Watching with Jesus is not something I really understand. I never thought about watching with Him in this season of His work. What is He enduring that He would suffer through it and I would watch with Him? I can imagine suffering, and He watching with me, but not the other way around. But when I consider that the love which made the sacrifice of Jesus necessary and right still lives on, I suppose His suffering can still continue. What does my Master feel when those He loves slaughter each other? What does my Master endure when those He loves tear each other down and seek to destroy each other? And then there are those outside the church.
The days of the Church in the Dark Ages when Medieval was term beginning to gain meaning for cruelty, the Church went to war, and did so against itself in part. Sure, the "Crusades" were about reaching and opening the Holy Land, so why was it necessary to sack Alexandria, why was it necessary to take Constantinople? The reasons were the conflict between the East and Western Christians. The entire world, and western civilization especially, lost what could never be recovered in those acts. And I believe it was my Master who suffered most.
For thirty years, Protestants and Catholics warred across Eastern and Central Europe over who would be in control; Protestants in part for survival. And somewhere in this senseless conflict within the family of my Master, one city when so far off reservation with their beliefs and practices, both sides came together and burnt it to the ground. After this pause, they picked up where they left off in the fight. How much suffering was caused by the wars for religious views? How many believers, trusting in the Savior of the entire world, were destroyed by their brothers in faith? And how can the Father of us all not weep?
Today, in Africa, the family of my Master is ravaged by human monsters demented by the enemy. How can my Master not weep? So, the question of whether I will watch with Him is not as strange as it might seem. Perhaps Chambers is right to accuse me of not seeing the meaning for the bitterness. I pray for those around me, and perhaps I watch with my Master as my church family suffers insult and injury at the hands of others, and each other. Will I weep with Him? Will I pray with Him and along the lines He prays, for the victory of my Master through the suffering, perhaps because of the suffering?
There is sweetness in salty tears that can only be found in the peace which follows them. Only when I am willing to weep and pray with my Master will I experience the sweetness of His victory. I miss the meaning if I refuse to watch and pray with Him. The Prayer for Serenity has a line which says, "…Accepting suffering as a pathway to peace,…" I have always thought of that as my own suffering. What if it is also watching with my Master as He suffers along with His children? Will I be willing to walk that pathway as well?
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