Get a piece of paper, fold it in half lengthwise.  Then cut the corners off the non-folded size, and cut slits along the non-folded side.  Unfold your leaf, and you are ready to wave your palm branch.  You can cheer for Jesus or sing a song for Jesus.
Sometimes we use the long palm leaves that we get at church on Palm Sunday to make crosses.  You can make a cross for yourself using a long strip of paper (about 1 inch wide and 18 inches long.  If your paper is not long enough, glue two shorter strips together.)  Then you can follow the instructions on this video to make a cross.  
​
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILpBY4Qt2Wg  This link shows two different ways to make a cross, make the one that you like best.

I hope you have a happy Palm Sunday.  Remember, God is always with you and always ready to hear your prayers.
 Miss Pat
 

Matthew 5:38-48   ​

​

It’s no wonder that quite a few movies have been made from Bible stories.  There’s a
lot of drama in many of them.  Often the stories really invite you to be present in the
action, like the Gospel reading today, to be there in the press of the crowd trying to get
as close as possible to Jesus in that house in Capernaum.  In a short time Jesus had
developed a big reputation as a healer and teacher. Local people like Peter’s mother-in-
law had been made well, and also many others, and the news was really getting around
quickly to the surrounding countryside. 
     
​Can you see the desperate friends of a paralyzed man who have not found anyway
to get to where Jesus is? Perhaps they have asked others to let them in, but that hasn’t worked, so it’s up onto the roof of the house, to dig through the roof, to push tiles aside.
The owner of the house had not requested a new skylight.  It almost seems like
vandalism.  But these friends are desperate to get the paralyzed man right to Jesus, so
that he can be made well. Jesus notices the man all right, in the midst of his teaching
the people. Jesus especially notices the courage, the daring, and the faith of the friends
peering down through the hole in the roof, looking to Jesus to see what he will do.  They
are expecting Jesus to speak a healing word, to touch their friend.  Well, Jesus
surprises everyone by saying; “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  Apparently there were
quite a few healers about those days, but they did not claim to forgive sins.  Really
Jesus was teaching through word and action that God is doing a new thing here, getting
at the core of what ails people, getting to people’s deepest needs, to God giving people
a new heart.  The physical healing was a sign of that; “So that you may know that the
Son of Man (Jesus) has authority on earth to forgive sins,” ’Jesus said to the paralyzed
man, ‘Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home.’”  Can you imagine that scene when
the man does just that, someone who has likely been paralyzed all his life?  Can you
see the look on people’s faces, including Jesus’ opponents?  There are people with
gaping mouths who make room for the one made well to leave the house, and there is a
lot of praising of God. 
     
I remember a few years ago reading this story to a woman in hospital who had
recently found out cancer was spreading quickly through her body.  She said to me; “I’m
the one on the stretcher.” She was feeling paralyzed by the news she had received, as
well as how low she was physically.  Perhaps you can see yourself on the stretcher in
the story, or you could have in times past, when you were paralyzed in some way,
trapped, stuck.  In listening to people, I know that fears can paralyze people. It’s natural to have fears as we are caught in this strange time – with the growing reach of the
coronavirus into our state and country and world. Grief can paralyze.  So can pain.  So
can hurts in relationships.  There may be something that you feel a deep sense of
shame about. You may be feeling a sense of powerless from being abused in some
way. It really knocked the wind out of your sails.  The paralyzed man suffered from
shame, from powerlessness.  In those days there were no modern inventions like
scooters for him to have some control of his getting around.  He always had to wait on
others.  He had to beg for money.  That was the lot of the paralyzed.  And then there
was the judgment.  The thinking of those days was that someone must have seriously
sinned for him or her to be disabled.  If from birth, it was the parents who had sinned.  If
someone became paralyzed later on, then she or he must have greatly offended God in
some way. Suffering from the judgment of others can be paralyzing. I have heard
people often enough say that when they feel paralyzed from whatever it might be, that
they can find it hard to pray, hard to ask God for help.  The woman with cancer that I
mentioned felt that way, and was greatly comforted by knowing that family members
overseas were praying for her, were taking her to Jesus, and laying her at his feet, like
the friends of the paralyzed man.
   
