April 17 Sermon: Palm Sunday Reflections
Palm Sunday Reflection, 2011
Holy Covenant UMC
Rev. Kate Hurst Floyd
Garden of Gethsemane
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Reflections from Rebecca Anderson and Dan Hart are also included in the audio recording.
Are you asleep?
Jesus asks James. He’s invited James, his brother John, and Peter to accompany him in his greatest hour of need. Facing arrest, torture, and death, Jesus is scared. All he can do is spend the night praying. But he can’t stand to be alone. In an act of vulnerability, he invites his closest friends to gather around him, watchful and waking while he prays. In agony, he cries out: God, is this really your will? Must I suffer, must I face the cross?
Jesus needs someone to cry along with him.
But James is more sleepy than supportive, in complete denial of what’s coming.
Are you asleep?
Jesus asks John. Disappointed that James isn’t attentive to him, hoping that John won’t abandon him in his time of need. Jesus begins to doubt that this is really the road he must walk. Contemplates denying that he’s the son of God; What if he stopped bringing in God’s kingdom? If he never healed the sick, ate with sinners, or loved the outcasts again, he could live an ordinary life. Free from pain. Free from liberation and salvation, too….
Jesus needs someone to listen, to understand, to be in dialogue with.
But John doesn’t like to see Jesus like this, weak and vulnerable, so he pretends to be asleep. Safe from suffering.
Are you asleep?
Jesus asks Peter. Oh Peter. Who will deny him, again, and again, and again. Jesus asks Peter to be praying in that garden, too, for his own soul. For his own strength from God to stay firm in his convictions, to be free from fear, to be loyal to Jesus.
Jesus needs someone to walk that road to Jerusalem alongside him.
But Peter snoozes away, well-rested to betray Jesus the very next day.
Are you asleep? Jesus asks us.
For it is holy week. Jesus invites us to walk the journey of his suffering, death, and resurrection alongside him. Like the disciples, we have great intentions. But when it comes down to it we’d rather sleep through suffering than have our eyes open to pain. Rather let Jesus do the work than participate in his kingdom. Rather jump from Palm Sunday to Easter without the darkness of Good Friday.
We’re in denial, unwilling to see Jesus at his weakest, ready to betray him.
But the good news is, even as James, John, and Peter abandon Jesus, he never abandons them. And he never abandons us…no matter our sin, brokenness, betrayal. He carries us with him even as we’re hesitant to walk beside him. He carries us with him, even unto death upon cross. And on that cross, death, sin, and brokenness will die. Pain, mourning, and tears will be no more. In all our weary and messy humanity, Jesus continues to save us to eternal life.
As we approach Holy Week, are we sleeping through this good and difficult news, or are we paying attention to just how amazing grace is? Jesus is calling us:
Wake up! For the journey is upon us and the hour has come.
Tags: Kate
