Winning isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For instance, do you remember everyone’s favorite Grammy-winners, “The New Vaudeville Band”?
Anyone?
Well, they won 1967’s Best Contemporary Rock and Roll recording, beating out two unquestionable masterpieces, “Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles, and “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys.
Got the name of New Vaudeville Band’s hit song yet? Drum roll, please…
“Winchester Cathedral”.
Yeah, that’s it. A song on absolutely no one’s “best of” list. But technically, it’s a winner. And those other two bands…who the heck remembers them anyway? I wonder if they ever had any other hits?
And don’t forget those two gentlemen who took the Grammy’s by storm in 1989. You know…Milli Vanilli! At least they were winners for a while, until their producer admitted they sang none of their own vocals and their Grammy was stripped away.
Finally, there’s everyone’s favorite film HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. Not ringing any bells? Well, it won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941.
“What else was in the running that year”, you may ask? How about CITIZEN KANE? You know, that Orson Welles film widely considered the greatest American film of all time!
The backstory on that Oscar-loser is interesting. You see, Welles’ film was a thinly-veiled indictment of media mogul William Randolph Hearst. And since most everyone in the Academy was beholden to Hearst’s empire in one form or other, word got around fast that NO ONE had better vote for Kane.
Who the winner is depends a lot on who’s handing out the awards. Because in this world, the trophies are usually hollow and dent quite easily. And the judges have blind spots, as well as ulterior motives.
If you haven’t learned that yet, you should have. If you haven’t learned the most qualified person doesn’t always get job, and the hardest worker may be passed over for the greatest reward, you haven’t been paying attention to life in this world.
The lovely house, the promotion, the office with a view – those regularly go to the person who kisses the bosses, um…ring. But the people who sacrifice for a greater good, the ones who give up their own dreams to help others succeed – those are the ones whose shadows never darken a red carpet event.
But that’s just how God told us it would be. So why are we surprised when we obey Him and miss out on this world’s rewards?
As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” Romans 8:36-37
In this world, God says we’re the sheep, the victims, the “suckers” ripe for the picking. But in God’s world – His “Kingdom” – we’re conquerors. In fact, we are MORE than conquerors.
So in God’s awards ceremony, the “losers” are usually the winners.
Many Christians are so addicted to the idea of success that we’ve often incorporated a “winner mythology” into the church. Every year, pastors go to seminars led by popular preachers to learn how to turn their small church into a big church. And it’s all for the glory of God, we tell ourselves.
But the Gospel never promised we’d win now, but later. In fact, now is the time we’re supposed to lose. This life is the time to give up our lives, to lay them on the altar. Earth is the downpayment for eternity. The real trophies are handed out only in Heaven and the hereafter.
To fix this messed up world, it’s going to take someone who’ll sacrifice, who’ll give themselves away, who’ll let themselves be taken advantage of.
It’s going to take some world-class losers.
One of my favorite humans is Cori Salchert, though I’ve never met her. She’s a former parental bereavement nurse with eight biological kids of her own. Her job is to care for infants who are terminally ill, with zero chance of survival. That in itself sounds like a sacrificial job.
But Cori noticed a reoccurring problem: many of the families of these babies would simply walk away after receiving the terminal diagnosis. With their joyful expectations dashed, the mothers simply couldn’t take the thought of watching their baby die.
So they did the unthinkable – they abandoned their dying babies at the hospital.
I can only imagine the mixture of emotions Cori felt as she tried to do her job. Surely there was anger at these parents who’d leave their own children to die alone. Then there was the grief of watching the babies struggle on with no one left to caress them but her.
Emmalynn was one such baby. Since birth she’d been in a vegetative state, unable to see or hear. The one thing she could do was feel, but most of those feeling were the physical pain brought on by her condition. At the hospital, she was left in a blanket on her feeding pump and put aside to die. But in that hopeless situation, Cori saw an opportunity to love irrationally.
That’s when Cori made a sacrifice some might think pointless. In 2012, Cori adopted Emmalynn into her own family.
At that moment, she became the youngest of 9 siblings and was no longer alone. Each of the Salchert children would take turns holding her throughout the day. They would kiss her repeatedly, and the family took her everywhere they went.
But after about 50 days of life, Cori could tell Emmalynn was fading. So she gathered her family together so each of them could take one last turn holding and kissing her.
Finally, Cori snuggled with Emmalynn, holding her close while singing “Jesus Loves Me” gently over her. After a few minutes, Cori realized Emmalynn hadn’t breathed for several minutes.
Emmalynn was gone now, but she had never been alone.
I realize our good works don’t get us into heaven. But if I were Cori Salchert, I wouldn’t be too worried about what’s waiting for me after this life is over. She’s made an investment, through Emmalynn and all the other children she’s continued to adopt and give love in their final days of life.
It’s not hard for me to imagine the day Cori finally walks into heaven’s throne room. One by one, I see little children walking – no, running up to meet her. the last loving touch they felt on earth. I see their little hands, now healthy and whole, reaching up to hers. Cori was their last loving touch on earth, and now they are her first in heaven.
I can see them all holding her hands, walking her triumphantly into the throne room of God. And there the Father of the fatherless who promised to bless those who help “the least of these” will look up at her and smile widely:
“Well done, my good and faithful servant”.
Blessed are those who love the losers and lost causes. Because in the next life, the hopeless ones to whom you showed love on this earth may be the very ones who usher you through heaven’s door.
So I’ll happily take my place along with the losers in this life. I’m happy to wait for my reward until that day I finally hear my name called.
That’s when we’ll hear Him say, “And the winner is…” And when it comes to winning, what matters most is just Who is passing out the awards.