In the story, Jesus is really moved by the daring, the courage, the persistence of the
four friends, and any others who helped get the paralyzed man to Jesus for help.
The reading mentions that Jesus saw their faith.  It doesn’t mention the faith of the
paralyzed man.  This story is a great encouragement to be bold, to persist in bringing
people to Jesus.  Who are you bringing on the stretcher to Jesus?  Who would you like
to bring?  I love the prayer station we have in our sanctuary in Lent – with the driftwood
cross. I light a candle each week, thinking of someone who I’m lifting up to Jesus. I’m sorry that we can’t have worship in the sanctuary this Lent. But from wherever we are,
we can pray. That’s real friendship, to bring the person that you really care about to
Jesus, for Jesus to bring his healing to them. Continue to bring Pastor Joe Brosious to
Jesus in prayer. He is in the neurological intensive care in Madison. Yesterday again
there were some hopeful signs where he could respond to verbal requests. Some
people in their praying like to visualize the person prayed for being lifted down in from of
Jesus. This story helps us to get a handle on the full and deep healing that Jesus
brings, like people needing to know that they are forgiven, fully accepted by God; that
they are a daughter, a son of God.  Jesus is saying; “You are not on the outer.”  You are
not rejected because of your physical condition, or any other reason. You may feel like
you are defective in different ways.  Jesus declares that you are a whole person.  The
caring friends in the story were looking for physical healing first and foremost, for the
one they were concerned about.  He received that, and much more, as a sign of God’s
kingdom breaking in through Jesus.  This healing was, like all the others, pointing
forward to Jesus’ death and resurrection, his leading the way through the darkness of
death, his making everything new.    
 
Sometimes close friends, family members, know their loved one’s needs or condition
even more than the person himself or herself does and they have come to have a better
idea where some healing may be found.  They may be aware that the one they are
bringing to Jesus has a paralyzing addiction, or chooses destructive behavior.  The
person themselves may be in denial of that, may be trying to keep that hidden.  Deeper
healing will go beyond being a co-dependent, beyond helping to keep the person
paralyzed. It will mean bringing the person to seek help. That takes courage, daring,
and faith. Some roof tiles may need to be removed, in that quest. Jesus works healing through many earthly agents; counselors, nurses, doctors, various health professionals,
through support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, and grief groups. A sign of God’s
grace is that God works through Christians and non-Christians alike.  Deep friendship
will lead to working at deeper healing, and not being part of the denying of the health
issue. The man being lowered through the roof couldn’t hide his physical disabilities.  
Mental and emotional illnesses, compulsions, addictions, may not be as obvious to the
wider population, but are very evident to those who are close. Real friendship may
mean bringing the paralyzed to a healing place even if they do not want to be brought,
even if that person can see no hope of becoming well, or denies that they are unwell.
And the story would encourage continuing to surround that person in prayer. 
     
We often don’t see Jesus’ healing power as immediately as those who were
gathered in that house in Capernaum. We will only know that in full in heaven.  Jesus’
healing back then was a sign of God’s new reign/kingdom breaking in, of multi-
dimensional healing, including the bringing in of those who had been seen to be on the
outside of God’s kingdom, for them knowing that they are totally loved and accepted
through Jesus.  That still is at the heart of God’s healing. And with that will come the
working on the other aspects of healing.  That’s what friends are for, helping to see the
deeper needs, and then working for healing, with courage and determination. That’s
really a major purpose of our congregation, receiving Jesus’ healing, bringing that to
each other, and sharing that with whomever we can. AMEN.     
Dear Lord, help us all at this time. Bless all health workers. You have given them a gift
of healing for these times. With all the isolating, help us to know that you are with us.
Bless us and guide us in reaching out through phone and social media and cards and
practical service. Especially be with those who are most vulnerable and most at risk.

