Worship and Doubt

Gospel: Matthew 28: 16-20

Come we now to the very end of the Gospel.  We have followed the Lord from the desert of temptations to this mountaintop.  We have seen remarkable things: Jesus healing people of all sorts of ailments; delivering people from the demons that oppress them; feeding countless hungry people.  We even had the opportunity to do these very things ourselves! Now we are at this mountaintop with the risen Lord, yet another wonder we have beheld.

At the same time we have experienced hardships in this journey.  We have seen Jesus opposed in many places, chased off by those who would reject him.  We were there when Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and executed in the most horrible fashion.  We found ourselves betraying the Lord, denying that we knew him, and abandoning him to suffer his death alone.  Our own behaviors and responses to the Lord throughout this journey have not always been accepting.

So here we are at the mountaintop, and Jesus about to ascend to heaven.  We worship, and we doubt.  This is what we have been doing throughout the Gospel journey.  This is the arc of every spiritual life undertaken with authenticity.  We are honest about our doubts, and we are honest about our worship.  We look to the heavens to be with the Lord.  We can only do so by taking up his work on earth, the work of mercy and love, in the midst of our doubts and weaknesses. 

Asking for Presence

Gospel: John 16: 23-28

Today's Gospel portion is perplexing to us.  It is frequently offered to us as some sort of consolation that God will grant to us whatever we ask. Yet, we know that this is not true.  Even when we ask for objectively good things - healing, liberation from addictions, change in our moral and spiritual life - we often do not receive that for which we ask.  This leads to frustration and very often to spiritual crises and loss of faith entirely.  

We might well avoid such crises in our life if we come to realize the purpose of prayer.  Prayer is simply the request for God's presence.  It is not unlike our human relationships.  If we call a friend only to constantly ask them for things, then that's not much of a relationship.  It is merely transactional on our part.  But very often we just want company and companionship.  We just need the presence of another person for reassurance and calm.

So it is with God.  Our prayer ultimately is for God to be present with us no matter what we are facing.  God is always present to us; prayer is just our reminder of God's presence among us.  And that presence is enough.  We may not receive healing or deliverance or anything else, but if we have God's presence then we have everything, no matter what happens.  That is the promise Jesus provides us - I am with you always. 

A Time to Mourn

Gospel: John 16: 20-23

We are told in today's Gospel portion that the world will rejoice while followers of Jesus mourn.  There are many instances in which this takes place.  The world rejoices over the wealth and excess that is had at the exploitation and degradation of so many people.  The world rejoices over the slaughter and carnage of war and execution that creates poverty, refugees, and orphans.  It is for these things that the followers of Jesus mourn and weep.  

The world seeks grand ballrooms and arches, stadiums and areas of entertainment extravaganza - all of which hold priority over things like health care, affordable housing, education, and transportation needs for average people.  The world will get its trinkets of ostentation while neglecting the needs of the poor and marginalized.  It will rejoice over such things.  And the follower of Jesus will - should - mourn and weep over these injustices.  

We look to the heavens for help, just as the first followers of Jesus did in seeing him ascend to the heavens.  But they came to realize through the inspiration of the Spirit that now it is for us to go about and do the works of healing in the world as Jesus did: to heal those who are sick, to liberate those oppressed by the demons of the world, and to feed the starving masses.  Yes, we mourn for the injustices of the world, but we take up the towel and basin as well to be a light in the darkness.