I'm BBBBbbbaaaaaccccckkkkk!

It's been over three weeks since I posted anything.  I've been gone from home 3 weeks.  This was John and Judy's big adventure.

We went to Port Sulfur, Plaquamines Parish, Louisiana to work on building houses in the post-Katrina world down there.  So this blog will be some reflections on . . . mission trips?  being missional?  how about what happens when you give of yourself for others.

We Americans have very short term memories.  While Hurricane Katrina has become an icon for terrible disaster, most of us have moved on, other disasters have taken the media space, and thoughts of what it's like living in the area of the hurricane have faded from our view.  The hurricane was 5 1/2 years ago.

The rebuilding mission in Biloxi that focused on help for the poor, aged, and disabled has drawn to a close.  But out of that hurricane and the Biloxi experience a Fuller Center for Disaster Building was born.  These Fuller Centers were spawned from Habitat for Humanity by Millard Fuller, Habitat founder.  But it was, alas, out of a split in philosophy between Mr Fuller and the other Habitat leadership.  Such things happen.

Fuller Centers' missions are to help rebuild or build anew with those whose homes have been destroyed in disasters.  It is a different mission than Habitat and has different requirements than Habitat.

The Fuller Center we worked with came out of post-Katrina, Biloxi, MS.  Since that time it has worked in two other hurricane disaster areas in Texas.  We reconnected with them when the operation moved to Southern Louisiana to continue working on post-Katrina rebuilds.

If you ever have the chance to directly, hands-on help people whose lives have been up-ended by disaster, do it.

I am not able to explain nor describe what it does for you when you give of yourself in this way.  You have to experience it, and then it won't need explanation, you will know it in your heart.

I will put it in this Biblical perspective.  St James says in Chapter 2:

 ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

. . .  ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.(NIV)

Martin Luther had major problems with the theology in the Epistle of James.  Luther was reacting against a church that required demonstration of works and obedience as a proof of salvation.  He was quite adamant that  what we do doesn't same us, only believing in the work of God in Christ can do that.

But this is not the issue for James.  He is dealing with people who seem to believe that "faith" is holding to a set of beliefs, a set of doctrines about God that can be held outside of a living relationship with God that leads to a changed relationship with ourselves and the world (people) around us.

It's as though the people with whom James is dealing are saying, "I believe (have faith) that Jesus saved me.  That's all I need.  I can go on as before because now I have it."  Having right doctrine does not save us.  Right doctrine merely describes what a living faith has discovered and lives out.  Does that make sense?

My friend and fellow Pastor, Joe Medley, says, "Doctrine limits, Faith frees."  Doctrine describes how believers  experienced God coming to them and changing them. 

The Pentecost power of the Holy Spirit on the believers in the upper room and the conversion of 3,000 people who listened to their testimony that day is a faith experience.  Describing how the Holy Spirit worked on that day or what the nature of a Pentecostal experience is -- that's doctrine.

I could probably put disaster relief work into doctrinal terms.  But it is describing a live experience of the Holy Spirit in dead words.

To take the love that God pours out on you and give it away -- disaster relief work is one way to do that -- is a living and breathing experience of the Holy Spirit that transcends all the Sunday School lessons about God, all the moving experiences of a well preached sermon about living out faith.

Actually being on the ground and attaching plywood sheathing under someone's house is only one way of being part of this sort of faith experience.

On this trip three churches gave about $2,200 of support money for the trip.  Individuals give small to large gifts that added to that amount.  This, too, is a sharing of the gospel.

This got word-ier than I intended.  Faith-works is the perfect marriage of belief in God's work and actions that come out of that belief that may not have occurred otherwise.

Seeing, hearing of another human being in suffering about which you can do something, and to do it is what St James says is the fullness of the Jesus experience -- Christian faith.

That's still the experience 5 1/2 years after Katrina.  That's still the experience on my 5th or 6th trip to swing a hammer of those who were devastated. 

I recommend it.

I Once Was Blind But Now I See John 9:1-7 The Miracle part 1.

Okay, follow these two sentences:
Here is the second installment on John 9.  It comes after "The Miracle part 2," which is really the third installment, because I published that first but this is really the first part of the second section I'm writing on John 9.  Got it?

In an earlier blog I said that the Gospels are made up, primarily, of narratives (talking about something someone said or did) and discourses (someone talking, usually Jesus.)

This little section, vss 1-7 is both.  It is a narrative/discourse.  By including the short discourse between Jesus and the disciples about sin and grace (see "The Miracle part 2 for this) St. John sets the scene for what will follow this healing miracle.

The miracle itself is pretty standard Gospel fare, it seems to me.  I don't put down the miracles of Jesus in the least.  Healing people, stilling storms, raising dead people in the least are . . . miraculous!

