Shared Responsibilities

In church, we often speak of sharing or bearing each other's burdens.

Generally, we mean by this that we help each other out in times of need. For example, we visit those in the hospital or we provide meals for those dealing with hards times or we pray for each other.

That's an important part of what it means to be the church, no doubt about it. Yet, we have other burdens. And those burdens need to be shared as well.

I'm thinking, in particular, of the burden or responsibility to read and interpret Scripture. This is a burden for each of us, even if it is a burden we gladly accept. Either way, it is a burden that must be shared. And one of the great sins of what is called the Protestant Reformation is that individuals came to think that they did not need each other or the church to understand Scripture.

It is a good thing for individuals to read and interpret Scripture, to seek to apply it to their lives, but there are voices within the text to which, for whatever reason, we are deaf. Those voices need to be heard.

Contrary to what Greer likes to say sometimes, somewhat in jest, the way to hear those other voices is not to earn a degree from a seminary. Trust me on that one. I've been to seminary and I can tell you that I know folks with nothing more than an 8th grade education who have more insight into the Bible than some of best and brightest seminary folk, student or faculty. Rather, the way to hear those voices is to read Scripture together as the church and to listen to one another.

This morning, for example, our text touched on the healing of a leper. And, in our midst, we had two people with experience with leprosy. Bill H had encountered lepers growing up in Africa. And Greer had actually spent time at a facility for lepers in Louisiana, alongside the top leprosy researcher of the 20th century.

Now, I'm here to tell you that no formal theological training will provide those voices. Those voices only come from experience. And my experience renders me deaf to that, so it's a good thing we have folks like Bill and Greer in our midst.

This is a common experience.

I was once interviewed for a job teaching at a private, Christian, high school. I was asked my thoughts on female ministers. The answer I gave was that no man can preach about Eve, Ruth and Naomi, Mary (any of the Mary's), the Whore of Babylon, or any of those women whose names have been lost to history (so and so's wife)--no man can preach about these women from the perspective of a woman. That's not to say a man can't bring insight, but a man doesn't have the lived experience of a woman. And, because of that, I need women to bring that perspective to the text. (Needless to say, I didn't get the job.)

Take some time to think about the voices to which you are deaf. Granted, we are deaf to some voices because they we don't even know about them, which is another reason we need each other. But there are some voices to which we are deaf because we don't want to hear them. Reflect on those voices and ask for ears to hear.

Take some time, also, to think about the voices you hear that others don't. Be thankful, but also remember that we have the responsibility to share those voices with each other. If you have ears to hear and we are deaf to that voice, then you have the burden of being the voice to the voiceless for us. We are counting on you. We need you.