wounded, anyone?

Robbie and I went to church this morning. We wanted to try out a new contemporary service at a more traditional church in our town. By a series of events, we got there late, which meant we actually missed the "contemporary" worship that I had really wanted to hear. But, I told myself, if Robbie got up and came with me, what did I have to complain about. We were in church, before 9a.m., together. So, the service proceeds with a fill-in pastor. (The normal pastor had a family emergency). The sermon is from the story of Peter's reinstatement as an apostle/disciple. It's a decent sermon, but it's not the subject of this blog. The subject at hand is a side comment he made about, "Peter, the head of the church, wounding a soldier". The thoughts started reeling and that brings me here to get them out of my mind and out there for the blog.

The text in question is Luke 22: 47-51

While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called
Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but
Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a
kiss?" When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said,
"Lord, should we strike with our swords?" And one of them struck the servant of
the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, "No more of
this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.

Here we have Jesus, the human form of God. Peter, a disciple, soon to be trusted teacher and head of the early "church". A guardsman, a non-believer, a Roman soldier. So, Peter, the "trusted teacher" injures the guardsman when he comes to arrest Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. How does he injure him, he cuts off his ear? His ear? Seriously, not an arm or a leg or a stab through the gut or chest, but he cuts off an ear. God has an interesting sense of humor. Even this one made me grin because EVERYTHING, even the small detail or ear vs. arm is important. Why? Because you can follow Christ/God with no legs, no arms, no fingers or toes. None of us can physically see him, so we'd all be in the same boat if we had no eyes, but how can you follow if you can't hear the directions???

Have you ever seen a time in your own life (or been witness to a time) when a trusted leader or confidant injured a non-believer or even a new Christian. They may have been judgemental or hurtful or prideful towards someone. Made the other person seem "small" or insignificant, unworthy of fellowship. It even happens with "seasoned" Christians. Someone insults us without even realizing it. They come across as "high and mighty" (in the mountains they call this "Holier than thou") and this makes us feel guilty or not good enough. What they did not realize was that these injuries cut off the ears of the people they hurt. If they were truly trying to share the love expressed in God's word, the bible, then they sure made the words hard to hear. How can these people grow their faith or develop a relationship with God when they can't hear the words being spoken to them. They can read their word, but they can not hear guidance because they have been rendered spiritually deaf. The harsh words or criticisms have taken the means of amplification from the ear canal. Even if God's word reaches them, it is a dull ringing compared to the hurt of having their ear cut off which is likely loud and clear! It creates a serious stumbling stone. But, notice in the story that it does not end with Peter cutting the guard's ear off. Praise God, it goes on to say that Jesus saw the insult and healed the wound. He touched the man's ear and healed him. That man, I'm sure, never looked at Jesus the same way again. No longer in his eyes was he an impostor, but rather he was the Healer. The King of Kings. I AM.

If you are out there today and you have been maimed in a "religious" experience (something said or done in the name of God or by someone representing God), please know that God loves you and desires a relationship with YOU, just as you are. Just as he told Peter and the disciples in the Garden, "There will be no more of this." Ask him to heal you and help you to hear. He will help you to overcome that injury and become whole again and find your way to him. For the rest of us, we need to be mindful of the spiritually deaf, as well as mindful of any deafness or other maimings that we may produce. And here we are again, back to choices....