Friday after Epiphany

Lectionary: 216

The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.

Foolish as we are without God's grace to guide us, we often speculate about what the ideal man or woman might do under various circumstances. One of the great philosophers of the nineteenth century, Friedrich Nietzsche, went so far as to describe the "superman," which became a cartoon character in America and a Nazi idol.

Jesus never intended to fit anyone's notion of an ideal human being; he had better things to do. And when the adulation of mobs threatened to overwhelm him, "he would withdraw to deserted places to pray." 

He was not afraid to be seen as weary, overwhelmed, or vulnerable. Nor did he suffer FOMO, the fear of missing out. He did fear God and taught us the fear of God.

Reverence, aka "the fear of the Lord," must saturate our public and private life. It invests our solemn moments as well as our entertaining moments of fun. It is not ostentatious or showy, but it is evident. No one need fear the pious person but they do well to respect them for they signal the presence of God. They are signs of the sacred. 

The disciples of Jesus knew this almost instinctively. Their religion had prepared them from early childhood to revere not only their Jewish rituals and symbols, but the holy men and women among them, especially the devout old people, cantors, and rabbis. Saint Luke, shows us the practical devotion of shepherds; and the faithful Simeon and Anna who frequented the temple daily. 

We can assume these men and women carried themselves with the dignity befitting the elect of God. They have no need for skepticism or cynicism about their religious traditions, practices, and beliefs. They weep with the Lord at the sins of the church; they laugh with the Lord as his enemies flee before him from prayer, kindness, and generosity.

Most especially, they enjoy the presence of God. They often drop out of society and remove themselves from its compelling distractions to find solace in silence and prayer. The Lord is never further than we have removed from him. He finds us in an instant when we call upon him.