Panther Valley Ecumenical Church

They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted.

Ordinary Folks in Jesus’ time did not have a closet full of clothes.

Cloth was precious.

This act of removing their garments and throwing them on the ground is a symbolic act of trust that the one who they have given their clothes to will take care of them.

What does it look like to give your coat to another?

This act of sacrifice and act of trust gets lost in our worldview of the abundance of things….how many coats are in your closet?

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem ordinary fabric becomes precious and symbolic.

As we move toward the cross this Holy week cloth, coats, towels, and white linen wrappings take on new meaning.

What happens to our trust in God’s saving grace as the week moves along?

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

~ John 11:21,32

Lord, if you had been there….

These are words that I have uttered many times….. almost always in times of distress and grief and when I feel that God is silent and uncaring….

Other words that I have spoken are – Where are you God? Why God? Lord, have mercy….Christ have mercy…..

Grief is raw in this scripture from the Gospel of John chapter 11.

The Disciples, Martha, Mary, Jesus and their friends and family are mourning the loss of their brother and friend Lazarus.

This is a beautiful story rich in imagery and deep in meaning. It touches upon the universal truth in all of creation. One of the disciples, Thomas,  reveals this truth when he says, “Let us  also go, that we may die with him”

Thomas is clear – we are all in death right now. We are always in the process of dying. We are always changing – letting go of old ways

This is the call of Lent – to remember that from dust we come and to dust we go. As we walk toward the cross we are to die to our old selves and rise up a new creation.

But this facing our own fragility, our own mortality is hard work. Most often we would rather deny it, ignore it, save that reality for another time. It is easier to metaphorically – abstractly die. Far easier to talk about it – to understand it in our minds than to live through it.

Now that the collective and global threat of suffering and death are thrust into our reality this journey with Jesus through the wilderness takes on a completely different tenor and meaning.

And this is where I find Martha and Mary’s response authentic and true.

They lament.

And this lament leads to healing and wholeness.

Martha and Mary both cry out – Lord, if you had been there!

Certainly this reveals  prior thoughts – Lord – where are you? Why do you tarry?

The sister’s utter the same words but the ways they call out are refreshingly different.

There is no right way to cry out to God.

Martha is so certain – so steadfast in her belief and confession – Jesus you are the Messiah – the son of God – the one coming into the world

Mary’s grief is embodied – she falls to the ground Lord, if you had been there…. her tears express everything.

I love how Jesus interacts with Martha and Mary as they express their feelings to Him. ’His calm non judging presence, his assurance, and his empathy.

Jesus weeps!

Jesus responds in the way that each can hear him and in a way that begins the process of healing and wholeness.

Crying out – speaking the truth of how we feel, we acknowledge the way that suffering and death make us feel.

We must lament or rejoice in the reality that we see.

God can hear us – God can feel it – God can take it– and God will cry with us!

Crying out opens us to new life.

And when we cry out to God in our pain and suffering we begin the work of healing and wholeness.

Let us wake up and cry out!

Lord, where are you? Lord, if you had been there?

Lord, Have mercy on us! Christ have mercy!

Friends – Nothing can separate us from the Love of God – not even death (Romans 8:38-39).

God is here; in our homes, in the hospital, on the street

Jesus is here; drying tears on hurt faces

The Spirit is here; setting free those who are held captive

Raising us up from death into life

For God’s love has won.[i]

Ann Weems, in her book “Psalms of Lament” offers this image of Jesus:

Jesus wept,

     and in his weeping,

     he joined himself forever

     to those who mourn.

He stands now throughout all time,

     this Jesus weeping,

     with his arms about the weeping ones:

“Blessed are those who mourn,

     for they shall be comforted.”

He stands with the mourners

     for his name is God-with-us.

Jesus wept.

“Blessed are those who weep, for they shall be comforted.” Someday. Someday God will wipe the tears from Rachel’s eyes.

In the godforsaken, obscene quicksand of life,

     there is a deafening alleluia

     rising from the souls

     of those who weep,

     and of those who weep with those who weep.

If you watch, you will see

     the hand of God

     putting the stars back in their skies

     one by one.[ii]

This week we are invited to practice Lament. Remember there is no “right way” to Lament.

Turn to God – Cry Out  – trust in God’s healing touch, comforting presence, and steadfast love.

Image: Anointed by Lauren Wright Pittman, 2018 http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57085

[i] Inspired by last line of Andrew King’s poem Love That Has No Limits

[ii] Ann Weems, Psalms of Lament, (Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press, 1995), xxi – xxii.

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.

…

Jesus spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,

saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).

Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask,

“Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”

Some were saying, “It is he.”

Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”

He kept saying, “I am the man.”

Wow! Did you pick up on that? A man who had never ever seen anything his whole life became sighted and no one, not one person celebrated. Instead, his neighbors argued about who he was, while the man kept telling them; “I am he”. Not only did some of the neighbors fail to recognize him but they failed to hear him as well.

This man, we are told, was a beggar.

Why is it so hard to see and to hear others?   

Is it because we do not want to see their suffering for fear that it might wound us? Is it because the plight of the person produces anxiety or anger in us? Is it because we are numb?

Richard Rohr reminds us that great suffering always leads to great love. And for God to touch us we have to see the suffering around us. We have to allow it to wound us and to inspire us to respond. “Love always means going beyond yourself to otherness. It takes two. There has to be a lover and a beloved. We must be stretched to an encounter with otherness, and only then do we know it is love.”[i]

In this time and place we are being called to open our eyes and see our interconnectedness, the beauty and the pain of this world.

Now is the time to open our eyes and recognize our neighbors.

Now is the time to listen to what others are saying

Now is the time to respond with compassion.

Let us stand in solidarity with each other, in celebration and in sorrow.

Through this encounter with the blind person Jesus invites us to deepen our love of God, ourselves, our neighbors, and even our enemies and participate in the healing of our world.

I invite you to widen your circle of compassion with a “Loving-Kindness Reflection”

Begin by finding a comfortable place to sit. If you are in a chair, place your feet firmly on the ground.

If you are on a cushion or on the ground make sure your shoulders are back and your back is straight.

Begin by consciously focusing on your breath.

Gently close your eyes.

Invite the Holy Spirit to be present.

Invite feelings of love, kindness, and peace towards yourself.

Think of a time that you felt completely accepted and loved.

As you breathe in and out focus on those feelings.

Say or think “May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.”

Slowly, in time with your breath repeat these words 4-7 times or set a timer for 2 minutes.

Now think of a person that is close to you. As you exhale, imagine sending feelings of loving kindness to that person.

Say or think “May I learn to look at her/him/them  with the eyes of understanding and love.

Now think of a person who you are having a difficult time with. As you exhale, imagine sending feelings of loving kindness to them.

Say or think “May I learn to look at him/her/them with the eyes of understanding and love.”

End your practice by saying, “May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.”

Other phrases that are helpful are:

May I/you be happy.

May I/you be safe and protected.

May I/you be healthy and strong.

May I/you be peaceful and free from suffering.

Image: Homeless Jesus by Timothy P. Schmaltz

[i] Richard Rohr Meditation on Thursday March 19, 2020

“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!

He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”

~ John 4:29

This exclamation comes from a “Samaritan Woman” who encountered Jesus at a well. She was shocked when he asked her for a drink of water. I can imagine her thinking “How rude! Doesn’t he know he should refrain from talking to me? What could he possibly want?” Her reply attempts to put him in his place but it does not work. Jesus is determined to speak with her. Thus begins her transformation. As their dialogue deepens so does her understanding of who she is. Jesus is direct yet gentle. He knows her inside and out. And her understanding of who Jesus is deepens as well. At first she calls him a Rabbi and then a prophet. As Jesus tells her that he is the Messiah the other disciples show up interrupting the narrative. The woman drops her water bottle and runs back to her city completely transformed.

“Come and See…”, she declares

Jesus revealed to this woman everything she had ever done and her eyes are open and she sees the I AM, the Messiah, the Living Water, the Word.

Her testimony brought a whole city to believe in Jesus enough to welcome him to stay with them for two days. And after two days the people of the city knew Jesus was the Savior of the world.

Jesus invites us to deepen our knowledge of ourselves and thus know who he truly is. It is not about believing what another says. It is about experiencing the Word of God in our lives

Knowing ourselves and deepening our relationship with Jesus takes time.

This week we invite you reflect on the events of the day through the prayer of examine.

The Examen helps us:

There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee

Image: Procession by John August Swanson, Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Art in the Christian Tradition

and the mother of Jesus was there.

Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.

The wine gave out halfway through the feast

and Jesus’ mother said to him, They have no wine.”

Jesus said, “But what concern is that to you and me?

My time has yet to come.”

But his mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Standing nearby were six stone water jars,

each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jugs with water.”

And they filled them up to the brim.

He said to them, “Now draw out and take it to the chief server.”

So they took it to the chief server

and when he tasted the water that had become wine

he called to the bridegroom and said,

“Everyone serves the good wine first and then the cheaper wine

when the guests have become drunk.

But you have kept the good wine to the last.”

Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee.

And he revealed his glory and the disciples believed in him.