When Jesus shows up

I talk a lot about the presence of Christ. I say it by habit: "Lord Jesus, be present here..." at the beginning of most sermons. I say it almost as a joke when things go wrong in worship: "We can mess up half the service, and Jesus still shows up!" I'm a priest, so making people aware of Christ's presence in their lives is my whole job description. But even I am surprised when Jesus comes right up close.

One Sunday morning I was preparing for the 8 am service. I wanted to be sure that everyone was in the chapel and settled before we began our worship, because I had some tough news to share about a death in our parish family. At a minute or two past eight, I went out the front door of the church and down the steps, feeling a little silly with my white robe flapping around in the cool morning breeze. I stood on the sidewalk, looking up and down the street for any stragglers on their way to church. I thought, "Is anyone else out here?" And I knew, as clearly as if it had been spoken aloud, that Jesus said to me, "I'm here." "Thanks, Jesus," I answered, and went back inside to do the hard work of the morning.

(This little image of Jesus is a detail from a painting by Marc Chagall.)