Nov 12 - We Worship, Lament and Trust
We acknowledge it is difficult to continue to hear about wars and loss of life. So today we recognize God is here and we are all part of God’s world. We lament and we praise God.
John 7:38; 4:14 (CEB)
“All who are thirsty should come to me!
38 All who believe in me should drink!
As the scriptures said concerning me,
Rivers of living water will flow out from within him.”
14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”
Jeremiah 17:5-8 (CEB)
The Lord proclaims:
Cursed are those who trust in mere humans,
who depend on human strength
and turn their hearts from the Lord.
6 They will be like a desert shrub
that doesn’t know when relief comes.
They will live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in a barren land where no one survives.
7 Happy are those who trust in the Lord,
who rely on the Lord.
8 They will be like trees planted by the streams,
whose roots reach down to the water.
They won’t fear drought when it comes;
their leaves will remain green.
They won’t be stressed in the time of drought
or fail to bear fruit.
Ezekiel 47:1-12 (CEB)
The river
47 When he brought me back to the temple’s entrance, I noticed that water was flowing toward the east from under the temple’s threshold (the temple faced east). The water was going out from under the temple’s facade toward the south, south of the altar. 2 He led me out through the north gate and around the outside to the outer east gate, where the water flowed out under the facade on the south side. 3 With the line in his hand, the man went out toward the east. When he measured off fifteen hundred feet, he made me cross the water; it was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another fifteen hundred feet and made me cross the water; it was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet and made me cross the water, and it was waist-high.5 When he measured off another fifteen hundred feet, it had become a river that I couldn’t cross. The water was high, deep enough for swimming but too high to cross.6 He said to me, “Human one, do you see?” Then he led me back to the edge of the river. 7 When I went back, I saw very many trees on both banks of the river. 8 He said to me, “These waters go out to the eastern region, flow down the steep slopes,[a] and go into the Dead Sea.[b] When the flowing waters enter the sea, its water becomes fresh.9 Wherever the river flows, every living thing that moves will thrive. There will be great schools of fish, because when these waters enter the sea, it will be fresh. Wherever the river flows, everything will live. 10 People will stand fishing beside it, from En-gedi to En-eglayim, and it will become a place for spreading nets. It will be like the Mediterranean Sea,[c] having all kinds of fish in it. 11 Its marshes and swamps won’t be made fresh (they are left for salt), 12 but on both banks of the river will grow up all kinds of fruit-bearing trees. Their leaves won’t wither, and their fruitfulness won’t wane. They will produce fruit in every month, because their water comes from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for eating, their leaves for healing.”
Reflection Notes:
God offers living water, eternal life. Sometimes that message gets lost in the midst of the chaos around. Ezekiel paints a beautiful picture of the trees standing along the edge of the flowing river of life that flows from the sanctuary. The trees bear fruit because of the life from the presence of God in the sanctuary. Where is God and how can we have hope? We lament, we grieve, we are sad. We sit wit that and we also call upon God to lead us to life and hope.
