Today’s devotional comes to us from Rev. Maddy Aaen! Maddy is a commissioned minister through The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and she serves as the Disciples on Campus (DOC) Intern in TCU’s Religious & Spiritual Life. She is also the Director of Children’s & Youth Ministry at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Denton, TX, and she is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity from Brite Divinity School! As DOC’s Campus Minister, I have had the pleasure of working closely with Maddy; she is wise, empathetic, and loving, and I am grateful to know her.
I hope you will find time to meditate on Maddy’s reflection and prayer for us today.
John 11:32-35
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews (Ioudaios) who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep.
Reflection:
I grew up going to church camp for a week every summer. The camp I attended was in the mountains of New Mexico, so my youth group would pile onto a charter bus and drive through the night. There was one requirement to get on the bus, however; you had to recite a Bible verse from memory. Though it probably wouldn’t have been accepted, there was an ongoing joke that one might as well memorize the shortest verse in the Bible: John 11:35, which reads in the ESV, NIV, and NKJV, “Jesus wept.”
To hold this verse in my head and heart was really just a joke at the time, when I was sixteen and excited to go to camp. But now I’m older, and I find myself drawn to this simple statement: “Jesus wept.”
During the season of Lent, we reflect on this life–its end, its difficulty, and its changes. We enter a desolate place, facing temptation while hoping for guidance. We embark on a challenging journey, hoping we run into God somewhere along the way. What do we think God will be like?
Where there is death, perhaps we hope that God will bring life.
Where there is pain, perhaps we hope that God will bring relief.
Where there is sadness, perhaps we hope that God will bring joy.
And perhaps God will. Maybe God will lead us to the gravesite of our sorrows and realize redemption before our very eyes.
Or maybe God will sit with us in the middle of death, pain, and sadness. Maybe God will see us in this season of Lent and be deeply moved. Maybe God will even begin to weep alongside us.
To me, this is good news. As I wander and wait for God, I remind myself on this journey that Jesus wept. He sat down beside his loved ones, even as resurrection waited on the next page, and embraced their broken hearts.
Let us pray.
God of the wandering, brokenhearted, and confused: remind us of your compassion and love as we journey through this season. Help us to notice you walking beside us, and teach us to walk beside one another. Amen.