St John 12: 12 – 19

The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord —  the King of Israel!’

Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him.  The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!’

Reflection

Think about a time you have been part of a crowd.

I love going to festivals and have taken part in many a procession.  At Greenbelt, Sunday morning worship outdoors in a huge crowd of people is uplifting and meaningful, whatever the weather throws at us.  A packed church at any time of year with people singing joyful praise is a wonderful experience. Maybe you are more of a sports person, cheering on your team, sharing the emotions of winning or losing.  Or you like to attend big concerts, whatever your preferred music style – listening to classical or dancing in the aisle.

A crowd has a life of its own and individuals in it may lose inhibitions and act in a way that is different from their normal behaviour.  We see that at times if a demonstration or march becomes violent and disruptive.

The crowds around Jesus build up to a crescendo of praise in this reading, in a way we have not seen before in previous Gospel stories. But this is the same people who a few days later may be calling ‘Crucify!’.  Is there a difference between the crowd that had experienced Lazarus’ raising from the dead and the crowd that is in Jerusalem for the festival enjoying a procession with their palm branches?  It would be good to think that even people coming along for the ride experienced the Lord and were challenged to learn more about him.  For those who had followed him loyally for years, it was a memorable experience even if they did not understand it at the time, but it made sense later in the light of the resurrection.

With weekly worship, it’s all too easy to jump from Palm Sunday to Easter. Looking at the Passion Narrative in summer, perhaps we can identify with members of the crowd over the next series of readings.

Prayer

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
May the journey through the highs and lows
of the Jesus story touch us all
and lead us into the fullness of his love. 
Amen

St John 12: 1 – 8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.  There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.  Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said,  ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’  (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)  Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.  You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

Reflection

This gospel writer is not convinced that Judas believed his own argument that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. But it’s an argument that has force and the other gospel writers take it at face value. There are moments when we ask ourselves whether we are doing enough to put right the terrible inequalities and injustices in the world. The CEO of Christian Aid testifies that he knows people who put their giving to charity above their own needs, but most of us don’t exactly do that. We could always say, whenever we buy anything, or give presents to those we love, or make our homes (or churches) beautiful, that the money could have been better spent. It’s hard to fault the argument. 

But Jesus does. He says plenty (elsewhere) about giving, even giving away everything you have, a message that will always be needed because we are acquisitive and self-centred creatures. But here, Jesus affirms the kind of giving that is not functional or about justice, but extravagant, beyond what is needed, beautiful, gorgeous, wondrous. We give flowers, jewels, perfume, chocolate, art… because these things are beautiful and because they signify the love that makes life more than surviving, but flourishing. This perfume was to have had a function (‘for the day of my burial’), but Mary loves Jesus and can’t wait to show him how much, and perhaps to see his face. Love is not only about what is fair and right, but what is beautiful too. 

If today, like every day, is a time to review what we do to bring justice and equality to the world and to relieve the burdens of the poorest, then let it also be a day when we show someone love in gestures and gifts of beauty and wonder. They don’t have to cost much, but the money is not wasted. 

Prayer 

Jesus, 
who received so warmly 
an extravagant gift offered from love,
give us your Spirit that we may grow
in gratitude and grace.  

Bless all our giving 
with the generosity
that calculates little
and begrudges nothing. 

Bless all our receiving,

so that those who give to us
may never find us churlish,
but grateful for love expressed.
  
And thank you, above all,
for the gift of your love,
poured upon us,
filling the house. Amen. 

St John 11: 45 – 57

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.  But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done.  So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’  But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all!  You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.  They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, ‘What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?’  Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Reflection

Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead and was growing in popularity.  So much so that the chief priests and the Pharisees were afraid of what the Romans might do to the Temple and the nation of Israel (v 48).  The threat of the Roman Empire was very real.  The Temple and the nation had been lost before to the power of empires.  Each time the trauma and the fight to regain control became part of the national story – the story of God forming and shaping His people Israel.  No one with any religious or civil authority would want to be ‘that leader’ that lost the Temple and the nation again.  Just the thought was too painful. 

The Roman Empire hangs over the gospel story like a hangman’s noose.  The crucified littered the highways as a warning, designed to intimidate.  “Step out of line and this could be you!”  Empires control populations by encouraging people to turn on one another out of fear of what the imperial systems might do to them.  “If I appease the empire, I will be saved” becomes the mantra.  History tells us this rarely works.  Empires would rather turn people against each other than risk any damage to the imperial structure itself. 