But in most of the Gospels the miracles stand by themselves as acts of mercy and grace.  That's what you would see with this miracle if John would not have included "the rest of the story" about what happens to the man after he is healed.  I THINK this is the only instance in which the life of the healed person is followed after the fact.  If I'm in error about this, please respond to this blog so we can all learn a little more.  Oops, I think you could argue that the healing of the cripple on the Sabbath (John 5, see below) might fit this description.  But this story is the academy award winner.

Jesus comes to die and rise to save the world from sin, death, and the power of the devil.  But he is also a man who existed in his time and lived with what went on around him as he made his way to the cross and empty tomb.  I'd go a step further and say that the miracles he does are consistent, tangible signs of the graciousness of God.  As Jesus saves us all from evil, he also saves individuals along the way from the evil that specifically inflicts their lives.

Lepers, doomed to a life of exile and decline, are restored to community and to their families.  Parents who have lost a child see him and her raised from death.  A mad man who terrifies a whole community is found sitting peacefully at Jesus' feet.  These, it seems to me, are all visible signs of the realm of God among us.

Nothing else in John 9 can occur unless a poor, blind-from-birth beggar has his sight restored.  That is an actual event that becomes a living metaphor for spiritual blindness that can either be healed or not healed, depending on how one accepts what Jesus is willing to do.

So, here is the base line of the story.  Jesus sees a blind beggar.  In this miracle Jesus doesn't even ask the fellow if he wants to be healed.  He makes a solution from his spit and dirt, and tells the man to wash at the pool of Siloam.  The man does as he is told and goes home . . . seeing.

A few points about the miracle.

1.  I understand that healers (Jesus is not the only one with this charismatic grace) often used a solution of their saliva and dirt, applying it to the body part to be healed.  I've heard some pretty wild theories that seem to be based on Jesus doing things that had never been done before.  This does not seem to be the case.  If you follow the story, HOW Jesus healed the man seems not to be a question for this fellow.  THAT he was healed is his source of joy.  See Mark 7:31-37 and Mark 8:22-26 for other instances where Jesus uses his spit in healing.
2. The Pool of Siloam may be mentioned in other healing miracles.  John 5:1-17 tells of a cripple by a pool of Bethesda.  This pool is identified as being outside Jerusalem.  Those who search for such sites puts the Pool of Siloam as being outside the city walls.  It may be that these are the same pool.  You can see a map of Jerusalem and a photo of the Pool following this blog.  Whatever the case, there is a connection between washing and healing in both of these miracles.
3. We should point out that in the John 9 miracle the man has a part.  He is given instructions that will lead to a new life.  Jesus tells him, "Do this and you will live -- go wash in the pool."  I suggest that it is no different for our spiritual well-being.  We believe baptism is given as a physical sign that God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has washed us and made us well.  At the very end of Matthew Jesus commands the church (including parents and families) to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus sees this as an important, physical act between those who believe in him and God for the healing of the soul.  We come to Communion to receive a physical manifestation of the body and blood of Jesus -- we obey and receive the full grace and forgiveness of God in the process.

Dear readers, I don't know when I will move into the story section of John 9.  I'm leaving to build houses in Southern Louisiana soon and don't know if I'll have the time or energy to write Bible investigations.  But I will do my best to get back to this.  John 9 is a great section of Scripture, and I look forward to walking through it with you.   Here is a map of Jerusalem that identifies the Pool of Siloam and a picture of the excavation.  The photo was taken in 1937.

I Once Was Blind But Now I See John 9:1-7 The Miracle part 2. Sin and Grace

This was to be the third installment of the work on John 9.  But I've been out of town and am getting ready for another project.  So this will have to suffice.

Have you ever known someone whose intimate relationship was destroyed because that person cheated on his/her spouse or lover?  Have you ever just shaken your head in disgust and thought, "Well, if you're going to do the crime, you gotta do the time?  S/he's just getting the fruits of the folly."

It's quite possible you did this with the news of the killing of Osama bin Ladan.  He got what he deserved.  He sewed the wind and reaped the whirlwind.

Cause and effect.  If you do wrong you will pay for it.  If you do right you will be rewarded.  In Bible study circles  this is called Deuteronomic theology, as in the 5th book of the Bible, Deuteronomy.  Especially in Deuteronomy the major theme is blessings and curses.  God says, "If my people will obey the commands I give this day I will bless them and they will prosper in the land.  But if they disobey my commands I will turn my face and they will live with adversity."

