H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
May 21, 2006
THE SWOOSH OF CHRIST
I John 5:1-6
Amanda Smith was born a slave. Her mother belonged to a plantation owner, and her father was the
slave of a neighboring squire. Eventually Amanda was set free on the death bed request of her owner’s
daughter, but she was still a girl when she went to work for a widow in Pennsylvania, supporting herself by
scrubbing floors and doing laundry. At the age of thirteen, Amanda became a Christian during a revival service
in a Methodist church. A few years later she mustered the courage to testify in church, and she spoke so well
that she was invited to speak at other churches. Before long she was preaching evangelistic services
wherever the opportunity arose.
She felt a calling to travel into the South, and although the notion terrified her, she went where God sent
her. Later she felt a calling to go to England. Again she was terrified. “A colored washwoman going to
England!” But friends pitched in enough to pay her ship fare and off she went.
From England she went to India, back to England, and then off to West Africa for over ten years,
preaching all the way, and living hand to mouth. At one point, she fell into despair because a support check
had not arrived from America, at which point she fell to her knees, and prayed, “Lord, forgive me and help me
to give up every hope in America and trust in Thee, the living God.”
This is not some “get-rich” story. In 1876, Amanda had left the United States without a penny, and in
1890 she returned home without a penny. She opened an orphanage for black children that she supported
with donations and with income from a book she wrote about her life story. She ran the orphanage for twenty-
five years, until her death in 1915. That was Amanda Smith.
Slave, scrub-woman, evangelist, caretaker of orphans, pauper, and one more thing: Conqueror! World
conqueror! “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and . . . whatever is born of
God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the
world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
Those are the words of John the Elder, written at a time when the church was small and struggling
against persecution. When John talks about the world, he means the creation in rebellion against God. He
means human beings defying God. He means social structures and economic systems and laws which do
battle against God’s will. He means the habits of the heart which turn us away from God. In short, when John
talks about the world—the cosmos—he means everything which seeks to come between us and God. And
John promises us victory over that world.
The Greek word for victory in this passage is nike. Sound familiar? In ancient Greece, Nike was the
name of a warrior goddess. The word passed into the Latin language, and Romans would throng the streets
shouting “Nike!” as the Emperor returned triumphantly from the latest conquest. That’s one way to define
victory, by who hits the hardest or aims the best or kills the most.
Nowadays, the name Nike conjures images of high-tech athletic shoes and trendy sports wear and
multi-millionaire ball-players. That’s another way to define victory: fame and money, glitter and glamour.
According to the world, that is victory: the big stick, the big salary, the big muscles, the big name. But the
world—the creation in rebellion—the world lies about almost everything, and it lies to us about victory, too.
Conquest in Christ is the only nike, the only real victory.
For instance, the faith that rises above poverty, that is our victory, like the woman who said to me, “My
Christianity is stronger because I’m poor. I have to depend on God every day to feed me and my children. I
don’t like being poor, but I’d rather be poor with God than rich without God.”
Victory is the faith that transcends barriers of sickness or handicap, like my grandfather who lost his
sight as a young man, who used to play Braille poker with me, and who never, ever gave you the feeling that
his life was anything but rich with grace.
Victory is the faith that overturns every kind of bondage, like John Bunyan, imprisoned for his Christian
beliefs, in a jail cell writing Pilgrim’s Progress, the classic devotional work that has inspired generations of
Christians.
Victory is the faith that sustains us when others belittle us, like Charles Eliot, born with a deformed
face, who resolved that with God’s help he would grow a soul and a mind so big, that people would not notice
his face. He later became president of Harvard College.
Victory is the faith that enables us to push forward in spite of our weaknesses, like Terry Fox, the cancer
patient who set out to run across Canada from coast to coast on an artificial leg. His run raised millions for
cancer research, but he didn’t make it across the continent. He inspired countless cancer patients to fight
bravely, but he couldn’t defeat his own cancer. The cancer killed him at the age of twenty-three. What a failure.
What a conqueror in Christ!
A few weeks ago I was wrestling in prayer. I brought to God one problem after another: some worries of
my own, some worries of yours, some worries of the church. As I worked through this catalog of problems, the
thought suddenly occurred to me, “What problem could I bring to God that would be so big, so daunting, that
God would say to me, ‘Gosh, Mike, I can’t help you with that. That’s too much for me. You’re on your own with
that one.’” And then and there, in the midst of my prayers, I began to laugh out loud. To laugh at our own fears
and worries and troubles, that is the victory that overcomes the world.
So, Christian, what obstacle looms in your path that is too big for God? What is there in your world—or
in yourself—that cannot be overcome in faith? What slavery, what need, what setback, what pain is so
invincible that it will not bow to Christ?
You know what the Nike “swoosh” looks like. It’s a stylized wing evoking the goddess of victory. Christ
invites you to put on the swoosh of God: the sheltering wing of God, our protector and provider; the dove’s
wing of the empowering Holy Spirit; the eagle’s wing that lifts us from despair and defeat.
Put on Nike, the real Nike, put on the victory that belongs to the children of God. Be an overcomer! Be a
conqueror! Be a victor!
In the world we will have trouble, but be brave for Christ has overcome this world, and in his strength
there is nothing in the whole world that can overcome us!
Soli Deo Gloria!