Derivative Privilege

An NFL quarterback finishes a gritty and grueling performance; he and his teammates come out the victors. As the last second ticks off, he runs across the field, limping slightly, while looking up and pointing up with his finger. It seems a non-verbal indication of his sense of things: God is the one who allowed him to give him all as he did. He gives God the glory. The player gets the bumps and bruises (and the large paycheck) but he wants God to get the credit.

I am not sure exactly how God may be involved in sports or any of the things we find ourselves in, but I do think God gives us encouragement toward humility and a thankful heart. I do think people of faith feel God is involved with us and, remarkably, loves us and takes interest in us. Imagine the Creator of this incalculably vast universe loving us. Among the two trillion, our galaxy swirls its hundreds of billions of stars in space, one of which is our sun.  As we move about on our tiny spinning orb, our home in the cosmos, we marvel in faith that we are loved by the Source of it all. We learn little by little to look up and point up in a gesture that any privilege or blessing we come to realize is derived from God.

In the Gospel of Matthew 5:13-17 Jesus teaches his followers that they are the salt of the earth. They are an element of humanity required for health, purification, for preservation. He teaches them that they are the light of the world. They provide illumination, that people might see, direct their steps, and learn. The salt they are is from God; the light they are is from God. This blessing they are is not of their own making, but they are charged to use and share what they are with others who will benefit. Let not the salt be lost, Jesus teaches; let not the light be hidden. Let it bring healing and preservation. Let it shine and make things visible.

This is a remarkable claim for the followers of Jesus. One of his followers, St. Paul, makes some further astounding claims for those who love God, having found Jesus Christ. He points out that they may not amount to much in terms of the world’s wisdom, but they have wisdom from God. They do not generate wisdom of themselves or derive it from humans; they derive it from the deity. Concerning people given to Christ and open to life in the Spirit, Paul declares that wonders beyond seeing, hearing, or imagining, God prepares for them:

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”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God… And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
(1 Corinthians 2:9-10, 13)

What are these declarations of St. Paul? They are so bold. What is he truly claiming for those who love God?  He claims that by the agency of the Holy Spirit, there is spiritual discernment:

Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject
to no one else’s scrutiny.
    “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.  (1 Corinthians 2:15-16)

Can it be? Are we the salt of the earth, the light of the world? Do we have the mind of Christ, having wisdom taught by the Spirit? If so, we can only point to God as the Source of such derived privilege. Further, we must use these gifts in the spirit of loving God and loving our neighbor. We must share what is given to the benefit of others. Freely have we received; freely we give.