Though they are rarely called empires anymore they are still at work in our world today.  This part of the gospel story reminds us how damaging and divisive empires can be, even causing us to turn on God with the best intentions in the world.  Jesus encouraged his followers to seek God’s kingdom first, to love one another, to share this message to every person, and to welcome everyone into what God is doing among them.  Whilst empires seek to divide, Christ calls us to serve people in our communities and to unite under the banner of God’s kingdom: LOVE. 

Prayer 

God,
when we hear hateful rhetoric,
when we are encouraged to turn against one another,
when we see fear rising in people’s hearts,
help us to respond with truth and love.
Amen 

 
Today’s service is led by the Revd Andy Braunston

 
Welcome

Hello and welcome to worship.  Today we look at the famous story of Elijah, on the run from justice after committing genocidal murder, engaging in a pity party thinking he’s the only one left who is faithful to God, and being corrected as his assumptions are turned upside down.  God proving, again, that it’s not wise to try and contain God with our own expectations.  We try and make sense of this story as we are tempted to wonder if we’re the only ones left who are faithful to God and prepare, like Elijah, to have our assumptions challenged.  My name is Andy Braunston and I am the United Reformed Church’s Minister for Digital Worship; I live in Orkney where the wind is noisy and God’s presence is seen most clearly in nature’s majesty.  Let’s worship God together.  

Call to Worship

We come to worship You, O Most High,
that you may re-clothe us in our rightful minds.
We come to worship You, Risen Lord Jesus,
that we may confess the beauty of Your peace. 
We come to worship You, Most Holy Spirit,
to hear you in silence, earthquake, wind, and fire.
We come to worship you, Eternal Trinity,
with deep reverent praise.

Hymn     Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
John Greenleaf Whittier (1872) Public Domain. Sung by the choir of St Bartholomew’s Manhattan.
 
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
in purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us, like them, without a word
rise up and follow thee.

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm.

Prayers of Approach, Confession, and Grace

We thirst for You, O Most High,
like deer that pant for refreshing streams.
We long for You, Lord Jesus,
the Living Bread which satisfies our hunger.
When shall we see You, Most Holy Spirit,
when we’re tormented by those who mock?

Forgive us, Good Lord,
when we expect You to be where we left You,
when we demand You to do as we say,
when we see ourselves as the only faithful members of Your people.
Forgive and remind us,
   that you cannot be contained,
   that wind and rain, 
   earthquake and calm, 
   fire and water, 
   silence and noise 
are all as likely to be inhabited by You.
Forgive and remind us,
that your Church is not the only place where You are at work,
and that You call all to Your side.  
Forgive us, and give us time to change.  Amen.

The God of earthquake, wind, and fire,
the God of life refreshing streams,
the God of both noise and silence,
forgives where there is true repentance.
So accept the forgiveness on offer,
forgive others, and have the courage to forgive yourselves.  Amen.

Prayer for Illumination

When we think we know best, O God, 
open again Your Word to correct us.
When we expect You, reveal Yourself in surprising places.
When we are exhausted and grumpy, 
refresh us with Your very self, revealed in Jesus, 
and proclaimed in ancient and contemporary word. Amen

Reading     1 Kings 19:1-18 

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.  when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’

Hymn     Psalm 42
Dewey Westra, 1931 Public Domain. Sung by Michael Owens https://genevanpsalter.com/about/
 
As the hart, about to falter, in its trembling agony,
longs for flowing streams of water, so, O God, I long for Thee.
Yes, athirst for Thee I cry; God of life, O when shall I
come again to stand before Thee in Thy temple, and adore Thee?

Bitter tears of lamentation are my food by night and day.
In my deep humiliation “Where is now your God?” they say.
Oh, my soul’s poured out in me, when I bring to memory
how the throngs I would assemble, shouting praises in Thy temple.
 
O my soul, why are you grieving, why disquieted in me?
Hope in God, your faith retrieving: He will still your refuge be.
I again shall laud His grace for the comfort of His face:
He will show His help and favour, for He is my God and Saviour.

