March 20, 2008 – Holy Week Thursday Morning Worship
John 13:31-35
I have this scar on the back of my hand. It’s the remnant of an injury when my hand got stuck in a window while on the New Orleans mission trip in 2006. It wasn’t really a serious injury. It hurt for a few days and healed, but the scar never went away. I frequently feel that rough spot on my hand and it serves as a reminder of the trip. I still remember that day and the trip as if it were yesterday. The work we did. The lives we changed, and how it changed my life.
That scar has a different meaning this Lenten season. As I have attempted to become more focused and intentional in exploring my relationship with God, I realized that it wasn’t me who was doing the searching. It was God who was searching for me. So my Lenten journey this year has been about God as the seeker, and much like the scar, how He has placed His mark on me and my life.
God has found me through His word, especially in three of the Lenten stories in John’s gospel. It’s as if God has painted the wonderful imagery of this gospel on a sign and placed it firmly in front of me to see.
Nicodemus (3:8) “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.”
The Samaritan Woman (4:25-26) The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
The Man Born Blind (9:35-37) Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “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.”
In each of these stories, God, through His Son and the Holy Spirit, sought out and found those who were in need. Jesus placed his mark on each of them and called them his own, as he has with me.
I’ve been marked through worship and music. I had my first experience with the role of assisting minister in worship and leading a Bible study group. Never before had I realized with such clarity the responsibility of being able to help shepherd a community of faith.
When the Jamestown College Choir came and performed at Advent, one song they performed, “Come Sing to me of Heaven,” still echoes in my mind.
Come sing to me of heaven
When I am called to die
Sing songs of holy ecstasy
To waft my soul on high
When the last moment comes
Let one sweet song begin
Let music cheer me last on earth
To greet me first in heaven
The words are incredible, but when lifted in song to God, they move me beyond this world.
I’ve been marked through prayer; on the days that I do pray and, more importantly, on the days that I don’t.
I’ve been marked through fellowship. In Pastor’s Class, we’ve looked deep into the heart of Christianity and what it means for us as a community of faith in today’s world. I’ve begun to learn the possibilities of a new emerging church. I’ve begun to learn that, much like Jesus did with Nicodemus, the woman and the blind man, a church that inspires new thought and throws barriers aside is fulfilling God’s mission for us here on Earth.
I’ve been marked as a servant. The two trips to help with rebuilding the house in Osawatomie reinforce what Jesus was telling his disciples before his crucifixion: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (13:34-35)
How many signs has God placed plainly in front of me? How many times has He marked me as one of His own? These are questions for which I do not have the answer, but I know I have missed or ignored too many of them. Much like the cross that was so boldly displayed on my forehead that Ash Wednesday morning that became smeared and unrecognizable by the end of the day, I have become more aware of my own failings and faults as a child of God as this Lenten season comes to a close. And even though I finally wiped my forehead clean at the end of the day, that cross, much like the scar on my hand, has marked my soul forever. My hope is that what I am today does not predict what I will be tomorrow. And even thought my faith is sometimes weak, I know I can always look to a new life in Jesus.
As Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he said, “Unbind him and let him go.” (11:44). My prayer is that God will always seek to unbind me from what separates me from Him, and never let the scar on my hand, or the cross upon my forehead, fade away.
Amen.
