He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”
Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”
The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out. Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
—John 9:25-38—
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, /and the ears of the deaf unstopped;/ then shall the lame man leap like a deer,/ and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. —Isaiah 35:5-6—
Sunday in New Orleans was a highly interesting experience for me and everyone involved. First, it’s where our day jobs (for those of us who were Mass Events Ushers) kicked off. Second, there were some unfortunate and quirky injuries that night at the Mass Event. Third, there was an unbelievable movement of the Spirit that took place.
Sunday morning, we awoke, Lyndsey and I met again to discuss the day’s events, figure out Bible Study and lunch and then we headed off to our jobs as Bible Study Ushers. Ushering in La Nouvelle was fun because there were limited entry and exit points in which participants could enter through. So once the speaker began speaking, we were able to open up doors in the back to let other people find seats so that they would not cause a severe disruption to those already inside on time. However, “on time” for a 9 AM Bible study session seemed to be 9:15 AM instead. My group from San Angelo made it early, and I got to briefly—and I do mean briefly— chat with them as we ushered in the masses of people. Rev. Daniel Weber from Idaho took to the stage first and then for 10:30, the Rev. Tim Droegemueller from Georgia took our young minds for an adventure in the Word. Both Pastors hit their points spot on. Unfortunately for me, the lack of sleep began to catch up and as ashamed as I am to admit it, I zoned in and out of dream land each and every morning once the participants had all found their seats. This is one of my most persistent sins, and I hope you all will forgive me.
After Bible Study, we all met together downstairs to see what we wanted to do for lunch. The plan had been Subway, but there was a huge line of lime green backpacks and we decided instead to do Bible Study. I brought my guitar and led those of us who had not gotten out of Bible Study early in praise and worship and we prayed during the singing. Then it was off to separate classes, naps, or lunch for us and we met back up to go to the Superdome at 4:15. During that time, I saw God work through my co-captain by reinforcing a Psalm that we had read for morning devotion:
O Lord, you have searched me
and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I
rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.Where can I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there you hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s
womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the
earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of
them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious tome are your thoughts,
O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more
than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.Oh that you would slay the wicked, O god!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious
intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
Do I not hate those who hate you,
O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up
against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! — Psalm 139 —
On this day, it was especially true. Where could we go from God’s Spirit? Where could we hide from his truth? It stared at us point blank as we all were presented with the question “Do you believe?” Not only that, but it was comforting to know that God had preordained Lyndsey to be sitting in the session with Bob Lenz who spoke of God’s wonderful creations— us! We are truly intricate and complex, and I marvel at how so many in the world ascribe our very existence to random chance! Thanks be to God that he is an active, down to earth God who is always shaping, forming, and recreating the very depths of our beings every day!
So, after nap time, we all headed to the Superdome. It was time for Mass Events again! I was super pumped, because Brock Gill was appearing that night! I don’t know about you, but I love illusions. I love trying to figure out what makes them work and what makes them tick. Criss Angel amazes me. Does Brock Gill? Well, I don’t know. See, while he was transitioning from one illusion to another the weirdest thing happened.
I was standing in section 146. Most everyone had a seat, but there were still a few groups lagging behind. In order to hear above the crashing of the “thunder” and “waves”, I pressed my hand against my walkie talkie ear piece. My ear began to itch and I wanted to scratch it. So I pulled what I thought was the entire ear piece out of my ea,r but it was only the speaker. Where was the ear piece? I searched for it with my finger and felt nothing. Calmly, I thought to myself Ok. It got pushed farther down than I thought. I’ll head to first aid and they’ll have it out in 5 minutes with the tweezers. Letting my ushers know where I was going, I proceeded to first aid. My ear began to ache a little bit. It wasn’t so much painful as nagging, and I began feeling uncomfortable. Upon entering the first aid station, I described my plight to the EMTs. They looked at me with the most comical looks I have ever seen. One even said, “How did you manage that?!”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear over the noise, and I pressed against my ear.”
