Sermon: Proper 7 RCL A – “Overcoming Mountains”

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Question: There are ten of them, and if you add up the length of each, they would measure 28 feet, 5 inches. What are they? Answer: Lee Redmond’s fingernails.

World records.

3.46 inches is the longest nose and adorns a fella’s face in Turkey.

The highest-paid musician over twelve months is Taylor Swift. She earned $186 million over twelve months in 2018-2019.

The tallest man is 8 feet 3 inches, and the shortest woman is just over two feet (only weighing nine pounds more than she did when she was born.)

The loudest recorded cat purr is 67.8 decibels. That’s the equivalent of an alarm clock.

There is even a world record for holding the most world records. That would be Ashrita Furman. He holds over 800, including one for climbing Mount Fuji on a pogo stick.

The thing about most world records, especially the more relevant ones—land speed records, high jumps, etc.—is that someone is always gunning for you. With all my singing talent, I’m working on the Taylor Swift one.

We like to have records for all sorts of things, from the tallest building to the tallest mountain. However, we begin to get ourselves into trouble when we say that a particular event was the biggest, strongest, or worst. Nassim Taleb makes the point in his book, Antifragile. Taleb uses Fukushima nuclear reactor to prove the point. He says this mistake can be seen “in the Fukushima nuclear reactor, which experienced a catastrophic failure in 2011 when a tsunami struck. It had been built to withstand the worst past historical earthquake, with the builders not imagining much worse—and not thinking that the worst past event had to be a surprise, as it had no precedent.” Taleb calls this the Lucrecian Problem.

Lucretius was “the Latin poetic philosopher who wrote that the fool believes that the tallest mountain in the world will be equal to the tallest one he has observed.” Applied to the world today, Taleb says, “Professionals look in the past for information on the so-called worst-case scenario and use it to estimate future risks – this method is called ‘stress testing.’ They take the worst historical recession, the worst war, the worst historical move in interest rates, or the worst point in unemployment as an exact estimate for the worst future outcome. But they never notice the following inconsistency: this so-called worst-case event, when it happened, exceeded the worst [known] case at the time.” (Source) Such occurrences have taken place throughout history.

In 701 BC, the Assyrian army invaded and conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, taking many Israelites into captivity. Afterward, that same army moved south and laid siege to Jerusalem. 

Several estimates as to the size of the army are given, and they go as high as 300,000 fighting soldiers, so they should have been able to destroy Jerusalem quickly. However, Hezekiah was King of the South and Jerusalem and was considered a very righteous king, so when he prayed, the Lord answered. “That very night the angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians.” (2 Kings 19:35)

Later, about 100 years, the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem, but at this time, the Israelites had begun to worship false gods, and their kings were seen as wicked, so the prophets spoke against them, calling them back to the Lord. Jeremiah, whom we heard from this morning, was one of the prophets. 

Our reading is a bit out of context, so it is difficult to understand whom Jeremiah is speaking to, but with a bit of work, we discover that he is speaking against the priests in the Lord’s Temple. He is speaking against the Israelites. Why? Because Jeremiah had just preached a sermon where he told them that the Lord, using the Babylonians, was about to destroy Jerusalem and all its inhabitants. Those priests didn’t much care for this message, so they beat Jeremiah and threw him in the stocks. After his release, Jeremiah spoke those words we heard today: “They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed.” 

Near the end, the Israelites tried to do right, but it was too little, too late. The Lord had decided. The city would be destroyed, and it was. Many factors ushered in that destruction, but I think one of them was the Lucrecian Problem—they believed “that the tallest mountain in the world will be equal to the tallest one they have observed.” In their arrogance, they believed that they had already faced the tallest mountain, the Assyrians, and defeated them; therefore, they believed they were indestructible; after all, they were God’s Chosen People. They could do what they liked and stand against any enemy, but the Lord said, “Allow Me to introduce you to the Babylonians.” A much larger mountain that fell upon them and utterly destroyed them in its power.  The Lucrecian Problem—it works on a large scale, but also small.

If you were to think back over your life, do you know which—of all your days—was the worst? I think many people do. Mine is very vivid, and perhaps I’ll share that with you someday, but when we think of that day, we might say something to the effect of, “Things couldn’t be any worse.” If you say that aloud, someone might respond, “Don’t say that!” Because the truth is, they can be. There can always be a bigger mountain out there, just over the horizon. 

For many—maybe all of us—that is a terrifying thought. So, how can we prepare ourselves so that when it arrives, we are not the ones who are utterly destroyed?

First, we can take to heart the words of Jesus, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” 

To overcome the fear of the next mountain in our life is to recognize Whom we belong to and our worth in His eyes. We are the Lord’s possession, we are His children, and He loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son that we might be saved, so do not give into the fear that rises up within you when you first see that mountain. Look it in the proverbial eye and tell it to Whom you belong. Not in arrogance, but in faith, for if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” In other words, “Do not fear, for the mountain will not overcome you, but God will overcome it for you.” 

Second, we prepare ourselves by practicing our faith, not just when the mountain looms above us but also when the path is relatively easy. Last week, St. Paul said to us in his letter to the Romans, “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Through our daily walk, we build up our endurance, strengthen our character, and through our faith, as we overcome smaller obstacles, we build up our hope, our confidence in God’s love for us.

If you are sitting here, congratulations, you have survived your worst day—so far. To not succumb to the Lucrecian Problem, realize that more bad days will come, but by not fearing those days—those mountains—because you belong to God, and by developing confidence in God’s love, you will be able to stand and face those things that come against you, regardless of their size. 

Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, we believe in You as our God and Savior. Make us more faithful to Your Gospel and commandments. By sharing in the Eucharist, may we come to live more fully in the life You have given us. Keep Your Love alive within our hearts and soul so that we may become worthy of You. Teach us to value and be thankful for all of Your Gifts. Please help us to strive for eternal life. Amen.