Today we begin a new series of messages that will take us to Easter
Sunday. The title of the series is
The Way of the Cross, and we’ll look
at events in the final days of the life of Jesus.
As we move through the season of Lent the messages of this series
will take us through very difficult and somber events. Lent reminds us that we can’t always
put a positive face on the brokenness of the world, and of our own brokenness. But we also know that Easter is coming,
and with Easter comes the promise of new life and resurrection, so in all of
these passages, though they take us through difficult events, we find a message
of hope.
We begin with a passage that tells us of Jesus and his disciples in
the Garden of Gethsemane, Mark 14:32-41 –
32 They went to a
place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I
pray.”
33 He took Peter,
James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and
troubled.
34 “My soul is
overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and
keep watch.”
35 Going a little
farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass
from him.
36 “Abba, Father,”
he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I
will, but what you will.”
37 Then he returned
to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you
asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour?
38 Watch and pray so
that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak.”
39 Once more he went
away and prayed the same thing.
40 When he came
back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not
know what to say to him.
41 Returning the
third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of
Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.
One day I was sitting in the waiting room at a doctor’s office. Seated across from me was a mother with
a tiny, newborn baby. That baby
was so helpless. It couldn’t sit
up on its own or even hold its head up.
As I watched that precious little baby an elderly man came in. He had a cane in each hand and was
leaning on them very hard. He had
a person on each side of him as well, helping him along. What an interesting scene it was, these
two people at opposite stages of life, and neither one could make it without
the help of others.
I’m somewhere in the middle of those two. Well, maybe a little past the middle, but the reality is I
can’t make it alone either. And
you know what? Neither can you. I didn’t get anywhere in life on my
own. And you know what? Neither did you. No one does, no matter how much they
believe so. I can say I pulled
myself up by my own bootstraps but that’s not true for me and it’s not true for
you.
I find this passage so interesting because it gives us such a
fascinating insight into Jesus.
Here is the Son of God, with every power of the universe at his
disposal, the one who could work any miracle, and the one who possesses such a
deep reserve of strength. As he is
just hours from his crucifixion what does he want? To avail himself of those powers? To work a miracle that frees himself from what lies
ahead? No. He wants the presence of his disciples,
his friends.
Jesus took his friends with him to the Garden of Gethsemane. This was a group of friends that did
not always understand what Jesus was teaching them. They didn’t always understand what he was teaching them about
his mission and purpose. They
certainly didn’t understand when he told them about his imminent death.
But in spite of their difficulty in comprehending Jesus they were
with him.
We don’t always understand our friends and our family do we? But we love them anyway. In fact, it is often when we least
understand our friends and family that we most love them, because we know that
is what they need.
I imagine the disciples were bewildered as they followed Jesus into
the Garden of Gethsemane. I’m sure
their heads were spinning with all Jesus had shared with them at the Last
Supper. So many important
teachings he was trying to get into their heads and hearts before his
crucifixion. And they probably
wondered what in the world he was talking about.
But they went with him.
Stay with those you love.
Stay with them when you don’t understand them; stay with them and love
them. Walk with them where they
are walking in life, even if you don’t see the path and if you are uncertain
about what is ahead.
Having said that the disciples stayed with Jesus, we also know what
came just a short time later. When
Jesus was arrested, what did the disciples do? They ran. Took
off. Left him. It may be unfair to criticize them for
doing so, because we don’t know what we would do in that situation, do we? We can talk a pretty good game, just as
they did, but when push came to shove they were gone.
Sometimes, we fail those we love. We’ve all been there.
We’ve all been let down, and we’ve all let someone down. It hurts being on both sides of that,
doesn’t it? Despite our best
intentions, despite our best efforts, sometimes we just fail, and when we fail
someone we love, that pretty painful.
Give your friends and your family a break when they fail you. Don’t be too hard on them. Don’t be too hard on them because we’ve
been the failure at some point.
It’s rather remarkable that Jesus never condemned his disciples for
deserting him. When he was in his
hour of greatest need, they were gone.
But he doesn’t start complaining about them – what a bunch of friends.
Just when I needed them, they turn tail and run. I’ll show them. I won’t forgive them for deserting
me. I’m going to hold a grudge. There was none of that; there was only
love.
The disciples fell asleep in the garden, which discouraged Jesus,
and they fled at his arrest, which must have broken his heart, but they did
reassemble in the upper room. They
did find their courage and their conviction.
If Jesus was in need of others, how much more necessary must it be
for us? There are a lot of people
who feel alone. You might be
working with one. You might be
sitting by one. You might live
with one.
I don’t know how Jesus felt in the garden. Obviously, it was a very difficult moment. I don’t know how alone he felt, but by
the time of the crucifixion he felt abandoned even by God, asking My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Those are very difficult words to read
and to hear, aren’t they?
But Jesus knew he wasn’t alone.
God created us for relationships. Jesus sought relationships. He built a group around him, certainly to teach them and to
prepare them to carry on his work, but also because that’s how we work – we are
created for relationships and God demonstrates how he desires to be in relationship
with us.
Reach out to someone.
Reach back to someone who is reaching out to you.
No one makes it through life on their own strength. Our lives are interconnected and
intertwined in powerful ways and I believe that is exactly what God has always
intended. It is, I believe, God’s
will and intention that our lives are interconnected and intertwined.
I moved to Louisville in 1981 to continue seminary. Two weeks before moving I received a
letter than I had no place to live.
The dorms were overbooked and I was one of the ones who got bumped. I thought about it a while and decided
to go on to Louisville and something would work out. I had never been to the campus and had only passed through
Louisville once, so I didn’t even know how to find the campus. If I needed, I thought, I could sleep
in my car a couple of nights. When
I finally found my way to the campus, after getting lost in Louisville, I made
my way to the housing office to see if they could provide any help. They could not, unfortunately, but they
said they would put my name on a list.
When I gave my name someone at another desk said I have a note here for you.
That was a surprise to me, because I didn’t know anyone at the
seminary. It turned out that a
couple I knew in college had moved to campus earlier in the summer. His wife had a job in one of the other
offices and had somehow learned of my predicament. The note said to call them as soon as I arrived and they
would put me up in their apartment as long as it took me to find a place to
live.
That was a really great moment, to find someone was looking out for
me. Someone is looking out for you
as well. We are never alone, thank
be to God.
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