Sermon 

We opened worship with the lovely hymn by John Greenleaf Whittier, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.  Like all great hymns the poetry of the words is enhanced by the beauty of the tune; it’s a favourite for many and the words are evocative of today’s reading.  Whittier, however, would have been appalled to have his words set to music and sung as a hymn!  He was an American poet who worked for the abolition of slavery and was heavily influenced by the Scottish poet Robert Burns.  Above all he was a Quaker.  The hymn we know is from a longer poem called The Brewing of Soma and references how Vedic priests brewed and drank Soma to experience God and compares this to how some Christians use music, incense, dreary vigils and trance to experience God; a vain attempt according to Whittier hence his asking God to “re-clothe us in our rightful mind”.  It’s rather ironic, then, that it was set to music and has become a much-loved hymn.  The reference to the earthquake, wind and fire as well as the still small voice of calm is from our passage from 1 Kings which is also, like the hymn, taken out of context.  

We hear that Elijah is on the run from the dreadful queen Jezebel but don’t dwell too much on why.  Our passage notes Elijah had put the prophets of Baal to the sword.  But if we read before this passage we read of Elijah’s showdown with those prophets when they were not able to perform miracles despite his taunting and show of miraculous strength.  Elijah then had 450 prophets of Ba’al slaughtered.  The hero of the passage is a murderer; the one who God speaks to in a still small voice was a master of grizzly spectacle and intemperate debate.  The one who thought he was the only faithful prophet left was rather lacking in self-awareness.

The immediate context of the story is the political state of Israel at the time.  Following Solomon’s death, the Jewish kingdom split into two – the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel.  The ten northern tribes set up their own monarchy with a capital in Samaria whilst the two southern tribes stayed loyal to David’s House and kept the capital, and temple, in Jerusalem.  For 200 years or so they were the best of enemies sharing a faith and a history.  The tales we have about Elijah are set in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab – nine centuries before Christ.  Ahab, needing a foreign alliance, married Jezebel the daughter of the king of the Sidonians.  As well as marrying a devout pagan he promoted the worship of the god Ba’al as part of his cosying up to his pagan neighbours.  This promotion, and support, of paganism was anathema to the Jewish prophets who demanded the worship only of God.  In this tense context Elijah taunts, traps and terrorises the hapless pagan prophets leading to him being on the run in today’s reading. 

The key part of the passage is, after Elijah had been made to rest, eat, drink, his encounter with God. His encounter with God in the still small voice.  The Liberal theologians of the 19th Century used the fact that God was not be found in earthquake, wind, and fire as an advance in humanity’s understanding of God who was personally accessible within the framework of human experience.  The problem with this approach is that we start to imagine, and limit, when God is at work – holding, instead, that we need silence and calm to experience God. We need, they said, to avoid spectacle.  This isn’t, however, the Biblical witness where God is always unexpected and often rather spectacular!  On this occasion God was not where Elijah, that devotee of spectacle, might have expected but that doesn’t mean that God is always avoiding the dramatic.  

Further, God also deals with Elijah’s other preconceptions.  In chapter 18 Elijah is confident, bold, and rather irritating in the way that he taunts the pagan priests.  There’s not the self-doubt and pity seen in this chapter where Elijah would rather die than face Jezebel’s justice and takes himself off to a cave to hide.   He is not one of the Bible’s more likeable figures.  God digs down into Elijah’s soul.  God seems puzzled and asks why Elijah is there – God may think he should be back in Israel.  Elijah, in need of a bit of pastoral supervision, isn’t very aware of his own context.  He implies he’s the only one left who has stayed true to God but, instead, God gives Elijah the names of two people to anoint as kings and one person to anoint as a prophet in his place.  Further God mentions there are 7,000 people in Israel who haven’t worshipped Ba’al.  Elijah’s pity party seems a little misplaced as God breaks through and tells Elijah there is yet more work for him to do.  There is a future for Elijah, and Israel, that can’t rationally be seen at this point in the story when all is doom and gloom.  

The passage shows that faith, and experience, cannot be controlled or summoned and are as likely to appear in spectacle, earthquake, wind, or fire as in silence.  God is not controlled by Elijah; instead, God breaks through Elijah’s preconceptions and experience to continue to commission him.

