Month: March 2023

Fourth Sunday in Lent
Year A
March 19, 2023

First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Psalm 23
Second Reading: 5:8-14
Gospel: John 9:1-41

Collect

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and for ever. Amen

“Do Not Be Afraid”

(John 9: 1-41)

Our Gospel today, a blind man trying to defend himself on how he went from being blind all his life to now seeing. 

As Jesus and his disciples were walking in Jerusalem, they came across a man, he was more than likely begging, and Jesus sees that he is blind.  The scriptures tell us later that he was blind from birth, but not when Jesus came upon him. The disciples asked him…

“Rabbi (Teacher) who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Suffering was attributed to sin, either of the parents or of the man before birth. Jesus denies this explanation and shifts attention from cause to purpose; this is an opportunity for God to act. 

We must work, Jesus is including his disciples in the fulfillment of his mission.

Jesus had 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) After the man went and washed, he was able to see.

Throughout Jesus’ ministry he has healed each person in different ways. He might have touched them, or they reached out and touch him. He healed with words and actions of all kinds. He would be in public at times and in private at times.

This time, he is in the public eye and it is on the sabbath to boot. The blind man had not asked to be healed; Jesus seeks him out. The blind man first hears Jesus when he tells him to “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).

As one possessing the imperfection of blindness, the man was forced to exist outside the community of worship and forever not permitted beyond the gates to the synagogue.

Jesus’s meaning……. “Seeing and hearing and believing”.

The man must defend his position of seeing, he was born blind, but he could hear and after being healed he believed, even his parents didn’t understand and put it back on him…. they were afraid because if they spoke of a Messiah, it would put them outside the synagogue. 

The Pharisees miss the point of Jesus and his miracle, you could say they were spiritually blind. 

He, the blind man was driven out of the synagogue once again and Jesus heard about it. He finds him and speaks:

 “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him. “Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he. ‘He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.   

God’s Amazing Grace

You have heard the Hymn Amazing Grace.  Amazing Grace…how sweet the sound!  

Yes, this man was born blind and he could not see with his eyes, he saw with something more powerful, he saw though the eyes of “Faith.

In the year of 2020 and 2021, the entire world, we were all! experiencing something unlike anything we have ever experienced. It was something we could not See!!…we were blinded by a virus we could not see!!  

But we had God’s amazing Grace. The world as we knew, had come to a complete crawl, with no planes, cruises, sports events — anything, and everything. We had not been kicked out of our synagogue but, we have been asked to close our churches and stop our services. At least the service where we are together as a church family. The walls of the church, with a small c are closed. But the Church with the capital C God’s church is always open. 

Scripture tells us “365” times in the bible, “Fear not” (“Do not be afraid”), that is one for every day of the year. Maybe God knew we would need that reassurance. We are in the fourth week of Lent, a time of self-denial from normal everyday things. The blind man was isolated, he had been isolated since birth and he was alone, but he could see through the eyes of “Faith.”Lent, leads us to the cross where Jesus is and we imagine the suffering that Jesus had. 

Suffering is a state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.

We ourselves have had to suffer loss in our lives, having family and friends diagnosed with an illness that may or may not be cured. It is all part of living and there is no reason to let fear control your life,

” Feed your Faith and not your Fears.”   

“As long as I am in this world, I am the light of the world.”

We have been given sight by the grace of God.

We have been given hope in place of fear.

Pray for one another, love one another, and help one another!

“Do Not Be Afraid”

Amen
The Reverend Lola Culbreath

Third Sunday in Lent
Year A

March 12, 2023
First Reading: Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11
Gospel: John 4:5-42

Collect:

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen

Trusting in God’s Love

Exodus !7: 1-7

We all know the Exodus story of how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt. Stories have been told for thousands of years. Movies made that brought the story to life. 

In chapter 17 the Lord provided water in the wilderness and in chapter 16, He provided manna from heaven.

The people were, dirty, tired, and could not understand, why they were led there. The faith that Moses had in the Lord, but he was not sure what to do either, he cries out and God provided, only God can bring the water, but it is trusting God and the effort of Moses listening to what God has led him to do.

Gospel: John 4:5-42

The Samaritan women, this is one encounter with Jesus reveals something about who he is. Last week’s lesson, it was about, living by hope and faith and how God’s love for us, he gave us his only begotten Son. 

This lesson, we are given and reminded about the gift of the Holy Spirt and the gift of water.

This wonderful lesson today, the Samaritan women at the well, is one of the stores that we have grown to love.

I loved how she did not run away but, she listens to Jesus and she helped spread the gospel to others in her village. They also believed, because like the women, they came face to face with Jesus. They invited him to the village and he stayed two days. 

This was unthinkable, the Jews did not have a good relationship with the Samaritans, it went back hundreds of years. This story is important, because of the Samaritans and his disciples, the stories were passed down for generations. The story at the well confirms, that Jesus comes to the least of theses, He cares for the outcasts of society.

The Samaritans had the advantage of getting to know Jesus and said, “we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

Romans 5:1-11

We have been given such a wonderful message from Paul’s letter to the Romans. 

In the epistle, St. Paul did not know Jesus the way the disciples and the women at the well did. 

He never knew Jesus in the flesh, but he is the one, that lets us know through his message, that we can know Christ just as the disciples did.

Paul says, “we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.” 

Believers in Jesus experience the same process of being justified as Abraham, we too are justified by faith and we too have access to his grace.

Christian life is challenging, in the reading it continues to say that to be able to share in the glory of God. We must realize that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For us to grow in our faith, we will have to endure many things, we may have to suffer also, but we need only to trust in God’s love and we can endure anything.

