Face-to-Face Moments of Mystery

One of my favorite pictures is of my aging mother and me. She is about 101 years old and nearly blind. She is sitting in the front row of the transept at Concordia Seminary’s Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus during the ceremony of my Vicarage Placement. It is just following the announcement of my receiving my first assignment in ministry – to a congregation we had been at 50 years earlier – and to which I would later serve as sole pastor. We are face to face, nose to nose, eye to eye. In that moment we see no one but each other. There _is_ nothing else. That moment encapsulates everything. It is, however, more than just a mother and son. The old adage, what you see is what you get, is not applicable. We are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. There is more going on than what physical eyes can see or understand. We enter a mystery that can neither be defined nor discussed, only experienced.

There are moments like that in every life. Lovers gazing at each other see more than just another person. They have been brought face to face with the mystery of love. Think about the day you beheld for the very first time your child — or grandchild. You were seeing more than just a baby. You were face to face with the mystery of life. Look at a little child who squeals and quivers with excitement. We hear that often at Open Arms… It is more than just excitement. That child has come face to face with the mystery of deep joy. Or recall for a moment a time you made a confession, formal or informal, and experienced the forgiveness of God or another person. It was about much more than words, past behavior, and the memory of estrangement. You came face to face with the mystery of grace amidst brokenness. I recall being in a hospice room with Don Long as the family had gathered — we waited and watched for him to be raised up and carried into new life. We spent that afternoon face to face with the mystery of death…