Worship from Following

 Worship from Following

I closed last week’s writing with “This season of Lent is going to help us to see Jesus’ journey to the cross as a labor of divine love and we can make our way — one Deacon’s prayer at a time — onto that path to follow him with our gratitude. 

This gratitude “thing” is not only an attitude adjustment begging for discipline and focus but as much a reaction to one of the other standards of this Lenten season.  The lectionary takes us through “days in the life of Jesus” and each of these days has work or some challenge to his unique purpose and ministry.  First the wilderness temptations, then “Nick at night.” This next Sunday we’ll read of how poorly the disciples — echoing Nicodemus’ take — misunderstood his embracing the moment with the woman at the well.  They were astonished Jesus was stooping to speak with her.   

It’s as if in the Fourth Gospel everyone is playing catch-up because Jesus is resolutely striding so far ahead of us all.  So much for the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  

Just like we see God ahead of us in our temperate northern hemisphere springtime bloom-fest, Jesus is begging us to keep pace and to follow him.  Worship as reflective respite will have to wait because he’ll be puzzling the Pharisees and calling Lazarus out of the tomb before we can wrap our heads much less hearts around his saying things like “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 14:24) 

So we can try to keep up with him and trust that our understanding will almost always emerge from our experience. It’s called hindsight and it begs our honesty.  We can also remember that God’s love of us will always outlast all our walking or worship. It’s called trust and it begs our humility.  One day we will celebrate as he again calls us — just like he did Peter who denied him three times — and says to us “Follow me.”(John 21:19)

FrDann