2024-10-30 A Meditation on Stronger for the Journey
“25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph 4:25-32 ESV)
Headlong into the mix, the soul who Encounters is a sole who fashions themselves a Friend. To be a friend is a sacred Trust: insincerity, mock horror, our desire for More… more of Him, just another experience of Grace… our Christ survives a jarring ride at our hands. Simple petulant jibes, simple regrettable diatribes, simple “Gotcha!” moments… these are what killed our Lord and Savior.
And His removal of the self from the equation, via a Retreat to the woods to pray; via a time-sharing amongst all twelve; via personal forward Progress notwithstanding their whimpering needs and messy garments: these things taught a better word than that of a Pushover: a Pushover or Easy Friend… Christ’s friendship is so Easy as to inspire our undying Affection. It worked! I laud and support this One who asked finally for a little breathing room, some personal retreat Time. Yes, my God and Father, such words and requests from your Son: these I Accept as mutually beneficial!
Because that familial Cohort is also One Body, we abiding Near to our Christ because His ministry was not yet complete. He had preached to the widows and the orphans; He had ministered to the centurion’s family and the followers of John the Baptist; He had prayerfully been a contagious brand of Calm to each and every one of the Twelve; yet His ministry was not yet complete.
To Die for us, this Outcome sounds severe, our gladsome visages replaced with a bit of a “What?”, a pre-horrified mouth agape, a simple, “But we were just starting to have fun!” Everyone knows Christ as their personal bestie, and this is because He is! If His removal unto the wilderness to Pray, if this is Jarring, then so be it we are still to honor the Memories and the aborted What If’s. We are still to whistle and shake our heads at “This man told me everything I’d ever done” (John 4:29).
That is, many-a-folk do Accede unto, Bless into, Ascertain upon, a regular back-and-forth with their Lord and ours. Yet too there are those sent their own way, and it is not because they were unable to contain their excitement: it is because Jesus was and is a Prophet, and He had a worldwide Mission to get underway.
To fight, then, is to be post-Experience, post-Encounter: what we Encounter, now has put all life into stark relief. Suddenly to live or to die, this is all a subservient notion to that high notion of Moments Shared of Grace. We gladly go forth, sallying forth into the Battle, because we Recollect and Reimagine this one who leaves us tongue-tied or murmuring a wild Litany of prayers. This One who looked positively in our general direction. This One who shone forth the Way. This One who readily knew, yes I can give another hour, but will they rest easy tonight or will the murmuring reach a fever-pitch and ultimately lead to a forgetful denial? A joining of forces with what negative Rumors are out there? See now that Christ’s sufferings are the cohort and community’s sufferings. See now that those who seem quite made in ghastly terms of wealth or looks or prestige or militant service of a flag, are still just as likely Persecuted and Made Fun of. The strong man becomes a Christ, whose larger footprint or bolder shadow helped, perhaps, to instill confidence in His hearers and those who drew alongside to. Each of us Today made New because we met Him. We rode the waves of the good days, the loving spiritual walk together, and we rode the “Caution-caution!” waves of rejections and humbling instructive words. From each other. From a journeying cohort. From the good times and the meek times of poverty.