John 9:1-41
Here Is an
Astonishing Thing
James Sledge March
22.2020
I want to tell you a story. It
isn’t really a “true” story, at least not in the sense modern people tend to
use the word. The story doesn’t report actual events, but what the story talks
about has happened and does happen. In our own denomination, it happened only a
decade ago. In other denominations, the “truth” of this story is still on
display.
As graduation neared, a young
seminary student searched for a position as solo pastor of a small church. But
being female and single, many churches seemed hesitant to consider her. She
preached well, but didn’t fit the image that many seemed to have for a pastor.
Finally, she accepted the call of
a tiny, struggling – most would say dying – congregation in a small Alabama
town. Thirty people on Sunday was a big crowd, and finances were always a
problem. In three years without a pastor, they had saved up some money, but
even paying her the minimum salary the denomination allowed, they worried about
being able to afford her for more than a few years.
It wasn’t exactly what she had
dreamed of when she entered seminary, but it was where God had led her, and she
threw herself, heart and soul, into the work. She embraced and loved her
congregation, people very different in culture and background from
herself. Despite their small numbers and
paltry finances, she acted like they and their church mattered. She not only
loved and comforted them, she boldly proclaimed God’s word and challenged them
about where and how they would minister to their community.
The little congregation struggled
on. The numbers in worship were still small, and the finances weren’t much
different. But the feeling and the atmosphere were. No one could put a finger
on it. Perhaps it was the pastor’s intensive, loving care. Perhaps it was her
preaching that insisted on God’s uncompromising love in Christ and Jesus’
uncompromising call to discover true life in difficult and costly discipleship.
Perhaps it was her regular Bible study that nearly half the church
attended.
Perhaps it was everything
combined, but more and more, people began to talk differently. Their speech was
no longer dominated by nostalgia. Talk of the future began to creep in. Some
even dared say that the Spirit was blowing through their church, that God had
plans for them, was calling them to pick themselves up and proclaim the gospel
in word and deed. And slowly, they began to do just that.
One member, the local pharmacist,
convinced a doctor in town to run a free medical clinic one evening a week at
the church. They were immediately inundated with patients, and with volunteers
– church members and others, allowing them to open two nights a week.
With all the poor families coming
into their building, a school teacher decided an afternoon tutoring program would
be a good idea. Before long there were 25 children, many from migrant families,
getting help with their schoolwork two afternoons a week.
But the thing that was most
astounding, that no one would have ever predicted; this lily white congregation
began to welcome African Americans and Latinos to worship on Sundays. A few old
members grumbled, but most welcomed them with open arms, excited to see the
vitality and life in a place many had given up for dead.
Three years slipped away, then
four and five. The fear that they could only afford a pastor for a few years
was forgotten. They even hired part time help for music, and to direct the
outreach programs.
Something else happened during
that time. Their pastor was still “single,” but over the years the congregation
had come to realize that she didn’t date guys. She was very discreet, but
eventually everyone realized that she had a female partner. It ruffled some
feathers, but by the time people realized it, they had come to love her and
admire her.
The congregation, most of them
conservative and traditional, somehow accepted this person as their pastor. But
when members of other churches got wind of it, a furor erupted. She was
reported to the local denominational office. “This is in violation of church
standards,” people said. “She must be removed.”
At a big denominational meeting, people
from other churches stood and denounced the pastor, insisting that she either
resign or be forced out. “Her behavior is an abomination,” one said. “It goes
against the Bible, against God’s law. She is an unrepentant sinner who cannot
be entrusted to lead a congregation.”
This sort
of thing went on for a while. But then a member of her congregation stood. He
was a farmer. By his own recollection, he’d never known a gay or lesbian person
before. “I’m a lot like many of you,” he said. “I was born and raised in this
county, and I’ve always been a church-going, God-fearing man. A few years ago,
I would have agreed with everything I’ve heard today. I would have called her
an sinner.
But here
is an astonishing thing! She has done what every one of us thought
impossible. We know that God doesn’t help sinners, but those who obey him. No one believed my little church could be
saved, could be resurrected. But it has. Every single one of you here knows it,
knows the remarkable, impossible thing that has happened. And if God wasn’t
with our pastor, she could never have done it.”
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Two thousand years ago, Jesus opened
the eyes of a blind man, breaking the Sabbath law in the process. The religious
authorities condemned Jesus, branding him a sinner for going against God’s law
and the Bible. They started an investigation, held hearings, and called
witnesses. But nothing they did could hide the remarkable thing that had
happened. A man who had been blind, who many thought was being punished by God,
could now see.
The
authorities couldn’t accept it, and so the held another hearing, questioning
the former blind man once more. But he simply stated the obvious to them. “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.”
___________________________________________________________________________
God is moving in our congregation,
even in this uncertain and frightening time. The Spirit is moving and calling
you to take your place as a part of the body of Christ, calling us to care for
one another, and to share God’s love with a hurting world. But as they say, God
moves in mysterious ways, ways that good religious folk often have the hardest
time seeing.
The Spirit is moving. Jesus is
calling. Do we have eyes to see? Do we have ears to hear?
All praise and glory to the God whose love
for us took on flesh and comes to us in the person of Jesus, who calls us to
discover our truest lives in the hard work of discipleship. Thanks be to God!
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