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Unity Church of Castro Valley

Sunday Message for October 8, 2006

Those Magnificent Defeats

Sometimes I reminisce and play a little game of “what if,” knowing that in my life, as in all others, there have been times when things could have gone a different way.  I pick a turning point where, if another choice or decision or preference had been made, or an alternate course of events or circumstances had occurred, or if the “breaks” (as we sometimes call the seeming chances of life) had just gone the “right way” at a certain time, my life might have been – if.  Since my discovery of Unity, I have also learned by retrospect that often what have seemed times of painful disappointment have turned out to be divine appointments, leading to a wonderful rendezvous with some unforeseen good.  Somehow these speculative returns to the past have increased my appreciation and trust of the divine element that shapes our ends.

PAUL’S ‘WHAT IF…’

The life of the great apostle Paul, with his amazing influence on all of us, lends itself well to the “what if” perception.  What would have happened if Paul had not experienced that sudden and surprising spiritual turning point on the road to Damascus?  What would have happened to Christianity?  What would history have been like?  Certainly the experience completely changed everything in his life!

If you recall, Paul, up to that time had a marvelous life from the human point of view.  He had all the worldly advantages of “high birth” – wealth, education, prestige, and influence.  Indeed, Paul had almost everything that almost everyone of every society of every age ever wanted in life.  Then he had one encounter with the living Christ.  What a change it made in everything!  It changed him, Christianity, history, and us.

Without that one turning point, it is reasonable to assume that Paul would have continued his persecution of the early Christians.  We will never know what difference that might have made in the success of the persecution and the possible elimination of the Christians.  We do know that without Paul Christianity may never have broken out of Judaism and spread to the Western world.

The most authenticated consequences of the Damascus Road turning point is the drama of change in Paul’s own life.  In a blinding flash, Paul was wrenched from one life and inaugurated into an entirely new existence.  In this single instance, he was stripped of almost all he possessed or held dear in the world – wealth, position, protection, comfort, friends, and family.  The table was turned, and it was Paul instead who was vulnerable to persecution, danger, hardship, humiliation, and martyrdom.  He became a target of painful, personal abuse and degradation with insults, lies, and slander.  All in all, from our own human perspective, this “reversal” in Paul’s life would seem to be one of the most tragic and cruel defeats possible.

We of course know that these “defeats” produced a magnificent, triumphant life – a new life for an old one.

PAUL AS INSPIRATION

The reason Paul can be such an inspiration to us is not because he was a man who didn’t make any mistakes or fail at anything, but because he was a man who – with God’s help – brought victory out of defeat, time and time again!

Paul loved every aspect and possibility of the new life he found in Christ, and he wrote about it from many angles; but he never said it was easy.  It is often difficult for Truth students too.  It is not only hard to apply and hold to the Truth, but often downright painful in adjusting to the process of change that often purges our lives before it improves them.  (Dr. H. Emile Cady called it “chemicalization.”)

Some of Paul’s most inspiring writings were the letters of encouragement he wrote out of his own experience to his missionary converts, helping them to understand the challenges and obstacles of this new path.

He often pointed out his own shortcomings and the times he had failed to accomplish the things he had wanted so much to do:… (Romans 7:15) “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” This is probably why Paul is so important to us.  He went through the same things we do, and we can gain strength, courage, and new resolve in knowing that he overcame these things.

OUR CHALLENGES

How many times do we catch ourselves thinking negative thoughts when we don’t want to think negative thoughts at all?  How many times do we find ourselves falling back into old negative habits and reactions when we don’t want to do anything negative or be negative in any way?

When these things happen, we are apt to become discouraged and not like ourselves very well.  Once, when Paul felt this way, he wrote: (Romans 7:24) “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Do you ever get frustrated, even wretched, about your spiritual resolves, wondering if you are ever going to become the kind of person you want to be?

The Bible has many wonderful examples of success that occurred when somebody aligned himself with God.  We often tend to think we are “right” with God when we have succeeded in some endeavor.  Conversely, failure at least vaguely suggests some kind of alienation with God.  Fortunately, for our own best interests, we sometimes do fail!  You see, God’s plan is often quite different from ours (even Jesus prayed: (Luke 22:42) "yet, not my will but yours be done.")

It isn’t that we should ever make failure a GOAL.  It is just that we must recognize that failure is usually a part of the way in which we grow.  God doesn’t provide us with failures (we are quite capable of doing that for ourselves), but God can use our failures in His plan of good.  And what we think of as failure can often play a vital role in the process by which we are transformed.

The human state is not the state of perfection.  The human state is the overcoming, transforming state.  We are in this life to learn and grow.  We do so best by finding God’s plan for us and following it.  It is by no means easy; yet learning, growing, overcoming, and experiencing transformation can be one of life’s greatest joys! (It certainly makes life interesting!)

Failure is painful.  It hurts in the vicinity of the human ego.  But the great thing about God’s gift to us of our humanity is that He made marvelous provisions in His plan for ultimate success by which we can make mistakes in using our endowment of free choice – and then grow from these very mistakes.

In historical retrospect, we can see that many things that were considered tragic and destroying became transforming and highly beneficial in human advancement.  What if we couldn’t make mistakes?  We wouldn’t be here.  The human race would have been destroyed long ago.