There is sense to this theology.  You can see it played out in life.  Cause and effect.  If you smoke you are much more likely to have all sorts of cancers, heart disease, and other fatal lung diseases.  If you drink and drive your likelihood of serious or fatal accidents rises exponentially.  But it has its limits.  We begin getting into trouble when we begin assigning who is good and bad on the basis of our observations of others based solely on deuteronomic theology.  It has not served our nation well.

The Pilgrims, the Puritans gave this heritage to America.  They believed some were destined to be God's people (specifically themselves) and were blessed by God, while others were destined to NOT be God's people and were cursed by God.  It was the basis of the American philosophy of Manifest Destiny.  It was great justification for genocide against the Indians that were there before us.

Our fore-bearers found it convenient to identify those in their own community who were the chosen or un-chosen of God.  If your land grew good crops it was clear that you were blessed by God and deserved to be wealthy.  If you had poorly producing land then you were cursed by God and deserved to be poor.  What was overlooked, of course, was that some already the "haves", and were among those who got to choose land first.  So those who had less to start with or ended up with the poor plots of ground really never had a chance.

What was nice for the "haves" was that they had justification for not helping the "have-nots."  After all, who were they to question God's choices.  If your neighbor had continually failing crops why should you help him?  You could even tell yourself it was not your place to meddle with God's choice!  If you're neighbor would get right with God he wouldn't be in that fix, right?

This theme of justifying the rich and condemning the poor has played out on the American political scene ever since.  Ronald Reagan, a very savvy politician, won lots and lots of votes by demonizing the poor as frauds and thieves at the public trough.  It was politically applied Deuteronomic theology.  And it worked.  Under President Reagan the rich got significant government support and got richer while most of the rest of America either stayed where they were or got poorer.  Should you question this, talk to some of the young family farmers who lost the family farm during the manufactured "farm crisis" of the mid-1980's.

What does this have to do with John 9:1-7?

"As [Jesus] went 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?"  John 9:1-2

This man is poor.  Because he is blind he can't work. He is forced into a life of beggary and poverty, living on the cast-offs of his community.  The deuteronomic theology of the day could see that clearly this man was cursed by God to this life.  Is it his fault or his parents fault?  Implicit in the question is that it is certainly not their fault, and if not their fault, then not their responsibility to do anything about.  (You could justifiably challenge that statement, but it would lead to another subject, off-topic.)

In the deuteronomic system "who sinned" is a nice question for seminary students (the disciples) to ask of their professor (Jesus.)

But Jesus turns it upside down . . . again.  He regularly challenged the wisdom of day.  "Neither sinned.  This happened so the work of God might be displayed in his life."  John 9:3

A man is forced to live like this so God's glory can be shown?  Did God make this man blind so Jesus could do a healing trick?  Doesn't that sound mean . . . at the least?  What kind of a God behaves like that?

"You miss the point."  That is what Jesus says to the disciples, to us as his learners.

There is night and there is day.  There is darkness and there is light.  Move it out of esoteric conversations about what came first or who deserves what and start with this:  Is existence in our lives a struggle, groping in the dark to find a way to life that is not fearful but secure?  Yes.  Does life have on-going components of struggle, adversity and loss?  Yes.  Does this occur regardless of whether we would like it not to?  Yes.

In the prelude to this miracle Jesus changes the conversation from whether this guy's parents did a naughty or he was being punished for something he did in-vitro.  Jesus says that the blindness in the world -- physical and spiritual -- is the reason why God became flesh among us.  God came to us to confront and dispel the darkness in which we live.

We cannot overcome the dark of this life on our own.  Even if our whole lives are wonderful there will come a moment when the darkness of death rolls over us.  The facts are that none of our lives ARE just wonderful.  To quote the bumper sticker on the battered '92 Plymouth, driven by people who appear to have been battered by life, "Shit Happens."  Sorry to be so indelicate, but it's an accurate descriptor, isn't it?

As Jesus gazes at this man who wouldn't have even been able to drive that battered old Plymouth, he says, "I came to do something about THIS darkness but also so that all of you can have new eyes to see the vistas that God intends to be in your lives.  I come to heal the blindness of your sight and the blindness of your soul."

Jesus declares, "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Carl Jung, the eminent theoretical Psychiatrist, called our darkness the shadow side.  Jesus comes to cast out this darkness.

Jesus moves from theory to practice.  He steps out of the classroom, steps into this mans life and heals him.  It begins the rest of the story that will move the conversation from the physical to the metaphysical.  If someone who is supposed to be blind because he is God-cursed gets sight from God, can it be that those who think they are God-blessed have the taint of darkness within them?  and if that is true then the "righteous" have an equal need for healing from God as the "unrighteous," right?

Therein lies the rest of the story.  Stay tuned.