We’ve Been Training For This Moment
I wish I could be with all of you in person today, but I am so grateful for this amazing technology that brings us together. Since you are watching this online, I imagine that you have spent a fair amount of time on the internet in recent days. So much breaking news about the coronavirus and all the commentary has been overwhelming, hasn’t it, especially as our lives are disrupted and anxiety levels are high. My hope is that our time in prayer together can offer you comfort, and hope, and perhaps most of all, a sense of connection in the midst of isolation. Our temporary new format might feel strange, but it is good to be together.
You have been in my prayers, and I have been wondering what to say today. I found inspiration in a bit of the comic relief going around, particularly about how introverts have been preparing our whole lives for this time of social distancing, and we are ready to shine. That made me laugh, but it also got me thinking in a real way about how it is that we train for something like this moment. And here’s the thing. We have been training for this moment spiritually for a long time, and we are ready for it. It might not feel like we are, with so much fear going around, but it’s true. All the times we’ve been in church before, all the times we’ve read the scriptures, all the times we’ve said our prayers, we have been preparing for this moment.
Consider how many times Jesus told people not to be afraid. We think we understand that teaching and agree with it in theory. But when we are afraid, well, our illusions of control vanish and we have to take Jesus at his word. Also, consider how often Paul reminded churches in turbulent times that they were the body of Christ, mysteriously connected to one another by the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We are one body, not because we worship together in a beautiful building but because Christ has drawn us to himself, and to one another. When a pandemic keeps you from your Sunday routine and regular spot in the pews, we get a wake up call to be the body of Christ beyond these walls. Our Christian call has always been to not let fear get the best of us, and to serve the world as the body of Christ. Today, that call comes to us loud and clear.
Most of us, I think, are in uncharted territory right now. Anxiety is high because we don’t know the future. How long will we have to put distance between us, how bad will the economy be both for people we love and small businesses locally and for everyone globally, how will our health care system handle so many people in distress, and how will we know when things will get back to normal. You might be worried about your health or the health of people you love. I’m worried, too. I have to add that I have a newfound respect for infectious disease doctors who think about this stuff all the time. God bless them, because it’s pretty exhausting for those of us who are new to this. But I know that we are in it together, and for that I give thanks.
Sometimes the church lectionary works in mysterious ways. Our Gospel lesson assigned today is really about what can happen when we find ourselves in uncharted territory. John tells a story about a situation that wasn’t supposed to ever happen, appropriate, I think, for where we find ourselves right now. Consider the scene we just heard: Jesus wasn’t supposed to be in Samaria, since Jews never went there. Samaritans and Jews hated each other. He met a woman at the well during the hottest part of the day, when people didn’t go to wells. A long conversation ensued, even though Jesus wasn’t supposed to talk to her - rabbis followed what we now think of as the Billy Graham rule, in which men don’t talk alone with a woman who is not their wife, and Jesus’ disciples had left. He was violating all the rules, none of this was supposed to happen. But then, one of the most amazing conversations in all of scripture unfolded. It started simply - Jesus asked the woman for a cup of water and ended up offering her living water, true sustenance and wisdom for her soul. And right there at the well, when all bets were off, she encountered God.
Like her, we find ourselves in a situation we never thought we would be in. The rules don’t seem to apply anymore, and our usual practices are on hold. Something new is happening. I trust that the woman Jesus met that day had actually trained for that moment her whole life. There is evidence in the text that she had been through some hard things, and she was faithful. She was prepared to take Jesus at his word, and she did. She trusted that he had true living water to give her and that she would never be thirsty.
My friends, this is the moment we have been training for. This is the moment in which we are called to take Jesus at his word. To not be afraid, and to love one another through this. John’s Gospel can be summed up in one idea - that we can know God by knowing Jesus, and we can know Jesus by loving one another. It’s time. That teaching gets pretty concrete in a moment like this. There are a lot of important ways to love each other right now, and they will become more and more clear in the days and weeks ahead. For now, we can check on each other, help people as needs arise, and give some prayerful attention to the long term need in our community. We can be help calm one another’s fears and focus on staying connected, sometimes in creative ways. We already know how to do this, how to be Christ’s body. Every time we’ve stepped into church or said a prayer or sang a hymn or attended a church meeting or served a meal, we’ve been preparing for this moment. Like the woman at the well, we now must take Jesus at his word, that we don’t have to be afraid and that we are his body in the world. It’s time.