Reflection of the Week - 28th March 2023

By Rev Anne Hewitt

Posted Mar 28, 2023 in Faith

People of the Light
John 11:1-44

A classic gathered community of relatives and friends, grieving together, illuminates the humanity that binds us all. Grieving and sorrowing also disturbs our perspective – brokenness and blame, belief and benevolence. Jesus knowingly enters into the middle of this scene. Martha rushes out of the gathered community, to meet Jesus, with both admonishment and certain faith. Ever practical and purposeful, she even alerts Jesus later of the smell of death in the tomb. Mary, caught in her grief, came when knowingly secure of a welcome. She falls at Jesus’ feet again, having once washed them with respect and gentle love, an intuitive offering from heart and soul. Her faith mixes with raw grief, blame and belief. The crowd follows, conversing through their weeping, in both wonder and criticism.

Jesus understood the human pain and anguish, spoke with gentle directness, and was himself immersed in his very real sorrow. He wept, releasing more than silent tears. Weeping releases the complicated anguish where sorrow for self and other meet, a physical expression of the aching soul. Even in the midst of this rawness, Jesus’ prayer reminded all who listened, that they were known and heard by God. In both their grieving and their questioning, they were held and heard. He showed how to be immersed in the human reality, and know the encompassing presence of God’s Spirit. He offered solace and gracious understanding. Like Lazarus, those who listened too, were unbound and let go.

Ponder upon these…

Who do we keep bound,
suppressing them so much, hidden from site, they dwell in a deepening cave?
What do we kept suppressed within,
fearing once released it will not return to the safety of a locked space?
When do we curb our emotions,
grief buried so deep, that its reek seeps into the sweet promise of a new day?
Where is the centre point that we skirt around,
averting our sight to that which hurts our gaze?
How do we quell our concerns,
never addressed through healthy questions, so that the fear is kept bottled and revealed as anxious stress?
There is no shame is gracious grief, channelling the stream of deep tears,
so as to open the space where emotion and reality whirl.
For it is here, that the teary salt becomes the healer, disinfecting, washing and clarifying the painful wound, unbinding all that holds it, and releasing the potential for the new life that comes forth.
The Spirit’s song is heard in that grief, and Jesus holds it so tenderly.

Romans 8:6
To be controlled by human nature results in death;
to be controlled by the Spirit results in life and peace.

Source: Rev Anne Hewitt, Churches Together SA e:newsletter 21st March, 2023

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