“A New Thing”               Dr. Van Kemper

                   Texts: Mark 2:1-12 and Isaiah 43:18-25

 

SERMON

  Mark’s story of the “Healing of the Paralytic” is one of the best-known stories in the Gospels, appearing also in Matthew and in Luke.  Each version of the story has its special features.  For instance, Mark is the only one to locate the story precisely in Capernaum.  And Mark is the only one to say that Jesus “was speaking a word” to the people crowded into the home where he was at that time, although Luke does say that the episode took place “one day, while he was teaching.”

Have you ever wondered just what was “the word” that Jesus was teaching to the crowd that day?  None of the gospel-writers reports this detail, but I have an idea that makes sense to me – and I want to share it with you this morning to see what you think. 

Just imagine, for a moment, that we were back there in Capernaum, that little town on the northwest edge of the Sea of Galilee.  Like everyone else in town, we had heard about the healing powers of this man called Jesus.  And like every we knew, we went out to the house where he was staying and tried to crowd our way in to hear and see what all the fuss was about.

Imagine further with me that we got lucky and squeezed our way into the large room where Jesus was speaking “the word” to the assembled people.  And what a “word” it was!  He was speaking to us from memory from the prophet Isaiah – without the benefit of the scrolls kept down the street at the synagogue.  This man Jesus seemed to have a special affinity for the great prophet – we all knew that he had read from the scroll of Isaiah when he had been in Nazareth, where he had gotten into trouble with the people there for proclaiming the “year of the Lord’s favor” (from Isaiah 61).

          Now, here in Capernaum, this Jesus again was sharing his understanding of Isaiah, but this time from earlier in the scroll.  As we wiggled our way into the room, he was saying “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing. . . “

And just at that moment, as we were leaning forward to hear his next words, to learn about this “new thing” – the middle section of the roof came falling down around our heads!  After the dust cleared, we saw that a man was being lowered to the floor by ropes handled by four men, on their knees and leaning over into the gaping hole in the house’s ceiling.

All our attention was on the man now settled on the ground.  We all knew him as the paralytic who usually sat outside the local synagogue, where he always was asking us for a morsel of bread and a sip of water. 

And then we saw this Jesus stand up and dust himself off, and then walk over to where the paralytic was trying to rearrange the clothes that had fallen off his shoulders in the descent to the floor. 

We saw Jesus speaking in a soft voice to the paralytic, as if it were meant to be heard only by the man himself.  And then Jesus said for all to hear, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  And the scribes who were sitting in the place of honor at the table seemed to take offence at this declaration of forgiveness – we could see the consternation in their faces, which became redder and redder and then took on quite a twisted look.

And suddenly, as if reading their minds, this Jesus rebuked them by saying “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven?’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – he said to the paralytic – “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.”

And we were amazed to see the paralytic stand up and walk out of the room into the bright sun of the afternoon.  And we began to exclaim to those around us, “We have never seen anything like this!” 

And then, almost as if nothing extraordinary had taken place, Jesus sat back down and continued teaching “the word” from the prophet Isaiah.  But, frankly, we were so stirred up by his healing of the paralytic that we missed what Jesus was saying, until he declared at last, “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”  And then Jesus got up and went out of the house and walked down to the edge of the Sea of Galilee.

Well, friends, Julie and I are up here feeling just like the people in that house at Capernaum.  In the years that we have been here at Trinity – more than five years for Julie and just more than four years for me – we can say, “We have never seen anything like this!”

For those of you have only been here at Trinity for a few weeks or months, a review of recent events may be helpful.  And even for those who have been here since ancient times, it is a remarkable series of happenings.  So, here goes . . .

A year ago, in January and February 2002, Julie and I offered a Sunday school class on Oak Cliff’s demographics, past and future, and the significance of these changes for Trinity.  Frankly, we did the class out of a sense of desperation.  For several years, we had been trying – without any success -- to get the session and the congregation at large to deal with this major transformation going on all around us.

A number of you here this morning [ look around the choir and the pews] attended one or more of those classes in the Fellowship Hall.  I remember that, at one of the first sessions, we asked everyone to write down his or her age on a piece of paper – and the average age of the twenty or so people around the tables was 75!

