Evening Prayer for June 30, 2021

 

June 23, 2021

Evening Prayer (Vespers)

You may wish to light a candle and place it before you as you begin.

 

OPENING DIALOGUE

Sing praises to the Lord, sing praises.
We will declare God’s deeds among the people.
Shout for joy, you children of the Most High.
God remembers the needy
and gives hope to the poor.
Sing praises to the Lord, sing praises.
We will declare God’s deeds among the people.

 

HYMN: O God, Our Help in Ages Past

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQHSVF438Cg

 

 

READINGS

FIRST READING: Psalm 88: 1-3, 13-18 (CEB)

 

Lord, God of my salvation,
    by day I cry out,
    even at night, before you—
²     let my prayer reach you!
Turn your ear to my outcry
³     because my whole being is filled with distress;
    my life is at the very brink of hell.

But I cry out to you, Lord!
    My prayer meets you first thing in the morning!
¹⁴ Why do you reject my very being, Lord?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Since I was young I’ve been afflicted, I’ve been dying.
    I’ve endured your terrors. I’m lifeless.
¹⁶ Your fiery anger has overwhelmed me;
    your terrors have destroyed me.
¹⁷ They surround me all day long like water;
    they engulf me completely.
¹⁸ You’ve made my loved ones and companions distant.
    My only friend is darkness.

 

 

Gospel: Mark 9:14-29 (CEB)

A reading from: Mark

¹⁴ When Jesus, Peter, James, and John approached the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them and legal experts arguing with them. ¹⁵ Suddenly the whole crowd caught sight of Jesus. They ran to greet him, overcome with excitement. ¹⁶ Jesus asked them, “What are you arguing about?”

¹⁷ Someone from the crowd responded, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, since he has a spirit that doesn’t allow him to speak. ¹⁸ Wherever it overpowers him, it throws him into a fit. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and stiffens up. So I spoke to your disciples to see if they could throw it out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “You faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring him to me.”

²⁰ They brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a fit. He fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been going on?”

He said, “Since he was a child. ²² It has often thrown him into a fire or into water trying to kill him. If you can do anything, help us! Show us compassion!”

²³ Jesus said to him, “‘If you can do anything’? All things are possible for the one who has faith.”

²⁴ At that the boy’s father cried out, “I have faith; help my lack of faith!”

²⁵ Noticing that the crowd had surged together, Jesus spoke harshly to the unclean spirit, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again.” ²⁶ After screaming and shaking the boy horribly, the spirit came out. The boy seemed to be dead; in fact, several people said that he had died. ²⁷ But Jesus took his hand, lifted him up, and he arose.

²⁸ After Jesus went into a house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we throw this spirit out?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “Throwing this kind of spirit out requires prayer.”

 

Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.

 

REFLECTION:

  

I suppose most, if not all of us, have been in so much pain, either physical or spiritual, that we have found ourselves curled into a fetal position, crying out our misery. I’ve been there: when my younger brother Rob was ill and then died; when Mom was diagnosed with cancer; when my marriage to Jim was failing.

People of faith cry out to God in those times. “O God, I am in such pain! Help me!” “Jesus, heal my mother!”

People of faith also cry out, “O God, where are you? Why have you let this happen!” Sometimes, we even choose to turn away from God because we don’t believe God can or will help us.

The Psalmist is in deep pain, pain that has him or her in that fetal position, wondering why God doesn’t help. This psalm is interesting to me, because though the psalmist is a person of faith, there is no statement of praise at the end. Most psalms end with at least a “and yet, I praise you.” This one doesn’t. It is mostly a lament, a crying out for help. The statement of faith is easy to miss. It’s in verse 1: “God of my salvation.” The cry is: Savior, I am in misery! Help me!”

The father in our Gospel reading could be making the same cry. “Here is my son. He is miserable, and so I am miserable. Please, if you can, make him well.” Jesus focuses on the phrase, ‘if you can,’ in his response and adds, “All things are possible for those who have faith.”  

