Proper 16 C Systems and Common Sense

Proper 16 C Systems and Common Sense
August 22, 2010
By Rev. Ernest F. Campbell




I believe that something truly exciting happens in today’s Gospel story. A woman of faith (she had not given up on God) who had been all bent over for 18 years, is by the healing touch of Jesus, free to stand up straight. Can any of us imagine how wonderful that would feel? It seemed that the entire synagogue joined together in a communal “Ahhhh” of relief. (We have all observed that when something is “out of kilter” we try to adjust it with remote body English).


**Demonstration) Notice how you feel when I create a distraction by making my stole crooked. You can’t look away, and that’s all you can think about.


When this poor woman was finally able to stand up and look around it was a healing moment of relief for everyone present.


EXCEPT…. the leader of the synagogue! He was indignant because Jesus had performed a healing work on the Sabbath day of rest. In another translation it says that the leader was angry. In another, that he was vexed. In his mind he had every reason to be angry. Jesus was being cheered for breaking the law.


So, we have the makings of yet another church standoff. On the one hand we have those who were cheered by the practical good results of Jesus’ healing touch, and on the other hand we have those who saw a blatant act of defiance of the beautiful laws of God; a whole system of rules and traditions that they believed were essential if one truly wanted to please God and live. 


If you have been paying attention over the past 50 years or so, you have witnessed at least four major church issues with the potential to divide the flock. 


  • High Church vs. Low Church

  • Prayer Book revision

  • The ordination of women

  • The ordination of homosexuals


The outcome of these issues has caused some to cheer and others to be angry. Some, I am sorry to say, were so angry that they walked away from their church. After one St. Paul’s parishioner found the new revised prayer book in the pews, she told me that she would return to church when the 1928 prayer book was back in its place. That was 30 years ago, and I haven’t seen her since. 


When I came to St. Paul’s 40 years ago, I was told that if women were allowed to serve on the vestry all the men would leave the church. I had come from a church where women had served on the vestry for years. (And there were lots of men who didn’t leave the church and who saw women in leadership as a good thing.)


It is a given that when people come together to accomplish some purpose or goal that they will develop systems to make it work. We have a school system. We have a court system and we have a government system. The Episcopal Church has a system of rules and standards that we call the Canons. When I was President of the Standing Committee, I was advised to stay close to the Bishop and the Canon’s of the Church. I think most would agree that while systems are never perfect they are better than everyone doing their own thing. 


So, we can understand why the leader of the synagogue was indignant. Jesus was challenging the system. At another time Jesus healed a man with a withered hand and when the authorities complained, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.”


What I believe Jesus is trying to help us see is that people are more important than a system of rules and standards.


My friend, the Rev. Doug Henderson, was in the bishop’s office in the Diocese of Minnesota, he was there on behalf of a fellow priest who was floundering in his parish responsibilities due to a drinking problem. the bishop, who was trying to figure out what to do, was combing the Canon’s for direction. In a moment of frustration and anger, my friend took the book of Canon’s out of the bishop’s hands and threw it in the wastebasket. Then he said, “Bishop, we are not dealing with a book, we are dealing with a man!”  After help with his alcohol problem, the Rev. Vernon Johnson established one of our nation’s premier alcohol treatment centers.


The church is for people, but over the years the number of people has declined. Attendance graphs show us that the decline looks like a stairway.


As a result, our Church and many other churches are asking some hard questions about who we are and what might need to change. For example, some have questioned the questions on the annual parochial report. Do the questions on this mandatory report make us work for goals that miss the point? Did you know that the only thing the National church knows about St. Paul’s Walla Walla is expressed in numbers? The fact that 14 faithful men have met weekly for the past 40 years for bible study would not be in the parochial report.


We count “pledging units,” we keep attendance statistics, we keep close track of the money, but do those numbers tell our story? If we are called to free those who are bound (like the woman in today’s Gospel), if we are called to raise the dead, how many times have we see that happen? There is more going on in Church than a report can show. I have often said, “Church is the best show in town if you know where to look.”


If, according to Our Lord, people are more important than systems, then let’s celebrate the people!


In today’s story, Jesus did the right thing but at the “wrong” time. He did not stick with the Sabbath perimeters. Could He, and should He have healed the women with the bent back the next day? Would His message have been the same if He had waited? From the Book of Proverbs we read, “Have two goals; knowing and doing right, and common sense.”


Could it be that Jesus had both of these goals in mind when He healed the woman in the temple. He did what was right, and He used common sense. He helped them see that they all worked on the Sabbath when they watered their livestock, which made good common sense.


They say that timing is everything. Our son Dave is the youth minister for the Diocese of Montana. His advice to other youth ministers; Schedule your "Lock-In's" to begin at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday night. Then, between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., let them prepare and serve a meal to begin the evening. If they want pizza, let them prepare it (from scratch). Serve whatever meal they prepare in the best dishes the church owns. But I ask, why that hour? Because, Dave has discovered that the real clients of the youth program are the parents, and this gives them some special time for themselves.


If I read the meaning of today’s Gospel correctly, people are more important than systems. Lord, help us to be aware of what works for the people. 


Amen. 

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