“Will you come and follow
me/If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know/And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown?/Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown/In you and you in me?”
Will you go where you don't know/And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown?/Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown/In you and you in me?”
The words of this song written by John Bell for the Iona
community in Scotland call us into Christian discipleship. They describe the sort of call Jesus made to
his very first disciples. They inquire
about a willingness to prepare for the tasking of “giving away” our
faith—something we are called to do as disciples.
The song continues:
“Will you leave yourself
behind/If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind/And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare/Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer pray’r/In you and you in me?
“Will you let the blinded see/If I but call your name?
Will you set the pris’ners free/And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,/And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean/In you and you in me?”
Will you care for cruel and kind/And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare/Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer pray’r/In you and you in me?
“Will you let the blinded see/If I but call your name?
Will you set the pris’ners free/And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,/And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean/In you and you in me?”
Our gospel reading today—from
the beginning of the 5th chapter of John’s gospel—gives us an
example of the sort of work we may summoned to do as followers of Jesus. There are three aspects of this story of the
healing of the man who had been ill for 38 years which can apply to
circumstances when we try to help others in Jesus’ name.
First, Jesus showed the
man respect. Jesus’ question, “Do you
wish to be made well?,” offered the man an opening to express what he was
thinking and feeling. Today we would say
Jesus was giving the man “agency.” The
man now had the opportunity to be an active part of what was about to happen.
Second, the man’s reply depicts
someone having no hope and resigned to his fate. Indeed the man showed a lack of “agency.” His reply attributed his lack of access to
what others have done to get to the healing water which prevented him from getting
to it, “ . . . while I am making my way, someone else steps down in front of
me.”
Finally, Jesus’s words
offered the man healing—healing that could come as the man actively responded
to those words—healing that would go against the tradition and commandment of
“no work” on the sabbath. Both Jesus and
the man surely “risked the hostile state” by this man becoming well, whole and restored
to his former state--on the sabbath.
Richard Rohr, a Roman
Catholic priest who practices a contemplative life style, speaks about our
becoming “co-participants” in what God is doing to create God’s reign now. This
man who had been ill for 38 years became of “co-participant” with Jesus’ did
that day. He responded in faith and with
hope when he took up his mat and walked away.
And we can also be
“co-participants” with God in the work which draws us closer step-by-step to
God’s reign. This reign will be marked by
healing for all, that is, every person becoming whole and becoming their true
selves.
This “co-participation”
usually will not come easily. We have to
face our own attitudes and those of others:
o Can we see those we believe may need our help as
worthy of our respect?
o Can we see how they might gain “agency” to make a difference
in their situations?
o Will we support their doing so?
o Are we willing to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to
criticism and risk what others may think of us when we act or take a stand?
o Are we willing, with God’s help of course, to offer
ourselves fully?
“Will you leave yourself
behind/If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind/And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare/Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer pray’r/In you and you in me?
“Will you let the blinded see/If I but call your name?
Will you set the pris’ners free/And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,/And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean/In you and you in me.”
Will you care for cruel and kind/And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare/Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer pray’r/In you and you in me?
“Will you let the blinded see/If I but call your name?
Will you set the pris’ners free/And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,/And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean/In you and you in me.”
“The Summons” © 1987, Iona Community, GIA
Publications, Inc. agent
