Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
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Welcome:
We gather this evening as we set out on the 40-day journey that is the season of Lent. You are welcome here. All are welcome here, as we begin our walk together.
Opening Prayer:
Holy One, the times in which we find ourselves are like murky water, still and deep. We stand at the water’s edge, pebbles in our hands, ready to stir up those waters, ready to make change, to bring healing. We ask for the courage to act in your Love, which is the source of all healing. Amen.
First Reading: Isaiah 58:6-9
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of God will be your rear guard.
Meditative Song: Come Hope by Amanda Udis Kessler
https://youtu.be/KcOMCej9VXs?si=Ke5pkgQKz9S42g-L
Second Reading: John 5:1-8
5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled
people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [b] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is
stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was
cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
Moment of Silence
Reflection:
If you look back at the second reading, you’ll notice that verse 4 is missing. But at the end of the chapter, in a notation, the verse is given to us, and here it is:
“4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.”
The verse is not thought to be part of the original Gospel and is not included in most modern translations. But the germ of its idea persists in the paralyzed man’s statement that he has no one to help him to the water when it is stirred up, so others always beat him to it. It seems important, angel or no angel, to get to the moving water in order to be healed.
We know from experience that the flat surface of a still pond will tend to return to its mirror-like state after it is disturbed, or troubled, by wind, splashing swimmers, a jumping fish, or a passing angel. The water ripples and moves for a very brief time. And it is during the time when the waters move that energy is produced, and change happens.
When you were a child did you ever toss pebbles or small stones into ponds or lakes? My grandchildren can’t seem to pass a stone without tossing it onto the smooth surface of water. Is it the feeling of power, the ability to bring about change that drives this urge? I’m not sure, but the action of plopping a stone into water certainly has immediate results, and the ripples can stretch far, sometimes across the whole pond.
In these times it seems that we are standing in still, murky water. What we need is the energy of moving water. Energy that will freshen the whole pond. Are we called to be the angels who trouble these waters? I think we might be, because if not us then who? The pebbles we toss will cause ripples of energy, ripples of change. The pebbles will be many: a truth told in the face of lies; a loving word of understanding for a person who may be more and more put to the margins; a phone call urging sane and compassionate legislation; action to demonstrate against injustice. The list goes on….
This week we, along with Christians all over the world, enter the solemn and contemplative season of Lent. Traditionally we are marked with ashes on this day, to remind us of our mortality. This year I suggest that instead, we keep a small stone nearby all during this season to remind us not of our mortality, but of our power. Our power to toss a pebble, birthing ripples of change.
Intentions:
Our faith tells us that we are the hands and feet of the Divine on Earth. In that firm belief, we pray:
Where the waters of injustice threaten the vulnerable,
Response: Let us stir the waters with Justice,
Where the waters of cruelty threaten those who seek refuge,
Response: Let us stir the waters with welcome.
Where the waters of hate threaten the dispossessed,
Response: Let us stir the waters with Love.
Closing Prayer:
This Lent may our fast be one of justice and mercy. May we have the strength of faith and the depth of love to be the hands and feet of the Holy One, as we trouble the stagnant waters of division and shame with acts of courage and kindness. May the waters of our world run clear, rippling with the Love of the One who is Love. And may we and all creatures be called to wade in these waters. Amen.
Closing Song: Wade in the Water, Sweet Honey in the Rock
https://youtu.be/RRpzEnq14Hs?si=36VXjsH61zbjzb67
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