Rock, Paper, Scissors

Epiphany 4

27th January 2013

The game rock, paper, scissors is also known as roshambo, it dates back to the late nineteenth century Japan in its’ present form, however there are much earlier versions, with evidence of them dating back to the Han Dynasty, 200BC to 200AD.

The game is often used as a random way of selecting something.  A bit like flipping coins or drawing straws. Two people face each other, and they put a hand behind their back as a clenched fist, they count to three, and they randomly make the shape of a rock, paper or scissors.

Paper beats rock, scissors beats paper and rock beats scissors.

If both people choose the same item, no one wins, and the hand, as it were, is replayed.

There is a World Championship, held every year, and a UK and US tournament too, and to my mind, it is the most curious, strange game ever!

I say the game is one of the most curious because there none of the items are seen as better than the others, but each is used in a different way for a variety of purposes.  We need them all.

The other curious thing about the game is that it is or appears to be really quite random.  There are people who play in the championships that suggest that you can learn to spot non-random behaviour, but on the face of it, no hand is better than another, and the whole scheme is difficult to change, and impossible to predict.

At the 1030 service, I am going to attempt to play it with the congregation at our family Holy Eucharist, because it perfectly makes a point that needs to be made about the theme of the readings today.

Human beings are not all the same either, but all of us are vital for the good of the whole.  We can neither exist nor function without each other.

John Donne, the English poet, satirist, lawyer and cleric reminded people in his Meditation XVII that “…no man is an island”.  Written shortly after joining the Anglican Church, he explores the interdependence of all the faithful.  He continues in this very meditation to write;

“... any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee..”

In his search for what he called True Religion, Donne had finally determined that we all have a place, we are all unique, and we are all equal.

Rock, paper, scissors

In his first letter to the Church at Corinth, written about 54 AD, St. Paul is writing of his belief that we are all equal and part of the whole.

“Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of one body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in the Spirit we were all baptised into one body.”

He goes on to use the analogy of hands, eyes, ears and feet, being all part of a body.

He expands on this by saying that the parts of the body that seem weakest, are in fact, indispensible.  He also reminds us that all parts of the body have a purpose.

The First Letter to the Church at Corinth really does set the standard for how we think about Christian Community, how we value others and how we understand the tasks.

Alongside the image of the body and the equal parts, St. Paul also uses the phrases.

"all things to all men" (9:22), "through a glass, darkly" (13:12), and "when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child" (13:11).  Indeed at the end of this passage 1 Corinthians 13 starts, which includes the haunting and deeply reflective phrase.

"without love, I am nothing"

These images, and the teaching that goes with it, are critical for a church like ours.  We all have gifts, we all have roles and we all have a task to play in the future as we seek to grow and change.

We use what we have not for ourselves, but to contribute to the good of others.  Whoever they may be, however different they are to us, they are equal and part of the whole…an indispensible part of the body.

When St. Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus, to the Corinthians (mainly Greeks) he had converted to the faith in the two years he stayed with them on his first missionary journey.

He knew that Corinth was a sort of intersection between Asia and Western Europe, and there was trouble!  Many nationalities passed through the region and with them they brought their polytheistic and local beliefs.  The people of the Corinthian church were all too happy to slip back to their old ways, so St. Paul is writing to remind them to keep their eyes on the prize.

Encouraging them to be imitators of Christ, he reminds them of their tasks, their uniqueness, and their value in the sight of God.

Rock, paper, scissors

Perhaps we can take a few moments in silence to think about that…and we will follow with a short reflection;

We pause to be conscious of that which makes each of us unique 



The colour of our eyes and hair and skin.

Our height and build.

The face that is ours alone.


The inner self that no-one else knows.



The abilities and disabilities that give us our potential
to create and grow as no-one else can.



The place where we live - the town or the city
the village, coast or countryside - that helps to make us
who we are.



Our interests and hobbies; our taste in music, books or fashion;
our likes and dislikes - all the things that add up to who we are.



Let us give thanks for who we are -
As individuals, each one unique in all humankind.


As humankind, where our individuality contributes to the whole.


Let us respect and celebrate our own uniqueness, and each other's too.  AMEN