Photo by salmonsalmon (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0)<\/p>\n\n\n
FIRST LESSON: Psalm 23<\/p>\n\n\n
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
SECOND LESSON: John 15.1-5, 9-12<\/p>\n\n\n
1 \u201cI am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 \u201cI am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n
9 \u201cAs the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father\u2019s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.<\/p>\n\n\n
REFLECTION<\/p>\n\n\n
I\u2019m trying to remember the moment the world changed.<\/p>\n\n\n
For me, I\u2019m going to suggest a week-ago-Friday, during a trip to the supermarket. The whole toilet paper thing was already a thing\u2014I wasn\u2019t expecting to find any\u2014but that was just the beginning. The lot was full, the cart supply was low, and people were giving each other a wide berth. Then I saw the line: carts lined up to the rear of the store and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n
I guess we were practicing appropriate social distancing, but there was still lots of conversation. It turns out that the person ahead of me was the spouse of a local pastor, so we had lots to talk about. We compared some of the plans being made, some of the changes already happening, and why she was hoarding potato chips (she has teenagers and plans to trade snacks for chores). <\/p>\n\n\n
Even then, this may not have been the moment of change. We did worship together on March 15, a time that now seems a month ago. And that\u2019s the other feature of this new time we inhabit: time itself seems to have slowed to a near halt. Maybe it\u2019s all the difficult news we have to digest, maybe it\u2019s a bit of boredom, or maybe it\u2019s adjusting to this new, less hectic, pace we have adopted.<\/p>\n\n\n
The world has changed. New and frightening news each day, disruption on a scale we\u2019ve never seen, and stress: worry about loved ones, our neighbours, the people we usually see day-by-day\u2014and a variety of institutions and enterprises that are newly at risk. Our (new) main job is to manage this stress: for the sake of ourselves, for the people we live with, and for everyone we are in touch with. <\/p>\n\n\n
One of the blessings we have received is our new phone tree. Many people offered to help, lists were assigned, more people offered to help, and now we have a network of care that includes everyone in the congregation. (Phone captain\u2019s note: you may not know the number of the person calling, so please pick up.) In effect, we are recreating what happens on Sunday: checking in, expressing need, and extending kindness. Thanks again to all our callers.<\/p>\n\n\n
And the phone tree is also a metaphor, the vine and branches that link us one-to-another. And that, of course, takes us to our reading:<\/p>\n\n\n
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\nJohn\u2019s Gospel has been described in a variety of ways: a book of signs followed by a book of glory; a long passion narrative with an introductory section on Jesus\u2019 ministry; an extended book of signs that all point to God\u2019s glory. In John 15, we read part of the \u201cfarewell discourses,\u201d words and prayers that share a vision of the passion, as well as the unique time that will follow this event. And the overall message of these discourses is simple: \u2018remain in me and I will remain in you.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n
Time and again the message is the same: \u201cI will not leave you orphans\u201d (14.18) and \u201cI am going away and I am coming back to you\u201d (14.28) and \u201cMy prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them.\u201d (17.15) We may feel alone, but we are never alone: the Risen One walks beside us each day. We may feel isolated, but we are part of a larger fellowship, animated by the Holy Spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n
Maybe I watch too many mystery programs, but one of things that comes to mind when I read this passage is “means, motive, and opportunity.” Usually that is a list of ingredients needed to solve a crime, but in this case it explains the image of the vine and branches. <\/p>\n\n\n
Means: We are part of the same branch, and that means we are linked together and cannot be separated, regardless of what the world sends.<\/p>\n\n\n
Motive: Jesus the True Vine asks only that we remain in his love\u2014that is our motive. Our motive is not to create the fruit\u2014the fruit comes from God\u2014but simply to bear the fruit that follows when we remain in his love. <\/p>\n\n\n
Opportunity: The time in which we find ourselves is the opportunity. We are called to remain in his love, to express his love in the way we care for one another, and in the way we care for our neighbours. <\/p>\n\n\n
We have discovered in this new age that we are all connected, for good and for ill. But rather than separate ourselves, we need to draw together, and remain in the love of Christ that defines us. We need to ignore those who would seek to divide us\u2014nation from nation\u2014and see instead our common humanity. And so we pray: for health and healing, for an end to fear, and for a world made new. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n
HYMN: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God<\/p>\n\n\n<\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\nSeek ye first the kingdom of GodAsk, and it shall be given unto you;We shall not live by bread alone,Music by Karen Lafferty (1971)<\/p>\n\n\nPhoto by Abigail Batchelder (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0)<\/p>\n\n\n
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE<\/p>\n\n\n
We prayed these words on March 15, but they bear repeating. They were written by our Moderator, the Rt. Rev. Richard Bott.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\nIn this time of COVID-19, we pray:
For the doctors, we pray,
May we feed the hungry,
Help us, O God,
In the love of the Creator,
May it be so.<\/p>\n\n\n
BLESSING <\/p>\n\n\n
God’s goodness and mercy follow you.
SONG TO GO FORTH<\/p>\n\n\n<\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\nGod be with you till we meet again; God be with you till we meet again;God be with you till we meet again; God be with you till we meet again; Words and music by Rankin\/Williams<\/p>\n\n\nPhoto by Sheila Sund (Creative Commons BY 2.0)<\/p>\n\n\n
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Photo by Mathilde AUDIAU (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.0) During this time of social isolation, we look for ways to share words of comfort and hope in the face of uncertainty and fear. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the song links within the liturgy. Heather recorded them for us, and … Continue reading Lent IV<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelkooiman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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