Rather than a candle this week, I thought we might start with a transformative GIF. If we are stressed, it can be good to have that framework, a visible reference frame upon which to ‘ground’ ourselves. Try to breathe with the pulsating image for a minute.
Let us pray:
Father God,
We thank you for the promise never to leave us.
In that valley of darkness, you are there,
when fears cause doubt, you are there,
when we are mentally stripped bare, or so it would seem, you are there.
Let us pause as we read “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear…” (Ps. 46: 1-2).
Amen
Our reading this week comes from the Gospel of John written around 80-even possibly 100 AD. It is suggested that it was written by a number of authors, in Ephesus, and is noticeably different to the other Gospels. It speaks openly about Christ as Divine. In a book I have been reading recently, it speaks of the Gospels relating to Pre-Easter Jesus and Post-Easter Jesus: to the Jesus who walked within Judea and Samaria, and to the Cross; to the resurrected Jesus. The Gospel authors may speak of Jesus in a state of confusion, and then of understanding the true purpose of Jesus.
I wonder if that is how we are currently: confused, not sure of any answers, but hoping, praying to know of some certainty. Perhaps Easter this year will be sensed very differently, we are very much like those disciples before the Cross.
I offer the hyperlink to John Chapter 9 here. It’s a bit of a long one. Jesus meets a blind man, heals him using saliva, and then there’s quite a long dialogue between the family of the man, the Pharisees and the man – but not Jesus. Eventually the man is ostracised, but Jesus still finds him where he confirms his belief in Jesus. The essence of the story may whether it is physical or societal blindness we are speaking of, but also that Jesus never leaves the man.
As often we start to read the Chapter and wonder what happened earlier? In John’s account the attempted stoning of the women caught in adultery, and another attempt to stone Jesus this time, concludes with Jesus lipping away from the Temple grounds (John 8:59). Not too sure how long afterwards, but we Jesus sees a man who has been blind from birth. We might have compassion for this man, for the anguish, pain, marginalisation that he must have…does feel everyday; but in those days, a defect such as this was very much connected with the previous generation:
· Some of the Jews of that time believed in the pre-existence of souls, and the possibility that those pre-existent souls could sin.
· Some of the Jews at that time believed in some kind of reincarnation, and perhaps the man sinned in a previous existence.
· Some of the Jews at that time believed that a baby might sin in the womb.
· They thought the punishment was for a sin the man would later commit.
Jesus immediately refutes such suggestions: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him”.
I wonder whether we are ‘seeing’ this blindness as a physical entity? So much of the Bible could be seen as a metaphor: the blindness of the Pharisees possibly here?
In John Chapter 3, we have Nicodemus encountering Jesus in the darkness of night but eventually assisting Joseph of Arimathea with the spices for the body of Jesus.
In John Chapter 4, we have a marginalised samaritan women meeting Jesus in the daylight, emphasised at noon, being offered healing living water, and becoming the bearer of good news.
In this Chapter 9 of John’s Gospel, the blind are healed but predominantly it is about the man’s reaction to the healing.
The man three times responds:
V17 ‘He is a prophet’
V33 ‘If this man were not of God, he could do nothing’
V38 ‘Lord, I believe’
Jesus healed the man using spittle – not something recommended by the NHS! He then said go wash in the Pool of Siloam, reminiscent of Naaman, washing in the River. Siloam means ‘sent’ as the water came through the Hezakiah’s tunnel, a conduit, into the city of Jerusalem. the blindness was cured by the one who was sent.
Perhaps that’s why this hymn was written, a response to adversity and the healing offered.
IN another hymn ‘Be thou my vision’ it resonates with whatever befalls is, God is with us. Can you sing along to these new words?
Be thou my comfort, when I am alone,
always beside me at work and at home,
help me to trust you and care for my kin,
and lead us together, o’er this virus to win.
Be thou our protector, our helper and power,
So we can be there for all hour by hour,
Give us your wisdom, your strength for the fight
and give us your peace Lord, through the day and the night.
Help us to trust you and pray every day,
Wrap your arms round those who need you we pray,
Be with the lonely, the scared and the lost,
Help us to follow you whatever the cost.
Prayer is often seen as a ‘shopping list’, a series of pleas to our God about ‘do something about this’ etc. Hence the song from last Sunday’s reflections, which reflected upon that we are God’s eyes, hands, feet here on Earth, presented with opportunities to love, to cherish, to reconcile. In life we are going to face problems, some small, some as large as Covid-19: let’s not go down the road of saying that God sent this virus to test us.
