Before we get into the three conversations that make up today’s reading, I want to say a bit more about John’s gospel and the location of today’s scripture, John 11:4-37.

Last week, I talked about the “signs” or miracles John uses to prove his point that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, Savior of the world. And this chapter contains another “sign” – The resuscitation of Lazarus.

I recently read the argument for calling it a resuscitation rather than a resurrection because Lazarus is going to die again. He did not have a resurrection as Jesus did, nor does he ascend to heaven.

In this scripture, we also have the fifth of the seven “I am” statements of Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life.” – John 11:25. Interestingly, the 11^th chapter is the middle of John’s gospel, and is a literary hinge designed to shift our perspective from seeing “signs”. To see “God’s glory so the Son of God may be glorified.”

This story is so empowering for believers because Martha and Mary tell Jesus with their words and actions what they are thinking. They both believe in Jesus – Martha confesses, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” But Jesus also experiences their pain and grief.

So when life doesn’t go the way we want or the way we have prayed for it to go, we can stand in the assurance that we can also tell God what we think. We can name our pain – our disappointment – our anger and know that Christ will be moved by it. That does not say that we will have our prayer answered – Because we cannot know or understand all the ways of God – But God is listening and will join us in whatever we are feeling.

We, like the sisters, want to avoid uncomfortable outcomes. And in our grief, we are invited to “let go” To let go of our expectations, to let go of our need for control, to let go and accept what is. Like Jesus, we can “feel all the feels” and express them – No matter who we are – this is what makes us human.

As we celebrate the work of women in our congregation, I want to highlight today Nora Beck Smith, whose story connects with the conversations and hard questions raised by today’s scripture.

Underlying Nora’s story and her call was a yearning from within and important questions about who she was and what she was meant to do. Being a member of St. John’s and then Church of the Apostles, she brought her questions to Rev. Glenn Rader, who was honest enough to admit that he didn’t have the answers to her questions. But he took her to Lancaster Theological Seminar, where she could explore her questions in a safe and nurturing environment.

A Jesuit priest taught Christian history during her time and invited them to see themselves in the stories of scripture and to creatively write about their experiences. This helped her to develop her questions and deepen her faith.

Nora was the first minister to join Rev. Schellenberger & Rev. Rader with this congregation, and we give thanks for her curiosity and call, which she shared with us.

As we are one week from Holy Week, there are a three take-aways that I want you to have today.

The first is that John’s gospel is favorable towards women. In this gospel, women are more than just important characters; their words have been preserved. This Jesus engages women in conversations without demeaning them. In this gospel, it is a woman – Martha in our scripture today – who declares who Jesus is, rather than Peter, who does it in the other gospels.

It will also be a woman, Mary Magdalene, who is the first witness to see the risen Christ. For women’s history month, this is worth noting.

Also, as we will be reading John’s gospel through Holy Week, I want to make sure that when you hear the words “the Jews,” you realize it is often referring to the religious leaders. All the characters of John’s gospel are Jewish – The Samaritans are not considered Jewish because they don’t look to Jerusalem as their holy site. But all the others are.

I say this because this can be read as the most anti-Semitic gospel, and that is not helpful or accurate. So as you read the scriptures, I want you to be sensitive to this. Our Jewish brothers and sisters are very scared right now. I will also name those of the Jewish people that I know support the state of Israel, but not the policies and wars of Netanyahu.

Rather, Jesus models and teaches us to care for those around us- whether they are family or strangers. Caring means empathizing with their stories and wanting the best for them. We are to be creating a world based on mutual care and compassion, not about who has the biggest weapons, biggest egos, and forces others to submit to promote their way of living.

In John’s gospel, Jesus says that he came that we may have life and have it abundantly – John 10:10. Let us work towards an abundant life for all!

May it be so. Amen.

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Today’s scripture, John 9:1-34, was quite involved, and we did not read it to the end.

In the seven verses we didn’t read, Jesus seeks the blind man and asks him if he believes, and the formerly blind man worships him. Then, Jesus has another confrontation with the Pharisees in which he reminds them that because they do not “see” him for who he is, their “blindness” continues.

But I’m wondering what questions you may have after hearing this scripture?

The goal of John’s gospel is to prove the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God, Savior of the world.

To make that point, the writer employs two strategies which are evident in this scripture – a “sign” of his power and an “I am” statement. In this scripture, Jesus gives sight to a man blind from birth, a sign that Jesus is one who restores our sight and he declares, “I am the light of the world,” naming that he reveals truth.

Jo-Ann Brant, a Johannine scholar at Goshen College, theorizes that this story is a miniature version of the larger story of Jesus.

