Lay persons...

I was reading a review of Robert Barron's new book titled "Catholicism" and ran across the following quote:

He writes:

"As far as we can determine, Jesus was not formally trained in a rabbinic school, nor was he educated to be a temple priest or a scribe, nor was he a devotee of the Pharisees, the Saducees, or the Essenes--all recognized religious parties with particular convictions, practices, and doctrinal proclivities. He was, if I can use a somewhat anachronistic term, a layman."

I'm not sure why this point has never occurred to me before--probably because Jesus's divinity is one of the first things a Sunday School pupil ever learns, and once you believe that Jesus is God, it's really difficult to grasp the concept that his peers had no such certainty. He didn't wear a "HELLO, My name is God" name tag. He didn't carry around his vita, enumerating the miracles he had performed or the talks he'd given. For people living in the time of Christ, it would have been more reasonable to believe that Christ was crazy.

Once Jesus affirms his divine credentials by dying and rising again, we see that everyone who played a part in the Gospel of Jesus was more or less a layman. They were just a humble group of people whose faith and receptivity to the Holy Spirit were conduits for the Incarnation: Mary's yes to God, each of the apostles answering the call. The Holy Spirit descends upon believers and the Church is born."
 
I immediately thought...in our church (if it had existed then) He may well have been called a "lay speaker". The definition of Lay Speaker is: “a member of a local United Methodist church … who is ready … to serve the Church.” Generally, they lead worship services when a minister is not available.

There are two types of lay speakers: Local lay speakers and Certified lay speakers. Local lay speakers take one basic course and serve in their local congregation only. Certified lay speakers take at least two classes and continue their education once every three years. They may serve churches of which they are not members. Lay speakers are regular people, who step into the pulpit and speak the Word of God to the congregation.

Like the author of the quote, I have never thought of Jesus in the terms of a lay person. After all, He was the Son of God and did have knowledge that we do not have. But He, and the disciples, spoke as they did...not because of their extensive training, but because of the authority of God. While you may argue that they were "special" people....set apart. I would counter the people in every church are "set apart". And not just those who can speak to the congregation but also those who are the hands and feet that serve as an example of the living Christ.