Getting back to the gospel, Jesus asks the Samaritan women for a drink of water, she is astonished at his question, “How is it that you, a Jew ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”

Jesus having a conversation with her is crossing all kinds of boundaries, but it moves on to Jesus telling her that if she asked him, it would be living water that would be given to her by God, adding the water gushing up to eternal life.”

He, then talks to her about her private life, her past life, Jesus knows all about her and her past, and she is honest with him. She turns to a question for him about where to worship? A mountain? Jerusalem? He continues telling her, the hour is coming, and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

The women has her AHA moment, she tells Jesus, I know the Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. Jesus reveals that He is the one. The disciples came back and she leaves and goes out to her village.

Jesus continues his message with the disciples about eating and that He is there to complete why he was sent, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” 

Conclusion

In our lessons today we see the beginning of the Christian church. Jesus teaches his disciples about the harvest, the women’s testimony with the Samaritans has brought Jesus his harvest.

Moses and the Israelites needed to know that only God can bring the water, but it is trusting God that they had to realize.

Jesus went to the Jacobs well on purpose and he intended to reach out to the Samaritans through the women he met at the well. But to also harvest and bring more into his fold.

Jesus did not call the women at the well a sinner; he did not even mention sin or sinfulness in his message and no word of judgment or even encouragement to change her life.

But what is life changing for the women is, according to her, that she has been entirely known by him, and this being known has enabled her to know him.

Goodnews

Trusting in God’s love, we are the inheritors of the church and we know that Christ is still alive and we have been given a new life in the Spirit and a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

The women at the well tells the Samaritans, that she knows he is the Messiah.  

To experience the light of Christ and to really know him, search this lent season for that encounter with the light of Jesus’s and the truth, knowing that he sees you, he sees your mistake and your weakness, but he doesn’t question you, he loves you for who you are and because you believe in him, you will have eternal life.

Remembering St. Paul’s message:

We must realize that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For us to grow in our faith, we will have to endure many things, we may have to suffer also, but we need only to trust in God’s love and we can endure anything.

Amen
The Reverend Lola Culbreath

Second Sunday in Lent
Year A
March 5, 2023

First Reading: Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm: 121
Second Reading: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Gospel: John 3:1-17

Collect

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth to your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Living by Hope and Faith

Genesis (12:1-4a)

Abram, leaves his homeland where his ancestors had been for years, he follows God’s commandment, to leave, He, God, will show him. 

God will bless Abram and everyone who blesses or follows Abram, will also so be blessed, until everyone in this new nation, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 

Romans (4:1-5, 13-17)

In Paul’s letters to the Romans, Abraham believed in God’s promises, through his helpless, unseen faith. Abraham had only experienced one of God’s promises coming to reality; the birth of his son, Isaac. And because of that, his trust in God was given to him as having God’s righteousness; not his own. “For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or his descendants through the law…. but through the righteousness of faith.”

John (3: 1-17)

Nicodemus, the leader of the Jews, we know being a leader he has studied the laws of the Jewish faith, but here he is, in the middle of the night, reaching out to Jesus. A man, not dressed like the other leaders and sleeping out under the stars, in the dirt, maybe he has a mat of some sort to lay on. We have heard that Jesus had no place to lay his head. And here is this leader dressed in clean robes.

Nicodemus, calls Jesus “Rabbi” and he has watched and listened to Jesus, he tells Jesus, “we know you are a teacher who has come from God; for no “one can do these signs that you do apart for the presence of God.”

This is a powerful statement from Nicodemus, he recognized that Jesus is doing these things and God is present. But it is kind of in a question from him for Jesus, and Jesus turns it around on… 

Nicodemus by saying “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.

Nicodemus…looking confused…Jesus says, do not be astonished. 

Above…you must be born from above! Jesus turns the conversation to what matters and points 

Nicodemus in another direction.

Jesus knows Nicodemus wants to see God’s will, God’s kingdom, but he is stuck in the old ways and is not listening.

Jesus has come to open the door for God’s kingdom, He refers to the baptism of repentance, and born of water; and the transformation we get when we are baptized and born of the Spirit.

Believing, we do not know where the wind comes from, He tells Nicodemus, or where it goes, but knowing and believing and having faith we know the effects of God’s Spirit and we know it is all around us, God’s breath, and we feel it when we are born of the Spirit.

Conclusion 

It was hard in those days 2000 plus years ago to understand something you cannot see. 

We today, have everything at our fingertips, we do not even have to have an imagination, we just look it up. Go to google earth or look up the images that the Hubble telescope has sent to earth.

One time I was telling someone about something I saw on the news, and she said, I did not see that? I said, just because you did not see it, does not mean it did not happen. 

There are thousands of people who still do not believe in God, Jesus, or the stories in the bible.

I say how can you NOT!

But, today and then, we have been given the knowledge of faith.

In our first reading, Abram and his followers are grounded in the surprise, obedience, faith, courage, grace of a new beginning, kind of like a new birth. They must go on a journey.

In the second reading, Paul identifies that God has created a new people, a new part of the family through the faithfulness of and faith in Jesus the Messiah. “For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.”

Here Jesus is offering us someone visible and recognizable who embodies the Spirit of God, himself. And we must believe in the mystery of the incarnation. Christ is real and present. 

In the scriptures this morning, we are seeing a thread that connects them all together. I see no better way then to top off the lessons with one of the most loved scriptures of all time.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

In our second Sunday of Lent, go on that journey, reconnecting to God and to your faith in Christ, to receive new life and hope in the resurrection.

Do not focus on earthly things, focus on the breath of God, all around you.

Amen
The Reverend Lola Culbreath