On the 11th, one of our lectionary readings came from the 4th chapter of Acts. This is where Peter and John are being questioned and reprimanded by the religious council in Jerusalem. It opens with the following:
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.”
These were nonspecialized, ordinary people, who nonetheless spoke with great boldness of what they had witnessed of Jesus through the power of the Spirit, and that always has an impact. Holding onto this idea, I’d like to tell a short story.
When I went to graduate school the first time, it was at a seminary in California, called Fuller. My wife used to work in marketing and fundraising. Halfway through my time at Fuller, she made the switch from her corporate marketing job to the development team at Fuller. Tragically, this meant I could no longer just be another slacker student lost in the crowd. I had to go to all the dumb fundraising and schmoozing events the school offered like a good spouse.
Through these excruciating events, I got to know the boyfriend of another woman working in the Fuller marketing office. We’ll call him Dave, and he installed industrial HVAC on high-rises. He was almost exactly the stereotype of the blue-collar guy. He had the kind of build that if he’d been Australian, you’d look at him and immediately go, “He plays rugby.” We bonded instantly, because at the end of the day, I’m just a prettied-up and pretentious knuckle-dragger who worked nights in high school and in a factory at 17.
One night, Dave got dragged to a fundraiser hosted by the seminary provost, who had a flair for the dramatic. As every new person entered the event, he asked them with gravitas “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD?” It was quite the greeting. Dave had no idea what he was talking about.
He interpreted the provost’s question as asking, “What would you like to do that you are not already doing?”
Now Dave had always been interested in birds of prey, and Falconry in particular. So, when the provost asked him, “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD?” He looked him dead in the eye and replied with boldness and absolute sincerity “Raise Falcons.” It has impact, and the provost had no reply. Raising falcons for Jesus has been an inside joke for us ever since.
I tell this story for a simple reason. Here in The Episcopal Church, especially we clergy, sometimes seem to think that if we get enough credentials, enough respectability, then that will suddenly draw people to Christ. We think that will have an impact on people. We forget the power of ordinary people. I think we need to remember the spiritual power of people like Dave.
A few months back, I went to a conference. One of the speakers had recently returned from working at the Anglican communion office in London. They’d been tracking church statistics and trends across the communion. She said that when they polled Americans across denominations the majority of people who attend church regularly started coming because they were asked to come by a non-clergy member of the church. Beyond that, that 70% of surveyed Americans, including atheists, reported they would come to church if asked by another layperson.
Think back to the reading from Acts I opened with. We often forget the power of bold ordinary people who have had an experience of Jesus. My friend Dave will probably never win a preacher of the year award. Yet, he can and has said “Jesus saved my life” with a sincerity and boldness that is probably more impactful than all the over-educated sermons I’ve ever given. Our churches are filled with people like Dave.
This easter season I encourage you all to reflect on the power and gift of the ordinary people in our churches, and consider how we can support them, feed them, and encourage them in the spreading of the gospel anew. Amen.
This meditation was written by the Rev. Jonathan Galles, Rector of The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Blue Springs, Missouri.
