Part 2: Putting Away The Old Self Series

If you go into Chicago, maybe to the loop or North Michigan Avenue on a warm evening, you might see a strange sight, a 19th century horse and buggy out in the street in the 21st century. It’s wonderfully quaint to be brought back in time to ‘the good old days,’ and see a real horse in modern America. You might wonder how a horse can function in the chaos of traffic that scares many humans away. But if you look closely you can see one of the tricks that make it possible. Most likely the horse has blinders on, little black squares on the halter to block out part of the horse’s peripheral vision. It makes it less likely that the horse will be startled by something happening in the corner of its eye. That helps the horse relax and do its job.

I can vouch for the value of blinders. My first appointment as a United Methodist pastor was to two churches, Winthrop Harbor and North Prairie, up north of Waukegan. I was there for North Prairie’s 150th anniversary. It had been founded by Salmon Stebbins, a pioneer circuit rider, who built his cabin at a spot that the Indians called North Prairie because it was on the line where the Illinois prairie ended and the Wisconsin forests began. As other settlers arrived, he gathered them into a Methodist class meeting that met in his one room cabin. His daughter opened a school as the number of children grew, also in the Stebbins’ one room cabin.

And besides all that, and farming to feed his family, Salmon Stebbins’ assignment was to ride a circuit twice a year, from North Prairie up to Green Bay, then out to the Madison area, and back, preaching the gospel and organizing Methodist class meetings anywhere he could find people,. He was a great hero of the faith and the founder of many churches in Wisconsin.

That little church that met in his house outgrew his cabin and eventually multiplied into three churches, North Prairie, Yorkhouse and Zion Memorial. They have all been successful in reinventing themselves for each generation and are all alive and well today. And for the 150th anniversary we had a joint celebration service outdoors in one of the Zion city parks. I got to play Salmon Stebbins. I dressed up in the best period costume I could find. A farmer brought a horse for me so that I could ride up in costume and then preach to the crowd as Salmon Stebbins. The farmer assured me that the horse was very tame. But it was a windy day and pieces of paper were swirling and bouncing along the ground all through the park. And the horse got very nervous. It kept seeing things moving out of the corner of its eyes. And I got very nervous. I was waiting, up on the horse, a couple of hundred yards away from the outdoor service, waiting for people to sit down, waiting for the first hymn to finish so I could make my entrance. The plan was for me to arrive on horseback like any experienced circuit rider would do. Someone would take the bridle of the horse and I would dismount in a relaxed way, as smooth and confident as the real Salmon Stebbins would. But by the time I got there, I called out to my helper, “Quick, grab the bridle,” and I got off very quickly. I wish my horse had been wearing blinders that day so it wouldn’t have seen so many of those papers blowing in the wind. Blinders can be very useful for horses. But they aren’t good for humans. God calls us to go through life with our eyes open, always ready to respond to whatever he brings across our paths. And he gives us everything we need to do it.

This morning we move to a new theme in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He has described to them the wonderful gift we have in Christ, that we can experience the creator of the universe. We can meet our savior, Jesus Christ. We can be filled with the very Holy Spirit of God, right in our hearts. God gave that gift to the Ephesian church so that the entire world could see in them what he wanted to give to everyone. And for that to happen, the church needed to work very hard to build unity. Each member needed to know his or her gifts and dedicate them in service to the other members of the church. And a church was coming into being that was a living entity, with every part helping every other part grow, where real honesty was safe and a blessing to all. God had started a beautiful thing among them.