We will take the watch from here

On February 7, 2018, the Richardson police department lost one of their own, Officer David Sherrard. Over the weekend, I heard the “end of watch” call for Officer Sherrard replayed many times over the radio… and each time I felt the tears well up in my eyes not only because of the sorrow it signified but also because of some of the beautiful words that were said towards the end of the recording: “Thank you for answering the call brother, we will take watch from here.”

Today the readings and our liturgical signs and symbols focus on repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation. I was reflecting on these readings when I heard Officer Sherrard’s “end of watch” come on the radio once again. Immediately an image of how we will end these forty days came to mind - Jesus will be on the cross once again, and the apostles who journeyed with him will have disappeared. I wonder what it might have looked like if his apostles honored Jesus at the moment of his death like David’s fellow officers honored him. I wonder what it might have looked like if they had said with sorrow but confidence: “Thank you for showing us the way Lord, we will take watch from here.”

The ashes we receive on our foreheads today, to me, not only represent that “we are dust and to dust we shall return” but they also represent our declaration to the world that we will take the watch from the Lord and continue to fight for the least among us in his stead; that we will listen as Jesus did to the call of the forgotten; that we will embrace the leper; that we will feed the hungry; that we will live counter-culturally; and perhaps most profoundly, that we act out of love. These ashes, however, also represent that we will fail more often than we will succeed. We will fall asleep as the disciples did in the garden, we will declare that “we will never leave you Lord” but we will get busy, get distracted, and forget to keep watch. But that’s okay. Because, the beauty of the liturgical season is that we will be given the opportunity to start again. We will be given the opportunity to pray “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned” and he will respond with endless mercy.

As we begin this Lenten journey together, let us pray for the strength to “take the watch” from the Lord, to be His hands and His feet, to serve others in love.

Author: Gretchen Crowder, Director of Campus Ministry