The Worshiping Outsider

Josias walked into the synagogue, half-expecting to see the members of this new sect called "Christians" eating human meat. Instead, he found them chanting in unison, hands raised to God, the psalms he had grown up chanting himself.

Then the chanting stopped, and an elderly man stood up among the people, and with a deep but somewhat gravely voice, spoke the words, "Brethren, we are to love one another. We are to build up one another. We are to use our gifts which the Holy Spirit has granted us, to make one another stronger, better, more loving, more serving. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, love one another!"

In one great and loud chorus, the congregants shouted, "Amen! Blessed be the Lord God and his Son our Savior, Jesus Christ!"

Josias thought to himself, "Well, except for thinking a dead man is the Messiah, who has been crucified and then raised from the dead, these folks aren't too terribly horrible, I suppose. Just nuts. Obviously not of God."

Then the woman standing next to him turned to him and spoke: "I have heard from God's Spirit that you need to apologize to your wife. You should not have broken her spirit with your speech this morning."

Josias was taken aback on several levels. A woman! Speaking to him! As if she was an equal to him! And accusing him of hurting his wife!

And then the realization dawned. How did she know I spoke harshly to my wife this morning?
But before he could open his mouth to challenge her speaking to him, the man on the other side spoke to him. "God has revealed to me that you want to live righteously. He is pleased with this. But he is not pleased with your secret - the one concerning the girl in the market. It is time for you to repent of your thoughts that violate your marriage; you need to find a different place to shop."

Josias was stunned. No one but he knew his mind wandered to this young woman. No one but he and ... God!

Josias was disturbed. Who were these people? Who were they to be speaking so intimately to him, so authoritatively, so accurately?

But again, before he could open his mouth, the whole congregation turned his way, some smiling sadly, some looking somewhat stern. For a few moments, a cacophony came his way, and he heard just snippets -- "God loves you, but...", and "your sin separates" and "choose life", when he heard one louder voice: "Brethren, one at a time, please. God is a God of order, not chaos."

Josias felt a light touch on his arm. It was the first woman who had spoken to him. He felt acceptance from her, which disturbed him, and not just a tiny bit. Another woman next to her, who could have been the first woman's sister, or cousin, or even aunt, spoke: "God loves you. He knows you can be a powerhouse for his kingdom. But you must be honest with your scales. You can no longer cheat your customers with dishonest weights. And you must do right by your wife. And you must do right by the girl you've entertained in your mind. God demands that you repent."

And Josias knew. He knew these people knew. He knew how these people knew. And he fell to his knees, and cried out, "Oh God! My God!" And then he fell forward with his face to the ground, and speaking into the floor tiles, declared, "God is indeed among you people! I am a sinner. He has revealed my heart to you, and you know my secrets, and have reproved me. How can I live before God, unclean?"

And the first woman, kneeling next to him, spoke again. "Your unclean-ness is taken by the Lord. He was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your sins. In Jesus, there is forgiveness."

And from that moment, Josias' life, and those of his wife and children and customers, would never be the same again.