Who is This Man?

WHO IS THIS MAN?
Mike Cunningham
FEBRUARY 22, 2016

For those of you who have been following this series, you can’t help asking yourself the question, “Who Is This Man?” He certainly made a lasting impression and greatly influenced the lives of everyone he came in contact with. For instance, everyone’s life was changed. Folks either became better or worse people. Some loved him and others hated the man. No one was indifferent. Great examples are contained in the following excerpts from this terrific book.

….“The walk to the city took Joshua almost four hours. It was almost ten when he reached the outskirts. Now he had to find the bishop’s office. It was a hot day and he was sweating profusely. After asking directions from several policemen-along the way, he finally arrived at the bishop’s place.

It was more like a modern office building than a traditional chancery. Joshua went inside and announced himself.

The place was cold and stiff. Joshua felt ill at ease and out of place. It was not his style and it brought back poignant memories of temple porticoes and flowing robes, and solemn clergy preoccupied with the same business of religion, and all its irrelevant legalities.

Joshua sat in the hall and waited. Priests and other functionaries walked back and forth looking very busy, going from one office to another. Joshua could hear conversations from each of the offices as they discussed the business matters of the diocese and the various parishes and agencies. They were very much involved in their work, and Joshua couldn’t help but notice their deep interest.

Parish life was audited through this office, and financial reports were monitored with a fine-tooted comb. Monetary matters were, as in ages past, the prime occupation of religious leaders. There was no way to monitor spiritual matters anyway. That was God’s business. Running the kingdom of God on earth was the noble task of ecclesiastics, and they thoroughly enjoyed this great work for God. Joshua shook his head in bewilderment. “How much they enjoy the business of the kingdom!” he thought. “If only they could become fired up with the same zeal for souls.”

After waiting for almost half an hour, Joshua was finally ushered down a long corridor into the bishop’s office.

The office was spacious. A deep red rug covered the floor. A golden coat of arms had been woven into the rug and looked impressive but commercial. A hand-carved desk stood at the far end of the room, and behind it sat the bishop. He stood when Joshua approached. They shook hands and the bishop gestured for Joshua to be seated. The bishop was a tall man, quite stout, and balding. His gold-rimmed glasses gave him a worldly appearance, and his mannerisms betrayed a refinement befitting his station.

As Joshua sat down his eyes scanned the ornately decorated room. Costly antiques here and there displayed one of the bishop’s interests. A magnificent chandelier hung from the ceiling, its pendants sparkling as the sun’s rays coming from a window bounced off various glass objects in the room.

The bishop thanked Joshua for coming and, as his time was valuable, got right down to business. “Joshua, I have heard many things about you the past few weeks. We have also received quite a few letters from people who are concerned about what you have been saying.”

Joshua doubted very much what the bishop was saying. He knew full well the only reason he was here was because the pastor in Auburn had complained about him. Joshua also knew that, if people did take the time to write about him to the bishop, they would have said nice things, but the bishop found it difficult to let anyone know the nice things people said. It gave him a psychological edge.

“Where are you from originally?” the bishop asked him.

“Bethlehem, a little place with a lot of friendly people,” Joshua answered.

“Oh, I know that community. I have some friends there. It’s an up-and-coming area,” the bishop replied.

Joshua relaxed, knowing his response went right over the bishop’s head.

“I have heard you like religion, and are a religious person, and enjoy talking about theological matters with people,” the bishop said.

“I think you may have been slightly misinformed. I don’t set out to talk about religion. I am not really interested in religious matters, as you understand them. I feel strongly about God and I like people, and I am very much interested in people’s relationship with God. That is different from the business of religion.”

“But you have been talking about religious matters and things involving the church, is that not true?” the bishop insisted.

“Insofar as Church people say and do things that affect people’s relationship with God, yes” Joshua replied.

“What are some of your ideas about God?” the bishop asked.

Joshua looked at him and could see the emptiness of his spirit. Perhaps he was a good administrator, but there was very little spiritual depth in this man whose life was consumed with his position in ecclesiastical politics.

“How can one describe God in a few words?” Joshua said, almost bewildered over the uselessness of the question. If you want to understand God, you have the full expression of the Father in Jesus. He is the living expression of the Father’s love, unbegotten from endless time and born into this world in time to manifest God’s love for all his creatures.”

“What do you believe about Jesus’ ideas about religion?” the bishop asked, getting closer to the point.

“Jesus was not interested in religion as you understand it. For you religion is the passing down of finely chiseled doctrines and rigid codes of behavior. For Jesus religion was finding God and enjoying the freedom of being close to God-seeing him in all creation, especially in God’s children. Perfecting these relationships was Jesus’ understanding of religion. In the mind of Jesus the Church’s great concern should be to foster people’s relationships with God and show people how to work together, caring for one another and building trust and love among the families of nations.

“Religion has not done that too well. Religious leaders have spent too much time and interest in setting up structures to imitate worldly governments. In running people’s lives by law they have severely restricted the freedom Jesus intended his followers to have. Instead of inspiring people to be good, they have tried to legislate observances like the scribes and Pharisees. In running religion this way they have created more tensions and added to the barriers separating people from one another. Jesus intended that his message bring joy into peoples lives, but too often religion has brought misery and guilt and made people see God as severe and critical.”

“Where do you get your ideas from? Have you studied theology?” the bishop asked, trying to disguise his discomfort.

“I speak of things I know, and I know what I say is true. You also know that.”

The bishop was irritated that this uneducated wood-worker should preach to him, and it showed in his next question. “Have you been telling people that they are free of their pastor’s authority?”

“I told them they are free, and that no one can take that freedom from them. If they feel their pastor deprives them of their freedom, they have made that judgment, not I,” Joshua answered sharply.