In Psalm 42, which we sung to the lovely Genevan tune used by Calvin, we have haunting imagery – of thirsty deer, joy and sorrow, and a search for God.  It is, therefore, a fitting response to Elijah’s pity party in our first reading.  The Psalmist thirsts for a God who seems beyond reach; maybe, like Elijah, the Psalmist was depressed.  The poet is ridiculed by others for God’s absence (rather like Elijah ridiculed the pagan priests!)  The poet longs for God to appear and for a religious experience like so many of our own generation do.  Comfort is found in the memory of God’s deeds and recollection of worship in the Temple which seems, for now, inaccessible.  Yet despite the depression the writer wants to rely on the God who is rock, help, joy and hope.  

What then might we make of the Psalmist’s emotions and the murderous depressive prophet Elijah?  Maybe, in the Church we can, like Elijah, be grumpy and complain that there’s no one left, no one coming, no one willing to serve on the rotas, no one ready to staff a Sunday school (if we’ve any kids to go to it), no one to sort out the building, no one to edit the newsletter, and no one to welcome newcomers.  Maybe we can relate very well to Elijah’s pity party.    

Might we be busy, like Elijah, in telling God how faithful we are (and, of course imply few, or no, others are as faithful.)   Might we, like Elijah, not look to see who God is bringing to us?  Do we seek God in the pristine silence of a dying Church?  Are we brave enough, instead, to look for God in the movement, noise, and spectacle around us?  Might we be too limiting in our notions of what spirituality should be, like John Greenleaf Whittier, rather than seeing where God is meeting his lost people? Might our memory of how glorious things were, be as faulty as our perception of things now?  

Where might we find God, our rock, help, joy and hope, at work in our world? Can we go and join in?

Let’s pray

God of the earthquake,
Lord of the fire, Creator of the wind, Spirit of silence,
meet us even as we battle with our preconceptions,
move us even as we are resistant,
lift us even when we’re determined to stay glum,
and remind us, against our nature, 
that You’ve not finished with us yet. Amen.

Hymn     Many Are the Light Beams 
Cyprian of Carthage (252)Translator, David Lewis  © 1972, AF-Foundation. OneLicence # A-734713.  Sung by members of the Pacific Spirit United Church, Vancouver, BC

Many are the light beams from one light. Our one light Jesus. 
Many are the light beams from the one light; we are one in Christ. 

Many are the branches of the one tree. Our one tree is Jesus. 
Many are the branches of the one tree; we are one in Christ. 

Many are the gifts giv’n, love is all one. Love’s the gift of Jesus. 
Many are the gifts giv’n, love is all one; we are one in Christ. 

Many ways to serve God, the Spirit is one; servant spirit of Jesus. 
Many ways to serve God, the Spirit is one; we are one in Christ. 
 
Many are the members, the body is one; members all of Jesus.
Many are the members, the body is one; we are one in Christ.

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in God, our Rock,
who defies our expectations and preconceptions,
who reclothes us in our rightful minds 
when we’ve gone astray.

We believe in God, Enfleshed Word
who is our joy, hope, and help,
and who is found in spectacle and silence,
wind and water, fire and earth,
and in unexpected people in unexpected places.

We believe in God, Limitless Spirit,
who opens our eyes to surprising truth,
and moves us beyond the pristine silence of a dying church,
to see the faithful beyond our walls and limitations.

We believe in God, Eternal Trinity
ever lifting our sights,
ever stimulating our senses,
and ever moving us in mission.  Amen.

Offertory

Elijah was exhausted by what he felt was his ministry; isolated and alone he sunk into despair only to be lifted by God’s giving of sleep, food, drink and a different perspective.  We can be exhausted by all we do for the Church; the sheer load of keeping the show on the road, all the tasks we load ourselves with and often forget to refresh ourselves with the sustenance God gives us.  As we give we remember that God does not need us; we need God.  God builds the Church ever calling people to life and love, using our gifts of time, talent and treasure to build the radical Kingdom which is to come.  So let’s give thanks for the gifts that have been given here  – in the plate, direct to the bank, and gifts in kind of love and service.

God of every good gift, bless our efforts, feed our souls, 
help us to rest in You and gain a fresh perspective.  Amen.

Intercessions

We bring our prayers to God for a world in pain,  confused and angry, suffering and perplexed, and for a Church needing to love and serve.

