A Meditation

We celebrated the Easter Offering Dedication Service last night for our Sunday evening worship. The Easter Offering is an annual mission emphasis for Women's Network of The Methodist Church. This order of service is crafted each year for churches to use, and the offering is taken for the Fund for World Mission.  Included within this service is a beautifully and faithfully written meditation.  I can take no credit, but I am compelled to share. 

HE WILL WALK

He will walk
A little in front of us
Towards Jerusalem

He will not be scared
Though we are apprehensive

If we try to discourage him,
He will recognise the devil in our voice,
And he will tell us as much
In no uncertain terms

Then he will go on again,
In faith,
Towards Jerusalem.

He will walk
A little in front of us
Into controversy.

He will not be scared,
Though we are apprehensive.

He will argue with the intelligent,
Stop in their tracks the self-assured,
Touch the scabby,
Upset bank balances
By his outlandish behaviour in the sanctuary,
And weep in public.

Then he will go on again,
In faith,
Towards Jerusalem.

He will walk
A little in front of us
Into Gethsemane.

He will not be scared,
Though we are apprehensive.

He will sweat blood
And ask God if there is another way,
And when God says no,
He will take the traitor’s kiss,
The soldier’s spit
The bile and venom from the princes of religion.

Then he will go on again,
In faith,
Towards the cross.

He will walk
A little in front of us
Towards Calvary.

He will not be scared,
No,
He will not be scared.

He will feel the pain
Of wood and nails;
But more than this
He will feel the weight
of all the evil,
all the malice,
all the pettiness,
all the sin of the world
heaped upon his shoulders.
He will not throw off that weight
Though he could.

He will not give back evil for evil,
Return malice for malice,
Take revenge on the petty minded,
Or spew out hate
On all who have despised or rejected him.

He will not give back the sin of the world,
He will take it away…
Into death, into hell,
So that he can lead us into heaven.

Then he will go on again,
In faith,
Towards resurrection.

He will walk
A little behind us
Through the graveyard.

He will wait
Until we realize that he has died
And admit our complicity in his life’s ending.

Then he will come up behind us,
And say our name,
So that we can say his,
For ever.

(The Easter Offering service was prepared by Sandra Lewer, past President of Women’s Network, with the help of the Connexional Team’s Communication Office.)