(A 2009 Good Friday sermon for an Ecumenical service where we each started with different locations mentioned in the last 24 hours of Jesus' life)
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They went to a place called Gethsemane …
Maybe you are
like me. When I think of Gethsemane
I usually think of Jesus and his prayer.
As has been his custom, and knowing what is coming he has gone off to
pray. I’m struck by the scene because
within it I think we are shown Jesus’ dual nature, both his humanity and his
divinity.
It may be the
extrovert in me, but I find myself relating to Jesus wanting his friends with
him while he’s praying, and his isolation as they fall asleep. I ache for him. I get frustrated with the disciples. I say I’ll keep watch with you. Maybe you find yourself saying it too.
“I’ll keep
watch with you.” That’s where I start. That’s where I started this year. But that’s not where I stayed. The season of Lent is a time for considering
our human condition as well as God’s transforming power. It’s a time to be honest with ourselves and
with God about who we are… shortcomings and all.
Put another
way, Lent and Holy Week are about asking God to help us see ourselves, the
world, and God’s relationship to us more clearly.
They went to a place called Gethsemane …
This week, as
I surfed the internet preparing to speak on the Garden I ran across a “Jesus in
the Garden” travel mug. It’s true. It had a picture on it of Jesus in prayer leaning
against a stone. It makes a nice picture
– even if to me it seemed a bit inappropriate.
But I realized
if I want to be honest with God, if I want to see myself and Jesus’
grace-filled act more clearly, then I have to move beyond my picture of Jesus
in the garden. What happens in the
garden is more than a nice postcard.
Good Friday
calls us to be honest about our condition, about our human frailties and the
brokenness of the world. Within this
call Good Friday asks us to enter the garden and consider in what ways we may
be like James and the sleepy, confused disciples.
James, one of Jesus’
inner circle who kept falling asleep.
Once I get beyond my empathy with Jesus I have to admit…
if I had been
on the go as the disciples had been,
if I had
traveled by foot as far, if I had dealt with crowds,
if I had eaten
a meal, and now late at night was spending time in a quiet garden…
yes… as much as I’d like to think otherwise,
yes… I too would
have trouble staying awake.
When we have
brought ourselves to admit we are like James, the call of Good Friday goes one
step further. We are called to enter the
garden and ask how we might also be like Judas.
Judas… the
betrayer. We tend to demonize Judas
because the act of handing over your friend after all you’ve been through seems
so horrible. However, some believe that
Judas didn’t necessarily have malicious intent in what he did.
Some think
that Judas’ true error was in his expectations of who and what the
Messiah would be. His vision was of an
earthly ruler who would claim and use his authority. So it is thought Judas’ actions were intended
to force Jesus to step out, use that authority and live into the vision that
Judas had of the Messiah. His own vision,
rather than accept the vision being revealed by Jesus.
So I have to
wonder, how often do we try to dictate how the Lord will be revealed to
us. Do we have a vision of Jesus that
tries to keep him in a box and fail to see him for all he is? If I take time to wander around the garden I
have to admit… perhaps Judas and I are not so different.
They went to a place called Gethsemane …
Today of all
days we have the opportunity to be honest, to invite God to help us see
ourselves more clearly and help us see ourselves in Gethsemane
and all that took place there. If we do
that, I think we can be more engaged by the message of the Passion as it
unfolds before us.
They went to a place called Gethsemane . Let
us go to a place called Gethsemane .
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we kneel at the foot of your cross, help us to see and know your love for us, so that we may place at your feet all that we have and are. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, as we kneel at the foot of your cross, help us to see and know your love for us, so that we may place at your feet all that we have and are. Amen.
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