Correcting mistakes and the wrong choices of free will plays a large part in the development of every child.  Children gradually discover the world they live in and their own faculties and abilities by a series of experiences of failure.  By falling, children learn to walk.  Through many misunderstandings they experiment, test, and rectify these perceptions, and they learn to express themselves better. (“I want to do it myself!”)  Their early rapid rate of learning is surely coupled with their lack of inhibition and false pride in making mistakes – when they fall, they get right up and try again.

An adolescent, sometimes with impulsive enthusiasm, will experience many failures which teach him important lessons in maturing.

Even national crises and the shock of unexpected catastrophes and defeats can open a country’s eyes – first to its mistakes and then to its new opportunities – and unite its people, giving them the surge of energy needed to rise to new heights.

BIBLICAL CHALLENGES

Nowhere in life does anyone experience only success.  Throughout the Bible, side by side with promises of guidance e and success within God’s upward, onward plan for fulfillment, we find promises of grace and providential corrections for our deviations within the sacred gift of free choice.  Clearly, in our soul growth and spiritual unfoldment, failure plays its part in our true success.

Looking back, we see that in Abraham’s call and the covenant of the Promised Land, God didn’t promise him a rose garden.  Canaan would have to be taken by a series of conquests and defeats, and gradually settled by his descendants over a long period of time. (Its promise has not really been fulfilled yet!)

Moses encountered a burning bush, a visionary promise of divine help.  The bush itself was an ancient symbol of painful trials and difficulties (from the flesh wounds inflicted by thorns).  The symbol of a bush that burned but was not consumed was the promise that Moses’ mission would ultimately triumph, though there might be many times of difficulty, suffering, and temporary defeat.  Much of the drama in the Bible is elaboration on this theme – the magnificence that God can call forth from our “defeats.”

The greatest drama is the story of Jesus, who lived the highest and most successful life ever.  It disclosed the triumph of God’s plan that included both humanity’s grievous failure at the Cross and Spirit’s supreme triumph in the Resurrection.

PAUL’S DEFEATS

The great drama and stirring adventure in Paul’s life was the spiritual transformation of Saul into Paul.  The defeats were part of the metamorphosis – and fortunately for Paul, many of the aspects of Saul did fail!  What Saul was succumbed to what Paul became – the ancient teaching of the way of the spiritual path.

Through his magnificent defeats, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he said: (John 5:19) “The Son can do nothing on his own.”  This Scripture is really another wonderful promise: We do not have to overcome or attain anything alone.  We are never stuck where we are. Because, if we allow it, the Christ Spirit that indwells us can come alive in us as an undefeatable, all-victorious transforming power for God’s plan and purpose for each of us.  This is what Paul came to realize after some very lonely, discouraging, and wretched experiences.  (Philippians 4:13) “I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

This gave Paul the insight we all need into the relative frontier between failure and success.  God can work His great plans and purposes through both.  All true success comes from Him, from finding and following His divine plan of good for our lives.  And the only real failure is when we neglect to do what God’s plan requires from us.

God’s plan is often surprising.  The way of spiritual transformation and growth is often surprising.  Paul once reminded the Corinthians: (1 Corinthians 2:9) “But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."

This is the great drama of uncertainty concerning what lies ahead in the pathway of spiritual growth.

Paul, reminiscing about his new life after the Damascus Road turning point, wrote that he had been lashed, beaten, stoned, snake bitten, and shipwrecked.  He further elaborated on being in danger of rivers, robbers, strangers, his own people, cities, wilderness, and false brothers.  He suffered toil, hardship, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, and daily pressure and anxiety about others and himself.  Yet he understood and affirmed: (Romans 8:18) “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.”

When we learn what Paul learned, we shall see that it is no longer a question of failure or success, but whether we are following and fulfilling God’s plan for us.  Life successfully lived is a creative partnership in which (in Jesus’ words): (John 5:17) “Father is still working, and I also am working."

UNITY’S TEACHING

In Unity, we know that our most important work is done in consciousness.  It is often hard work to hold thoughts and feelings that are conducive to spiritual transformation and growth.  It is also in our thoughts and feelings that we experience most of our hardships, persecutions, humiliations, and abuses.

But all that is required of us is to do the best we can – at any time – and not berate ourselves or others about mistakes and defeats.  A Chinese, Wan Yong Ming, once said: The great virtue of man lies in his abilities to correct his mistakes and to continually make a new man of himself.  Paul recognized the even higher truth that when we use our human abilities to uplift and refine our consciousness, we open ourselves to a mighty spiritual reinforcement.

It always helps to see what someone else has done in rising above defeat, loss, and heartbreak.  It is inspiring to know about others who, with God’s help, have transmuted handicaps and mistakes into magnificent victories.

In my own life, I used to dwell on regrets; but now, as I reminisce, I find that God has been working things together for good beyond anything I ever planned.  And the life of the great Apostle is a classic example of how victory can swallow up all defeat when we, as he, make the all-important discovery that (Philippians 1:21) “For to me, living is Christ” and then following through with (Philippians 3:14) “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus."

REFERENCE: Great Dramas of the Bible William Earle Cameron

SCRIPTURE: Romans 7:15; Romans 7:24; Luke 22:42; John 5:19; Philippians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 2:9;
           Romans 8:18; John 5:17; Philippians 1:21; Philippians 3:14

Last updated October 22, 2006