bargains With God

Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

September 8, 2013

Grace Presbyterian Church

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Introduction  How are you getting along with God these days? Doing all right? Any complaints? When’s the last time you talked with God? The reason I ask is that your answer to those questions establishes your joy, contentment and peace in life. That may sound like a lot, but allow me to explain by transporting us back in time 263 years to an Italian named Antonio Salieri (b. 19 August 1750).

Antonio was a great musical composer who studied under Florian Leopold Gassman, Composer and later Kapellmeister to the Emperor, Joseph II. In the movie “Amadeus” (1984) Salieri is portrayed as a man who had a burning desire to become the finest composer in all of Europe. That desire started when Salieri was sixteen years of age and just starting out on his musical career. One day, he decides to strike a bargain with God. Up out of the depth of his heart and soul he prays to God and says: “Signore, let me be a composer! Grant me sufficient fame to enjoy it. In return, I will live with virtue. I will strive to better the lot of my fellows. And I will honor you with much music all the days of my life.” When finished, he heard God say, “Bene. Go forth, Antonio. Serve me and mankind and you will be blessed.” Saliere then replied, “Grazie, I am your servant for life!”

Bargain was Struck  So the bargain was struck. For several years life was very good to Antonio. God appeared to be upholding his end of the bargain since Salieri became a fine composer and earned great critical acclaim throughout all of Europe.  As the years went by, he had a good and warm feeling about his partner, God.

Mozart Enters the Picture   But then Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the child musical prodigy, entered the picture.  Within a very short time, Salieri realized that Mozart possessed more musical talent than he ever would have.  And he now knew that Mozart  would be the greatest musical composer in Europe instead of him. His dreams of fame were dashed.

Salieri was devastated! God had not lived up to his side of the bargain! God had been toying with Salieri! In his anger he lashed out at God and said: “From this time we are enemies, you and I. I’ll not accept it from you, do you hear?  You are the enemy!  I name thee now - Nemico Eterno!  And this I swear: to my last breath I shall block you on earth as far as I am able! What use, after all, is Man, if not to teach God His lessons!”  And so the relationship between Antonio and God fell apart.

Admittedly, Salieri’s attempt to bargain with God was a bit extreme. However, he is not the only person in the world who ever tried to bargain with God. Down through the ages, including today, millions of people try to bargain with God.

Jacob  For instance, In Genesis 28 Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”

Luther  Another example is Martin Luther. In July of 1505, he was struck by lightning. As he struggled to his feet, filled with terror, he cried, “St. Anne, Help me! I will become a monk!” [Bainton, Roland H., “Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther,” p. 15] And so twelve days later he left law school and entered a closed monastery and became a monk.

Natural to Bargain  It seems to be a natural thing for us to bargain with God since that’s the way we often deal with each another. I would guess that many of us here this morning have bargained with God telling him that if he’ll do this for me, I promise to do this for him in return.

A few years ago, a woman narrowly escaped with her life from a killer tornado. As she was being interviewed by the media, she said, “As I heard the win begin to shriek and felt the house start to shake, I told God that if he would save me, I would live a better life.” And in 1965, a man in my congregation in Iowa was seriously ill. And so he prayed, “O God, if you let me live, I will give $10,000 to the church.” He lived but backed out of his promise to give the money.

What’s Wrong with this Picture?  So what’s wrong with bargaining with God? “God, you do something for me, and I’ll do something for you.” You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, so to speak. Sounds fair enough, don’t you think? Here are a few thoughts to consider.

Can’t Bargain With God  First and foremost is the fact is that no one can bargain with God. God can’t be bribed by our promises. If I promise to be a better person if God will do this for me, then I’m saying, “God, the fact that you saved me through the death of your son, Jesus, wasn’t enough for me to try to be a better person. You’ve got to do one more thing for me. Then I’ll reward you by becoming a better person.” The fact is that God has already saved us and assured us of eternal life. Those two acts in themselves are sufficient reasons for us to try to be a better person.

We are not God’s Equal  Second, we’re not God’s peer. Salieri tried to interact with God as an equal and to tell God what to do. His bargain with God had strings attached, and Salieri had defined what those would be. He was trying to use God to give himself an advantage over other composers. He wanted his natural musical gifts to be divinely augmented. In return, he would do God a favor by living a good life, helping others in need, and in honoring God with his music. Thus to bargain, cut a deal, or barter with God is probably the most egotistical thing we could do because we are trying to elevate ourselves as equals with God. And we’re not.

As I said, we should do all the things we promise to God simply out of thanksgiving for what God has already done for us. The lady who survived the killer tornado should have lived a better life before the tornado hit.

And if it was a good idea to give $10,000 to the church, the man should have done it long ago. Bargaining is a no-win situation in our relationship with him. If it comes out the way we want, we rarely carry out our part of the bargain. If it doesn’t come out the way we want, we either blame God for it’s failure or ignore our promises.

The Good News of Christ - We Don’t Have to Bargain!  But here is where the Good News of Christ comes in. Because of his death and resurrection, we don’t have to bargain with God. God has already given us everything we could possibly want and will continue to bless us even without our asking. Paul wrote in Romans, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this way: while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Isn’t it wonderful that God didn’t say, “As soon as you live up to all my commandments, I’ll save you.” None of us ever would be saved.

We can rejoice this morning that God saved us, not because we bribed him to do it, not because we we follow each commandment to the letter, not because we give huge amounts of money to the church, not because we’re an elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, sing in the choir, or make apple butter. God saved us simply for one reason and one reason only - God loves us. And God’s gift of salvation came to us with no strings attached - no contingencies. God’s love saved us even though we are registered, card-carrying sinners.

 Paul The Apostle Paul says that God has given each of us specific gifts that we must use in our life - not as God’s equals, but as God’s co-workers working together in this precious outpost of God’s kingdom called Grace Presbyterian Church. Although we are God’s co-workers, God is the boss. And God expects us to serve him without any under-the-table deals. When God called us to be his disciples, he did not invite us to use him, but to love him; not to bargain with him, but to work with him. So what does it mean to be a co-worker with God?

To be God’s co-workers means to discover God’s plans for Grace Presbyterian and do our best to bring that about.

To be co-workers means to discover God’s plans for our environment and labor with God to see them fulfilled.  

To be co-workers means to discover God’s plans for our individual lives and labor with God to see them fulfilled.  

So allow me to ask the question once again. “How are you getting along with God?” If you’re smart, you’ll stop bargaining and instead relax by glorifying God and enjoying him forever. And we can start by participating in Holy Communion which is our proclamation to each other and to the world that there is nothing we can do that will make God love us less and nothing we can do that will make God love us more. Amen

Jeremiah 1:4-10 NRSV 

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ But the Lord said to me,

‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;

for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

and you shall speak whatever I command you.

Do not be afraid of them,

for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

to pluck up and to pull down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.’
1 Corinthians 3:1-11 NRSV

And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human?

 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.