In John’s gospel Jesus performs a series of “signs,” as the author calls them. Signs are, perhaps, simply miracles. But the idea is more than Jesus is able to act beyond the laws of physics. As John’s gospel presents it, Jesus is more than a miracle worker. Some of the miracles are “signs” because they reveal something about the character of God. In other words, we discover things about who God is from them.
The first of the signs was the Wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine. I find it fascinating that it is the first. You may remember that Jesus does not just turn a stingy amount of water into wine in order to keep the wedding family from being embarrassed about running out. No, there were six special stone jars for holding purification water standing there. They were for holy purposes, but Jesus repurposes them. He has those holy vessels filled with water and turns it into an abundance of excellent wine. It’s lavish, extravagant, abundant, and perhaps even irreverent and irresponsible! Yet that is God. We make a mistake if we think of God as stern, judgmental, harsh, and a killjoy. Think about what eternal life would be like if God were that way – stingy and joyless.
There is something joyful about a God who has a sense of humor – who likes to be surprising and silly. I imagine God looking down at that wedding and thinking, “Oh, this is going to be fun!”
So the first sign shows us that while God is powerful God also likes to have fun; be playful. That’s great! But what about the real pain and suffering of disease and injustice and all the other horrible things this world can cause for us? Is God just silly and trite.
Today we have the second sign – a much more serious thing. We’re told that a royal official has a son who is dying. We’re not told anything about this official. He could be a Jew. He could be a Roman. Most scholars think he was part of the Herod family’s leadership structure, but that’s not spelled out. It doesn’t seem to matter to the author. He’s just a royal official who comes to Jesus for help.
Jesus doesn’t seem overly concerned. At first he even seems dismissive saying, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” It’s worth noting that “you” here is plural. Jesus does not mean just this royal official specifically. He probably means people in general.
Jesus may sound harsh here. This man is a parent terrified of the death of his young child. He’s desperate. The last thing he needs is a rebuke in his desperation. But Jesus is not being harsh. He’s stating a reality. It’s subtle but important. It is worth us noting.
Jesus will heal the boy. He will do so because it is his will. He will not do it because of human demands or expectations.
It’s been a while since I’ve come across something like this, but I remember occasionally seeing ads in the newspaper where a person claims to have followed some sort of prayer formula, including publishing an ad in a newspaper, and has gotten them the results they wanted from God. Nope. It doesn’t work that way. God is sovereign. You cannot manipulate God. Similarly, it isn’t by some pure absolutely doubt free faith that you can make miracles happen. I know you can get that idea from the other gospels, but that is a misreading.
So, we have this second sign accomplished not because of any particular qualities of the boy or his father. It is purely and entirely Jesus’ will. It is Jesus’ will, and the second of his signs, which is intended to teach this important thing about God:
God sees and knows our human condition, both as individual humans and as larger communities. And along with that, God is present and available in real ways that impact our lives. This last statement is a tricky one though. We see that in the text.
We immediately ask a very good question. Why was this royal official’s son healed? Was this official somehow better or more holy or more faithful than other people? Why does God let so much suffering go on? And where it really gets sticky is, if God is present and available in real ways that impact our lives then why aren’t the lives of Christians measurably and statistically better than the lives of non-Christians?
Wouldn’t that make spreading the gospel easier? Wouldn’t it be great if we could run advertising campaigns, like the medication ads, that would say, “Become of follower of Christ and you’ll see noticeable improvement in your physical and mental health. You’ll have a happier, more stable family. Your life will be fulfilled.” And we could even say, “Past results ARE an indication of future outcomes”!
Yes, I would like to be able to do that! But what does Jesus say? “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”
I hope we can appreciate fully the way John tells this story. He gives us the message of God caring and acting in tangible ways. At the exact same time he tells us not to expect that to be measurable. There will not be a halo of the miraculous accompanying the lives of those who believe in Jesus.
So then, how does this tangible presence of God work, if it is not in the miraculous?
I cannot speak to times prior to my own birth, but as I think about my own experience of Christianity in America throughout my life I think we’re missing something very significant. We seem to think that we are to live fundamentally as individuals, or perhaps as nuclear families, each living an independent life of righteousness before God. And then getting together once a week for a religious experience called worship. We’ve made that religious experience the most spectacular thing we can based on a limited budget and talent.
As someone who’s been a pastor for a couple decades, and as someone who’s serving as the conference dean, and who has served the larger church in a number of ways, I’ve heard many people in congregations say, “Just give us a pastor who can preach a good sermon and our church will flourish.”
I get it. And sadly, there may be (or used to be) a certain amount of truth to that. But think about what that assumes for a minute. It assumes that faith and the church are based pretty heavily on the oratory skills of the pastor. It doesn’t rely at all on God’s grace, or God’s love, or the strength of the community. It puts the success or failure of the congregation all in the one basket of Sunday morning worship. You’d better make that the best show it can be because that’s the only meaningful God connection people are going to have in a week.
And there are variations on it. There was a fad about creating small groups, and a congregation being a collection of small groups. In each of these people were making deeper connections than just Sunday worship.
Okay, that’s going a bit further along, but it is still an institutionalized approach to Christianity. What it lacks is real community.
The oldest Christian writings in existence are Paul’s letters in the New Testament. And there Paul does not talk about miracles at all. He does not talk about Sunday morning worship being the best thing it can possibly be to spread the gospel. He talks about real community among the believers. He talks about sharing, table fellowship, real connecting, and interdependence. The early churches were not communities of individuals who got together once a week. The early churches, and I believe still the case where churches across the world are strong, are communities of interdependence. Church was not one organization among many. It was a fundamental community for strength and survival.
Let’s call it “affluenza”. I’ve used that word before. It is when people are affluent enough to live independently. They don’t need a faith community. A faith community is a luxury or a choice.
St. Paul wasn’t just using images when he says that the body of Christ has many members and we are all members of it. That’s the solid truth.
If we want tangible strength as Christians God has spelled it out quite clearly for us. God works through communities. The presence and power of God are found in and through each other. The stronger we make our community of faith the stronger it will be for us.
Ask yourself this. Are you a person who offers to help, but then discovers that you can only offer help when it is convenient for you? Or are you a person who offers help, and then is quite often able to follow through with that help even when it is complicated and hard? It is the second mindset that is the strength of the church.
We are all co-workers in God’s kingdom, a community of faith where God is active and real. It is not about a flashy worship experience. It is about true meaningful community with each other and the world at large. That is the way God works. That is the most significant and dependable way we will experience God in our lives.
May we have the insight and strength to be a community where God’s will is truly done; that we may be a sign to the world of God’s love.
No comments:
Post a Comment