God is Greater Than FTX
I have been a little fascinated by the fall of the crypto-currency giant, FTX. I don't believe there is any malice on my part — I actually kind of like the founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and have a baseline appreciation for the thoughts behind his big promotion, Effective Altruism (EA) (Why so many acronyms? Are they PCA?). Having said that, there remains a tale to be told about SBF. Was he genuine but naive? Did he get in over his head and cut corners looking to bail himself out? Is he the worlds biggest con man ever in shorts and a t-shirt? Is it somewhere in between?
One thing that we do know, when investors made their run on FTX looking to cash out their investments, there was nothing there. All the glitz and promise of crypto currency turned out to be nothing more than fool's gold as valuations plummeted and investors were left out in the financial cold. Which brings us to our text for this Sunday. As Paul comes to the conclusion of this opening litany of praise to his God and ours, he literally breaks into a liturgy of praise, extolling his God as one who is able to answer our prayers. In fact, as we will see Sunday, Paul trips all over himself linguistically to say that God is able to answer beyond what we could ask or think. Unlike FTX, God's resources are unlimited. We could never make a run on his bank! Pastor, hymn writer, John Newton, captured the capaciousness of God's grace and power well with these words:
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much*