Lectionary Readings for Sunday, March 30, 2008
Second Sunday in Easter
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
Life has a language.
And Scripture has a word for us.
No matter what the Scripture, or what the season, when we turn to the Word we can't help but find life on all sides. We will find stories of connection, and with them the heart-breaking stories of disconnection. We will find stories of hope, and along side them stories of despair that tried, but then failed to claim the day. We will find the creation, and the recreation, of a new day that orders the chaos of night. We will learn how others responded to their call, and wonder how their experience might inform our own experience. At the end of the Bible study, and at the end of the sermon, we will inevitably count our blessings.
It is almost a cliché to say Scripture is a word of life. An exegetical approach to Scripture asks us to unpack the cliché. What does the word say? How is life speaking? How is the Word formative? To say there are many approaches to these problems would be an understatement. Are we using the tools of rhetorical criticism so beautifully honed by Phyllis Trible? Are we to lift the lens of history? Are we to take every word literally? Are we to delve into the depths of context? Yes, yes, and again yes.
As we bring the Leading Causes of Life to each week's Lectionary, our task is not to replace any one approach. Instead, the task is to nest them in the logic of life. When life speaks it connects, it organizes our thoughts, it demands change, it reminds us of hope and we take it all as a blessing.
This week's Gospel reading is a case in point.
The scene opens underscoring profound isolation. Disconnection has taken its toll.
One way or another the disciples had all disconnected from the man named Jesus. Judas disconnected once; Peter disconnected three times; the disciples fled into the night. Those who had not been afraid suddenly knew fear, and in that knowing they disconnected from the first words of so many angels, “Be not afraid.” In life it is astonishing how quickly fear finds friends. They may have gone their separate ways after Jesus' arrest, but they knew where to gather when they feared they might be the next ones on a cross. And so they locked the door, making sure nobody could enter their world. Had they decided to escape they would have found themselves surrounded not by light but by approaching night. In short nobody could come in . . . and there was no point in going out. They were isolated . . . disconnected . . . trapped by fear.
Their situation is not unknown to us. Over the past few years I have had the occasion to minister to and learn from many whose lives have been skewed by one insurance system or another. They have found themselves “resented” by the insurance company. How dare they make a request? They have sought employment only to find their gifts overshadowed by disabilities that present too great a risk. They have found themselves up against medical bills that are beyond the means of even the rich to pay. They have banded together to share their stories in hopes of finding a way to untangle the knots they did not create. In last night's news there was a story of Wal-Mart suing a family for over $400,000 in medical expenses their insurance company would rather not pay. The suit is legal. Fear always makes a legitimate claim. The disciples had good reason to be afraid. The question they faced as they met, and the question people living with disabilities face, is whether or not hope is sustainable and, if it is, what good can be done?
I dare say there is not a person in your congregation this week who is not acquainted with fear; who has not from time to time locked himself or herself in a room and wondered what the next day might bring. Sometimes disability locks the doors; sometimes finances lock them; sometimes injustice locks them; sometimes a relationship gone sour locks them. Whatever the cause, being “locked out” makes us realize we are “missing out” on life.
And so . . . what might God say?
With incredible poise, poignance, and grace, God finds a way to break right into the room. Those walls that look solid are actually porous. Wal-Mart made a decision but according to the news over a million people sent an e-mail saying, “This is wrong.” Remember the walls of Apartheid? They looked impermeable. But actually they were porous as life found a way to trump restrictive identity. The disciples huddle in fear . . . and then Jesus appears.
He has a word. “Peace be with you.” He then connects them with the Spirit; he speaks of his Father to link them with the divine family; he gives them a mission beyond the walls; and he asks them to engage in forgiveness—the fundamental work of connection. If we do not forgive we cannot connect—it is as simple as that. In like manner we can accept a word of peace or we can continue to live in the fearful waters of chaos. “Choose life,” God said to us through Moses. In the locked room of your legitimate fears choose life.
