'Here's mud in your eye!' - Weekly Reflection 17th November 2024

 Have you heard the story about the ‘Mud in Your Eye’ Church?

The story goes that the three men whom Jesus had healed of blindness met after Jesus had risen and ascended.  One, recalled how Jesus had to pray for him twice, and use saliva and at first he saw men walking as though they were trees.  (Mark 8.22 ff) However, Bartimaeus said, no, no, Jesus healed me with a word of command. (Mark 10.46 ff) At this the third man, as recalled by John (chapter 9) said, “what about the mud, there has to be mud mixed with the saliva, you must have mud in your eye for Jesus to heal you.”

Today at St Oswald’s we continued our sermon series on the Letter to the Romans and our focus was on Romans 14. Here Paul is taking to task those in the Churches in Rome because it would seem they had fallen in disagreement over certain issues. Paul uses the language of weaker and stronger in the faith and I get the point, but I don’t think that’s is the most helpful phrase. 

14.1-2.  ‘Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.’  

I don’t want to go down that route, even as a vegetarian! However, the situation in Rome and meat goes a lot deeper than being veggie.  Most, if not all the meat, that found its way to the butchers for sale was first offered to a god in Roman temple worship. It’s not hard to see why some would have an issue with this.

On Saturday night we had the Big Tearfund Quiz at St Oswald’s. We were invited to bring drink and snacks. I asked the question about the drinks – soft drinks only or was alcohol allowed. 

I remember a Church in Oldham where they knew they had an acoholic in the congregation.  Therefore, all the wine used at the Communion was alcohol free for everybody out of love for this man. Similarly at St  Oswald’s we always use gluten free bread.

That is the point Paul is driving at here. There are some issues which we must defend, for example the saving death and resurrection of Jesus. I would also argue the Trinity. If you deny such things then, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, you have stepped away from orthodox Christianity. However, there are other issues that are not of primary importance, and we must seek to live in love and harmony, and if needs, to step back and not flaunt our so called ‘freedom’ just because we have a clear conscience over the matter.  Even worse, if we read this section of Paul’s letter. Going to the point of disparaging and judging those ‘weaker in the faith.’ 

As an itinerant evangelist working across various dioceses over several years, I became engaged in every shade of Anglican Church, and Methodist with the occasional visit to a Baptist Church. I was happy to wear full robes, or something a tad more casual and to follow the customs of the church with which I was engaging.

'For the Kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.’ Romans 14.17

It is useful to remind ourselves occasionally of this because it is very easy over a period of time to allow our shibboleths to become sacred and viewed as of first importance.

Although the origin of this quote is somewhat disputed, it is the seventeenth-century Puritan divine Richard Baxter, (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) who is largely responsible for making this quote familiar to English speaking folks. 

However, whoever said it and when it was first coined I believe it to be a good maxim.

“In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity (love).”

Simply put, Jesus can bring healing and wholeness to the soul and sight to the spiritually blind with or without mud – mud is not that important!