Journeying and Journaling through Matthew
Just over a year ago, my wife and I travelled with good friends to the Netherlands. My son was doing a semester abroad, and the best time to visit happened to align with Easter. On Easter 2024, we went to a Presbyterian church in the Netherlands. The service was in Dutch. The people there were lovely. They were welcoming and kind, despite being a little thrown by these four Americans showing up at their church on Easter. There were several people there who helped interpret for us. The pastor approached us, saying that while he spoke English, he hadn’t prepared to do the service in English. We told him we understood and hadn’t expected him to change for us.
It was a cool experience. Even though the whole service was in Dutch, we followed along. We knew the story. We knew the tunes for the hymns being sung. We knew the basis of the message being preached. We certainly didn’t catch everything. But even though we were outsiders to the church and the service, we received the message of love. We received the message of being welcomed in a foreign country, not speaking the language.
Those of us who have grown up in the church, and probably even those who haven’t, are probably at least somewhat familiar with the crucifixion and resurrection story. There are different versions and probably different parts of each story that we may be more familiar with or connect better to. One image that is often depicted of the crucifixion is of three crosses on a hill, indicating the two others who were crucified with Jesus. Jesus’ cross is portrayed to be in the middle, between the two others.
This idea of Jesus in the middle resonates with me quite a bit. I love the idea that Jesus is in the middle, between heaven and earth, helping to bridge the gap for us. While in the Netherlands last year, I started a new daily devotional called On Earth As in Heaven: Daily Wisdom for Twenty-First Century Christians, by NT Wright. We pray the words “on earth as in heaven” all the time when we say The Lord’s Prayer, but do we really think about what it means to have heaven here on earth? The book goes on to discuss topics of daily life and how we are meant to act out Jesus’ message of heaven here on earth. We, too, are meant to help bridge the gap.
And that is our challenge. How? How do we bridge the gap? How do we show love? How do we build bridges to help us connect with others right here on earth? How do we live on this broken earth as in heaven?
Throughout the reading of Matthew over the last 49 days, Jesus has shown us how. By showing up for others. By caring for the sick. By teaching. By preaching. By loving. By being there. Our pastor recently preached a sermon entitled “Oh Mary,” in which she talked about how Mary is like the patron saint of just showing up, being present. And that is one of the things that Jesus has modeled for us throughout his life. Showing up.
And we are challenged to do the same. To show up. Show up for those who can’t show up for themselves. Show up for those who need to know that someone is there for them. Show up for someone who doesn’t have the agency or authority or voice to show up and be seen. Show up so that everyone can be seen and heard, and loved.
Some of the most challenging times in my life, the thing I have appreciated most is someone to show up. Someone to be there. Someone to listen. Someone to hear me. When my parents were sick, I did a lot of driving back and forth between southern Rhode Island and northern Connecticut. I had a few friends who would often keep me company on the phone while I was driving. They couldn’t do much for me. They couldn’t even physically be there for me, but they answered the phone. Sometimes that’s all we can do. Just show up for others.
As I struggle to find a way to wrap up this writing journey, I realize that it is because it’s not over. We have reached the end of Matthew. We have reached the end of my devotional. We have reached the end of my daily Lenten writing. But we have not reached the end of the story. Jesus’s story lives on.
The love that Jesus showed when he died for us, rose from the dead for us, and ascended to heaven for us, lives on in us. And every time we show up for others, we pass on that love. And when we pass on that love, we are creating little pockets of heaven right here on earth.