FINAL JEOPARDY

“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.” (Romans 5:7)

The Final Jeopardy statement for the April 21, 2010 show was “Named Hawaii’s first saint in 2009 he died in Molokai in 1889”.

Immediately after the “Final Jeopardy” music, Alex Trebek said he thought this should be a “slam dunk”. It wasn’t. Not one of the three contestants knew the answer. I DID know the answer. It was “Father Damien”. Father Damien was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium who ministered to people with leprosy on the Hawaiian island of Molokai and ultimately died of the disease. I encourage you to read the entry for “Father Damien” on Wikipedia.

(Listen, I realize I’m probably coming across as bragging here. I DON’T generally write about how many times I DON’T know the correct answer on Final Jeopardy- which is MANY times! I also don’t write about the fact that there are many nights in which I watch Jeopardy that I’m really embarrassed because if I had been a contestant on that particular show, I would have finished in the red and would not even have been able to compete in Final Jeopardy!)

There’s so much I need to make CLEAR here: The whole idea of a religious institution NAMING dead people to a special status as “Saints” to be “prayed to” is a practice of the Roman Catholic Church and of some other liturgical churches. I totally disagree with this practice. Christians are to pray to GOD, not to dead people. And, ALL born-again Christians are “saints” meaning “those who are being sanctified”. Many believe we EARN our way into Heaven. We DON’T! No one could ever be GOOD ENOUGH. The New Testament teaches that Heaven is a free gift to those who repent of their sins and TOTALLY place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation.

Even so, we CAN and SHOULD admire Father Damien. He must have been a wonderful man. He put the needs of suffering lepers above his own needs and comforts. He loved lepers, and gave his all for them.

Recently, Moe Lauzier, on his “Issues of the Day” blog wrote about Ed Freeman. Ed Freeman, an Idaho resident, died just a few days ago. On November 11, 1967, Ed heroically saved 29 servicemen who were under fire in Vietnam. Moe made the point that we honor celebrities as heroes who usually don’t deserve that honor, and yet most people have never heard of Ed Freeman. That’s also true of Father Damien. I wouldn’t PRAY to him or believe HE could work miracles; I would never say he worked his way into Heaven. But, his example of selflessness makes him a hero. I just think it’s interesting that not one of the three Jeopardy contestants got Final Jeopardy right on tonight’s program.

Are you familiar with Father Damien? If not, I’m glad he was mentioned on Jeopardy because now a lot of people will learn about his life.

We’re a very selfish society.

Listen, I spent many years as a pastor, and sometimes I’ve been a very selfish guy. I’m ashamed of that. We all need to give more time and attention to others and less to ourselves.