A famous Presbyterian pastor once began every Bible study with this question: Okay, where's the joy and where's the pain? In the ensuing discussion, sparked by the text, they shared the elusive and compelling gift of life. Picking up on his questions, a Leading Causes of Life exegetical approach reads the text and asks:
Where's the connection?
What's the meaning?
How is the text calling to you?
How can we name despair and claim hope?
And what's the blessing?
Ask those questions as you peruse the text that begins in fear, moves to connection and ends with a blessing for the ages.
John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Blessings to you and your congregation.
I look forward to hearing from you, and learning from you, as together we decipher the language of life as entrusted to us in texts that guide our lives.
Larry Pray
larry@leadingcausesoflife.org
larrypray@gmail.com
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thoughts and Prayers for the Week of March 24, 2008
by Butch Odom
Thought & Prayer for Monday, March 24, 2008
Welcome to the season of Easter, where we will remain until May. Easter is the most important time in the Christian year, but it is also the most mysterious. Since death has been overcome, since death has lost its sting, let’s consider embracing life and spend this week contemplating the Leading Causes of LifeTM, by Gary Gunderson with Larry Pray.
The lectionary passages for this week are numerous, and include: Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 and Matthew 28:1-10.
From John 20:1-2 – Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus’ loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they laid him.”
Leading Cause #1 - CONNECTION: As human beings we depend on our connectedness to family, friends and even coworkers. Imagine the sense of loss Jesus’ followers felt after the crucifixion. Now Mary finds the tomb empty, making her think initially that the final connection to Jesus, his grave, has been severed. Think of the significant connections in your life. Wouldn’t you agree that those connections are life-giving?
Prayer:
Creator God, you made us a people who thrive in healthy communities. Help us heal the disconnections in our lives so that we might live more fully. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Tuesday, March 25, 2008
From Acts 10:34-36 – Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ-he is Lord of all.”
Leading Cause #2 – COHERENCE: We strive for lives that have a sense of meaning and purpose. Imagine the coherence the disciples felt through their work with Jesus. Now imagine how that life-giving meaning was upset when Jesus was killed as a common criminal. Today, consider those people, those connections and those beliefs which bring the most meaning into your life.
Prayer:
Faithful God, for those people, those institutions, for all that brings rich, life-giving meaning into our lives, we thank you. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Wednesday, March 26, 2008
From Acts 10:36-38 – [Peter is still speaking.] “You know the message [God] sent the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ-he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
Leading Cause #3 – AGENCY: “Just Do It” was the slogan of or the name of an organization that encouraged young people to do good…to act…to do something for the greater good that was within their power or skill set, even of something simple like planting a tree or picking up trash. Agency entails this ability to get things done. Can you begin to see how these Leading Causes of LifeTM tie together? The greater the sense of connection in our lives and the more coherence we feel, then the greater our ability to act effectively. Also, the more we act, the more meaning we could add to our lives and the more opportunities for connection we could have.
Prayer:
Gracious God, it is easy for us to think globally. Give us strength to ACT locally. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Thursday, March 27, 2008
From Psalm 118:1-2 – O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Leading Cause #4 – BLESSING: “How are you doing today?” I asked Janice. “Fine and blessed,” was her reply. We give blessings to each other and we receive blessings from others. But blessing also occurs through the ages as we connect with our parents and their parents on through the years and with our children and our children’s children. Through blessing, we are connected to forever.
Prayer:
Steadfast God of the beginning, middle and end of time, stand by us in our now. Help us be a blessing to those around us, and may we be blessed today. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Friday, March 28, 2008
From Psalm 118:24 – This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
And from Matthew 28:5-8 – But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”
Leading Cause #5 – HOPE: The final of the Leading Causes of LifeTM is real, grounded hope. Such hope comes from the interaction of all the other causes discussed previously this week. How does one have hope in the midst of deep despair, for instance, if their life is not connection and coherence-filled? If one feels powerless to act and has no sense of blessing how can they experience hope? Today, take a moment to embrace that for which you hope most.
