I learned something pretty amazing this week.  Despite all the wil power in the world, there’s only so many hours in a week.  We had bible camp this past week with our good friends at Trinity. I am exhausted.  We sang songs, worshiped, prayed together, saw and participated in skits.  Were visited by a fire truck and a butterfly expert.  We saw a world renowned storyteller.  I got hit by pies, water, cottage cheese,  pumpkin, eggs and shredded toilet paper. I made new friends and strengthened bonds with others. There was laughter and very deep and touching moments. There was great bible study and learning opportunities and there were games.  There were important modeling and teaching opportunities that presented themselves during games.  There always are.  Over the years I’ve noticed that competition doesn’t always bring out the best in us.  Sometimes we devolve into taunting and mockery.  The sad thing is we can even compete in matters of faith.  As I read the words of Jeremiah and heard his frustration at being rejected and mocked for being a prophet that called for justice and the words of Jesus speaking about the way of peace, love,  welcome and humility and being a sword of division.  It says in Philippians, “ Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form,  he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.  Don’t we see humility and the type of unconditional love being mocked, just like good ol Jeremiah, today?  Why?  Because the way of the cross is seen as foolishness to the world. Here’s some examples:  Ghengis Khan said, “The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them all they possess, to see those they love in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold their wives and daughters in his arms.”  How about some more contemporary quotes that have made their way to inspiration posters. “It’s not important to win, it’s important to make the other guy lose.” or “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” or “Win! No one remembers losers.” or  “If you don’t play to win, don’t play at all.” or “The person that says winning isn’t everything, never won anything.” or How about Lord Voldemort the evil antagonist in Harry Potter, “There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.”  I’ve mentioned a song called Better Than You by the band Metallica before.   I like driving beats and aggressive sounds especially by bands or individuals that care about technique and musicianship, and I love music that is driving and that inspires me to action.  That’s why so many athletes listen to music in the locker room and why sporting events feature hard driving music.  The song Better Than You is a song that would inspire an athletic team or someone amping up for a competition.  So why does this song come to mind? It’s in the public’s eye, enjoyed by many that the church never gets to have a conversation with, and is a powerful illustration in popular culture of our human yearning.  Here’s the lyrics without the music:  I look at you then you me.  Hungry and thirsty are we.  Holding the lion’s share, holding the key Holding me back ’cause I’m striving to be Better than you.  Lock horns I push and I strive, Somehow I feel more alive.  Bury the need for it, bury the seed Bury me deep where there’s no will to be Better than you.  Oh, can’t stop this train from rolling, Oh, no, nothing brings me down  ‘Cause I’m better than you.  What may be great motivation for a team taking the field of competition and many quotes  does not mean they translate to good or even decent  life philosophies. Bury me deep when there’s no will to be better than you? I believe there’s an interesting use of irony by Metallica in this song because of the message of another song, These are smart guys.  Wish I may Wish I might, Have this I wish tonight.  Are you satisfied?  Dig for gold.  Dig for fame.  You dig to make your name.  Are you pacified?  All the wants you waste, All the things you’ve chased, And it all crashes down, And you break your crown, And you point your finger, but there’s no one around Just want one thing, just to play the King.  But the castle crumbled and you’re left with just a name: Where’s your crown, King Nothing?  We see these examples, that exhibit our human inclinations to strive for power and dominance and that point out what we can be left with if this is our focus through life and in our real life, non gameplay, with one another.  Contrast the way Jesus met the challenge of being human despite  temptation by Satan to assert his power, the taunts of those at the foot of the cross, those seeking to strike the shepherd and all those who consider the message of the cross to be foolishness.  St Paul says in Philippians 2:6  who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.   We are called to humble ourselves and be people of the cross.  We must acknowledge that our clever sports adages cannot be a roadmap for life, that is if we want to follow the cross of Christ.  I’m not ripping on rock anthems, bleacher motivation, huddle electrification and excitement, but I do want to point out that we all to often heed these philosophies in school or at work when our own feelings of inadequacy motivate us to bully another and attempt to climb upward on the backs of others.  That is not the way of the cross.  In our business dealings where our humanity and desire to always win tells us that it’s dog eat dog, eat or be eaten, and that a sucker is born every minute,   That’s not the way of the cross.  You know, when  the shepherd was struck.  The world succeeded.  When you have destroyed others, the quest may seem like a success, but ultimately the question remains: Where’s your crown King Nothing?  The answer is, It rests on the head of the one who humbled himself for you.  A crown of thorns and the cross a throne.  The one who extended grace to the point of giving his life despite our foolish struggle for power.  It rests on the head of the one who gave himself not only as a sacrifice for sin but as a model of the Godly life.  That earthly crown is perishable, but we hear  in first Corinthians 15 a scripture that is found in our burial liturgy, When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  The resolution of that Philippians quote says,  Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name  that is above every other name, so that at the name given to Jesus  every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.“ And that is a victory for which Jesus actually gave 100% and won a victory of eternal life for you and for me.