So the oldest gentleman in the room went upstairs to get some tweezers to see if they could fish it out. I filled out some incident reports and then proceeded to call Linda Stroming, my dome supervisor and “mom” for the week. Finally, she arrived. We told her what went down, and well, she reacted this way: “You are just like the little boy who stuck the Lego up his nose,” she stated with a grin.
“Yup,” I replied in agreement.
The whole situation was much funnier than serious, at least until the paramedics told me I had to go to the ER. So we called YAV manager Brandon Heath, had him to come down Section 133, and figured out how to transport me to Tulane Medical Center. While waiting, I learned of another serious injury. One of the adult leaders at the gathering had decided to hop a catwalk thinking it would be a faster way to get to the floor. Well, it was fast alright, but it was serious. All I can say with certainty is that he went to the ER and was treated for a broken hip and other trauma. At the last we heard, he was stable at a New Orleans hospital, and we were praying for him. I hope no one has to experience anything like that.
Brandon arrived, my backpack arrived, and the security guard took my picture. Then it was six blocks down La Salle to Tulane ER. As we walked, I probed Brandon’s mind to see what ministry was like. We also rehashed how I got the ear piece stuck in my ear and were discussing how I was going to pay for the visit. Once I finished filling out the paperwork, he pulled out his laptop and tuned in to the live stream of the Gathering just in time to see students rush the stage to support the speaker, Kellie Stocker. Our reactions were quite different. Brandon was like “That’s awesome! Look at all the love!” and I said, “The Mass Events team isn’t gonna like this.” Not trying to take away from the love, but I knew how uncomfortable the whole situation was gonna be when my ushers had to tell the youth group from Texas that they had to clear the stage. Fortunately, all was resolved peacefully and all were still joyful.
The wait to bee seen at the ER was an hour. I learned during this time that I had a heart rate of 54 (very good so I’m told) and conversed some more with Brandon. They finally called me back to a room. After 5 minutes or so, the nurse entered, looked in my ear, and explained she was actually excited to pull the ear piece from my ear. OK. Creepy, but I could see why that would be exciting, for her expertise was ear, nose, and throat treatment. She used “alligator forceps” to remove the object from my ear canal. As she pulled, it felt like my ear was being turned inside out! Pain, lots of pain for about 20 seconds coursed down my jawline. It hurt so bad, my eyes watered! But, at 30 seconds, she had pulled it far enough to where the pressure disappeared and a wave—no, tsunami — of relief washed over me. The last 30 seconds were a breeze, and the object easily slid out. The end had turned inside out, which is why it got stuck in my ear. How I managed that, I will never know. Just one special kid I guess.
I waited another hour sitting in the room where they performed the procedure. Apparently, they forgot about my discharge paperwork. I signed it, headed back out to the waiting room with the little plastic troublemaker in tow, and found Brandon conversing with a nice young lady. Now he will tell you a different version, but this is how it really happened. I walked in to the waiting room. He asked if they got it out, I said yes, and I showed them the ear piece with plenty of distance between it and their eyes. I learned walking back that Brandon was single, and supposedly a rumor developed from that point that I killed his game once he started telling the story back at the hotel. I let everyone know I was OK, and walking into the hotel,l there sat a number of ushers in the lobby around the TV. I joined them and began retelling the story over and over again to various people as the came and went. I even drew a picture of the ear piece in my ea, but clearly, I do not have the best art skills, and it looked something completely different and I was advised to burn the picture.
God clearly works the way he does for a reason and I am truly thankful that he unstopped the ears of this deaf man. He opened my eyes to see that in what I could have treated as the end of the world, he enabled me to laugh at myself and help others laugh as well. I am now immortalized in Brandon Heath lore, and have been informed that every Monday night in their college group for Christ Lutheran La Mesa, California my story will be told. I also know that life throws stuff at us that at the time can be daunting, but works for God’s purpose in the end. If we approach it that way, we will be able to help other blind men see the light and we will ask them as the blind man did the Pharisees, “Do you wish to become his disciples too?”
I hope that this was enlightening and entertaining. I pray that God grants you peace in every situation. In conclusion, I would like to quote Paul Harvey, “Now you know the rest of the story.” Until next time, God’s peace be with you.
