There\u2019s a good element to this. Part of the atonement is the discovery that in wounding and lacerating Christ\u2019s body on the cross, we matter to God. If we matter negatively, by hurting and killing, then we can matter at least as positively by giving joy and delight. And just as the risen Christ still has the wounds of the tree, so the ascended Lord takes with him the joy we evoke in his heart. The pastor who says, with care, y\u2019all matter to me is showing that we all matter to God.<\/p>\n
Of course we\u2019re not up to it. We forget her husband was going in for a scan and we should have inquired how it went. We neglect to ask her to read at the carol service. We get talking to someone else after the worship service, and she drifts away disconsolate to her car. But all these things are forgiven. And we know that they\u2019re healthy ways of indicating she shouldn\u2019t overinvest in us, because it\u2019s not really about us, it\u2019s about Christ and Christ\u2019s body, the church. In fact, we shouldn\u2019t be standing between her and God in the first place. God can look after that part without our unique contribution. The pastor\u2019s job is not so much in front of the people as behind them, ushering them like sheep into a place where they may encounter God together. It\u2019s not about being more interesting than God. Cyprian never said, \u201cOutside the pastor there is no salvation.\u201d\u009d<\/b><\/p>\n