God of silence, we remember before You the needs of our world,
people on the move in search of safety,
people rebuilding shattered cities and dreams,
people meeting in secret because of how they love and live,
and ask for Your strength and loving kindness on all they do.
We remember those who dare to lead in our world
that they may pursue justice and integrity not riches and power,
that we may live in peace.

God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

Earth moving God,
we pray for all seeking to make a positive difference in difficult times;
those working to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis, 
those bringing health care to the poor and dispossessed,
those seeking to influence governmental policy for good,
those who uphold law and order,
and those who working for ever more just laws,
and ask for your strength and loving kindness in all they do.
We remember those who seek to do harm,
who enrich themselves at the expense of others,
who maim, wound and murder,
that they may face justice and themselves,
find ways to turn around, and give, and find, freedom.

God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

God of wind, fire, and calm, we pray for Your Church
    confused by the times,
    forgetting to see where You are at work,
    wanting to help but lacking in confidence.
We remember those who lead Your Church,
who offer vision and discernment 
and who inspire us to see the work You have for us,
and ask You make us receptive to new perspectives.

God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

Eternal Trinity,
We remember before you those we know in any kind of need….

God, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

We join our prayers together as we pray as Jesus taught…Our Father….

Hymn     The Church of Christ in Every Age 
Fred Pratt Green (1969) © 1971 Hope Publishing Company OneLicence. Played and sung by Gareth Moore and used with his kind permission.

The Church of Christ in every age
beset by change but Spirit led,
must claim and test its heritage
and keep on rising from the dead.

Across the world, across the street,
the victims of injustice cry
for shelter and for bread to eat,
and never live until they die.

Then let the servant Church arise,
a caring Church that longs to be 
a partner in Christ’s sacrifice,
and clothed in Christ’s humanity.

For he alone, whose blood was shed,
can cure the fever in our blood,
and teach us how to share our bread
and feed the starving multitude.
 
We have no mission but to serve
in full obedience to our Lord:
to care for all, without reserve,
and to spread his liberating Word.

Blessing

May the One who can be found in both spectacle and silence,
whose voice sounds through fire, earthquake and wind,
whose perfume is ever in the air,
grant you the grace to find new perspectives,
to see things as they really are,
and to find assurance in your vocation.
And the blessing of Almighty God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Be with you now and evermore,
Amen.
 

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’  Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’  So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’  When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
 
Reflection

“He stinketh” are the words that the King James Version uses in this passage, somehow more poetic and more evocative too. It conjures up a vivid image – which is what the writer was intending, of course. John is not only the most overtly theological of the evangelists, he’s also the funniest. He uses wordplay and irony in various of his stories, including this one I think.
Parables weren’t just told by Jesus, they were told about him too. That’s helpful to bear in mind, I think, when reading a story like this one. A plain reading puts Jesus in the position of miracle healer par excellence, but leaves us with a host of challenging theological, and practical, questions. Knowing John’s fondness for parables, though, and his sometimes playful approach, we might prefer to ask questions like ‘who, or what, might the name Lazarus signify?’ 

A Greek version of the version of Lazarus’ name is “Eleazar” which points us, immediately, to the most famous Eleazar, son of Aaron, High Priest of the Israelites. Might Lazarus, then, signify something to do with the Israelite priesthood?

At the time of Jesus the priesthood was not in a good place. The powerful Annas family were Roman collaborators, Annas himself was eventually assassinated for trying to do a peace deal with the Romans, his son in law Caiaphas, a Sadducee (legalists who didn’t believe in resurrection…), was so well in with the occupying power that he stayed in the job for 18-years. The corruption of these zombie priests was evident to all. “They stinketh.”
Jesus, a devout Jew, is ‘greatly disturbed’ as he looks on at this dead, corrupted corpse. But instead of turning his back on it, he calls it forth into a new life. ‘Unbound,’ the institution can leave its corrupt ways and serve its true purpose.

Prayer

God of justice and peace,
at times it feels like everything is beyond repair,
dead, rotten, and stinking to high heaven.
Call us back, God,
to a way of seeing
that looks beyond the corruption of the present to the hope of the new.
Help us to change our perspective.
Lead us to envision a better tomorrow,
so that we would have the strength to join in the fight to make it a reality. Amen

St John 11: 28 – 37

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’  And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.  Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.  The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ 

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.  He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’

They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ 

Jesus began to weep. 

