Where do I even begin? In our readings today, we cover a broad range of human conditions: ingratitude, anger, fear, desperation, resentment, despair, and finally – hope, joy, and rejoicing. We manage in three readings to cover the lion’s share of the complex mess that is the human person. In the midst of all this, we also see how our Lord, in His patience, takes us by the hand, ignores much of our whining, spoiled fits, and snarky dialogue, and like the Father He is, shows us the way to what we are really looking for, pat’s us on the head to let us know it’s alright, and lets us continue to grow on our own once we are back on the right track.
The children of Israel seemed to forget their deliverance from their Egyptian overseers rather quickly and began to grumble to Moses because of their thirst. Their physical discomfort and uncertainty caused them to lose gratitude for their deliverance, and ultimately to question whether the Lord was still with them. We’re not that different sometimes; when things become difficult it seems like one of the first responses we have is to question why our Lord would allow such difficulties in our lives. Yet, in better times we appreciate the love that our Lord has shown us in giving us free will. We can’t have it both ways. Part of life is struggling through times that seem very uncertain to us, and that test our endurance and our faith. This is something that the season of Lent can sometimes bring out in small ways by testing our resolve and our commitment to holding fast to our Lenten obligations. This is an interesting barometer of where our faith life is, and where we may need to focus and improve. If we cannot endure small things, how can we hope to endure in times of greater trial? Our Lord knows what we need, always, and will give us what we need to endure when we need it, and in just the right amount to see us through – with the provision that we embrace our trials with our focus on Him. We have no reason to doubt – our Lord proved for us once and for all by His death on the Cross and His Resurrection the love that He has for us, and that He will always be there for us.
The other trouble we often find ourselves saddled with is the notion that because of our sins, God could not possibly be accepting of us. Despite His promise that with repentance will come forgiveness, we can’t quite seem to grasp this sometimes, and we doubt. We think that our sins and our failings are something special and unique, and that because of this our case is different than everyone else’s. To be honest, this is the height of arrogance given that our Lord created the universe, formed all of mankind, and knows all of the hearts of His people – do we really think we have something truly new that will somehow shock Him? The woman at the well knew full well the depth of her sins, and how often they had been repeated. She struggled with her shame, but when the Lord told her that even she, and all others of the Samaritan people would be able to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, and that the field had been leveled for their acceptance, she embraced this with joy because she knew that the game had fundamentally changed. No longer were she and the others to be looked down upon because of their origins in Samaria, no longer would they be kept from truly worshiping because they could not go to the Temple – the new Temple stood before her and was extending His hands that she might have hope. Nothing has changed – He extends His hands to us in the same way, no matter how we have sinned, no matter how many failings, as long as we embrace His hands humbly with repentance in our hearts, and a desire to be closer to Him – we too are acceptable to Him. We too can be confident in His accepting our worship in spirit and truth, and in His commitment to us to care for us and watch over us every day of our lives – there will not be one minute that we are alone or beyond God’s attention. Sometimes it is difficult for us to grasp that this could be so because of our own limitations, but we must always remember, just like the children of Israel, that the Lord who created the very fabric of the universe does not share any of these limitations, and that we can trust in Him always to be there, and aware of all that even His humblest creations are enduring.
The Deacons Bench 