At that time, in early 2002, it was pretty quiet here at Trinity – there were seldom any visitors, except when relatives (grown-up kids and grandkids) and old friends showed up on special occasions, mainly funerals.  The building was used hardly at all except for the occasional meetings of Living Legends and women’s Circles.  In fact, in early 2002, the most active gatherings were the First Thursday dinners organized by Billy Bates over at the Charcobroiler on Jefferson.  Sometimes more folks showed up at the Charcobroiler than were here in the sanctuary on Sunday. 

The Wynnewood church property already had been listed “for sale” for over a year, and the folks from Iglesia Presbiteriana Emmanuel had departed many months earlier to nest at First Presbyterian in Irving, even though no legitimate buyers were on the horizon for the Wynnewood property.

As one of our Session members put it, “Trinity was slowing sliding down the slippery slope toward extinction.”  On more than one occasion, the Session even discussed closing or relocating as options to what is known as “congregational transformation.”.  At times, I felt less like a Parish Associate for Community Ministry and more like a Chaplain overseeing a hospice situation. 

Trinity seemed stuck in the past, paralyzed by its focus on being like a dysfunctional family, no longer open to new ideas or new members.  The proclamation that had appeared for many years on the front of the Sunday worship bulletin said it all: “Over a Century of Service to God and the Oak Cliff Community.”  Looking backward, instead of looking forward, Trinity seemed very reluctant to face the realities of community ministry in the twenty-first century. 

For me, the bottom was reached at the end of January 2002 when some folks complained and gossiped about having to listen to the lectionary texts in Spanish as well as in English.  This hostility – which finally poured forth at the end of a Session meeting – was really a sign of stress about the future of the congregation in this neighborhood. 

Having reached the bottom, the congregation’s leadership found the will to deal with it – in effect, to be willing to hear the word of “forgiveness” regarding how we were dealing with our neighbors.  And almost immediately, one “ new thing” after another began to take place here at Trinity.  In fact, looking back over the past twelve months, the number of “new things” has been amazing to me.  It has been like witnessing the paralytic standing up and walking out into the bright sunny afternoon.

For me, the first “new thing” came during last spring when our minstry intern Phyllis Speck organized an English as a Second Language program as part of her internship experience.  Given the problems over the use of Spanish in our worship services, the willingness of folks to be involved with our neighbors through an ESL program was very significant.  The program has been small, but has continued to grow in participants ever since – meeting now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in the mornings and in the evenings.

Later in the Spring, the Session took the courageous action of creating an “Inclusive Ministries Task Force” whose mission was to find ways to make Trinity a more “welcoming” congregation to those who came from outside the “family.”  This Task Force, headed by Elder Wayne Davis, worked diligently throughout the summer to develop the Welcoming Statement – approved unanimously by the Session in August -- that appears in the Bulletin, in the Caller, and now graces the home page of our new Internet Web Site.  The publication of our Welcoming Statement in The Voice, the main newspaper for the gay-lesbian community here in Dallas, has brought in a number of visitors who otherwise would never have found their way to Trinity.

The Task Force also came up with the idea of the name tags that nearly everyone puts on these days for worship services.  And members of the Task Force agreed to sit at a table outside the sanctuary doors before the Sunday service – and, more important, to put out the large “Trinity Welcomes You” banners that we had made at Kinko’s.  For the first time, people speeding up and down Zang could see that there was life in this old place.  And our neighbors in the nearby apartments and houses began to feel that they, too, might be welcome here.

Although the early aspirations of the Task Force proved to be too lofty, we got a great boost when new member George Jagemann suggested that he would be willing to bring visitors from Grace Presbyterian Village in the Village’s own shuttle bus.  So, from three to eight regular visitors have been joining us almost every Sunday morning since the early fall.  The “Village People” have proved to be a most joyful addition to our worship services.

The summer also saw the sale of the Wynnewood facility to a group interested in turning the place into a charter school.  We received more than $800,000 from the sale.  Later, the Session voted to use up to $100,000 per year for up to five years to help us through the transitional period as we look forward to turning around the long-term decline in membership here at Trinity.  This was a courageous, forward-looking action by the leaders of this congregation.

The summer also brought a half dozen other unexpected visitors to the church building.  I refer, of course, to our church cats, which have become a regular feature of our life since Saint Virgil took on their care and feeding.

