A friend shared some fun puns with me the other day. First, there were the two vultures who boarded an airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The flight attendant looked at them and said, “I’m sorry, gentlemen, only one carrion allowed per passenger.” Then my friend told of two hydrogen atoms that meet. One says, “I’ve lost my electron.” The other says, “Are you sure?” The first replies “Yes, I’m positive.”

Well, these brought to mind some infamous newspaper headlines I had read recently: “Include Your Children when Baking Cookies,” “Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers,” “Iraqi Head Seeks Arms,” and “Teacher Strikes Idle Kids.” While these headlines probably say a lot more about the real world than we care to think about, one thing is readily apparent. In any given group of people, we can see—or hear, or read, as we have just done—and get very different meanings from what is given to us. Communication can be a very tricky thing. The other obvious part of this is that it is so easy to come together when we’re having fun. Laughter can be very binding when we share it.

The examples I gave are all very easy to see as involving different perceptions, and there’s nothing there that we need to take very seriously, but what happens when we see things differently on another plane—perhaps a plane where our faith is even touched?

I confess I did a little experiment recently—and it involved some of you in the congregation. None of you knew you were a part of a “test situation,” but you were. But before I tell you what I did, I’d better give you some of my theory behind it. You see, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve come to realize is a very controversial modern-day phenomenon, the e-mail and herein is the experiment.

Now not everybody uses e-mails, and those of you who don’t may grow in understanding today, but those of us who do know that e-mails are sent in various ways and used for a variety of purposes. And I have learned that, depending on how e-mails are used, they can communicate efficiently, pass on information and insight, and actually accomplish great tasks. At the same time, they have with the sending the possibility of bringing joy, laughter, wisdom, compassion, inspiration, even protection, of sending a prayer, and the possibilities of sadness, hurt, judgment, cynicism, revulsion, anger, and more! My theory says that what happens when an e-mail is sent and received, is dependent totally upon the nature of the sender and receiver, and I have discovered you can either pull people further apart, or bring them much closer together, with a simple e-mail. Friends, the more I reflect on this area, the potential scares me.

Now, I’m going to tell you what I did in my little experiment, and then how I evaluated the results. On March 1, the day I became Acting Senior Pastor, I sent out an e-mail to about 9 or 10 individuals in our church family. The individuals were randomly chosen church leaders, and for the most part, not those to whom I generally send this type of e-mail, The particular e-mail was a rather nice statement of belief that started out with “God is my boss…” It had one of the more familiar pictures of Jesus in it and ended up with a nice statement of faith at the very end. Inspirational music played in the background as you viewed it, and it wasn’t too long, but it wasn’t really short either. You should know, too, that it came from a friend in Pennsylvania who shared with me that she had received it from her Pastor… and it could be important for you to know that this went out over the church’s network, while I usually only do this type from home.

Now when I sent the e-mail, I included several requests. The subject line said simply “Pass it on,” and did not have a forward indicated. In the text, I said, “Let’s try this,” and requested that we try to pass the message throughout the whole congregation. I asked the recipients to please pass it on and on and leave all the forwards in the body, and finally send it all back to me so I could see where this message had been and hopefully, the route it took. I also added a comment that while some may not agree theologically with every part of it, I expected that most would find a lot that’s good in it. Well, the interesting part of all this is that two people did send the message back to me, one to whom I had sent it directly and another who had received it from others. Each of those two messages, when I looked at the range of their forwards, appeared like they would go ‘round the world from the numbers they had reached already and, those sending it were extremely enthusiastic about the content--but I had no evidence that the message had gone through the congregation. We may have touched the world, but not our church family.

So now, friends, I have no conclusions, only more questions and concerns. Was there a judgment the e-mail was frivolous, perhaps a time-waster… and therefore a judgment on me? Did the message not accomplish enough, especially for the Myers Briggs “task-oriented” types? Are some people not willing to share their faith in this way, while others considered it vital and important? How is the e-mail route less significant than old-time letter writing that many of us never did enough of anyway because it took so much time--and this is so easy? Did it make some angry or disgusted? If so, is there forgiveness in their hearts—or just condemnation? Is the timing of Lent any better—or worse—than any other time, for this? Can something as simple as an e-mail really engender strong negative feelings? Could this perhaps mean that my e-mail “thank yous” are somehow not valued? Why? What center have we tapped here, friends? What is the message we are getting and is it a good one, or not? Or is it merely a symptom of much more…?

