This month two friends will make a pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona off the western coast of Scotland. Another friend will visit that sacred isle while on sabbatical in June. Each pilgrim joins an ages long procession of seekers who have journeyed to Iona, our own J2A 2006 youth pilgrimage among them. Columba and his companions set out from Ireland in the 6th century and made landfall at Iona. From Iona his monastics and other missionaries carried the Christian faith throughout Scotland and northern England. Theirs was a distinctive spirituality in the Celtic tradition deeply rooted in the natural order, home and hearth. Philip Newell says, “As the overlapping strands in Celtic artwork suggest, the life of heaven is inseparably woven into the life of earth. God is the Life within all life, the Light within all light. ‘Shafts of that divine light,’ said the fourth-century Celtic theologian, Pelagius, ‘penetrate the thin veil that divides heaven from earth.’”[1]
I remember well the pilgrimages Beth and I made to numerous holy sites in England and Wales. Among the sites our group visited were many holy wells. They seemed to be everywhere. But of course we who are used to driving hundreds of miles in a day forget that such travel is a relatively recent development. For much of history most people were tied to the land and did not venture far from their village. Their holy well might seem insignificant to today’s world traveler, but it was a sign for them of “the eternal seeping through the physical,” as Lord MacLeod of Fuinary described it. The water was a source of life, health, and hope for the body and the soul.
Water is a significant image in today’s readings. The gospel presents a large city pool renowned for its healing properties. In the passage from the Book of Revelation to John an unpolluted river is the source of life. In Acts another river provides the setting for a place of worship, speaking to our hearts of the refreshing work of baptism and the new life of faith. With the psalmist we proclaim, May God give us his blessing, and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him (Ps 67:7).
The readings from the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse have my attention today.
The gospel story of the lame man who was brought daily to the pool at the Sheep Gate into Jerusalem is a familiar addition to our baptismal liturgy at St. Paul’s. When it is retold we are accustomed to see a crush of children vigorously stirring the water in the large baptismal bowl. We hear Jesus speak to an invalid of 38 years about healing. The man’s tone suggests resignation that he would never be able to be the first to enter the water in the pool and be healed. That is a detail provided in verse 4 which is omitted in most Bibles today because only a few ancient manuscripts of John’s gospel include it. But verse 4 provides the color commentary we need to make sense of the invalid’s reply. An angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons, into the pool, and troubled the water: whoever stepped in first after the troubling of the water was healed of whatever disease he had (Jn 5:4). This man had no helpers and could draw on no resources from the community of invalids who gathered at the pool. Hope must have been in short supply for any but those at the edge of the pool. Yet there could be little calm even for them, for the urgency to be first in must have been palpable.
Apart from the biblical story, our children move the water sometimes into a froth, acting out the affirmation that God washes away the sin that separates us from God and others, forgives and rescues us for life in Christ, heals and makes us whole. By their participation in the rite of baptism the children also pledge to be godly friends to help a brother or sister grow into the full stature of Christ.
The pool at the Sheep Gate, Bethsatha, may appear to be as capricious as the Lottery. In reality it was a sign of divine medicine and hope. It declared that God had not forgotten his people. Unfortunately God’s grace gets appropriated for human greed-souvenirs, bottled holy water and all. The outward sign gets reduced to a formula – being the first to step into the water when it is troubled, rather than putting one’s trust in God to save. The invalid despaired for a healing; still Jesus showed himself to be the friend the man needed and the reliable source of healing.
Water has a special place in the Book of Revelation to John. In its final chapters God’s creation is restored. Human disobedience severed the relationship with God, leaving all of life in bondage to Satan and sin. But through his death and resurrection Jesus restored what was broken. John’s Apocalypse is the illustrated text of that story. I like to call it God’s great graphic novel offering vivid imagery of God’s unfolding plan. It’s not a coffee table book containing photographs of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, nor is it blueprint designs of a future residence. In visual language the Book of Revelation presents the redeeming work of Jesus for the community of believers threatened by persecution. It gave them courage. It helped them persevere for God’s outcome was assured.
John’s vision shares a similar purpose to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7). The sermon began with blessings on Jesus’ followers who strive to live in the way of the gospel, and then continued with instructions on specific communal attitudes and behavior, prayer, and spiritual habits. Soon afterward Jesus commissioned the disciples to go in his name to declare God’s peace and the good news of God’s kingdom on earth, to heal the sick and cast out demons (Mt 10:7-13). Likewise John’s vision equipped and encouraged another generation of believers.
In its closing image John the seer encounters the restored New Jerusalem in the new heaven and earth of God’s design. It is a city, but so much more than any city one can imagine. For this city is a bride, the epitome of the one desired above all, the image of one committed and ready, the emblem of a relationship sealed in love; it is home, a dwelling place where the perfected family of God resides, breathtakingly beautiful in its proportionality and purity of composition; and the garden of paradise restored with its refreshing river flowing directly from God, the tree of life providing both nourishment and healing for all who once were disobedient. The usual civic infrastructure is unnecessary in the New Jerusalem because God supplies every need. There is no temple, no alternative source of lighting, no communication devises, because God is in the midst of God’s people. They shall see his face (Rev 22:4). Separated no longer they joyfully wear the name of God. Lover and beloved are one in heart and mind. Jesus the Light illuminates all. All that is good in human culture is perfected and has its place in God’s holy city.
This wonderful picture book was intended to excite the faithful to right action in Jesus’ name. The vision was given to stimulate God’s holy ones in whatever circumstance they were found to declare that God is to be worshiped not Caesar, Jesus reigns not Satan, the Holy Spirit works to perfect and fulfill the divine project on earth. The saints, yesterday and today, reveal the presence of God’s kingdom of righteousness in their lives, actively helping others to come into a loving relationship with God. In all times and places the saints work through the imperfect institutions available to accomplish God’s will, living into the vision that a cup of cold water is provide, that no one is a stranger, that the unwanted are adopted, that children are sheltered, fed and educated, that castaways and homeless are welcomed into safe housing, that the addicted can recover their health and well-being. It sounds much like the millennium development goals but that is because they are just another way of describing our hope for making the kingdom of God on earth a visible reality. There is work to be done and God long ago let the specifics be known. (Isa 61:1-4; Lk 1:46-55)
Water is a precious resource. Without water there is death. Therefore it becomes a symbol of God’s life sustaining love. Its refreshing coolness establishes a thin place where the divine is encountered. Its healing properties are acclaimed because we trust in God’s mercy and loving-kindness. Clean water is a gift that brings life. The soul is renewed through baptism. The heart turns to God. And God turns us to share all we have received with others for his kingdom has come to earth and we are agents of his grace. Praise God.
[1] Newell, J. Philip, “Celtic Prayers from Iona,” C. 1997, Paulist Press, p 7.
