Jesus Came to Church Today

Today leading worship at Headwaters, I and all the rest (all six of us, in fact), looked to see a fellow coming in and taking a seat at the back right at the end of my sermon.  A less charitable observer than I might think he came at just the right time.

I don’t wear my glasses when I preach, because I haven’t been able to make bifocals work for me and so the glasses have to come off in order for me to see the printed page, which leaves me virtually blind to anything further away.

So when I looked up, I recognized that it was a man and saw that he was a bit scruffy – not homeless scruffy – more just off the construction sight – like a carpenter scruffy.

And the unbidden thought that immediately arose within my consciousness was Wow.  Jesus just came to church.

It made me smile, this fancy.  And the feeling stayed with me – through the prayers and the singing and the blessings.

It’s Palm Sunday and we were full of palm waving, procession imagining, Pilate-to-Jesus contrasting.  Wondering what it would be like to join Jesus’ procession, I was given a tiny peek when I thought maybe, just maybe, Jesus had joined ours.

What would it be like if Jesus walked into church today?

Lovely.

Simply

lovely.

Kent – that’s his name – Kent and I spoke briefly after church.  He apologized for not being better dressed.  While assuring him it was no problem, I wish I’d had the umph to tell him what a blessing his wardrobe was to me today, the day when I thought that maybe I was seeing Jesus.

And you know what?

I was.