Prayer:
Steadfast God of hope, even in our despair, we know you are by our side. Help us be better instillers of hope in those around us. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Monday, March 24, 2008
Welcome to the season of Easter, where we will remain until May. Easter is the most important time in the Christian year, but it is also the most mysterious. Since death has been overcome, since death has lost its sting, let’s consider embracing life and spend this week contemplating the Leading Causes of LifeTM, by Gary Gunderson with Larry Pray.
The lectionary passages for this week are numerous, and include: Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 and Matthew 28:1-10.
From John 20:1-2 – Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus’ loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they laid him.”
Leading Cause #1 - CONNECTION: As human beings we depend on our connectedness to family, friends and even coworkers. Imagine the sense of loss Jesus’ followers felt after the crucifixion. Now Mary finds the tomb empty, making her think initially that the final connection to Jesus, his grave, has been severed. Think of the significant connections in your life. Wouldn’t you agree that those connections are life-giving?
Prayer:
Creator God, you made us a people who thrive in healthy communities. Help us heal the disconnections in our lives so that we might live more fully. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Tuesday, March 25, 2008
From Acts 10:34-36 – Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ-he is Lord of all.”
Leading Cause #2 – COHERENCE: We strive for lives that have a sense of meaning and purpose. Imagine the coherence the disciples felt through their work with Jesus. Now imagine how that life-giving meaning was upset when Jesus was killed as a common criminal. Today, consider those people, those connections and those beliefs which bring the most meaning into your life.
Prayer:
Faithful God, for those people, those institutions, for all that brings rich, life-giving meaning into our lives, we thank you. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Wednesday, March 26, 2008
From Acts 10:36-38 – [Peter is still speaking.] “You know the message [God] sent the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ-he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
Leading Cause #3 – AGENCY: “Just Do It” was the slogan of or the name of an organization that encouraged young people to do good…to act…to do something for the greater good that was within their power or skill set, even of something simple like planting a tree or picking up trash. Agency entails this ability to get things done. Can you begin to see how these Leading Causes of LifeTM tie together? The greater the sense of connection in our lives and the more coherence we feel, then the greater our ability to act effectively. Also, the more we act, the more meaning we could add to our lives and the more opportunities for connection we could have.
Prayer:
Gracious God, it is easy for us to think globally. Give us strength to ACT locally. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Thursday, March 27, 2008
From Psalm 118:1-2 – O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
Leading Cause #4 – BLESSING: “How are you doing today?” I asked Janice. “Fine and blessed,” was her reply. We give blessings to each other and we receive blessings from others. But blessing also occurs through the ages as we connect with our parents and their parents on through the years and with our children and our children’s children. Through blessing, we are connected to forever.
Prayer:
Steadfast God of the beginning, middle and end of time, stand by us in our now. Help us be a blessing to those around us, and may we be blessed today. AMEN.
Thought & Prayer for Friday, March 28, 2008
From Psalm 118:24 – This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
And from Matthew 28:5-8 – But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”
Leading Cause #5 – HOPE: The final of the Leading Causes of LifeTM is real, grounded hope. Such hope comes from the interaction of all the other causes discussed previously this week. How does one have hope in the midst of deep despair, for instance, if their life is not connection and coherence-filled? If one feels powerless to act and has no sense of blessing how can they experience hope? Today, take a moment to embrace that for which you hope most.
Prayer:
Steadfast God of hope, even in our despair, we know you are by our side. Help us be better instillers of hope in those around us. AMEN.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Lectionary Readings for Sunday, March 2, 2008
Lectionary Readings for Sunday, March 2, 2008
Fourth Sunday in Lent
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
Life has a language.
And Scripture has a word for us.
Let us then connect with God's word;
Let us find what order it brings to our lives;
Let us heed our call that asks us to step forth;
Let us listen to the voice of hope;
And let us both share and receive the blessings of life.
This Sunday we are in a story teller's paradise. We can practically see the line of Jesse's sons standing in a line, waiting to see which one would be anointed as Saul's successor. We love it when the one who wasn't even standing in line, the youngest, the weakest, the least probable son is chosen for reasons indiscernible to the human eye. Just as Jesus would one day say, “the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” It is a thrilling story that asks us to look beyond the expected to learn just how it is that God perceives life.
