Ordination

My friend Phil was ordained in York Minster this weekend. We arrived late for the service - I thought it started at 10.30am - and found 2 seats in the north aisle near the back. The sermon began as we sat down.
Jesus was in that service - not at the front where the bishop, archdeacon and minster canons were enunciating the liturgy - but alongside a sick woman opposite us in the nave. I became aware that while the Holy Spirit is everywhere and was certainly involved in the ordination ceremony, Jesus gives personal attention to individuals and particular situations. I have learned to find him where the pain is the most intense and the suffering difficult to understand. The woman I saw in the service took her seat while the rest of us obeyed the order in the service sheet to stand. She reached up her had to the man standing next to her who seemed to understand her pain as he touched it and smiled. Throughout the service young people from a row of seats to our right shuffled across to see her - to ask questions, give her a hug or simply to be reassured in the unfamiliar surrounding of this place of granduer and ritual. She didn't turn any of them away or scold them for not remaining in their seats. I could have asked, "Why is this woman suffering? Where is God?" God, in the presence of his Son Jesus, is always with the weak, the poor and the sick. And that's where he was in that service. The ordination had the full attention of the Holy Sprit while Jesus did what he excelled in - being in the place of suffering.
It was a moving moment.

It always surprises me that in these big services there are often ancient hymns and anthems that I have never heard or sung before. So it was with some relief that the chords of a familar tune rang out at the start of the recessional hymn. The service closed with Crown Him with many Crowns. I was in full flow until the last verse. Up to that point in the hymn the praise was directed to a somewhat distant monarch and deity. The Lamb upon his throne ... whose power a sceptre sways ... The Lord of years. But there was another surprise in the last verse.
All Hail Redeemer Hail, For Thou hast died for ME, Thy praise shall never never fail - his praise may not fail but my voice did. I opened my mouth to sing but the words stuck in my throat. For ME. It was as though He had walked across the aisle and it was my turn for special attention. I was overwhelmed. Thank you Jesus - and thank you Phil for inviting me to your ordination. I couldn't see Phil from our aisle seatas the bishop laid hands on him in the minster but his name had been called out and I shook his hand afterwards. It was a special day for him too.