LENT - d365.org: HEALING

INVOCATION....(d365.org - Neil Myer)

To be touched, helped, lifted up along the way. To be made whole.

Everyone longs for these things, especially in seasons of darkness and self-doubt.

God’s intent is that all the world will be mended—every nation, every person. Let that healing begin now in you.

SATURDAY, April 5

Ephesians 5:10-14 MSG

Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.  Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!

BR-ring!  

    Shut that thing off.    

It's the God alarm.  

Time to get up. 

Pull off the covers. 

Arise to the light of a new day. 

    It's cold out there.

    People expect things of me.

    I have too much to do. 

    I don't want to deal with life.

    I don't want to deal with people.

    I want to hide here under the layers

       of warmth and self-pity. 

Throw off the covers of darkness. 

Arise!  It's a new day in the Lord!

Your covers blind you.  

You are wallowing under blankets of deceit. 

Quilts of apathy and excuses. 

You are are drowning in the darkness of stress and busyness. 

Wake up!  Arise! 

The light has come!

Shine! God is here with you!

FRIDAY, April 4 

Ephesians 5:8-9 CEB

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of Light.  Light produces fruit that consists of every sort of goodness, justice, and truth.

          Darkness to light.  Blindness to sight.  Healed.  But the process of our spiritual healing isn’t always quite so instantaneous.  Becoming a Child of Light might begin slowly, and as our understanding of the path lightens, so do we. 

          I built steps this week for CHRPA.  The current steps into the client’s mobile home, located in the midst of creosote bushes out in the desert were twisted metal, with one riser tied in place with wire, a gaping hole to one side.  They were steep steps, hard to climb, hard to descend.   All around the trailer was garbage and debris: cars, old campers, furniture, backyard climbing toys, sheds erupting with rotting fabrics, all covered with the wind-blown donations from neighboring yards.  Nestled amongst the debris was a pig and two dogs plus two pots with the green hope of freshly watered plants.  These steps led from the darkness of a dilapidated trailer into the darkness of her immediate surroundings.   The client was blind to the light.    

         We built what are called cascade steps, very short riser height of 4” to make the path from trailer to ground easier to navigate.  We built sturdy steps with a secure handrail on both sides.  As she descended for the first time, this Child of God, who has lived a life of physical, emotional and spiritual darkness beyond comprehension, brightened with joy, her gruff voice erupting with “Thank you.  This is so nice!” 

      God’s spiritual healing may lead us gradually, up cascading steps, to a full realization and revelation of who we are as Children of Light.  But the path is bright, the handrails of scripture and community strong.  And each step leads us to new levels of goodness, service, justice, truth, and righteousness. 

     We are in the process of healing.  May we climb ever higher, knowing God lights the way, knowing we hold the Light within us. 

THURSDAY, April 3

John 9:39-41  MSG

Jesus then said, “I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind.”

Some Pharisees overheard him and said, “Does that mean you’re calling us blind?”

Jesus said, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure.”

     Neil Myer, today's d365.org author, writes:

When we dig our heels in so deep that we refuse to be open to the work of God in our midst, we remain blind to the light of the world that has been with us since the very beginning.

       I couldn't put it any better.  We blind ourselves when we insist on being right, when we close ourselves to new revelations before us.  We don't have to have all the answers.  We don't have to explain everything.   We can take much on faith and the knowledge that God is at work, God loves us, and God wants what is best for us.  Isn't that enough? 

      Today is Thursday, CHRPA School!  (Breakfast treats!)  I am reminded that Dan started last week's lesson on electricity with the analogy, "Electricity is alot like faith in God.  We can't see it or God, but we know that it is there!  We can see the results of the activity!"  What morsel of truth will I glean from school today?

WEDNESDAY, April 2    Pharisee Mode

John 9:30-34 MSG

The man replied, “This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
They said, “You’re nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!” Then they threw him out in the street.

     Last Sunday Bryce Miller of Shalom Fellowship asked in his sermon, "If this were a one act play, what role would you like in the story?"  We all agreed to be the blind beggar and healed would be the most desired role, but in all honesty, most of us would have to be cast as the Pharisees.  This is the role to which we are accustomed.  

     It is so much easier to challenge new ideas, new revelations, the unexplained, with a 'That can't be right! That can't be God's doing' when it goes against everything we have formerly understood.  But if I have gained anything in the past few years of scripture searching, it is that God NEVER does what we expect or, how we expect it!!  God doesn't play by OUR rules - God has his own rules that always shake things up.  

     How did the Pharisees ultimately respond after rejecting the blind beggar's healing?  They threw him out!  They totally dismissed him as worthless.  How often do I dismiss that which I don't want to accept?  That which I don't understand?  How often do I take the role of Pharisee and keep my blinders firmly in place?  

      God is waiting and ready to heal.  May I open my heart and eyes to accept a new role in the drama.  

TUESDAY, April 1  Ask for a Story

John 9:13-17  MSG

They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, “He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”

 Some of the Pharisees said, “Obviously, this man can’t be from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath.”

Others countered, “How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?” There was a split in their ranks.