We are told the very same story in the Gospel of John. Last week we had that long, beautiful reading about a woman at the well who could never have expected that she would find living water in a conversation with this man named Jesus. This week we have another extraordinarily beautiful story about a man born blind.
As Jesus and the disciples pass by the man the disciples wonder to whom blame should be assigned. Had the man sinned even when he was an infant? Or were his parents at faualt? Surely there was a cause for his blindness, and surely blame could be assigned. Their question dovetails Eliphaz's understanding of Job's affliction: God does not punish the righteous. At the end of Job God makes it clear that such an assumption does not reflect the way the God of life works. Jesus makes the same point. With consummate insight Jesus answers both questions with a single word. “Neither,” he says. He pushes blame off the table and opens up an entirely new question world of perception. Blame and shame have the power to disconnect us from both ourselves and each other. Instead of enhancing life they block it.
At this point I am tempted to exegete the story using the five lenses of our Leading Causes of Life. We see connection with a man whose life was a “problem.” We see the battle for coherence as the Pharisees wonder who Jesus was and tried to draw boundaries to help them define and understand his extravagant gift of healing. We see hope fulfilled as the man proclaims his vision, we see that he actually did what he was asked to when told to go to the pool of Siloam. And we see the world of blessing at work as one man's experience produces a story from which we draw meaning in our own lives.
But on this day I would like to travel down another path.
Not long ago I received a report about the impact of healthcare costs on church insurance programs. An aging clergy encounters healthcare crises that insurance programs do not have the resources to handle. Small congregations can scarcely pay $12,000 or more a year to cover their clergy, and even if they do the pool is just too small to cover the costs of diabetes, heart disease, cancers, MRIs, CAT scans and the rest. Clergy tend to be an unhealthy group. Our levels of stress are high; our weight is often more than ideal; our self-care is minimal; and our expectation of being cared for is high. The report noted that the active clergy portion of the healthcare plan was in a “death spiral.” Denominations are both cutting back on what insurance provides and doing all they can to make preventative care a priority. At a recent Methodist conference in Mississippi clergy used the break times to walk with a vengeance on a track that surrounded the sanctuary. It was a group effort born of legitimate need but without a hint of shame. Not surprisingly, between breaks we took time to share our stories just as the man born blind shared his story two or three times in the Lectionary text.
If the disciples walked by healthcare system is in a death spiral, what might they have asked Jesus? Is it the system's fault? Is it the clergy's fault? Who is to blame for the death we cannot ignore? And what might Jesus' answer be? If the Lectionary gives us a leading, we can assume his word would not be one of blame of shame.
I write this with a certain ambiguity in my own heart. Fifty-two years ago, my immune system failed me and diabetes walked in the door and decided to stay. It is a costly disease. Thirty years later, and four days after my ordination, I lived through my first heart attack. Thirteen years later a second came along despite a regiment of exercise, healthy diet, medications meant to forestall the impending crises. The costs of keeping me alive have been significant. Indeed, they have been a drain. By all rights, the denomination should have said, “We simply cannot afford to have Type 1 diabetics serve as pastors. There is no way we can keep up with it.” My response is, “I'm sorry. My condition has nothing to do with choices I made or failed to make, but I am so sorry my life has been so costly and that there is no simple way to stem the costs that are part and parcel of diabetes.”
Which is to say . . . I assume the blame for something I did not chose. How would Jesus reframe the discussion? He found a purpose for the man's blindness. “He was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him,” Jesus said.
It is an imaginative flight but curiosity can't help but wonder . . .
“This church is struggling with healthcare costs so that God's works might be revealed in it.” Or, might it be, “This insurance company is struggling with costs so that God's works might be revealed in it as well?” Or, “This woman has epilepsy so that God's works might be revealed in her.”
And just how might that happen?
One thing we know is that it happens through the telling of stories. I imagine a small church in Pennsylvania or Tennessee celebrating the return of a member after heart surgery. What happened? What have you learned? What is life teaching you, would you share it with us? Where is God in your healing? How has Scripture come true?
