St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church
3800 East Third Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47401
(812) 332-5252
Sermon for the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (June 8, 2008)
Liturgical Color: Green
Reverend Kelli J. Skram
Seeing The World Through New Eyes
Like most people, I appreciate a good story. And one of the thrills of being a campus pastor is hearing the stories...of students...living with other students. Such stories are most entertaining during the summer months, the season of subletting. Too often, in the summer, students who are stressed about money (or rather a terrific lack of money) feel compelled to move in with absolute strangers. Subletters grow desperate for cash to the point that they will persuade any remaining roommates to lower their standards; and the next thing you know, people who appear to have arrived from different planets turn into temporary housemates. During the summer, concern for compatibility takes a back seat to avoiding sleeping in the back seat of one's car.
And yet, for all of the headaches caused by random roommate pairings, living with a person you barely know can bring surprise blessings. A strange, new pair of eyes might take note that the lawn mower you and your roommates assumed needed to be replaced, only appears not to work; and that's because you have neglected to clean the inner parts of dead grass clippings for the last three years. A strange new pair of eyes might be stunned enough by a roommate's boyfriend's abusive behavior to call the police. In the end, what seems like an obvious intervention to one stranger may alert another that while this relationship may feel routine to her, it isn't normal or healthy.
Sometimes daily habits are called into question, sometimes broken appliances get fixed, and sometimes healing begins to happen simply because someone saw things from a different perspective. Sometimes it takes a new pair of eyes to open our eyes to what is not working in our own lives. Sometimes it takes a stranger to open us to new possibilities for seeing and thinking and being in the world.
Now Jesus may not be a stranger to us, but in the sacred story of scripture, and in our gospel reading today, Jesus is that new pair of eyes to the people he meets. In the gospel of Matthew, chapters four through ten* tell the story of Jesus' ministry to Israel. As we read excerpts from this part of Matthew's gospel today, it is striking that Jesus' journey is made up of a series of strange encnters. We get just tiny snippets of text detailing the interactions Jesus has with other individuals along the way. We get a brief paragraph here, a couple of sentences there, but somehow it is enough to give us a sense of where Jesus is heading. This series of encounters Jesus has helps us glimpse the big picture of Jesus' mission and vision for this world. Strung together, these stories help us begin to envision the world as Jesus sees it.
The first person Jesus encounters in today's text is Matthew, the tax collector. Tax collectors in Jesus' time were thought to be so dishonest they were not allowed to testify in a court of law. Nevertheless Jesus approaches this person whom the rest of society views as a traitor and a thief. And he does so because where others see a person they think should be shunned, Jesus sees someone with untapped potential. Jesus sees a man who shows promise for ministry and so he calls Matthew to rise up and follow him.
After Jesus calls Matthew to be a disciple, Jesus sits down to eat with a group of tax collectors and sinners. Here again, where others see corruption, Jesus sees opportunity for community. Where others decide to stay away, Jesus chooses to draw near.
Later in our text, Jesus encounters a woman who has been hemorraging for twelve years. In this instance, the people around Jesus see one who, by virtue of her condition, is unclean, one they would prefer to avoid and exclude. But where others see someone to fear, Jesus sees someone to admire. Jesus sees determination, and a genuine desire for healing. Jesus sees a woman reaching out in hope. And so Jesus affirms and uplifts, rather than punishes, this woman who has touched his garment.
Jesus' final encounter in today's gospel reading happens when he goes to see a little girl who is lying limp, a little girl who is presumed by everyone else to be dead. In this instance, where others see loss and emptiness and pain, Jesus sees possibility and promise. Jesus takes the little girl by the hand and she rises up to surprise those who had been mourning. Here Jesus transforms a time of tragedy into an opportunity to witness the power of God and a chance to glimpse the unlikely promise of life after death.
In each of these encounters, Jesus sees the world around him through the lens of God's love. In each of these encounters, Jesus works to expand the vision of those who would be nearsighted. In each of these encounters, Jesus helps the people he meets to grow into the vision that God has laid out for the future, a future wherein all people will know God's love. It is Jesus' primary goal in the gospel of Matthew to prepare his followers for God's future, it is his aim to help them see that future and embrace that future.
Yet even as Jesus strives to prepare the way to God's future, he knows that seeing the world through new eyes is not going to be easy for his disciples. Jesus knows that seeing ourselves and one another through the lens of God's love is not as simple as it sounds. It is far easier, far more comfortable for us to stay stuck in our old ways of seeing and being in the world.
Still, Jesus calls us to follow...which means that like Matthew the tax collector, we are called to abandon our old ways of seeing and being in the world. Like Matthew, we are called to imagine new ways of being in this world. Jesus calls us to see ourselves and others through the lens of the cross. Jesus calls us to let go of behaviors and systems that keep God's love under wraps, hidden away from the rest of the world. Jesus calls us to seek new ways of living as God's people. Jesus calls us to find new ways of being the Church.
At our synod assembly in Lexington these past couple of days, those of us who were there were reminded again and again that in the church "every person is a missionary, every pastor is a mission director, and every congregation is a center for mission." The assembly keynote speaker, Pastor Jill Rowland, spoke to the practical implications of this synod mission statement.
She said that being the Church does not mean sitting and waiting for people to come fill our pews. Rather being the Church means that we go out of our way to reach out others wherever they may be. And when we stumble upon the stranger, we see her or him as the amazingly gifted, full-of-potential, children of God they were created to be. Being the Church means doing what we can to help others see themselves through God's eyes. Being the Church means stepping outside of ourselves, serving people however and wherever they need to be served. Being the Church means empowering people in whatever ways they need to be empowered. Ultimately, we equip people to love themselves and the world around them, until they too become God's love-made-flesh in the world. And so the cycle continues...
As Pastor Rowland reminded us, forming congregations is not the Church's ultimate goal. For us that means St. Thomas is not the final destination. St. Thomas is more like a refueling station. It is a community with which people can connect, as they need to, to be renewed and made ready to go out into the world and do the work God calls us all to do.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, today, once again, Jesus invites people like you and me to the table. Jesus dares — indeed, Jesus delights — to dine with less-than-perfect people like you and me. Jesus invites to the table those who are broken and bruised. Jesus calls us to the table because Jesus sees us always in light of the cross.
Jesus calls to us today, as individuals, and as a community, and Jesus says to us, 'Follow me Journey with meSee what I see See yourselves in the light of the cross. See yourselves and the world around you, through this strange and wonderful lens through which God's love makes all things new.'
*specifically, Matthew 4:17-11:1