 They came back at the blind man, “You’re the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

     Multiple times the blind man is asked, "How were you healed.  Tell us the story AGAIN."  He retells it simply, not quite understanding the miracle himself, but knowing the path he took for it to occur.  Jesus acted, the man acted, God acted.  Each time he is asked to retell his story, he opens the eyes of his listeners to the reality of Jesus.  

     This reminds me somewhat of a reaction I had after a memorial service for a dear member of our church several years back.  I heard his stories told during the service and afterwards I asked myself, "Why didn't I ask him to share his story?  Wow!  What an impact it would have made!  Eyes might have been opened, including my own!"  So now I try to ask more....Why did you come to Baker?  Have you had an eye-opening experience with God?  The questions reveal God at work and bind our faith community tightly together.  

     As I work at CHRPA this week, are there questions I might ask?  I see some symbols of faith, especially in the homes of Hispanic Catholics we visit.  What is their story?  I might be amazed at my clarity of vision at day's end.  

(God at work.  Today CHRPA handed out a new little fundraising booklet of CHRPA stories.  Tales of an organization making a difference.  Stories of the individual people touched and healed through this hands-on ministry. It is their yearly report.  Not financial figures and statistics, but simply STORIES of God at work.)

MONDAY, March 31  Siloam 

John 9:6-7, 10-11 GNT

 After he said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the spittle; he rubbed the mud on the man's eyes  and told him, “Go and wash your face in the Pool of Siloam.” (This name means “Sent.”) So the man went, washed his face, and came back seeing.....

“How is it that you can now see?” they asked him.

 He answered, “The man called Jesus made some mud, rubbed it on my eyes, and told me to go to Siloam and wash my face. So I went, and as soon as I washed, I could see.”

A touch and Siloam...

Healing from God. 

We know the value of the touch:

     The woman and the robe,

      A mother and newborn child,

      Even Michelangelo's 'Touch of Creation' 

            comes to mind.

Touch can heal,

Touch conveys compassion. 

Touch transfer heart and soul from one to another. 

But 'Siloam'??  

The word means sent. 

Dispatched.  Directed. Released.

Part two of the healing process, 

More comes after the touch. 

Siloam implies obedience,

A need to follow-through and go.

Siloam. 

God responds often with the touch. 

And then follows with the mission....

How well do we listen?

How often do we obey and go out?

     To complete the healing....

        ...in ourselves, in others?

     To share the miracle of God,

           the change in our life?

We are touched. 

We are sent. 

We are healed.

We are transformed.

Siloam. 

I have been touched by the people of CHRPA, by their passion for the struggling of this city.  Today I will once again be sent out to do God's work with them and among them.  Siloam.  May I be transformed and healed in the experience.  Amen.   

SUNDAY, March 30 Who Sinned? 

John 9:1-3 CEB

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 Jesus’ disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned so that he was born blind, this man or his parents?”

3 Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents. This happened so that God’s mighty works might be displayed in him.
     

Our simple questions seek black and white answers.  Who sinned? Someone must be at fault!  Bad things don't happen to good people, do they?  I thought back to my cascading fountain and the first pool of water is Suffering and Difficulty.  God doesn't will it.  No one sinned to cause it.  But.... faith means being able to see the Hope that can spring forth from the bottom of the fountain if we allow God to tumble us down the cleansing and refreshing path of grace.  What amazing miracle, what common pinprick of Light, can come from God's healing in this situation?  
     When we seek black and white answers, we blind ourselves to the infinite possibilities that await in the midst of the gray.  God is present.  The Light is present. May we take off the blinders and see what is possible with God.  

****

Sunday Service at Shalom Mennonite Fellowship. The same scripture!  (Only the whole passage 1-34.)
Sermon by Bryce Miller, pastor 
KEY POINT:  For all our blindness, healing is offered if we are willing to receive it. 
**  Who sinned?  It happened so God would be revealed. 
**  The blind man has MUCH better vision of God than the Pharisees. 
**  We want answers and reasons so much that it is hard to face suffering with a simple, 'I'm sorry.'  We want the why, how, when!  Explain!  Often God questions are unanswerable.  
**  Ours is a culture of fault - we want to place responsibility.  If it is unexplainable, it must be wrong! 
**  Jesus works with the world as he finds it; not finding fault, but seeking justice. 
**  Our questions blind us to God at work among us!  Often God is where we least expect him.  
**  The Pharisees were sure of who God was:  he only speaks through the chosen, he doesn't work on Sundays, and he is in OUR image.....am I a Pharisee?
**  What blinds me to God?  (a comfortable, easy, middle class life, fear of the unknown, pride and egoism.....)

Shalom Mennonite Fellowship has a series of rock cairns in the chancel area symbolizing and reminding us that God has marked our way on the path to Him.  Similar to Joshua stones?  I liked the cairn reminder!  
BENEDICTION BLESSINGS...(d365.org - Neil Myer)

Go now with a willingness to see things as they are,
And imagine the world as it could be.

We all have a story to tell
And experiences that shape what we see.

But there is healing in the truth God brings
And enough light to see just ahead,
For God is already in the place where you are going.