Presence

 February 6, 2022

My son Nathan does a vlog every Thursday entitled “Christ Alone,” which are his reflections on various Scriptures. Lately, he’s been dwelling on Jesus’ words in John 14-17, and this past Thursday talked about the ministry of presence.

If that term is unfamiliar to you, it is simply what it’s name implies—being with someone in their time of need without necessarily speaking. Often, I’ve found that people don’t respond to even their closest friends in their distress because they don’t know what to say. Truth be told, sometimes it’s best to just keep our mouths shut. Telling grieving parents that God needed another angel is not only bad theology, it’s small comfort to them as they mourn the loss of their child. Just being there, even silently, may speak more eloquently than any words we could utter.

Nate spoke of Jesus’ ministry of presence among us as he quoted his words in John 14:1-3 where Jesus says, 

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Nate focused on this last phrase: “that where I am, there you may be also,” ie. the gift Jesus gives us of his very own presence; that he loves us so much he wants to give us nothing less than himself; so we can be with him. It’s a wonderful thought, that Jesus is present with us in our time and place of need; that it is his heart to bless us with himself.

As he spoke, a different thought came to my mind. What if Jesus desires us to give him the ministry of presence? What if he is saying here, “I want you with me. You don’t necessarily have to say anything, I’m not asking you to do great and mighty things for me; I just want you with me, because your presence blesses me more than you can know.”

Has it ever occurred to you that spending time with Jesus isn’t just for your benefit, that it is just to bless you. Has it ever occurred to you that your giving Jesus your undivided attention is your ministry of presence that fill his soul?  That you need not speak with flowery prayers, that you simply sit with him? When he walked this earth, he praised Mary for sitting at his feet while her sister Martha worried herself in service. Maybe he is waiting and longing for us to simply sit with him in silence, not so much for our blessing, but his.