• the crowd questions his identity (9:8-9),
• he asserts “I am” (9:9),
• he speaks frankly and logically throughout but is treated as an invalid witness (9:18),
• he is accused of being a sinner,
• he combats the Pharisees with sarcasm and truth (9:34),

This story ends in irony as the one who was blind “sees” who Jesus really is and those who claim to have vision are “blind” to who Jesus is. Jo-Ann A. Brant, John, Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 151-52, 154-59.

As this is Women’s History Month, I want to name the connection I see with this scripture, and it is how the formerly blind men’s and women’s experiences are generally not believed.

Unfortunately, this is also true for people of color and the LGBTQIA community. As the townsfolk questioned if the formerly blind man was even the same person when he told his story, I think of women who were violated, and others failed to believe them.

The popularity of the #MeToo movement the other year was based on that fact. It was finally a way in which women could name the demeaning and violent experiences they had without getting into the details.

Our problem is now complicated by AI, where our images can be used to create stories that did not happen, and because in the 20^th century, we learned to trust video and pictures, we are left struggling.

I think we have reached a time when we need to tell our stories in-person and in safe spaces – thus the need for us to provide a safe space for this to happen. AND we need to listen to another’s truth and accept it and whomever they are as true – and here’s the challenge – even when it does not fit into our understandings of the world.

We have to be open enough to accept and respect another’s experience, even if it hasn’t been ours, and it makes us rethink how we understand others.

So where does this leave us?

Well, it may not feel good to hear, but we are like the disciples and Pharisees who want to judge others and point out their failings without looking at our own. And Jesus’ words provide corrections to our thoughts and actions.

We want rewards from God, so we think there needs to be punishments too. But maybe there aren’t. No one was being punished by the man being born blind.

To the Pharisees, just because Jesus healed on the Sabbath does not mean he is not of God. We, like the disciples and Pharisees, focus on the wrong things. Instead of seeing the gift of God, we disqualify it.

This week was a hard week with several attacks within our own country and abroad. We can let our legislators know that this is not the world we want. But we also need to name what we do want. We need to name that we want each person to be valued and respected, no matter who they are. Then we need to practice that too!

We need to be the love we want to see in the world. We need to put ourselves in positions to hear the stories of others –even if it is through documentaries on TV or reading non-fiction biographies of those whose lives are different. We can maintain our hope by reading about the hope and courage of those who have lived through hard times.

This is not the first time our country has experienced hard times. Let us focus on being and building the Beloved Community of God.

May it be so. Amen.

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This past week I read “The Golden Rule” to the preschoolers.

What I appreciate so much about the author’s take on it is that it invites our imagination to consider all the ways to apply it. It helps us define what we could do for others that would be helpful, thoughtful, and kind.

We can live asking ourselves and others, “Is this a loving response?” A loving response does not mean pacifying, because we can even say challenging things lovingly.

This is why this season, we are inviting you to “Press Pause & Listen.” There is currently an attempt to overwhelm us with chaos so that we will either opt to check out of the news completely or reduce our consumption to that with which we agree, which makes us feel safe and comfortable.

I am saying something different. I want you to look at how you are consuming news and choose a less reactive mode – a different station, listening rather than viewing, reading rather than listening or viewing – and spending less time with it. And with the time you aren’t watching news or the chaos of the moment, sit in silence – pray – talk or connect with those that matter most to you.

Practice being the love you want to see in the world!

I came across this artist’s rendering of John 4:5-30 by Henryk Siemiradzki, which surprised me, and I want to share it with you.

As you think of the conversation between Jesus & the Samaritan Woman, is there anything in the rendering that surprises you?

I also remember three years ago when Jonathan preached this passage, and he surprised me when he argued, against contemporary scholarship, that the woman was actually an influencer within the community, or the people would not have listened to her. He also argued over the interpretation that she was a prostitute because it does not say that.

What it says is that she has had 5 husbands. Whether she had been divorced a lot, which was not that common, or was a very unlucky widow, is not known. This picture would suggest a widow who has gained wealth through her marriages.

Regardless of her background, Jesus is willing to break the societal boundaries by engaging her in conversation as an unaccompanied woman, and a Samaritan who was considered an enemy of the Jews from Jerusalem. Actually, the Samaritans were also Jewish, but they were descendants of the Northern Kingdom, while Jesus and his disciples were Jewish from the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom’s perceived “sin” was associating with the Assyrians, allowing intermarriages, and their pagan gods to be worshiped alongside the true God.

Now, to add some contemporary context, the Northern Kingdom’s capital was Shechem and later called Sychar, the site of our scripture passage. Today, this is located in the Balata village, a suburb of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank. Shall we say that feelings run long and deep?

And in our scripture passage, Jesus challenged those feelings 2,000 years ago. This scripture also shows how Jesus treated women with respect and invitation.

As part of honoring Women’s History month, I want to share with you a message from the  President & General Minister of our denomination – the United Church of Christ.

So where does this leave us today?

