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| Image by Giuseppe Milo |
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A GREETING
I walk in my integrity;
redeem me and be gracious to me.
(Psalm 26:11)
A READING
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jewish people who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jewish people who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. And they said, “See how he loved him!”
(John 11:28-36)
MUSIC
This video is an excerpt from the documentary "Touch the Sound", about deaf composer and percussionist Evelyn Glennie. "A Little Prayer" is composed by Glennie.
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
(Psalm 6:8)
A PRAYER
God of Compassion, during Your time on earth, You were particularly interested in the outcast and abused. You healed those struggling with blindness, deafness, paralysis, and other kinds of non-visible illness or disability. After You were arrested, You were abandoned by your friends, and while on the cross You were forsaken by God, your Father. You were abused and broken on the cross. You understand, as no one else can, the fears, pain, loneliness, despair, and feelings of abandonment of society's most vulnerable. May we too have the compassion and empathy You showed for those struggling with illness or disability, both here in our communities and in refugee camps all around the world. May we reach out in Your Name to protect and assist the vulnerable in all societies. May we reflect Your love in all our interactions. Amen.
- - written by Karen Morris in 2016 for Lutherans Connect*
VERSE OF THE DAY
For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say,
“Peace be within you.”
(Psalm 122:8)
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| "How did you get on the canvas?," by Lucy Jones (2013). Each of us has a shadow figure, in the Jungian sense. Jones often paints hers into her paintings. How might we also see the second figure as a companion, a champion, and someone who offers accompaniment? |
The continuing story of the raising of Lazarus brings us from the conversation between Martha and Jesus to the conversation between Jesus and Mary. (For parts 1 and 2, see Day 13 and Day 19.) Martha has gone to get her sister and Jesus has stayed where he is. It is likely that he understands that these are conversations that he could not have in front of the other mourners in a more public setting. In the Greek text, we hear a shift in Mary: when she leaves the mourning and goes to find him, the language of her actions moves into the present tense. In this sense, it stresses the urgency of her movements.
There are only three times in the New Testament when Jesus weeps: once over Jerusalem in Luke 13, once in this scene, and once at Gethsemane. It is Mary who is able to bring out this deep emotion in him and who causes him to momentarily forget his larger purpose. The sound that he makes is a word in Greek that appears only in this one instance in the whole of the New Testament. It is a sound of loving tenderness that is also grief. This sound he makes is the turning point of this whole storytelling. Having heard her weeping, he makes his own grief sound. And having let that sound go, he is then prepared to hear about where Lazarus is buried and to move forward.
Jesus is unable to console Mary with his words as he did with Martha. The divine Jesus hears Martha’s affirmation of his identity as messiah, but it is Mary who affirms the human Jesus, who is capable of emotions. It is Mary of Bethany, who helps him to find the sound of grief that reminds him of all that it means to have an earthly body that feels things deeply.
Today we honour the caregivers, the partners, the spouses and family members, the practioners and friends who help to uphold those living with disabilities. And we also honour the ways in which those living with disabilities teach, foster, nurture, inspire, affirm, comfort and console many others. Our physical and emotional lives require families and communities of all kinds in order to be well. When we offer companionship and assistance, we come alongside with our whole selves.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the exchange between Mary and Jesus is their capacity to feel what is happening in the present moment, with all of its complexities. Their common emotion is a part of the common journey they are sharing, not only in this one story but in the ministry of Jesus. Who are the people with whom you can share your whole heart and know they are present in every way to it? How can you show them your gratitude today?
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Scripture passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
*Karen Morris was a friend and contributor to Lutherans Connect devotions for many years. She was a social worker, a person of deep faith and someone who lived with quadriplegia. She died in 2019.
Bottom Image from Microsoft 365 Stock Images, used under license.
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LC† From Dust, Still Holy is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!