I once knew a “blind man” named Paul. He was not blind as in “visually impaired”, but we called him “the blind man” because his job on Sunday morning was to go around and open the shutters on the big Palladian glass windows of the First Congregational Church. I suppose we could have called him the “shutter man”, but “blind man” just seemed much more churchy. And the “blind man” wasn’t really a man either. He was just a boy – maybe 8 or 9 years old.

Paul got to be our “blind man” because he used to hang around outside the church with his dog. The two of them would sit outside the church watching the people arrive for Sunday service. And they would still be there an hour later, watching the people walk out after the service was over. In between – while the service was going on – Paul and his dog would walk back and forth by the big front doors that were left open to let in some fresh air. Paul would pause when he got to the opening, and sneak a peek inside, to see what was going on.

Well, one day as I arrived for church, Paul and his dog were sitting in their usual place. I waved at him. He waved back at me. I unlocked the big front door and went inside to get things ready for the service. On one of my passes by the door, I spotted Paul standing in the opening, looking inside.

“Would you like to come in?” I asked.

“Is it okay?” Paul responded.

“Sure, come on in!”

So Paul stepped through the doorway of the First Congregational Church. I showed him the beautiful white pews with the doors on them, explaining that in the old days, people would bring “foot warmers” – metal boxes with hot coals in them - and the doors on the pews kept in the heat. I also told him that – way-back-when – people would buy their own pew, the most expensive being up front, and the cheap seats in the back! I even showed him a deed to pew #23 bought in 1828 by a man named Silas Rhodes. Paul then spotted pew #23 and ran to see it. “Does that man still come here?” he asked. “No,” I said, “he retired and moved to Tellico Village.” Only kidding. I did tell Paul that nowadays people can sit wherever they like, and they don’t have to buy pews.

Well, our little tour of the First Congregational Church ended when Bob Greene came in. He was one of our deacons and used to arrive early to open up the shutters. I introduced Bob and Paul, and right away Bob said, “Paul, would you like to give me a hand opening the shutters?” Paul got a big smile across his face and said, “Can I?”

“Sure,” Bob said, and the two of them walked away to uncover the windows and let the light of God’s beautiful sunshine into the First Congregational Church. I don’t remember if it was Bob or me who named Paul “the blind man”, but that’s the name he left with that day.

And every Sunday afterwards, Paul would be waiting by the church doors for someone to come and unlock the place. “I’m the blind man,” Paul would proudly introduce himself as he dashed inside to open the shutters.

And “the blind man” taught us some great truths. First, we learned that Paul had never been inside a church before. Second, we learned that Paul had a great curiosity about God and Jesus and what went on inside the church. And third, we learned something the day Paul didn’t show up to open the shutters. One week went by. Two weeks. No Paul. Several Sundays came and went, but “the blind man” didn’t come. Then we found out that Paul’s parents had put a stop to it. They did not want him going to our church – not that they attended another church or anything – but because somewhere in the past they had been disappointed by a church, or some church people, and they had no use for the church anymore. I met Paul’s dad one day and asked about all this. He said, “It’s not that we don’t believe in God, or Jesus – but we just don’t believe in the Church anymore.”

Have you ever wondered about all the people who AREN’T here today?

I don’t mean people who would be here but can’t be because they’re not well, or have something else they have to do, or because they’re still trying to get home from last night’s UT-Alabama game. I don’t mean the people who go someplace else to church either.

Have you ever wondered about all the people who just DON’T go to church?

I was thinking about people like that – and about Paul and his parents – as I was studying today’s Gospel lesson. In this parable, Jesus creates an interesting visual. There is the Pharisee, standing at the altar, thanking God that he is not like others – like Paul and his parents – or any of those people “out there” today who have no use for the religious institution. Can you picture him here, with arms raised and joy on his face that he is among the righteous?

And over there – the text says “at a distance” – stands a dirty, rotten tax collector. Tax collectors were despised in that day because they were Jews who worked for the Roman occupiers, collecting taxes and taking bribes without shame. They were turncoats. But something has gotten into this tax collector’s heart because he is standing “at a distance”, with his head bowed, afraid to even look up to heaven, beating his breast and crying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

And as we hold that picture in our head – the righteous man inside the church – the unrighteous man outside the church – Jesus says, “I tell you, the tax collector – the outsider - went home that day justified before God, but the Pharisee – the insider – did not.”

This wonderful parable invites those of us inside the church to better understand those outside the church - people like that tax collector – people like Paul and his parents. And interestingly enough, some  recent research done by George Barna about un-churched people in America can help us gain some understanding.

First of all, some facts from theBarna Group’s 2010 survey:

·        Just about one-third of the adult population in America has not attended any religious services or church activities in the last 6-months. When underage children who live with them are added to the mix, that amounts to more than 100-million people. That’s a lot of folks who are “out there.”

Secondly, an interesting - and perhaps surprising - finding about this un-churched population:

·        61% of those outside the church consider themselves to be Christians. They believe in God, and many – at one time or another – have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

Third, some important discoveries about what many people outside the church struggle with religiously:

·        65% of them have problems with the accuracy and relevancy of the Bible.