So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’

But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’

Reflection

Today’s reading is of course the central section of a longer story. It is good to read the whole passage and see the whole picture. But it can also be helpful to explore just one verse or phrase. I wonder which verse jumps out for you, and what thoughts and feelings it prompts? 

Writing this, for me, it is verse 35. In many English translations John 11: 35 is the shortest verse in the bible. It is sometimes used as an expletive. Here we have a longer version; ‘Jesus began to weep’. A couple of verses earlier we had seen that Jesus was deeply moved. 

Traditional theology asserts that God is perfect. Therefore God is immutable, incapable of change. It follows that God is therefore impassible. In other words God is incapable of having emotions, because emotions are feelings which change us, both internally and in how we present to others.
Yet here we have the Son of God very clearly showing emotions. Jesus is moved and upset by what has happened to his friend, and is empathising with those around. He cries. He is utterly human.

Theologians from Augustine to Moltmann and beyond have wrestled with this apparent paradox.
I cannot explain, or give a deep theological treatise. But I can say that for me this is part of the wonder of the Trinity. We have God, perfect and solid as a rock, yet in Jesus able to come alongside, empathise with our emotions, rejoicing when we rejoice, and weeping with us when we are in pain or distress. What comfort that short verse can bring. 

Prayer

Oh God, our rock, 
thank you that in Jesus you are with us in all life’s ups and downs.
Through your empathetic love may we find new strength and peace. 
And may we also recognise those moments when we are called to be your arms of love for others. 
Amen. 

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.  So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ 

But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,  after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ 

The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ 

Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.  But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ 

After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ 

The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’  Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 

Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.  For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ 

Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away,  and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 

Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ 

Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ 

Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’

Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live,  and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ 

She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

Reflection

Into the reality of death, Jesus speaks words of life and hope. He does more than speak them, he embodies life and hope.

Martha and the disciples are brought face to face with death. Martha’s brother Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, has died. The disciples, led by Thomas, are prepared to face death following Jesus into Judea as he prepares to demonstrate once again the truth of who he really is.

The feelings of the disciples in the first part of this chapter are familiar to us in our struggle. So often we wonder just what Jesus’ words mean for us as we try to follow Him in the here and now. We dearly want easy answers to the challenge of being church in the 21st century. Here we and the disciples are far from understanding what Jesus means.

Martha’s grief and reproach are changed by Jesus’ words into faith and hope. She sees the truth in her friend and at once she is given new life. She has yet to see the truth of what Jesus has told her in response to her reproachful greeting, that Lazarus will rise again, not just on the last day but on this day – yet she believes in Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.

After the uncertainty and misunderstandings of the preceding days, Jesus offers the certainty of Resurrection and Life to all who believe in him. He offers this to us as we wonder what purpose and plans God has for us. We, having read or listened to these words, can trust in this promise of astonishing new life, of raising from the dead, of new life and hope for all.

We often hear these words at funerals promising new life for those we mourn. However, we should also remember them as we walk the way of Jesus. We believe in the Son of God who continues to breathe new life into our communities, “living working in our world!”

Prayer

Living God,
help us to trust you even as we wait on your guidance.
Help us to follow you even into difficult ways.
Speak your words of life and hope in and through us as we follow You.
Keep us faithful like Thomas and Martha,
ordinary people who found in you the One who they had hoped for,
so that we are always able to be overwhelmed with wonder, love and praise of You
our Lord and Saviour, Amen

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.  So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’  Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me;  but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.  The Father and I are one.’ The Jews took up stones again to stone him.  Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?’  The Jews answered, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.’  Jesus answered, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, you are gods”?  If those to whom the word of God came were called “gods”—and the scripture cannot be annulled—  can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, “I am God’s Son”?  If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me.  But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’  Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there.  Many came to him, and they were saying, ‘John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.’  And many believed in him there.

Reflection
I recollect sitting quietly meditating in the sun in the grounds of Iona Abbey, looking across the Sound to the cliffs and hills of Mull. I could hear the calling of seabirds overhead, the gentle susurration of waves on the rocks, and the bleating of lambs as they grazed on the grassy area over the wall.

Listening, I became aware that the lambs and the ewes did not all make the same sound. I recalled that I had read somewhere a passage by a shepherd who commented that each ewe and lamb had a different “call” so that they could recognise one another from a distance. A good shepherd recognised their own flock by the sounds of their voices.

