Themes
High Priest • He is with us • Grace • Tenderness • Compassion • Meekness • Christ’s presence • Suffering • Pain • Distress
Jesus is so with us, and his with-ness is unrestrained.
Scripture reading
Hebrews 4:14–16
This call to worship1 is from the New Testament book of Hebrews.
We have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us hold firmly, then, to what we believe — let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses — who is out of touch with our reality. He has been tested as we are. He, too, has experienced it all. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Prayer
Father in heaven, we confess that we have been disheartened. Jesus, Your Son — He seems so distant at times. Yet, though in heaven, He is no less tender and open in His embrace of sinners and sufferers as ever He was on earth. His disposition toward us is filled with grace, and His affection is tender beyond that of our favorite human. Father, He is our favorite human. He’s alive and well, fully human, and no less approachable — no less compassionate — than when He walked the earth. His heart beats for us. His affections are toward us. His deepest longings are for us. His solidarity is with us. He desires, Father, that we come boldly to You, in the confidence of His meekness and His grace and His compassion. When all is well, when our desires happen to come to pass — when that parking spot opens, when we get acknowledged, when our children do well — we naturally feel His presence; we know He is with us — He’s on our side — present and helping when life goes well. But it’s here, in our weaknesses, that He sympathizes, that He suffers with us. It is in our pain that He is pained. It is in our suffering that He feels the suffering as His own. His heart is drawn into our distress. His human nature engages our troubled and complex realities fully, comprehensively, completely. When we are in pain, He has a love that cannot be held back. Father, He is so with us and His with-ness is unrestrained. Whatever difficult path we are on, it is not unique to us. For He, too, has made the same journey. He can undoubtedly relieve us of our troubles, much like a physician. But He is also with us in our suffering. In every respect, He is with us… yet without sin. His utter purity causes Him to feel our pains more acutely than we sinners ever could. Whenever it is that we want to throw in the towel, He is there — right there. And He knows precisely that moment. And there He is… with us — complete solidarity. The more difficult it gets, Father, the more we feel alone. But our pain can never outstrip what He Himself shares in. We are never alone. Whatever we suffer that isolates us — that makes us feel alone — it was endured by Him in the past, and He now shoulders it in the present. He shares in our suffering not as one that also needs to be rescued but as one who provides rescue. This is why when we go to Him, He gives mercy and grace. He certainly can pull us from what we are in, for sure, but He alone desires and can and does climb in with us and bear our burdens. He is always our co-sufferer. He never lobs down a pep-talk when we need it. Because He can’t bear to hold Himself at that distance. Nothing can, and nothing will hold Him back. His heart is too bound up with ours. In the name of our great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, Amen
Inspiring resources
A call to worship creates wonderment, amazement, curiosity, yearning, captivation, provocation, hopefulness, thankfulness, affection, rapture, delight. As these mix together, the response is worship.
If this call to worship leaves you wondering or curious or provoked or hopeful, consider diving into this awesome book that inspired me to write this call to worship.
1
This call to worship was given to the small assembly of Christians that gathered in Pathway Church, Beaverdam, Michigan, on Sunday, March 13, 2022.