The summer also brought to an end the saga of Mildren Tonn’s estate – which had become such a burden for Julie, who had agreed to serve as executor for the estate after Mildred had passed away without a will.  One benefit to Trinity for all of Julie’s good labors was an unexpected bequest of $35,000 from Mildred’s surviving sister.  The Session agreed to use this bequest to sustain the efforts of the Inclusive Ministries Task Force to continue our efforts to make Trinity a more Welcoming Congregation.

The summer ended with the Choir having agreed to give up their practice room down at the southwest corner of the building, so that we might develop a Computer Place for us and our neighbors.  Thanks to the excellent work of Frank Lassater, Beans Bates, Virgil Sewell, and Harold Pearce, at long last the Trinity Computer Place is open. 

By the way, we are forming a Computer Task Force to establish user policies, and we need two volunteers from our congregation to help us with this work.  The folks in the Emmanuel congregation also will provide two persons to serve on the Computer Task Force.  More about that soon.

Since the Inclusive Ministries Task Force began its work, and benefiting from George’s bringing the “Village People,” we have had a small but steady influx of new faces in our worship services.  In fact, on some Sundays, as many as 20% of the folks in the pews have been visitors.  This is an amazing transformation for a congregation where the usual number of visitors a year ago was zero!

As we all have learned to be more welcoming, visitors have felt a new spirit in this place, and some have returned again and again.  As a result, since the summer five new members have joined, and at least three others are contemplating joining in the near future.  Meanwhile, over several months, the Session took another courageous action – moving to the Inactive Roll about 20 persons who long since had ceased to be actively involved in worship and ministry here at Trinity.

During the fall, God provided us with another unexpected opportunity when, out of the blue, I was asked by the Committee on Ministry of Grace Presbytery to serve briefly as Moderator of the Session of Iglesia Presbuteriana Emmanuel, after their long-time pastor Horacio Quiroz had left to accept a call to serve in Arkansas.  At the end of September, the folks of Emmanuel received notice from First of Irving that Emmanuel had to be gone by the end of December.  It was God’s providence that placed me with them at that critical moment to suggest that Trinity could be an option for them to consider.  After visits with leaders at several congregations, the congregation voted by an overwhelming plurality to come here.  Their first worship service here took place on January 5th, 2003.  It was a joint communion service with Julie preaching in English and Spanish, and more people filled this sanctuary than had happened for quite a few years – except at funerals!  We still are learning how to live together as partners in ministry here on Zang Blvd., but – for me – the joy of hearing the voices of children and youth in our halls makes it all worthwhile.

Finally, another little bit of providence came our way when a friend of my son John discovered that plans for his Eagle Scout project had fallen apart – just as he was approaching the deadline of his 18th birthday, which he celebrated this week.  With the approval of the Administration Committee and with some funding for the materials from the Mission-Outreach Committee, young Austin Ross and friends designed, built, and installed a picnic table and two benches (and also painted all the playground equipment) on the grassy area west of the parking lot.

 

SUMMARY

So, here we are – at the end of February 2003.  And the doors of Trinity Presbyterian Church haven’t closed.  Far from it.  They are open wider and remain open longer than they have in many years.  We now have folks here on most Monday nights (between committee and session meetings and gatherings of the Oasis Housing Corporation families), on Tuesday mornings and evenings for ESL, on Wednesday evenings for choir and Bible study for the folks in the Emmanuel congregation, and Thursday mornings and evenings for ESL.  And there is more to come!

During the past twelve months, God surely has been at work among us.  These “new things” did not take place all at once, nor were they all the result of careful planning on our part.  Indeed, we can hardly take credit for much of what has happened.  Only in looking backward over the past twelve months can we begin to appreciate the collective impact of what, at first glance, seem to be isolated events. 

Like the paralytic being lowered into Jesus’ hands by faithful friends, we have been delivered into God’s hands by faithful leaders who knew that we were beyond help if left to our own devices.  Together with the Emmanuel congregation, Trinity has a great opportunity to be in ministry with our neighbors.  Like the paralytic, we have stood up, and dusted ourselves off , and we have walked out into the bright sunny afternoon.  And like the paralytic, we do not know what will happen to us as we continue to go out into the community.  But, I do know this:  We are on the path to congregational and community transformation. A year ago I was ready to write Trinity’s epitaph. Now, I am proud to proclaim Trinity’s Epiphany --  for surely God has begun to “do a new thing” here among us. 

 

Amen.

 

© 2003 Robert V. Kemper (e-mail: rkemper@trinitypresdallas.org)