Dialogue Column Jan. 30

For those outside of First Christian Church, St. Joe, our weekly newsletter is The Dialogue. I thought I'd post it here for all those who aren't on the mailing list. Also, since I'm told bulk mail around here can take as long as 10 days, FCC folks may be interested as well. Here's this week's column--my very first one. It's sure to be a collector's item.

Through a Glass Darkly by Rev. Chase Peeples

Well, the Peeples family is finally in St. Joseph and what a welcome you have given to us! I am deeply grateful for the help church members have offered to us. From unpacking boxes to dropping by meals to giving me rides, First Christian people have shown love to us. I especially appreciate this assistance since I continue to recover from the eye surgery I had a few weeks ago.

Many of you have graciously asked how my recovery is going. I am glad to report that it is going well. Thankfully, my retina continues to be doing what it should, but full recovery will take some time yet. As of now, I still can see very little out of my right eye. So, if I pass you by in Hyvee without saying hello, please don’t take it personally. I’m not ignoring you. I really didn’t see you.

Jennifer and I have joked that our lives simply were not stressful enough with a new baby, starting a new ministry and moving across the country. Just to make things more fun, I had to go and have emergency surgery to reattach my retina! I had planned on coming as your minister and helping you to discover new opportunities for service to people in need, but I never expected that I would be the needy person you would be helping!

Over the last few weeks, I have tried hard to discern what exactly God might want me to learn during these circumstances. Over the ten days I spent laying face down, I had hoped that a great spiritual epiphany might occur. Other than having a new appreciation for things like being able to read or watch TV, no deep spiritual insights came. (Although, come to think of it, perhaps gratitude for things I take for granted is a spiritual insight. Hmm…)

It is more than a little frustrating—not to mention embarrassing—to arrive as the new minister but to be unable to drive or see across a room. On doctor’s orders, I’m prohibited from lifting anything over 10 pounds or doing any other strenuous activity. Although I joke about milking my recovery for all it’s worth, it really is difficult to simply sit while others do things for you. Besides, it just looks bad when Jennifer and I walk out of a store and she’s the one struggling with two kids while trying to carry the groceries. I can just hear it now: “That new minister is a male chauvinist pig. He makes his wife do all the work!”

I have consoled myself with reflections upon the two chief spiritual examples provided to us in the Christian scriptures: Jesus and Paul. Both underwent sufferings that far exceed my recent ones, yet they wasted no time pretending they had it all together or were free from difficulty. Instead, both sought to reveal their vulnerability so that others might see the work of God in them. By no means do I wish to compare my eye problems to the troubles faced by Jesus and the apostle, but I do offer it as an example of how the grace of God works through and in spite of our physical and spiritual weaknesses.

It is tragic that the face Christianity often presents to the world is one of people who supposedly have no problems and live perfect lives. The good news of the Gospel is that God works in the midst of life’s messiness and is present in the lives of imperfect people. Perhaps if more Christians were honest about their own vulnerabilities then those who have dismissed the faith might see its relevance. Better for Christians to reveal that they are real people with real problems who choose to believe and to serve anyway than to offer up the façade of being somehow above or apart from the problems normal people face.

What would happen if we as a church were to display such humility and vulnerability to our community? Are their people in St. Joseph who are looking for a community of faith that practices such honesty and humility? I believe there are.

Perhaps those ten days laying face down in bed were worth something after all. I’m still not convinced, but I’ll continue to share with you my reflections. In the meantime, please know of my gratitude towards you and my excitement at being your new minister.

Grace and Peace,

Chase

P.S. If you are wondering about the title for my column, go and read 1 Corinthians 13:12. (If you were in worship on Sunday, you heard Keith read it.) It is appropriate for my recent circumstances and might even say something about other circumstances too.