The bishop began to realize he was not dealing with an illiterate. Joshua was shrewd, and the bishop couldn’t help recalling the saying, “Simple as a dove, but as sly as a serpent.” He knew it would be futile to pry any more information out of this man without having a thorough examination by professional theologians and scriptural scholars. He saw that what Father Kavanaugh said was true. If his popularity spread and his message of freedom took hold, it would cause a schism and severely damage the Church.

The pastor in your church is very concerned about what you are teaching his people,” the bishop continued, shifting responsibility for this meeting from himself to the pastor. He didn’t want Joshua to think ill of him and tried to get on Joshua’s good side. “I realize you are a learned man, Joshua, and beneath your simple ways you have a profound understanding of the things of God and a deep feeling for people. There should be more Christians like you.”

Joshua said nothing, realizing the bishop was not being honest.

The bishop looked at his watch. It was almost lunchtime. He stood up, thanked Joshua for coming, and said that he had other appointments, ushering Joshua out.

As Joshua walked down the hall alone he walked past several priests and lay officials. He smiled hello, but they were to busy with their work to notice. He was famished from the long walk, and didn’t have money to go to a restaurant, and the walk home would be long and hot.

As he left the chancery and was walking down the steps, he noticed a vendor selling hot dogs across the street. He reached into his pocket to see if he had any money. He had just enough to buy two hot dogs and a bottle of soda. The vendor was friendly enough, and Joshua talked to him while he ate his lunch. He then wished the man well and started on his long trip home.

In the meantime the personnel in the chancery were gathering in the dining room for lunch. When the bishop entered the chancellor met him and asked how he made out with that “Oddball” from Auburn.

“He’s a shrewd fox,” the bishop told the chancellor. “John was right,” the bishop went on, referring to Father Kavanaugh, “this guy is dangerous. We’ve got to get rid of him.”

“How are we going to do that? He’s popular, and the Jews love him. And if they suspect we’re doing something to hurt him, it’s going to seriously affect their donations to our charities,” the chancellor suggested. He was used to carrying out unpleasant tasks that might tarnish the bishop’s image and was quirt adept at shrewd behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

“Call a meeting of the consulters for this evening,” the bishop said. “But don’t call Bob or John, They’ll have conscience problems, and I don’t need that. If they ask why they weren’t called, tell them you weren’t able to get hold of them. Don’t take any excuses from the others. If they say they can’t come, have them call me personally. I don’t want to take the blame for this. It’ll look better if the decision seems to come from them.”

The chancellor skipped lunch and started making the phone calls. By the time lunch was over he had contacted everyone. Then he went back into the dining room, where the staff was relaxing after their meal. He told the bishop everyone agreed to come. “Some of them gave me a hard time in the beginning, but when I told them they had to call you if they intended not to come, they gave in, even though it would mean changing their schedules.”

The dining-room table in the chancery was the grand tribunal where personalities were discussed and reputations of priests made and destroyed. The chancery regularly reviewed the latest gossip about various priests, and as there wasn’t any deep interest in the work the priests were doing as long as they were on schedule with the assessment payments, they enjoyed the pastime of discussing the latest scandals and rumors about priests. Most of the talk got back to the priests eventually and created deep resentments, which rarely surfaced. Priests knew which chancery official said what about whom, and one day it would all erupt. Father Pat had always thought the comptroller was a good friend of his. Little did he know that everything he told his friend in secret became fodder for discussion at the chancery table.

The talk about Joshua was typical. There were rumors and jokes and casual remarks made about him, and the bishop and his staff were content to allow Joshua’s reputation to be determined by these remarks. It showed the poverty of their concern for the real life of the community and the little value they placed on reputations.

Joshua certainly made a huge impression on the bishop and the other guys, didn’t he? Here’s another excerpt.

…. In the meantime Joshua’s walk back to Auburn was slow. He was tired from the long walk in the morning. The day was hot, and he hadn’t eaten enough to give him the stamina for such a long hike. When he reached the outskirts of the city he rested under a fat maple tree in front of an old Victorian house. No sooner had he sat down than a crotchety man in his sixties came out of his house and, with a rake that he had picked up from his porch, walked over and told Joshua to get off his grass. Joshua assured him he would do no harm, but the man was in no mood to listen. He just raised his rake threateningly. Joshua picked himself up and walked down the sidewalk to a tree in front of the house next door.

Some kids were selling refreshments down the street and saw what had happened. One of the boys came over to Joshua with a tall glass of Kool-Aid. Joshua was sitting in a niche between the roots with his legs outstretched. His clothes were soaked with sweat. When the boy offered him the drink Joshua reached into his pocket, but the boy seemed hurt and said, “No, mister, it’s free. You look sad, as if you had a tough day.”

Joshua thanked him and took a deep draught of the refreshing drink, and sighed with great pleasure. The boy beamed his delight that he had given a stranger such a comfort and sat down beside him. “What’s your name?” he asked Joshua.

“Joshua,” he answered.
“Where you from?”
“Auburn,” Joshua said, almost too tired to talk.

“Do you work?”
“Yes. I carve wood.”

“Don’t mind that man next door. He’s mean. When I was a little boy he hit me with a stick for walking on his lawn. He hurt me too. So don’t feel bad.”

“Joshua just smiled and said it didn’t bother him. He was used to people like that. He reached out and put his hand on the boy’s head and thanked him for the delicious drink, then got up and started on his way. “God bless you, Peter, and don’t ever loose your kind feeling for people.” The boy walked him as far as his Kool-Aid stand. As Joshua continued walking the boy watched him and wondered how he knew his name.

Now that you’ve read this sermon, I would like to ask you the question, “Who Is This Man?”

Lord willing, next week….