I know of a small church in Montana in which a member was told she needed heart surgery. She decided to not undergo the procedure. The family had already faced medical bankruptcy once; she was not going to bring her family to the brink another time. The congregation, and the town, decided to “do something.” First thing you know there was a rummage sale and $5,000 was given to the woman to banish the shame and worry that had taken hold in her life. Later on, when she saw her doctor it was decided she didn't need the operation after all. Some may attribute this to a miracle cure; others to unseen strength that makes itself known when shame worry have been pushed off the table. Either way, her story took root in the church, the church took root in the town, and hymns of thanks found their way heaven-bound.
We have the opportunity to claim healing as a common ground. We have the opportunity to learn from Jesus who turned his attention to the works of God who sees not from the outside but from the inside.
It is a necessary conversation if we are life in the light of Jesus' closing words: “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
John 9:1-41
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.' When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some were saying, 'It is he.' Others were saying, 'No, but it is someone like him.' He kept saying, 'I am the man.' But they kept asking him, 'Then how were your eyes opened?' He answered, 'The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash." Then I went and washed and received my sight.' They said to him, 'Where is he?' He said, 'I do not know.'
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, 'He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.' Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.' But others said, 'How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?' And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, 'What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.' He said, 'He is a prophet.'
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, 'Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?' His parents answered, 'We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.' His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, 'He is of age; ask him.'
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, 'Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.' He answered, 'I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.' They said to him, 'What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?' He answered them, 'I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?' Then they reviled him, saying, 'You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.' The man answered, 'Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.' They answered him, 'You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?' And they drove him out.
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.
Larry
I welcome your response to these columns. I may be reached at:
larry@leadingcausesoflife.org
Or
larrypray@gmail.com
Fourth Sunday in Lent
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:8-14
John 9:1-41
Life has a language.
And Scripture has a word for us.
Let us then connect with God's word;
Let us find what order it brings to our lives;
Let us heed our call that asks us to step forth;
Let us listen to the voice of hope;
And let us both share and receive the blessings of life.
This Sunday we are in a story teller's paradise. We can practically see the line of Jesse's sons standing in a line, waiting to see which one would be anointed as Saul's successor. We love it when the one who wasn't even standing in line, the youngest, the weakest, the least probable son is chosen for reasons indiscernible to the human eye. Just as Jesus would one day say, “the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” It is a thrilling story that asks us to look beyond the expected to learn just how it is that God perceives life.
We are told the very same story in the Gospel of John. Last week we had that long, beautiful reading about a woman at the well who could never have expected that she would find living water in a conversation with this man named Jesus. This week we have another extraordinarily beautiful story about a man born blind.
As Jesus and the disciples pass by the man the disciples wonder to whom blame should be assigned. Had the man sinned even when he was an infant? Or were his parents at faualt? Surely there was a cause for his blindness, and surely blame could be assigned. Their question dovetails Eliphaz's understanding of Job's affliction: God does not punish the righteous. At the end of Job God makes it clear that such an assumption does not reflect the way the God of life works. Jesus makes the same point. With consummate insight Jesus answers both questions with a single word. “Neither,” he says. He pushes blame off the table and opens up an entirely new question world of perception. Blame and shame have the power to disconnect us from both ourselves and each other. Instead of enhancing life they block it.
At this point I am tempted to exegete the story using the five lenses of our Leading Causes of Life. We see connection with a man whose life was a “problem.” We see the battle for coherence as the Pharisees wonder who Jesus was and tried to draw boundaries to help them define and understand his extravagant gift of healing. We see hope fulfilled as the man proclaims his vision, we see that he actually did what he was asked to when told to go to the pool of Siloam. And we see the world of blessing at work as one man's experience produces a story from which we draw meaning in our own lives.
But on this day I would like to travel down another path.