We pray for people who have lost their work in these days, or are in danger of losing
their work. We pray for all the people that usually come to 12 step meetings at our
church, that they have other ways to have community and support. The same for Grief
groups. We pray that this time of having to be closed will not be so long. Curtail and
contain this virus Lord. In the name of Jesus the healer. Amen.

Sermon 
How are you feeling about these unusual times?  During my 13 years at Ascension we have been closed for worship just 2 Sundays, both connected to heavy snow.   And now with the corona virus pandemic, we are closed 3 Sundays in a row, to the end of March.  And all church activities cancelled.  And all other groups at the church cancelled.  Wow.  Just a reminder that we will be keeping office hours.  And I will be available by phone and text and email and Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.  All our communication tools will be very helpful in this time.  

Did you get to go to the store recently?   I did try to do some shopping on Thursday, and I have never seen the Aldi parking lot totally filled.  Bottled water was in big demand, and almost gone.  There was no sanitizer left, no Lysol wipes, no toilet paper.  But I did find fruit and vegetables and other food staples.  I hope you all have sufficient for the days ahead.  Actually, I’m not sure about why the stocking up on water.  We have pretty good city water in Columbus.  Are people afraid that something will happen to the city water, that it could get cut off or be contaminated?  I’m not sure. 

We have a wonderful scripture today that is focused on water.  Jesus is thirsty from a long dusty walk, and is sitting right by a well in Samaritan territory at noon.  The well has water, but it is deep down, and he doesn’t have a bucket.   In the early morning and the evening there would be people lining up for water there, with their buckets, but not in the middle of the day.  Thankfully a local woman comes to draw water, and Jesus asks her to give him a drink.  She is very surprised as she can see that he is a Jewish man; and she is a Samaritan woman.  It’s a long story as to why many Jews regarded Samaritans with contempt.  They would never have wanted to share a drink with a Samaritan.  They social-distanced themselves so they didn’t get contaminated in any way, including religiously. But Jesus in his typical way is not afraid.  Remember Jesus saying; “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 

Hold those words – living water.  The woman – I wish we knew her name – could only think of the water in the well; actually a famous well of Jacob and Leah and Rachel.  The Samaritan woman says to Jesus; “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep; Where do you get that living water?  Surely you are not greater than Jacob, who gave us this well, he and his family and flocks drank from it.”  Hear Jesus’ words in response; “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”  I must say that last line again.  “The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”  What a wonderful image of living water.  Can you visualize it?  The woman said – Sir – please give me that water.  In her mind she thinks that she mightn’t have to keep coming to the well.  And Jesus is thinking of something even deeper, of the abundant life that he wants her to have.   And through the continuing conversation at the well, she comes to clearly see that Jesus is the source of that deeper life in God.  There is the famous part when Jesus says to call her husband, and she says she doesn’t have one, and he says that he knows that she has had 5 husbands, and is now with another man.  Traditional bible interpretation has made her out to be a loose woman, and that this is why she is at the well in the middle of the day.  But maybe each of her husbands had died, and the current man wasn’t willing to risk getting married to her in case he was number six and soon to die. 

It’s interesting how easily bible interpretation can easily enough look for sexual scandal by women.   She is amazed that Jesus knows her, knows all about her, knows what she most is thirsting for.  Jesus, the Christ, talks with her one to one, heart to heart.  And she goes back into the town and tells many people about Jesus, and they also come to believe that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.  And many gather around him.  They were so thirsty to know the Christ personally.  The Samaritans were not left out, not shunned by Jesus.  He very much includes them as his disciples.  That’s the way he does it.  What a witness this woman gives to Jesus?  She tells her fellow townspeople where to find living water, and they lap it up.    I love this image of water, living water that fills this reading.  What comes to mind for me is a video on Facebook of an Australian boy, maybe 3 years old, who has grown up in a rural area where there has been constant drought for years, and just a month ago, his experiencing rain for the first time in his life.  Such joy.  He does a merry dance holding up his hands.  Is your life dry in some ways?   Are you in some kind of wilderness?   How is Lent going for you? 