·        85% of them find it difficult to relate religious faith to their personal life in any important way.

·        Only 14% of this population claims to have a clear sense of the meaning and purpose of their lives.

·        And finally, a full 40% of this group avoids church because of negative experiences they’ve had with a church, or church people.

And just for good measure, the demographics for this population of people outside the church is full of surprises: women outnumber men, baby boomers and their elders outnumber the young, conservatives are more common among the un-churched than liberals, and whites outnumber all minorities combined by more than 3 to 1.

So, have you ever wondered about all the people who are not here today?

Jesus paid more attention to this group of people than any other group of people. And it wasn’t because they were at risk of being sent to hell for not being in church. You see, Jesus understood 2,000 years ago what George Barna discovered 2010 years later: God’s love touches the lives of people outside the church just as it does people inside the church; people outside the church have as much faith as people inside the church; and people outside the church have a lot to teach those of us inside the church.

For one thing, they teach us that trite religion doesn’t stand up in the face of real life. Some years ago, a friend of mine who was not especially enamored with the church said, “Why do you teach people the mystery of the Holy Trinity when what they really need to learn is how to get along?” What he was saying is that unless religion gets down to the nitty-gritty of life, it has no real meaning. Matthew 25 teaches that our lives will be judged not on what we believe, but how we LIVE! On Judgment Day, there will not be a test given on your knowledge of the Bible, but the true test will be whether you gave a cup of cold water to someone who was thirsty. Faith is about LIFE – and how you live it!

A second thing people outside the church teach us is that religious rules often stand in the way of healing. So people who have gone through the pain of a divorce find new life and love in another person, but are not allowed to re-marry because it’s against the religious rules of their church. Obeying the rules becomes more important even than Christ’s work of redemption and new life.

Do you understand what I’m saying? Religious institutions can find all sorts of fancy reasons for not accepting and welcoming and supporting people God loves. And all around us in the world there are people God loves who have been unloved by the Church.

A third thing those outside the Church teach us is honesty. You know, that’s what really strikes me about the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The tax collector knew who he was – and it wasn’t pretty! He knew himself to be a flawed human being and he admitted it to God. But the Pharisee was a pretender. Oh how self-righteous! “I thank thee, God, that I am not like all those other people…”

There’s a lot of that in the Church today. Religious people sometimes look out at the world and all they see is failure and sin. They see the speck in someone else’s eye, but don’t see the log in their own. And the problem is that self-righteous people are incapable of Christian love. Only when you know who you are – the good, the bad and the ugly of you – and know that God’s amazing grace enfolds you in hope and love – only then can you truly love others.

People outside the Church have a lot to teach those of us inside the Church.

But we have something to offer them, too.

First of all, a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ that is nurtured and supported by a community of people. Rhonda and I had the honor of teaching last Thursday’s Stephen Ministry training. We have ten new Stephen Ministers being prepared to serve people who will need a caring Christian friend to help them through the rough times of life. As we were engaged with this fantastic group of trainees, I couldn’t help but think of Bud Burger’s memorial service last week. Bud had a Stephen Minister for the last three and a half years of his life. It was Al Johnson. Bud’s family told me how important that relationship was to Bud. And Al told the rest of us how important Bud was to him. What crossed my mind last Thursday during the training class was, “Where else in the world can a person be cared for by someone who has dedicated themselves to 50-hours of training, to peer-group supervision meetings, to continuing education events, to regular meetings with a care receiver, and a two-year commitment to such a ministry?

We have a COMMUNITY of loving people to offer those outside the church. And in this world, where loneliness and isolation are so pervasive, belonging to a community is a healthy and life-giving gift.

And we have something else to offer those outside the church.

The opportunity to join with others in making the world a better place.

You cannot do by yourself what we can do together!

Without our church, do you think Habitat for Humanity would have as many homes today? Would Gene and Roberta Burwell have had a foundation from which to create the Good Neighbors’ Shoppe?

A friend of mine once told me, “I can be just as good a Christian out here in my flower garden as I can in the church.” And that’s true. But she couldn’t do as much good for others.

Being part of a community whose purpose is to love our neighbors as ourselves gives meaning to the lives of all of us who share in that work!

So, those outside the church have much to offer us. And we inside the church have much to offer them.

So let’s do something about that.

In a few weeks, you’re going to be given some invitations that we are creating. They are invitations that you will give to those you know who are outside the church right now to come and experience our church – our community of faith. And, as you go out with those invitations, we’re going to be getting ourselves ready to welcome people in Christian love.

We do not want to be inwardly turned, self-righteous Pharisees who are concerned only about ourselves. We want to welcome tax collectors who need a community to love them, and blind men who can help open peoples’ shutters to the beautiful sunshine of God’s love.

Last week, I asked you to join me in a sacred commitment…that we will focus on preaching Jesus Christ. We will not let ourselves get hung up on labels, or on petty theological arguments. We will put Jesus at the center of all we do.

Today, I'm asking you to join me in a second sacred commitment...that we will turn our church inside out, and actively reach out to those outside the church! We need them! They need us! And we are all loved by the God who gave his son for us.

Amen.