Not long ago I received a report about the impact of healthcare costs on church insurance programs. An aging clergy encounters healthcare crises that insurance programs do not have the resources to handle. Small congregations can scarcely pay $12,000 or more a year to cover their clergy, and even if they do the pool is just too small to cover the costs of diabetes, heart disease, cancers, MRIs, CAT scans and the rest. Clergy tend to be an unhealthy group. Our levels of stress are high; our weight is often more than ideal; our self-care is minimal; and our expectation of being cared for is high. The report noted that the active clergy portion of the healthcare plan was in a “death spiral.” Denominations are both cutting back on what insurance provides and doing all they can to make preventative care a priority. At a recent Methodist conference in Mississippi clergy used the break times to walk with a vengeance on a track that surrounded the sanctuary. It was a group effort born of legitimate need but without a hint of shame. Not surprisingly, between breaks we took time to share our stories just as the man born blind shared his story two or three times in the Lectionary text.
If the disciples walked by healthcare system is in a death spiral, what might they have asked Jesus? Is it the system's fault? Is it the clergy's fault? Who is to blame for the death we cannot ignore? And what might Jesus' answer be? If the Lectionary gives us a leading, we can assume his word would not be one of blame of shame.
I write this with a certain ambiguity in my own heart. Fifty-two years ago, my immune system failed me and diabetes walked in the door and decided to stay. It is a costly disease. Thirty years later, and four days after my ordination, I lived through my first heart attack. Thirteen years later a second came along despite a regiment of exercise, healthy diet, medications meant to forestall the impending crises. The costs of keeping me alive have been significant. Indeed, they have been a drain. By all rights, the denomination should have said, “We simply cannot afford to have Type 1 diabetics serve as pastors. There is no way we can keep up with it.” My response is, “I'm sorry. My condition has nothing to do with choices I made or failed to make, but I am so sorry my life has been so costly and that there is no simple way to stem the costs that are part and parcel of diabetes.”
Which is to say . . . I assume the blame for something I did not chose. How would Jesus reframe the discussion? He found a purpose for the man's blindness. “He was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him,” Jesus said.
It is an imaginative flight but curiosity can't help but wonder . . .
“This church is struggling with healthcare costs so that God's works might be revealed in it.” Or, might it be, “This insurance company is struggling with costs so that God's works might be revealed in it as well?” Or, “This woman has epilepsy so that God's works might be revealed in her.”
And just how might that happen?
One thing we know is that it happens through the telling of stories. I imagine a small church in Pennsylvania or Tennessee celebrating the return of a member after heart surgery. What happened? What have you learned? What is life teaching you, would you share it with us? Where is God in your healing? How has Scripture come true?
I know of a small church in Montana in which a member was told she needed heart surgery. She decided to not undergo the procedure. The family had already faced medical bankruptcy once; she was not going to bring her family to the brink another time. The congregation, and the town, decided to “do something.” First thing you know there was a rummage sale and $5,000 was given to the woman to banish the shame and worry that had taken hold in her life. Later on, when she saw her doctor it was decided she didn't need the operation after all. Some may attribute this to a miracle cure; others to unseen strength that makes itself known when shame worry have been pushed off the table. Either way, her story took root in the church, the church took root in the town, and hymns of thanks found their way heaven-bound.
We have the opportunity to claim healing as a common ground. We have the opportunity to learn from Jesus who turned his attention to the works of God who sees not from the outside but from the inside.
It is a necessary conversation if we are life in the light of Jesus' closing words: “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”
John 9:1-41
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.' When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some were saying, 'It is he.' Others were saying, 'No, but it is someone like him.' He kept saying, 'I am the man.' But they kept asking him, 'Then how were your eyes opened?' He answered, 'The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash." Then I went and washed and received my sight.' They said to him, 'Where is he?' He said, 'I do not know.'
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, 'He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.' Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.' But others said, 'How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?' And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, 'What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.' He said, 'He is a prophet.'
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, 'Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?' His parents answered, 'We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.' His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, 'He is of age; ask him.'
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, 'Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.' He answered, 'I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.' They said to him, 'What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?' He answered them, 'I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?' Then they reviled him, saying, 'You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.' The man answered, 'Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.' They answered him, 'You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?' And they drove him out.
Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him. Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, “We see”, your sin remains.
Larry
I welcome your response to these columns. I may be reached at:
larry@leadingcausesoflife.org
Or
larrypray@gmail.com
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