Well, I’m inviting us to consider the “valuable conversations” that we need to have with others. In the Come Sunday, I asked, “In your life, who could you approach more thoughtfully?”

But before we approach these conversations, we have to be in the best frame of mind. We need to regulate ourselves, which is to calm our fight or flight tendencies. This is also “Pressing Pause & Listening.” We can do so by:

• Focused deep or square breathing
• Checking in with our 5 senses
• Prayer
• Movement (walking, dancing, swimming)

This calms our anxiety so we can access our best thinking rather than just reacting. In recent times, there has been a lot of reacting rather than responding. Again, as before, this does not mean agreeing, but it does include being curious enough to ask questions about how another understands something and share, not as much our position, but the reasoning behind our thinking.

If we talk about the world we want to leave our children and grandchildren, it changes the conversation. When we share our values – even the Golden Rule – it can change the conversation to be respectful.

Our country is based on the ability to have creative disagreements, understanding that we are in this together, appreciating the value of “others,” holding tension in life-giving ways, and respecting each person’s voice and agency.

May we embody this as we live and build God’s Beloved Community.

May it be so. Amen.

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Here is your word of the day: Quanked.

For our youth and young adults, expanding your vocabulary is a lifelong skill. For those of you who think I’ve gone “batty,” This is a real word – not just one I made up because I’m from Lancaster County – and I learned it this week. Its definition is: “to be utterly overwhelmed by fatigue, exhausted, or drained of all energy”

If you are like me, this describes me more recently than in a very long time, and I’m unwilling to say it is just “age-related”. This is why this season, we are inviting you to “press pause & listen.” There is currently an attempt to overwhelm us with chaos so that we will either opt to check out of the news completely or reduce our consumption to that with which we agree, that which makes us feel safe and comfortable.

I am saying something different. I want you to look at how you are consuming news and choose a less reactive mode – a different station, listening rather than viewing, reading rather than listening or viewing, and spending less time with it. And with the time you aren’t watching news or the chaos of the moment, sit in silence – pray – talk or connect with those that matter most to you. Practice being the love you want to see in the world!

Based on today’s scripture, John 3:1-17, I’m not sure I can argue that Nicodemus is quanked.

But he’s upset enough to risk going to meet Jesus, even if it is in the dark, where he’s less apt to be seen. Nicodemus is trying to understand who Jesus is and what to believe, as he is not like any other teacher Nicodemus has ever met. The conversation with Jesus raises even more questions.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, well-versed in the law, such that he even held a place on the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish legislative and judicial body that ruled over the people. They will be the group later who tries Jesus before sending him to Pilate.

But for now, Nicodemus wants more information, and in this scripture, we have the very famous verse John 3:16. But with all the talk lately about the power & might of Jesus, and depictions of him coming with the “armor of God” to avenge those perceived as God’s enemies, I think we often forget verse 17

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

This month is Women’s History month and we are lifting up some women and their work within our congregation.

Today, I want to lift the Rev. Jacquie Church-Young. Pastor Jacquie was the Youth & Family Ministries pastor in the early 2000’s, and based on my conversations with those who were youth at the time, she was very beloved. One of the reasons she was beloved was that she appreciated the act of questioning, understanding that it led to growth.

During Pastor Jacquie’s work with you, I was leading the youth at Salem UCC, and we both took our youth to a retreat at Hartman Center, where I observed her, and unfortunately, my first impression was not as positive. Then when I became a Member in Discernment of the Lancaster Association, they assigned Pastor Jacquie to be my mentor for the process. To be clear in our descriptions, she was just out of seminary and starting a family, and I was the mother of three teenagers. This is where I was reminded that God has a great sense of humor and works out situations for us to grow.

To start the relationship off well, Pastor Jacquie invited me to lunch, and at that lunch, I had to be honest with her. During the course of that conversation, I learned about the challenges she had been facing, of which I was unaware during our first encounter at the retreat. She talked about the internal turmoil within the church at that time and the shenanigans the youth were doing at the retreat. This is when we both learned lessons.

When I messaged her about including her in today’s sermon, I named that by her telling her story, I was able to have compassion for her. She named that I helped change her for the better, not just as a pastor, but truly – as a person.

All of that learning and growth came from an honest, heartfelt conversation. Which is what I think happened for Nicodemus in his conversation with Jesus.

So, where does all of this leave us?

I think it highlights the value of conversation and its ability to help lessen our feeling of being quanked and increases our ability to be compassionate.

Within the scripture, I have two takeaways for today:
~ God is always wrapped in mystery
~ The Divine always give second chances

Which leads us perfectly to Holy Communion. Which I think is also wrapped in mystery & about endless chances. We are not bound by past mistakes, missteps, or failures. Every time the feast is served, we are welcomed. May we come to the table seeking the mystery and find another chance to live and love better!

May it be so. Amen.

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