1. THE UNMISTAKEABLE THEOLOGY – of showing up

This reflection marks Part 1 of a seven‑part series drawn from our visit to Lebanon and Syria.  Please visit the home-page to view the others.

John 1:9-14  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The one message we heard throughout our visits was “Thank you for coming – and for coming NOW”  In Syria we were told that our presence was the sermon they have been waiting for.  No, we didn’t do great miracles or spoke great oracles.  We were not there to teach, train, or plant churches.  But we were there.  And that seemed to be enough

The war in Syria isolated long before it destroyed. And this isolation, left unattended for nearly 15 years, hardened into despair. Suffering that goes unnoticed is amplified; suffering that is witnessed becomes lighter. This is why presence—real, embodied presence—matters so deeply. Yet in today’s mission landscape, “showing up” has too often been replaced with digital substitutes: Zoom calls, online check‑ins, and distant forms of solidarity that never touch the ground or put “skin in the game”.

Technology can give ministry a presence, but it cannot replace the ministry of presence.

In places where bombs fall and hope thins, the simple act of arriving—of standing beside someone in their darkest hour—speaks louder than any sermon.

There is a principle in the New Testament that is often overlooked. Most theological reflections on the life of Christ—His ministry, His miracles, and His teachings—tend to focus on His public mission, which commenced shortly after His baptism by John the Baptist, when He was about thirty years old.

But God’s first mission on earth was not a sermon but an arrival.

Jesus didn’t save us from a distance. He showed up. The miracle of Jesus is not only what He said or did, but that He showed up.  To stand amongst the Muslim refugees in the Beqaa Valley was a Gospel message in itself.  We showed up.  They appreciated it.  And they showed it.  We were treated like celebrities.  Not because we were special.  But because we showed up.

This redefines ministry. Sadly, this theology has been neglected and replaced with comfort and security.  The one question we were asked most before we departed was: “Isn’t it dangerous?”  A question Jesus answered even before it was asked:  (Matthew 10:16)  “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. SHOW UP!  – because your presence alone will be the witness they seek

Presence comes before performance.

Jim Palmer wrote the following:
“As I have grown older, one particular passage has become increasingly meaningful to me. Faced with the suffering and death of his friend Lazarus, Jesus wept. There is something profoundly moving about that simple image. Jesus did not explain suffering away. He did not bypass grief with spiritual answers. He entered into it. The older I become, the more I appreciate the wisdom contained in that response. Some realities are not meant to be solved. They are meant to be witnessed, shared, and carried.”

Think about Jesus:

• He showed up in Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
• He showed up in the Jordan River, standing among sinners baptized.
• He showed up in the wilderness, resisting temptation on our behalf.
• He showed up in Galilee, healing the sick and feeding the hungry.
• He showed up in Samaria, speaking with the outcast woman at the well.
• He showed up in Gerasene where he met the demon possessed man in an unsympathetic village
• He showed up at the tax collectors table and called Levi to be part of 12
• He showed up at the banquet for sinners and the friends of Levi
• He showed up at the cross, bearing the weight of the world’s sin.
• He showed up outside the grave, alive and victorious.
• He showed up on the road to Emmaus, walking with the confused and brokenhearted.
• He showed up in the upper room, breathing peace on His fearful disciples.
• He showed up on ascension day, blessing His followers as He returned to the Father.
• He showed up at every encounter in between—wherever people were desperate, searching, or in need of hope.
• And He will show up again in the clouds on the glorious day of His return

Tomorrow we explore the unmistakeable theology of delight