In the preceding passage in John’s Gospel, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd and illustrates many ways in which a shepherd shepherds their sheep. He does not endear himself to his listeners.

As this passage opens, Jesus is in the temple at Jerusalem. It is the Festival of the Dedication which we might know better as Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights. This festival commemorates the consecration of the Second Temple in 516BCE, but soon to be destroyed again. At Hanukkah, Jews celebrate this liberation from the oppressor by the shepherd God who had heard the voices of his own people.

Jesus did not here explicitly identify himself as the Messiah, but pointed out that those who recognise his voice as the true shepherd will be safe whilst those who do not will not. It was going back amongst his own people that many would hear, respond and believe.

Our task in this noisy world of competing siren voices is to distinguish the call of the lamb in the midst of the cacophony, assisting others to recognise its authenticity and to respond.

Prayer
Good Shepherd, may I hear your call
and when I hear, may I answer you
and come and listen to you.

Good Shepherd, may you hear my call
and when you hear, please answer me
and come and listen to me.

Isaiah 2: 1 – 4

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
 He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
    and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war any more.

Reflection

You may wish to click here to listen to Handel’s stirring rendition of some verses from Psalm 2.

Handel’s setting of the opening verses of Psalm 2 both inspires and haunts us; his free working of the Coverdale translation of the Psalms paired with a tune evoking the dreadful energy of battle reminds us of the ways in which the nations still furiously rage together.
 
Yesterday, deploying the same tactics they use in Gaza, the Israelis told many people in Tehran to leave and announced they have mastery in the air.  Until Mr Trump pulls its leash Israel will continue to inflict a dreadful beating on Iran.  This despite the fact the news media report they are willing to talk in return for a ceasefire; a ceasefire Mr Netanyahu has no need of, nor desire for, just yet.  So, the nations continue to rage and folk in Tehran debate moving north or staying put.  A friend living in Tehran tells me he watches the BBC Persian Service via Satellite TV and is weighing his options; what do you do when the safety of home is no longer safe where few places in your country are? 
 
Mr Netanyahu, like millions of Iranians, wants regime change in Iran; I’m not convinced, however, that terror is the best way to change a regime.  In war attitudes harden and an attack on a country gives its leaders a patriotic boost.  Of course, the world’s attention is on Iran and Israel – leaving Mr Netanyahu free to continue his deadly assault on Gaza.  We watch the news feeling horrified and helpless recalling Isaiah’s words wondering if the vision of an Israel at peace is simply a cruel joke or empty delusion.

But for now the nations are determined to learn about war.  Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine means Nato countries are increasing their military spending to defend themselves. People are again wondering if the threat of nuclear war is a greater threat to humanity than the climate crisis – a threat which, if realised, would end life as we know it on earth.  We worry, despair, and try to put the news out of our minds turning, instead, to music stations and focus on the minutiae of life as that’s simpler and easier.  The internet, being both a repository of knowledge and a sewer of filth, is full of Christians announcing this latest war is a sign of the end times and a fulfilment of Biblical prophecy – a nice easy way to not have to try and work for peace.  Saner voices urge peace and dialogue, Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, Archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan urges negotiation and described the situation of Christians in Iran as being “between the cross and hope” where resolution can come only through prayer.

So, today we stand with the Cardinal and Iranian Christians, with the starving people of Gaza and the beleaguered people of Israel, between the Cross and hope.  Jesus is crucified again in His people as the nations rage furiously together and, in their warfare, ignore the suffering Messiah dying silently in His people, praying for peace and reconciliation, rejected by the powerful and insular.   We pray and have hope; a hope not grounded in the machinations of Messers Trump and Netanyahu but in the suffering Lord who longs to rise again in peace.
 
Let’s pray
 
O Most High
the nations rage and fight,
they prepare for war not peace,
and we have no words.
 
Crucified God,
again and again you die in your people,
as the forces of imperial might
   love death not life,
   and hide in the dark instead of seeing the truth in the light,
and we have no words.
 
Most Holy Spirit,
as simple fools we hope for peace,
we long for weapons to be beaten into ploughshares,
for flourishing in Israel, Gaza, and Iran,
and for our words and prayers for peace to be no longer needed. 
Amen.