More relating to this below the line.
Let us pray for those who are suffering at this time:
Holy God,
we bring to mind humanity, suffering, struggling, confused, bewildered, but also seeking to come together as one.
When we hear of borders being closed, may we know of your people sacrificing some elements of their financial economy for the benefit of others.
When we hear of ‘lock down’ may we know of the privilege to pray for others, to contact others via a myriad of possibilities.
When we hear of stock markets crashing, may the ‘reducing financial margins’ that some people have, remind us that some have had no margin whatsoever.
Restoring God, what are you saying to me today?
Living God, may we be able to take stock of the local natural beauty, to see the Spring blossom, to note the choral harmony of birds, and to have that time to pause, to really see the mazing colours of your world. Whether we are out and about or gazing at the world through our window, you are there.
Loving God, we thank you for the support offered in and around our neighbourhood, but we are aware of those within our families, friends, neighbours and those further afield, who are struggling, mentally and physically.
Let us pause and remember those known to us know, bring their names to our God, and hear what God says to you…..
May your peace be with us all. It is a peace that passes all human understanding, one that brings us back to our very being, our core – with you. Amen
Let’s take a moment to reflect on that last phrase: “God wants to bring us back to our very being, and be with us”. Like in the bath, soak in that thought…
So if our vision is not masked, if we are not blinded by the tragedies, what light can we offer to our community? Where? How? can we be church to those around us, directly connecting to those we may not have had the opportunity to ‘be’ Christ. This is our fresh opportunity.
May the love of God rest with you, may the joy of walking alongside Jesus encourage you, and the may God’s Spirit comfort you on this journey.
Praise God!
God sent this virus to test us?
Either the Bible is a seamless unified story of God resolving to restore the initial creation state, or a diverse array of different books, written by different authors, at different times, in different circumstances, expressing different perspectives and embodying different views.
In the Hebrew or Old Testament we may see God as one who punishes those who wilfully refuse to follow God’s will; God uses suffering to test people to see if they will remain faithful, and eventually that suffering achieves God’s promises that all will be well’ or that suffering is caused by the forces of evil.
Given what we have read that the man born blind was seen as possessing traits from his parents, an ‘illness’ carried through the lineage due to sin. I wonder how could God overlook those born with birth defects, those diagnosed with cancer in the their 20s or 30s; geographic tragedies such as earthquakes which kill thousands and ravage populations; or malaria which kills 300 people each and every hour; and a child which starves to death every few seconds? Do we really believe that God sent Covid-19?
God, in my opinion, is one that does wish to restore the world, but also has given us every opportunity to build those relationships, that kin_dom. God is one who desperately loves us, and works within our lives.
Like the disciples, who were in darkness, we can accept that illumination that God offers.
If anything resonates, or causes confusion, rather than letting it sit, please do add a comment below – this is how we might need to discuss, dialogue for this meantime.
…and talking about illumination, please remember to pray on Sunday evening, as Churches Together in England, Scotland, Wales and I’m sure Ireland, would recommend.
Finally, a comment from Richard Rohr:
We are in the midst of a highly teachable moment. There’s no doubt that this period will be referred to for the rest of our lifetimes. We have a chance to go deep, and to go broad. Globally, we’re in this together. Depth is being forced on us by great suffering, which as I like to say, always leads to great love.
But for God to reach us, we have to allow suffering to wound us. Now is no time for an academic solidarity with the world. Real solidarity needs to be felt and suffered. That’s the real meaning of the word “suffer” – to allow someone else’s pain to influence us in a real way. We need to move beyond our own personal feelings and take in the whole. This, I must say, is one of the gifts of television: we can turn it on and see how people in countries other than our own are hurting. What is going to happen to those living in isolated places or for those who don’t have health care? Imagine the fragility of the most marginalized, of people in prisons, the homeless, or even the people performing necessary services, such as ambulance drivers, nurses, and doctors, risking their lives to keep society together? Our feelings of urgency and devastation are not exaggeration: they are responding to the real human situation. We’re not pushing the panic button; we are the panic button. And we have to allow these feelings, and invite God’s presence to hold and sustain us in a time of collective prayer and lament.
I hope this experience will force our attention outwards to the suffering of the most vulnerable. Love always means going beyond yourself to otherness. It takes two. There has to be the lover and the beloved. We must be stretched to an encounter with otherness, and only then do we know it’s love. This is what we call the subject-subject relationship. Love alone overcomes fear and is the true foundation that lasts (1 Corinthians 13:13). (Source: Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation)