People's Prayers: Prayers of the People: The Eyes of Our Hearts ~ 1st Sunday in Lent WLWC* ‘25 Yr C

For Sunday, February 23, 2025; Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 49: 1-2, 5-15;

Ephesians 1:15-21, John 3:1-8

Thus says the Highest, the Breath of Life: From the four winds-of-breath-and-spirit, come spirit breath and breathe spirit upon these who have been slain, that they may come to life…and she, the breath-that-is-spirit came into them and they came to life and stood upon their feet, a vast legion. [Ezekiel 37:9b-10]

For when one sees the wise, they die; the foolish and ignorant perish together…Like sheep they are set for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall rule over them until the morning, and their form shall waste away; Sheol shall be their abode. But God will ransom my soul, for from the grasp of Sheol she will take me. [Psalm 49:10, 14-15]

I do not cease to give thanks for you all as I make mention of you all in my prayers…in order that the God of our Redeemer Jesus, the Messiah, the Origin of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know God…so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you all may know what is the hope to which God has called you…and what is the surpassing magnificence of God’s power for we who believe, according to the working of the power of God’s strength. [Ephesians 1:16-20]

[Jesus responded to Nicodemus] Truly, truly I tell you without being birthed again—that is being birthed from above, no one can see the majesty of God…I tell you, without being birthed of water and spirit no one can enter the majesty of God. What is birthed of the flesh is flesh, and what is birthed of the spirit is spirit…You must be birthed again, birthed from above. [John 3:3, 5-6]

Thanks to this combination of readings, transport, restoration, and spirit/breath are the themes that gathered together for me in them. Ruach in the Hebrew means spirit, wind, and/or breath of the Holy Spirit/aka Wisdom/God. Obviously there is no life without breath and sometimes the wind overwhelms us, perhaps the Spirit does, too, and I/we don’t recognize it. Yet we and all living creatures that are not plants were created with the Breath. (an interruptive aside here ~ have you ever noticed the word creature and its relationship to create/Creator?) And so it is when the Spirit and Breath transports those very dry bones from their graves and the bones become enfleshed and are restored to stand up and live again.

The Psalmist is clear that those who trust in their wealth and praise of the abundance of their riches (Gafney v. 6-7); or The wickedness of those who put their trust in their goods, and boast of their great riches… (v. 5 in the Book of Common Prayer ~ BCP~, Psalm 49, pg. 652) will be transported to Sheol and unlike those dry bones, the land of the dead shall be their home…They shall join the company of their forbears, who will never see light again. (BCP Psalm 49:14b, 19). And then we have verse 15! The transport of some and the restoration of The upright in this version of the psalm and the ransom of God in the BCP, redeem in the NKJV, The Complete Jewish Bible, NIV; ransom in Authorized KJV, and so it goes in many other translations. [I use Biblegateway.com]. Of course it doesn’t mitigate the damage done to the upright in the short term. But the ransom/restoration/transport away from the Pit of Sheol, by God, is what keeps our hope alive and the spirit breath within us flowing.

And then to the Letter to the Ephesians…as we remember, Paul wrote letters to specific churches for specific reasons. Sometimes it’s very difficult to connect those letters to our own time for those reasons. Yet in there are some letters and moments in them that certainly stand out and this is one of them. Again, you can read this in any translation you prefer and the phrasing that hit me immediately was/is with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you all may know what is the hope to which God has called you… Some of the paraphrases ~ that is translations re-written to be more modern in their wording such as The Message, The Living Bible, Good New Translation, etc., simply have the same basic thought just phrased differently. For me, this week, it was with the eyes of your heart enlightened that jumped out. A continuing reminder to dig deeply and often, and to reflect on what and why my attention is captured positively and especially if otherwise.

And then in John’s Gospel, the Born Again piece that has been used often though perhaps not so wisely, but, as said above, digging more deeply we get a restoration of the full meaning of Jesus, especially as we move beyond verse 8 all the way to verse 21, whereafter the scene changes.

Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel (v. 9-10) is having difficulty believing what Jesus is saying. In verse 12, Jesus responds with, If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? A question for the ages! What do you think Jesus means by saying we must be birthed of water and the spirit? For me, these chosen readings all come full circle in the Gospel. Through the breath-wind of the Spirit we are given life. When we take the time, as we stop for a period of time every single day to consciously breathe deeply in, hold, and breathe deeply out, for at least several minutes and more, with our questions on these readings as a beginning, we invite the Spirit to enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we may turn toward the light of God in Jesus and be birthed again, and again, and again from above. As we seek, often, to know what is the hope that God calls us, placing our hope in Jesus, our Christ, is our first step.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Reader: ~ Sovereign ALL-KNOWING GOD, come upon us and bring us out through your Spirit. Cause your spirit-and-breath to enter us and fill our bones with Your energizing life, to rise upright, birthed again from above.

Response: O Wellspring, O Source, O Author of Life