This scripture is helpful on our Lenten journey.  Just like with the Samaritan woman, Jesus meets you where you are, with your own history, your challenges, your vulnerabilities;  He knows where you have been marginalized, shamed.   Jesus knows your feelings about this present time; your fears, your anxieties, your uncertainties.   And he sits with you and he hears your questions, your prayers. And he offers to you just what he offers to the woman; the invitation to drink deeply of living water; the water that will become in you a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.  Remember your baptism; how you were brought into Jesus’ life and story with water.  Baptism calls you to repentance; to let Jesus continue to drown what is old and dead in you, what gets in the way of a deeper life with him, and to pray for Jesus new life to surge, to lift you up, to give you courage for living in these days, to help you see where you can lift others up in this time of fear and uncertainty, to help you see where you can witness to Jesus bringing life, salvation to a world so much in need of it, bringing that spring of living water.  Keep imagining in prayer that fountain of living water welling up in you, and flowing out to others.     

​Jesus bless you and keep you.  Amen. 
 
P.S.  It is a different kind of Lent.   We go from having wonderful soup suppers to having to make soup at home.  We go from having extra opportunities for worship, for holy communion, to not gathering together. If you feel a deep need for Holy Communion at this time, please make an appointment with me.   I will make a Onecall message each day with a verse to reflect on and carry, and a prayer thought.   Let us know any other ways that you think we could better remain connected at this time.

Let us pray - Lord God, we pray for all directly suffering from the corona virus in this time, in whatever part of the world.  I pray that world leaders, health experts, will come to work more closely together for solutions.  We pray that this time of isolating will help to reduce the number of people catching the virus, especially the most vulnerable.  Bless and keep safe children who will be home from school these next 3 weeks. Bless their families.  We pray that all will have enough food through the sharing of others.  Move us where we can be helpful.  Amen. 

And it is recorded in verse 47, “praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” In fact, the church continued to grow throughout the Roman Empire for 300 years despite terrible persecutions. There are loads of stories of people going off to torture and martyrdom with joy in their hearts and faces. The joy that they proclaimed when facing death was more compelling than the grotesque scenes of death. This was true to such a degree that many people became Christian after watching the execution of Christians! 

Christianity became legal throughout the empire in 313 C.E. Conversions continued, but so did conflicts. Once the religion was intertwined with the empire, things like power and greed became just as prevalent within the Church as any other imperial institution. We have never quite been able to shake them off. But, we have had a lot of prophets throughout our 2,000-year history that have worked to pull us back to faithful living. My personal favorite (with a wink), would be Martin Luther, who fought the greed and power of Pope Leo X. But, more recently, in the first decade of the 20th century, there was a Pentecostal or Charismatic revival all over the world.   

Without knowledge of each other, prayer circles began meeting in Wales, Argentina, India, and Los Angeles. These groups each prayed for the Holy Spirit to baptize them with power to do the work of God. They prayed for revival! This has led to the kind of conversions that haven’t been seen since the earliest days of Christianity. There has been a faith explosion all over the world, but especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It isn’t only in Pentecostal churches, either. Methodists, Catholics, and other denominations have had charismatic movements sparked by prayer groups in their churches.  

As we work to roll out each of the goals for Ascension in 2020, I am thrilled that the very first one, on March 7, will be our prayer ministry. Our church, our neighborhood, and our nation are in need of a revival – not a moral revival – a spiritual one. Anxiety, stress, and frustration are not likely to be cured by the “best” presidential candidate. But, true peace, and yes, even joy, can be found in Jesus Christ. The path to finding that joy is in bible study, fellowship, eating together, and PRAYER. I am honored to be on this path with you all. Believe me that there are others that would love to be with you too. They are just waiting on the invitation. 

- Vicar Kimberly