Dear Folks,
It's strange having an empty church on Sunday morning.
I completed the Facebook Live stream a but ago, so if you drop in
there, it's on our Facebook page. Text me if you want a
link. I couldn't get it to copy onto this email.
Remember, I am just a phone call, email, or text away.
203-232-7973.
For those of you who cannot access it, or would rather just read a
summary, here it is:
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though
the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with
its tumult. Selah
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy
habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will
help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his
voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has
brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and
shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our
refuge.
John 4:5-30:
So [Jesus] came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of
ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was
there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the
well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and
Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to
the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it
that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do
not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her,
“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you,
‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have
given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no
bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and
with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her,
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those
who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.
The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water
gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me
this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming
here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and
come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said
to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have
had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see
that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,
but you say that the place where people must worship is in
Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is
coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain
nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what
we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming,
and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship
him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in
spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is
coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim
all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is
speaking to you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was
speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or,
“Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar
and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a
man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the
Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
(End of passage)
Since I do not write out my sermons, this is a rough summary:
In the Gospel lesson, Jesus is passing through Samaria and stopped
at a well to rest. He encountered a Samaritan women there and
asked her for a drink. Now, the Jews and the Samarians were not
friendly; there was a lot of animosity between them. And, in
that culture at that time, men were not to talk with any women who
were not relatives, especially not enemies.
Yet, Jesus not only talked to her, he asked her for a favor, please
give me a drink. This was his way of engaging her in
conversation.
The time was noon, way passed the time when most women would come
to the well. This particular woman, evidenced by the fact she
was there at this time, shows she had something to hide; she was an
outcast. Jesus probed for that by his request for her to go
and get her husband. She did not have one, but had five, and
the man she was with now was not her husband. Ah, that's why
she was at the well at such an odd time! Jesus knew
this. He knew she was a Samaritan women of dubious
reputation, yet he still talked to her. He still treated her
as worthy of attention. He treated her as a deserving human
being with no judgment or reproach.
The woman, so surprised by Jesus, went back to her community and
proclaimed "He knew me", in so many words. She dared to speak
her truth, when her reputation otherwise would have kept her
silent.
Jesus knew her; Jesus knows us; God knows us. God knows our
goodness and our badness, our light and our dark. God knows
the evil thoughts that we keep silent. And, God love us
anyway, unconditionally, eternally.
And, with that knowing, God holds us tightly in that love.
Especially now, in this time or uncertainty and fear, we have a God
who never leaves us. Of course, we have no guarantees that we
won't suffer, but, we have a companion in that suffering. God
never leaves us, offering us strength, peace, and hope. And,
we in turn can share that with others.
So, even though we are social distancing, that doesn't mean we
cannot stay caring and connected. Reach out to your friends
and family. Connect with your neighbors. Check in on
the elderly with a phone call or a wave at their door. Show Christ
to others, even if it's from a distance.
May we, even in this time, be that beacon of love and light on the
Huntington Green and into our community. Thanks be to
God. Amen.
This email is already long, so I will end it here. I will be
in touch with other information in the coming days.
Please stay in touch. You are in my prayers and in my
heart.
In Christ's love,
Rev. Lucille
