Hide-and-seek - April 5, 2023
Scripture Readings Appointed for the Wednesday of Holy Week:
AM Psalm 55; PM Psalm 74 , Jer. 17:5-10, 14-17; Phil. 4:1-13; John 12:27-36
Can you remember a time when you played hide-and-seek? When I was seven or eight, I was playing at my friend Egan’s house. We were at her mom’s condo just down the street from my house. At the back of the upstairs playroom, there was a door to the unfinished attic space. It was the best hiding spot. I remember crouching in the dark, holding my knees to my chin, feeling giggles of exhilaration, and wondering if her older brother Jonathan would find me. I crept out of the hiding place and dashed toward home base. Hide-and-seek can be a thrill…when you are the hider.
Being the seeker is a different experience. It can be one of frustration, looking in all of the usual – and unusual – places. Listening for snickers. Scanning for things not in the right place. Reaching into dark corners of closets to make sure someone isn’t behind the baseball bats and overcoats. The seeker can get lonely or bored. The fun can dissipate quickly. And what about parents who become seekers of their children…those mischievous darlings who run off to hide without telling their supervisors? Impromptu seekers inhabit a very different space, frantically searching for hiding children – perhaps in crowds, in libraries, in Target, or on the baseball field. If you have ever been in this position, you know that it is both memorable and not pleasant.
Jesus plays a bit of hide-and-seek at the end of the reading from John 12 today. After his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with palm branches waving and people shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord – the King of Israel!”, Philip and Andrew bring some Jews over who wanted to meet Jesus. He says that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Jesus tells those listening that whoever serves him must also follow him; through serving, God the Father will be honored. It is a mini sermon…and a bit abstruse. He continues with a vulnerable, personal musing: “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”
John then reports as the narrator that a voice comes from heaven, sounding like thunder, saying “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The people are riveted. “An angel has spoken to him,” they say. Jesus responds that the voice was for the sake of those listening. So that they might believe. The conversation continues, with Jesus telling the crowd about his impending death.
The crowd is still hungry to understand and hear from the Messiah. Jesus says, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”
And then Jesus walks off and hides from them.
Let’s be honest. That is a lot to digest…and as John tells it, Jesus finishes talking, departs, and conceals himself from them.
I can imagine if I was a member of the crowd, I would begin looking for Jesus to ask questions – and maybe the first would be, “Can you please repeat that?” I can think of a myriad of other questions I would pepper at the Messiah during hide-and-seek: Jesus, do you know the darkness that is in my life? Will you please pray for me? What do I do on the days that feel dark and hard and scary? Will you help me face my fears? Will you stay with me until I don’t feel so sad? What does it mean to believe in the light? Can I still believe when I can no longer see the light? Do children of light still have spaces of darkness and uncertainty – and why?
Perhaps you, too, have questions of faith and life that bubble up in your hide-and-seek moments with God. The Good News is that Jesus did not hide forever. He did not die forever. Rather, he defeated death by rising from the grave. It is that movement from cross to grave to eternal life that we remember in these days of Holy Week. I hope you will join us at Saint Stephen’s for the Triduum – the three days of worship from sundown on Maundy Thursday, to Good Friday, to the Easter Vigil on Saturday, and then Sunday morning. It will be a faith-filled time and I look forward to seeing you.
Katherine+
Challenge and Self-Reflection:
Think about the ways that you hide today. What about yourself do you hide? Who knows those things? How do you come to spaces to share with those you trust?
Think about how you seek out others - for connection, for joy, for recreation. Who will you connect with this week? What truth will you seek?