God Can't Fill Whatever Is Already Full
This week, as a nation, we’ll honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who dedicated his life to pursuing basic human dignity and rights for African Americans. This week we’ll also pause to remember the millions of preborn children lost to the virulent sin of abortion in our country because of the Rowe v. Wade decision of the United States Supreme Court forty years ago. They, like the African Americans for whom Dr. King sacrificed his life, are not afforded basic human dignity under the law. As a matter of fact, the preborn are denied that most fundamental of human rights—the right of “personhood”.
Everyone of a particular age remembers the civil unrest and violence of segregation. We remember the violent reactions of those who did not want things to change. We remember the hangings, fire bombings, and imprisonments. We remember the protest marches, the demonstrations and the standoffs between those who supported and those who opposed segregation. And so, in honor of Dr. King, I’d like to share with you a story.
It’s a true story about racial hatred and integration in the hills of South Carolina in the late 1950’s. Actually, the story was told by Clarence Jordan, a civil rights activist and founder of a Christian ministry known as Koinonia Farms. Many years ago, at the height of segregation, Clarence was invited by a Southern Baptist Church in South Carolina to preach a revival. It was something Clarence did often and it was something he was gifted at doing. When he walked to the pulpit on the first day and looked out over the congregation, he was shocked—taken aback. Filling the pews in front of him was an overflowing crowd. It wasn’t the number of people that surprised Clarence. He was surprised to see blacks and whites sitting, shoulder-to-shoulder throughout the church. There was no sign or indication of tension or hostility. Instead, everyone seemed as one family, without racial distinctions of any kind.
“How did this happen?” asked Clarence of the church’s pastor, who was sitting in a chair nearby.
“What?” responded the pastor. “This,” said Clarence, motioning toward the congregation. “This church is integrated!”
The pastor’s expression betrayed confusion, so Clarence continued. “You know what I mean. You’ve got black and white people worshipping together at your church and that’s unusual for South Carolina. For that matter, it’s unusual anywhere. How did it happen? Was it the Supreme Court decision?”
The Supreme Court had recently ruled in favor of desegregation.
“What’s the Supreme Court have to do with Christians,” asked the pastor.
Pause for a moment – That’s a very good point because courts and legislators don’t decide what’s right and wrong. Christians are expected to live God’s moral law, which does not depend on government and cannot be changed by legislation.
Now, back to the story -
Finally the pastor agreed to tell his story. Years before, while he was passing through, he decided to drop in and visit the church for Sunday worship. He was shocked to learn that the church didn’t have a preacher. None could be found. No one would agree to come. Why? The church was dying. The congregation was diminishing. Those that were left, black and white, were racially divided—each to their own, separate though not equal. On that Sunday morning the minister introduced himself to the church’s deacons.
In the Protestant churches, deacons are not as they are in our Catholic Church. Our deacons are ordained and perform a Sacramental ministry. They share in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. In the Baptist churches, deacons are locally elected leaders.
Well, the minister went and volunteered to preach that Sunday, and the deacons were pleased to allow him. After all, they didn’t have anyone else. When the minister walked into the pulpit, as a guest in the church, he decided to preach on Saint Paul, who wrote that there are no longer Jews or Greek, slaves or free, male or female; all are one in Christ Jesus. So, the minister preached the message, telling everyone that segregation was a sin against the Lord and that it stank to high heaven. He preached that blacks and whites should not be divided, but because all are one in Christ, all should be accepted as persons, brothers and sisters in the Lord. Well, when the visiting minister completed his sermon the church’s deacons took him outside and told him they didn’t want him preaching to their congregation any more.
“What did you do,” asked Clarence, amazed by the story thus far.
“Simple,” said the pastor. “I fired them! After all, they didn’t hire me. After that, I kept peaching that same message, week-after-week, until I preached this congregation down to four people!”
“Did that really work?” The pastor looked at Clarence with astonishment.
“Well, of course it did,” he said. “I didn’t allow dwindling numbers and angry reactions to dissuade me. After all, the Good News isn’t good news to everyone.”
Clarence stood dumbstruck.
The pastor continued. “You have to remember that sometimes renewal doesn’t happen because new people join a church. Instead, it often happens when others step aside.” He went on to tell Clarence that after he preached his congregation down to four dedicated people that they decided that people would have to demonstrate their commitment to Christ before they could be members of their community. If they were racists, then they weren’t Christians. If they were nay-sayers then they weren’t Christians. If they harbored grudges and fueled dissension, then they weren’t Christians. And so, if they weren’t Christians they were politely, but firmly, asked to find another Church. Over time the little church began to grow because they were preaching and living the gospel fully and the members accepted the gospel even if they didn’t always like what they heard, even if it didn’t make them feel good all the time.
That’s the heart of the matter, sisters and brothers. It’s too easy to come to the Lord unwilling to hear what God has to say and unwilling to live as the Gospels command. It’s too easy to pretend to be Christians without really being so.
Jesus encountered people like that all the time. For example, today we hear of Jesus’ first “sign” at the wedding in Cana.
Oh, notice that in the Gospel of John, Jesus never performs “miracles” – he only performs “signs”. A sign is a way of pointing out what God is doing and how God is accomplishing His will among us. Jesus’ signs were moments with deep meaning, but unfortunately most people never really understood them. They took what Jesus did and said to mean one thing, when it meant something else.
Well, that’s true at Cana as well.
Why did Jesus bother to turn water into wine? It’s such a meager, insignificant miracle. Jesus was off sitting among friends, talking and enjoying their company. He wasn’t preaching and most people weren’t taking any notice of him. At that time, Jesus was just one of many guests at the party. So, for the majority of the time everyone simply ignored Jesus, until the party was in jeopardy. At that point, concerned only for themselves and their festivities, they appealed to Jesus through his mother to do something. In other words, they appealed to Jesus only after the wine jars went dry. Before that point, everyone was content with how things were. They, like the wine jars, were full of themselves.
It’s that way all the time in our world. A great many people rarely turn to God, for that matter, rarely even feel a need for God, because they’re content with themselves and their situations. Nothing spiritually significant happens in such a soul because God cannot fill whatever is already full.
When do people start experiencing a real, deep, need for God? Well, usually when their comfort zone begins to shrink and their old ways of dealing with things aren’t working for them any longer. At that point, we face a choice – go deeper into God or turn and fight. The violence that erupted when faced with the civil rights protests of the 1950’s and 60’s is an example of what happens when people refuse to change—when they dig in instead of turning to God. As long as people are satisfied with what they have, with the way things are, and with how they think things should be, the less likely they are to go deeper into God and experience his life-changing grace. Again, God cannot fill whatever is already full.
A willingness to change—to see things differently—to reevaluate our perception—is fundamental to a growth in godliness.
Turning water into wine was such a small, trivial thing to do. Even Jesus expresses how inconsequential it is. Why should he care if the party ends because the wine has run out? It’s none of his concern. His mission is for the salvation of souls. So, since he did change the water into wine, then it must have some connection to the salvation of our souls. That connection—Jesus’ intention—may have been to point out, that renewal often begins not when new people come, but when others step aside.” That’s true even for a single soul. We must step out of the way before God can accomplish a great work within us.