Friends, is it a risk to reach out and touch someone, especially when that touch has the possibility of helping and healing, however we might do it? Or is the risk of judgment from others, the condemnation for sinners, so great and so much a part of all of us that it pervades all that we perceive and do, even such a simple thing as an e-mail? There’s an opportunity to come together, and yet we hold back… We have the simplest choices to share our faith at times, and yet we just don’t do it. Are we maybe too sophisticated, too mature, when perhaps we should be more like children? Are we together in love?

If we look closely at our scripture of today, is there a similarity to the way in which Jesus reached out and touched the man born blind to heal him, reached out so the man could see things that he had never seen, and yet others questioned that act as wrong? What do you think?

The man who was healed was amazed. He knew it was a wonderful event that had just happened and he gave full credit to this Jesus he had not know ‘til then, the Jesus he said must be a prophet. When others questioned, the man never did, he just accepted, as had Jesus done to him, for Jesus likewise never questioned the man’s past or his sins. The man’s eyes were opened to a new vision that now included Jesus Christ, while Jesus simply helped and healed a man in need. Oh, others asked and even assumed that the blind man’s parents had sinned to cause the man’s blindness, but Jesus obliterated that idea, really quick. This scripture has perhaps the strongest message in the Bible of suffering that is unearned and undeserved.

And yet, in the midst of the really great thing he had done, judgment hit Jesus, in the fullest sense. We know that it got him into trouble with the authorities of His time, all the way to the cross. Yet the man touched by Jesus called what Jesus had done a miracle! While others questioned it, he did not, for he knew what had happened. The Pharisees didn’t realize that in their condemnation of Jesus as a sinner, it made the miracle an even greater event in the fact that it happened!

Friends, the world of that time didn’t understand Jesus and we have a great deal of trouble understanding Him now. When He enters our lives do we see Him? Do we know Him? Or do we miss the opportunity because we can’t see so clearly ourselves? Do we need a new vision of all the possibilities He can bring, if we come Together in Love, Jesus and us, in a partnership of healing faith that can spread ‘round the whole world, if we but let it.

There’s another e-mail I just got that illustrates this better than I can say it. It tells of a young boy who takes off to meet God. He knows it’s a long trip to where God lives, so he packs his suitcase full of Twinkies and a 6 pack of root beer, and leaves on his journey. He eventually meets an elderly man who is just sitting in the park, feeding some pigeons. The boy sits down and opens his case. The man looks hungry to him, so he offers him a Twinkie. The man accepts and smiles at the boy, which makes the boy feel good, so the boy next shares a root beer and they eventually end up just sitting there together, all afternoon—never talking, just eating and smiling. It was almost dark when the boy realizes he has to leave, starts to take off, and then turns back to give the man a big hug. He got the biggest smile ever back. When the boy returned, his mother asked him what made him so happy, and his response was “I had lunch with God.” Before his mother could answer, he continued, “You know what? God’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.”

At the same time, the elderly man returned home, also radiating joy. His son was struck by the peaceful look on his face, and asked, ”Dad, what did you do all day that made you so happy?“ The Dad replied, “I ate Twinkies in the park with God.” And he added, “You know, he’s much younger than I expected.”

Too often, we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear—all the things that can make a difference in someone’s life, indeed all the things that Jesus taught by example and the word. It sounds so simple on the surface, yet it’s a principle that needs to go way deep.

It’s the heart of discipleship, for as we become disciples for Jesus Christ, we are spending time in His presence, doing as He would do, and fulfilling the mission statement of our church that you have on the small prayer card in today’s bulletin. It’s a process that can lead us to go out with love, as disciples, and to come “Together in Love.” as you will see in the small prayer that is printed on the other side of the Gospel message. It’s a key for better communication and more caring, with the potential to heal even in our own church community.

It’s as we reach out together in love, first in our church and then to pass it on, that we might help and not hurt a difficult and often painful world, a world born in blindness that needs that love of Christ so very much, that loving, healing touch that we can offer in Christ. It’s a love that can pull us away from judgment yet enable us to hold forgiveness in our hearts. As Jesus suffered, we might suffer, for we are with Him each step of the way as we proceed to the Cross of Calvary. But the vision of a new world is ever closer, and together we are coming…

And now, it’s time for us to share our togetherness in Christ’s love that we have in this congregation, through the sacrament of Holy Communion. Our bread and our juice could be Twinkies and root beer, and it would be the same.

As we share the Lord’s Supper at this Lenten time, instead of singing as we usually do, you’ll be hearing the wonderful words that Jesus said that have been given to us as the gift of discipleship, words we can take to heart, accept and love, for the way they touch us and change us.

We come together in love, together in this Body of Christ. May this be reflected in our simplest acts.

Sermon delived by Carol Mumford on March 6, 2005.