Living Water and True Worship

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Because of the Jews, Jesus had to leave Judea and return to Galilee, which took Him right through Samaria. In the heat of the day, our Lord found Himself at Jacob's Well, in the town of Sychar, alone.

A Samarian woman comes to the well at noon to draw her water. This is strange, because the usual time to draw water was either late in the afternoon or early in the morning, in the cool parts of the day. However, given the dubious character of this woman, she perhaps chose to come when no one would be around, so that she could avoid the piercing glares and wagging tongues of the other women in town. This is what sin does – it isolates each of us from one another. You are afraid to show your face in the marketplace because someone might know what you have been up to in the shadows. I would rather stay home because I do not want to confront those who disapprove of what I do. We avoid each other because we want to avoid condemnation.

"Whom God the Father Chose to Send"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What does it mean to be one, or to be united? It seems that a great many things today are “united”, at least in name. The United States of America. United Van Lines. United Auto Workers. The United Methodist Church. All these entities say they are united, but what does that mean? What does it mean for us to be united, to be one?

“And this is eternal life...” What is eternal life? For us to ask that is a bit like asking a person born blind, what is green? And, depending on whom you ask, you will get different answers.

For a great deal of people in this world, eternal life means simply nothingness. The goal in life is to be released from the prison of matter and time and space and simply to be nothing. Nirvana, bliss, being at peace with the universe. Whatever you want to call it, it seems attractive. After all, there is no judgment, no right or wrong, no ending or beginning, just being.

Follow the Sign

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The world is full of signs, some more helpful than others. I once saw a sign on a fence that said “No Smoking Propane”. Or there is the sign I saw in a book that read “To Go Left Make 3 Right Turns”. I'm sure you have seen signs in various places that caused you to laugh, scratch your head, or just plain wonder what the signmaker was thinking.

In general, most of the signs we see regularly are good. Signs give useful information. Street signs tell us where we are, and help us find where we want to be. In every land, in every language, the first thing a foreigner learns to recognize is the restroom sign. Then, once you can find the restroom wherever you are, you learn to recognize food signs. We need an abundance of signs to help us answer those three basic questions: where am I, where is the restroom, and where is the food?

"A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

With a little coaching, animals will usually go easily if they can see where they are headed, but if they are unaware of what is coming. Pigs generally refuse to make right-angle turns, but are fairly willing to walk around a curve, as long as they don't know that they are heading into a truck or a new confinement. Jewish and Islamic law regarding the slaughter of meat recognizes this trait in animals, and therefore prohibits allowing subsequent animals to witness the slaughter of those before them in line. Herd animals will very often follow a lead animal, regardless of where that animal leads.

Let the Bones Which You Have Broken Rejoice

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.” That phrase seems like a hard pill to swallow. How can broken bones rejoice? Why would we rejoice in pain and suffering? Brokenness should induce sorrow and weeping, not praise and rejoicing. But in Psalm 51, David leads us in the pattern of true repentance.

Psalm 51 is set amidst a situation of deep grief for sin. King David had seen Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, and lusted over her. So he called for her and seduced her, and impregnated her. When David found out she was pregnant, he tried to cover up his sin by bringing Uriah, her husband, home from battle. However, Uriah was a righteous man, and he refused to lie with his wife while his troops were in battle. So, David had Uriah sent to his death on the front line. Then he took Bathsheba as his wife. However, the prophet Nathan was sent by God to call David to account for his sins, and David was stricken with grief and contrition. His contrition pleased the Lord, but because of his sin, the son conceived in David's adultery died soon after birth.

"It Is Written"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man,” St. Paul says. But it seems like there are an awful lot of temptations that are common to man.

What tempts you? Perhaps you experience temptation in the things of the flesh. I don't know about you, but I sure love to eat. For most of us, all-you-can-eat buffets are a trap. All that wonderful-looking food laid out there, just begging you to eat and eat and eat. Pretty soon, one plate turns into two, then three, and so on. We keep eating until we feel like we are ready to burst at the seams. And were we really that hungry in the first place? Was it really necessary, or at all healthy, to stuff ourselves like that? We all experience the temptation toward gluttony from time to time, even it is just that last little piece of pie staring us down from the kitchen counter.

Listen, Then Look

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you ever taken a child to a shopping mall or museum or zoo? As soon as you get in the door, the child takes off running for the nearest attraction, and you struggle to catch up before he gets lost in the crowd or gets into trouble. You give chase, only to find him pressed up against the glass, googly-eyed over the newest and greatest toy, or the majestic tiger. Then, you are faced with the task of prying him away from the new-found object of his affections so that you can proceed according to an orderly plan so that you can accomplish what you intended.

Children are often wont to look before they listen. In the face of intensely appealing visual stimuli, no child I have known can sit still and listen to an adult's seemingly endless stream of words. And adults often are little different. Just watch people's reactions to the attendant's safety briefing at the beginning of a flight. Most people are looking, but paying no attention, except to find out when it is acceptable to turn on their iPods, close their eyes, and wake up in the next land.