Surprised by a Question

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I was at a preaching workshop this weekend. It was a workshop designed to engage both clergy and laity by the More and Better Preachers Program from Trevecca Nazarene University. I recommend checking out the program, but this essay is about how we can be troubled, surprised, and curious through encounters with scripture. It will probably help to explain what I mean by and how I approach scripture as a member of clergy in a Wesleyan-Holiness denomination, Scripture for me is the sacred texts of the Jewish and Christian people as canonized by the Church catholic. The authority of scripture is present in the invitation and to know God and our response to that invitation. The inspiration of scripture extends to the reader through the work of the Holy Spirit. Any discussion of inerrancy for Wesleyan-Holiness folk is only concerned with the purpose of scripture which is to reveal how we are reconciled with God.

I met a new friend yesterday because a mutual friend mentioned that he believed we would connect. With another friend and an additional new friend our table and group for the day became set. One of the exercises we were led through is the process of sleuthing the text with others (friends, people in our congregations, and others). The passage we were given to discuss and sleuth was Matthew 9:18–26. This is a story I have always loved and recently saw the portrayal of it in the series The Chosen. I’ll put the passage here so we can be on the same page.

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread through all of that district. (Matthew 9:18–26, NRSVue)

A few truths I have seen in this passage include the fact that there is nowhere that God is not. In addition, there is no person God is not with, even if the religious rules label them as unclean. God is also present in our suffering. This does not mean that God brings our suffering or uses suffering to teach us, but that when we suffer, like the woman who suffered with a bleeding disease for more than a decade. This means that God is present in the suffering and working to redeem the suffering through that presence. A good discussion of what this means and how it part of the mission of the Church to be with others in suffering I recommend Andrew Root’s Evangelism in an Age of Despair.

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That truth that God is present even for those considered outside is important for me because if I were under the purity laws of the Hebrew scriptures, I would not be allowed in the assembly because I have an autoimmune disease which affects my skin and joints. I have what the New Testament translates as leprosy, but included a variety of skin diseases which include the one I have. So, I am keenly aware of what it means that there is nowhere that God is not. This is where my curiosity usually resided. Until…

My new friend mentioned that the part of this story that captures him is a question. “Is the official’s daughter dead?” What, of course she is. Jesus uses the metaphor of sleeping. My friend said that would be the end if it wasn’t for Jesus' other words; “the girl is not dead.” Boom, hit my curiosity at its core. What of she isn’t dead? What does that mean for the story or how we preach the story? I wish we had a few hours to just sit and discuss that idea, but we were there for another purpose. I couldn’t just let that idea drop of course.

I can hear a few of you saying, but aren’t you an open and relational process guy? Yes, but that doesn’t mean I do not hold tensions. I am a process theologian because I am Wesleyan-Holiness, so tensions are part of who I am and what I hold on to. But that doesn’t provide any pat answers for the mystery if the question, “is she dead?”

There are some answers such as Jesus meant the phrase prophetically as in this is what the reality is to be. Or, that Jesus is using the language of transformative understanding in that things are not unclean or dead in the eyes of God. That works, but doesn’t solve my curiosity or my encounter with this passage any longer. In the end those of us left at the table by the end decided that the facts don’t matter as much as the truth. That is a ver Wesleyan-Holiness way to think. But, I still want to think about how I might answer that question pastorally if asked in another venue.

The irony is not lost on me that this is a passage where the literalist insists upon a metaphorical reading of Jesus' words, but maybe a literal reading is correct here. “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." Anther friend mentioned that we still encounter divinity if the daughter is not dead. There is evidence of the divine in the knowledge of life and in the command that sends the paid mourners away. If the girl is not dead. there is still divine miracle present. But the miracle is resurrection to reconciled life. The question is important, but the answer is not as important as we think. The question is important because it invites us in to the story and depth of the Gospel. But the answer is not as important as we might make it. The encounter with Jesus transforms the synagogue official’s entire family. The question makes this passage more alive for me - all because it was asked and I never thought to ask it.

One of the reasons we should never sit completely alone in scripture is because our own voice easily deceives us.If ours is the only voice we hear, then we cannot grow. Christianity is a communal religion that we receive from history and a remembered future. Within the Church catholic, our experience of scripture is transformative when encountered in community. The multi-vocal nature of scripture invites us into a living and breathing encounter with a living God who is present to all of creation.

I recently allowed the YouTube algorithm to lead me down a rabbit hole of the global Voice competitions. Along the way I have heard some amazing performances. While watching the compilation of performances from blind audition to finale Ava, the eventual 2024 UK winner was a treat of hearing familiar songs in a new way. Her coaches were Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones from the band McFly. After Ava sings the finale song The Long and Winding Road Tom tells her that she sings songs that no one should be able to cover. He goes on to say that she gives “new meaning and new purpose to the lyrics.” It is true and also highlights something. If a new voice can bring new meaning and purpose by teasing it out of a familiar song, why can’t we see how scripture can do that?

Even familiar passages should be able to surprise us, make us uncomfortable, and peak our curiosity. But to do that we must be open to the possibility of encountering something new, different, or upending. Why do we continue to read? The same reason I can watch the movie Arthur hundreds of times but still find something beautiful. Not to mention, The Joshua Tree, Sgt. Pepper’s, A Love Supreme, Pet Sounds, or Nevermind. Those are familiar but also have the ability to surprise me. My encounter with the living God in scripture is the same. But sometimes, it takes another voice to help me see it. What voices are you in conversation with?

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My review of Evangelism in an Age of Despair:

Here is Ava’s story from The Voice, U.K.:

And because it is so amazing here is a winner from The Voice: Romania absolutely owning Welcome to the Jungle: