There are lots of things in history that have happened that we would call ironic. A great example of this is gunpowder. It was discovered/created by Chinese alchemists. They were looking for a concoction that would extend life, or even provide immortality. The irony here is easy to see. In their effort to extend life the alchemists stumbled upon a combination of ingredients that created a substance responsible for millions of deaths.
Here is another one: you have heard of workplace signs that indicate the number of days since an accident occurred, right? There was a New Orleans pool facility that was celebrating the fact that it had been one year since any accident happened. They decided to throw a pool party to celebrate. One-hundred lifeguards attended. And yet a man drowned at this event.
And then there is the irony of forest forest in the western United States. The big reason for setting up the U.S. Forest Service was to prevent forest fires. To that end they approved an all-out ban on fires of any kind in the area. This policy led to an overcrowding of trees, grass, and shrubs. So when a fire did start there was plenty of fuel around. Millions of acres have burned as a result of this “no-fire” policy.
That’s irony for you. We sometimes cause the very things we try to prevent. The really sad thing is that this happens in church too.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said that 11:00 AM on a Sunday morning is “the most segregated hour in this nation.” He was referring of course to the way most churches tend to cater to specific groups of people. There are churches that are attended by predominantly Hispanic people, or Korean people, or African American people, etc. A poll taken by Lifeway Research found that 86 percent of church congregations are comprised of mainly one racial group. Why is this? Isn’t the Christian Church supposed to be a place where everyone can gather?
How would Jesus have addressed this issue? We can find clues to that in Matthew’s Gospel. Let’s look at some specific miracles he performed in chapter 8:
Matthew 8:1-16
8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you,+ I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
So let’s list the miracles here:
Cleansing the leper
Healing the Centurian’s slave
Healing Peter’s mother-in-law
Driving out the spirits of the demon-possessed
Do you notice anything common with this group? They were all somehow marginalized by society. Lepers were ritually unclean. Just being around one would cause you to be unclean too. Leviticus told the people that lepers had to live alone “outside the camp.” The Centurian was a Roman, a citizen of an occupying force. And his slave was, well, a slave. Women were also marginalized. Jewish law, for example, didn’t allow women to be witnesses in judgements. And do I even need to convince anyone about how marginalized the “demon-possessed” would be in society?
All of these were in some way outsiders. And yet here in one chapter of the Gospel we have Jesus healing them all.
Jesus approached the outcasts. He spent time with every group around. No one was barred access, and everyone was welcome.
Try this out for a minute. Close you eyes and picture in your mind the perfect church. What is it like? What does it look like? What does the worship service have in it? Who is attending?
Does your idea of a perfect church have only one type of people in it? Is there only one racial group there? Are there only men or women there? I doubt it. God’s mission involves extending the message of the Kingdom to all people. Where would Jesus establish new communities of faith today? Wouldn’t everyone be invited?
The Gospel comes to us on its way to someone else. This means that Christianity is all about relationship. We are invited to take part in the spread of the Good News, and everyone out there is a candidate to receive it.
God Bless