Dad responds, “I believe. Help my unbelief!” This is one of my favorite verses in scripture. There are always times when we doubt, when we struggle to believe.

Sometimes, we simply lose connection, stop praying, stop worshiping, and soon, God is no longer important in our lives.

Sometimes, the crises happening in our lives are so terrible, we wonder how a good God could allow them. This last year is a good example. And we begin to wonder if there is a God at all.

Sometimes, like this father, we are not sure God has the power – or the interest – to heal what hurts in our lives. At the least, we share the father’s statement. “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to create and sustain faith. When we pray, “I believe. Help my unbelief,” Spirit immediately goes to work to heal our brokenness and bring us back into belief again.

When we cry out in pain, our prayers are answered, not always with physical healing, but always with a desire to comfort, give strength and guidance. I always find it intriguing the ways prayers are answered through the people in our lives – so it’s not just us who are healed, but those whom God sends are also healed, because they have been sent to do some healing.

When we hurt, it is good to ask God for healing, for mercy. And when someone else hurts, and we respond, it is Spirit who is sending us to the hurting ones. Let’s keep our hearts and ears open to the cries of others so we can say, “Here am I; send me,” when God sends us as healing balm to someone else. Amen  

 

SCRIPTURE DIALOGUE

People of God, do you feel the movement
of the Holy Spirit?
Our hearts have been broken open
to receive the grace of God.
People of God, what do you hear?
We hear Christ calling us to follow
and to be faithful.

 

PRAYERS

In Christ Jesus we meet the God who knows our weakness and bears the wounds of the world. Therefore, let us be bold as we pray, trusting that God draws near to those in any kind of need.

Individual prayers are offered silently or aloud.

Into your wide embrace, O God, we place all our prayers, spoken and unspoken, trusting that you will receive them into your heart of mercy, Jesus Christ, your Son, our Savior. Amen

 

LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

 

HYMN: Healer of our Every Ill

YouTube link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v31s4grQ9tQ

 

BLESSING

As the Lord has given to you peace and healing, go into the world offering God’s love and hope to others. Go in peace and remember + that God goes with you. Amen

 

Scripture from Common English Bible © 2012

Liturgy from ELW Annual Liturgy License 26504

And Abingdon Worship Annual 2021

Healing the hurts

 

2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43

I am thinking today about the emotions that must have been felt by the people in the Gospel reading. But, first, I want to make note of the story that was skipped over by the Lectionary Committee.

In last week’s Gospel reading, Jesus and the disciples got in the boat to go to the other side of the Lake; Jesus took a nap and a storm came up; Jesus told the storm to “stifle”, and it did.

Once they landed on the shore they were in the land of some Gentiles, the Gerasenes. Here Jesus heals a man who has been plagued by legions of demons. The demons ask to be allowed to enter a herd of swine, which immediately run into the lake and drown, which takes care of the demons.  

The healed man wants to follow Jesus, but Jesus sends him to tell his story to the people on that side of the lake, and he does just that. The swine-herders are angry that they have lost their source of income, so they want Jesus to go back to where he came from. Jesus and the disciples head back across the lake to Capernaum.

The Gospel reading for today begins with a plea for healing. Jairus is the leader of the synagogue, rather like the business manager. He is a somebody, with a reputation to uphold. But his daughter is more important to him than his reputation. She is very ill, and Jairus begs for Jesus to come and heal her. He is afraid she will die, and he will do anything to save her. He sets aside his reputation for the sake of his beloved child, and Jesus agrees to go and help her.

As they are walking, there are crowds all around them, pushing and jostling to get close to Jesus. They are excited this famous rabbi is there with them, and hopeful he will heal them or their loved ones.

As Jairus leads the way to his house a desperate woman takes a risk. This woman has been bleeding for twelve years, as long as Jairus’ little girl has been alive. The doctors have no answers, and now she is destitute, out of money.

There was a belief in Jesus’ time that women’s bodies were not as important as men’s bodies, and that if blood can come out, bad things could get in. They could spread these bad things to men, so women who were bleeding had to avoid touching other people, especially men but also other women who could transmit those bad things to the men in their lives.

