Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Well Of Salvation

Well Of Salvation

“…anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life'.(John 4:14)
            John’s account of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well has become one of the most popular Gospel stories, in no small part, due to the endless lessons to be drawn from it.  
         After a half day of walking, Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well.  He was tired.  It was hot. Everybody was hungry and the food was gone.  He sent the disciples to go to town for food, leaving himself alone under the noon sun.  
For most of us, this would not be a good time to pray.  But for Jesus, whenever he is off alone, we find him in prayer with his Father.  And whenever he prays, something big happens.  This inopportune prayer was no different, for it set up an encounter which has become a Window-to-God for all of history.  Two millennia and billions of views later, I peeked into it this morning, as I reflected on this glimpse into the Mind of Jesus.  
The Samaritans were despised by the Jews for having mingled with pagan gods, and, this Samaritan woman was despised by her own people for adulterous relationships.  She was a spurned woman of a spurned nation.  And, based on her history of five ex-husbands, it is certain she knew loneliness.  She went to the well in the heat of the day hoping to draw water, free from the crowd of insults.  Little did she know that her encounter with Jesus would free her from all insults, that his Welcoming Presence would slack her thirst to be known and loved,  that this Well-Coming would transform her life.
When she set off in loneliness to the well, she had no idea she was approaching the Wellspring of Salvation.  When she discovered Jesus, she encountered unconditional love.  She spent her life hiding her real self to avoid rejection.  Now, she encounters a man who knows her better than she knows herself, a man from whom there is no need to hide shame –for he knows all about her yet still gazes upon her with love.  She thought he needed her for life giving water.  Now, she recognizes Jesus as the Wellspring of Life.  She came, tough-as-nails; now, her heart is melted by Love.   She came ashamed.  Now, she knows she is precious in the Eyes of God.
The Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus prefigures our encounter with him in prayer.  When the disciples return, they urge Jesus to eat some food, but he replies, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”  When they left him alone, he was really hungry, but, he was not really alone -he was encountering the Love of his Father in prayer.  He was receiving the sustenance required to be obedient to the Father’s Will.  He was finding the clarity to live in Truth.
          When we commit to a daily time of prayer, we are establishing a Well-Coming with Jesus; where he pours the Love of his Holy Spirit into our heart; where we will discover our true worth –that we are prized by the Father of Creation; where we are freed from shame and dare to gaze into his Loving Eyes; where we will find the nourishment to persevere in faith; where we encounter that spring ‘welling up to eternal life’.

Friday, March 3, 2017

A GOOD DAY TO DIE

A GOOD DAY TO DIE

Then to all he said, If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

Lent begins with our Lord’s call to pick up our cross, and it culminates with Christ’s Passion.   In reflecting on verse twenty-three, it became apparent that not only does everyone have a cross, but that we have one every day.  And, somehow, every cross has to do with renouncing our Self.  
That each day contains a cross is not up to us.  Suffering is a condition of our existence –only to be understood in fullness when we are claimed into The Fullness.  However, Jesus’ invitation to pick up our cross clearly implies that we have choice -to embrace its suffering as we follow in His footsteps; or to reject it as an obstacle in Our path.  How am I to understand this call?  With these thoughts I settled into prayer.
“Dying is hard Lord,” I complained to God.  In my imagination, his response did not appeal to my plea for sympathy:  
“And water is wet!” he replied.  “What did you expect?  I learned obedience through suffering and so must you.  I was obedient unto death on The Cross in order that you may have Life in Truth.  As you are obedient to the death of your self-centered life, I will raise you up, and you will be born again, into New Life in me.  I am the only Way to the Father, and the Cross is the only way to me.  It is the Tree Of Life which demands your death.”
“Your obedience requires suffering death.  It requires that you trust only in my love for you –believing that you belong only in me; that you exist, not because you live, but, because I love you.  Obedience leads to the Cross, where weakness vanquishes pride and exposes the illusion of self sufficiency.”  
“The Cross is required of you, to crucify those fears and desires which imprison you within a false reality, where you are bound from trusting in my Love.  The Blood of my Cross has broken the Lies that now chain you.  Come, follow me.  Take up my cross in this season of Brokenness, of Littleness, of Sacrifice.  Bow your head unto Death.  Surrender your spirit, your hopes, your dreams, your fears and your sins.”
          “Believe in my love which eternally sustains you.  Let go!  Release your Self into the stream of Water and Blood flowing from my Wounded Heart -pierced by your sin.  Allow my Holy Spirit to wash over you, to carry you away -into my Father’s Bosom.  Now is the time, today is a good day to die into New Life.  By my stripes you are healed.  I have suffered for you.  I am suffering with you.  You are never alone in your need.  I am with you always.  Do not be afraid of today’s cross.  I bear it with you.  I had Simon of Cyrene, but you have me.   Come, see my footprints already cast –I know The Way.  The road is hard, but with me, the night has no Darkness, and your burden will be made Light.”