Today, we laugh at this, and think of cooties, which refers to some imaginary pest passed between boys and girls in middle school. (You may remember that cooties originally meant lice.) In ancient days, this perception about women was a life and death matter. When this woman walked in the street, the rules said she was supposed to make sure she didn’t touch anyone else. And no one else should touch her. She lived an isolated life!

But on this day, she doesn’t care about the rules. She is determined to get close enough to Jesus to simply touch his clothing. She is certain that if she touched just the clothes he wore, she would be healed. And she sees her opportunity – she pushes her way through the crowd and stretches out her arm. She touches the edge of his clothing, and she can feel the change in her body.

She is backing away, out of the way of the others who sought Jesus’ attention. She thinks she is invisible, and unknown. But Jesus notices. He felt the healing power leave him. Jesus amazes the disciples by asking, “Who touched me?” Knowing she has been discovered, the woman kneels at his feet and confesses. Terrified, yet defiant, she waits for his rebuke, but it doesn’t come. Instead, I imagine he raises her to her feet, offering her the first intentional human touch she has felt in twelve years. He calls her “Daughter,” praises her faith, and sends her on her way.

In the meantime, I am sure Jairus is worried and frustrated. Is he standing there glowering and tapping his toes in a hurry to get home? Is he thinking, “His daughter is near death and Jesus is taking time for this untouchable woman!?” When Jesus is ready to move on, messengers come to say that the daughter has died. Jairus’ heart plummets, and he wants to be angry with Jesus. But Jesus says, “it’s OK, Jairus. It will be fine, the girl is only sleeping.”

Jesus arrives at the house, goes inside with a few disciples and the parents. He calls to the girl, who rouses and is given something to eat.

So, what do you think? Was Jesus right to pause to talk with the woman, or should he have gone quickly to the girl and come back to the woman? What if he was too late to save the girl, and he didn’t yet have the power to bring her back to life? What about the healing in the Gentile territory? Yes, the man has been healed, but how will the swineherds make a living? Their capital has just drowned in the lake, so they have no funds with which to restart their business.

Is any of these people and their diseases more important than the others? This is exactly the point Jesus is making. He knows first-hand all the emotional and economic complications of being human. While we might prioritize either the bleeding woman or the dying girl or the demon-possessed person, Jesus knows everyone deserves to be first.

Certainly today, there are plenty of people who die without Jesus’ healing touch. At least without physical healing. But, physical healing is only part of the healing, isn’t it? When we are ill, our whole being is engaged in healing.

With my broken ankle, I had to accept that I was not able to just get in the car and go. I had to carefully transfer on one foot from bed or chair to wheelchair or walker to go anywhere until I could put weight on my foot.

Getting breakfast for myself took patience and a new set of skills as I navigated around the house. It took determination and creativity to do the laundry or cook. It took accepting all the help that was offered, at home and at church, which were the only places I was going to. It meant knowing what it was like for people who were permanently disabled and dependent on others. It was a humbling experience!

Each of the people in our Gospel stories had other healing as well as the physical one.  

The man with all the demons and the woman who was bleeding both had to learn how to act in their communities after their healing. They have been shunned, cast out for so long, it will be a long time before they and their communities accept them again.

Jairus now must deal with all the people who were opposed to Jesus, and the potential for a power struggle in the synagogue leadership team. At the same time he can’t praise Jesus enough for the healing of his daughter. We don’t know exactly what the daughter experienced, but it is easy to assume she is grateful to be well again after such a terrible illness.

Today, we offer a different kind of healing to some people in our community. The piles of undies and socks in Benson Hall along with the cash donations are a testimony to the belief that we should live generously, just as God has been generous with us. Imagine having only one set of undies, or having none because yours were so worn out you had to discard them. Receiving fresh new undies gives these folks a sense of pride, a bit of healing.

Thank you for the healing you are doing in Jesus’ name. Amen