Friends, this is the last Sunday for us to hear a reflection on the favorite scriptures of the Trinity Church family. But, we will continue hearing about your favorite hymns if there are others who wish to share…the sign up sheet is downstairs on the table in the Narthex.
This morning, we are hearing the favorite scripture of our own Denni Carey. Denni shared that Luke chapter 22, verse 42 is her favorite…it comes from Jesus' prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane in the hours before his arrest. Jesus and his friends had had a very busy day, a very busy week, before Jesus’ time of prayer and contemplation in the Garden.
A few days earlier, Jesus and his disciples paraded into Jerusalem on the day Christians remember as Palm Sunday. Jesus was greeted by people who were excited to welcome him for the Passover festival. On the other side of town, Pilate also paraded into Jerusaleml….but Pilate represented the Roman Empire – a repressive, cruel, human endeavor. Jesus represented the Empire of God – a welcoming, loving, unifying endeavor.
During Holy Week, Jesus visited the Temple and cleansed the Temple of money changers and merchants. He then returned the next day to teach and preach in the Temple. Earlier in the day before the events of our scripture reading, Jesus and his friends gathered in the Upper Room….there, Jesus washed their feet, ate a passover meal, Jesus gave the disciples the new commandment that they should “love one another,” Jesus told them that Judas would betray him, and he instituted Holy Communion…it was a lot.
We turn to the scripture just as the meal was ending…listen now to the word of God as we turn in our Bibles to Luke, chapter 22, verses thirty-nine through forty-six:
The Scripture Luke 22: 39-46
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.
40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”
41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,
42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Amen.
Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray…..
The Message Present in the Garden: Vigil, Vulnerability, and Prayer
One of the hardest things we learn in life is how to be helpful to people who are having a hard time. This is a skill I am personally still learning….i will probably be learning to do it better for the rest of my life.
Part of the reason why this skill is so difficult to master is that God created us to be unique individuals – and what is helpful for one person may be entirely unhelpful for the next.
But, in reflection upon our scripture this morning, we can take some tips from what Jesus asked his disciples to do for him – to stay awake – and apply that to how we minister to each other.
….
Jesus and his friends had a difficult journey during the first Holy Week….in the days before Palm Sunday, they traveled from a distance to Bethany. There, they came to the home of Mary and Martha and found it full of mourners – Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. Jesus performed a miracle and raised him from the dead. Everyone was amazed, including the disciples.
But as time progressed for Jesus and his friends, there were many highs and lows….the crowds greeting Jesus on Palm Sunday were a high. The reaction of everyone in the Temple when Jesus cast out the merchants and the money changers was probably stressful…the disciples were probably a tad fearful that Jesus would be arrested immediately…the money changers and merchants were probably very upset…the temple’s priests and authorities were also dismayed, to say the least. The disciples and Jesus then experienced all of the heavy emotions of Maundy Thursday – the weirdness of Jesus, their rabbi, washing their feet – the joy of receiving the love commandment – the fear they felt when Jesus said he would be betrayed and killed. The disciples, and Jesus, were physically, emotionally, and psychologically exhausted when they went to the Garden of Gesetheme to pray with Jesus.
Even Jesus asked God to take the burden of what was coming next away from him. Jesus knew what was about to unfold. No human being would sign up to be tortured. No human being would sign up to be arrested by the brutal Romans. No human being would sign up to be crucified. Jesus knew things would get ugly soon.
But, Jesus wasn’t just a regular human. So, after he asked for the burden to be taken from him, he prayed: “yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus turned it over to God. Jesus accepted his fate. We repeat Jesus’ words when we say the Lord’s Prayer: we pray “Thy will be done.” We ask that God not only do God’s will, but we are also praying to remind ourselves to accept God’s will. Sometimes we don’t understand God’s plans for us. Sometimes we don’t like God’s plans for us. Sometimes we resist God’s plans for us and run in the other direction like Jonah. But, Jesus modeled for us acceptance of God’s will: “Yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus knew that ultimately God’s will, God’s plan, was the best – the death and resurrection of Jesus shows us that nothing we do is more powerful than God. Through God’s grace, we are loved, accepted, and forgiven.
Jesus asked his friends to be present with him. He was about to be arrested. He knew things were going to be ugly. So, he asked that his friends stay awake as Jesus prayed and waited for his arrest.
Sometimes, when we want to help people who are suffering, they tell us directly what they need. Jesus needed his friends to stay awake…but they were also stressed and aggrieved and emotionally exhausted and their bodies were shutting down and making them sleep no matter how hard they tried to stay awake.
We get it. Sometimes we struggle to be helpful to people who are suffering because we are also suffering.
If we are visiting someone who is in the hospital or who is grieving the loss of a loved one, it is more helpful if we don’t fall asleep….especially if they ask us to stay awake.
But, there are some ways we can be helpful…
Sometimes, we can help by being a supportive, quiet presence. The person who is in pain may be able to fall asleep themselves if they know we are sitting next to them. And, they also may need a quiet person to listen to them – to support them by allowing them to talk; to listen to them without interrupting; and to focus only on them, instead of our watches, or our phones, or the tv on the other side of the room.
One of the key thing to do, as we are present and listening to the person who is struggling, is to keep our mouths shut. We can listen and validate their emotions….we can hear how they feel about whatever is going on with them. We don’t need to fix them. We don’t need to solve their problem. They don’t need our advice all the time. We can be present with people who are stuggling by letting them talk, or not, without us interrupting them with our ideas of how to fix it.
People also need to know that we haven’t forgotten them. Sometimes when people we care about are struggling, we leave them alone because we think if we reach out it will interrupt their healing process or add to their burdens. But, we live in a day and age when most people have “Caller ID.” If we call them and they need to talk, they will answer the phone. We can text them a quick note of support. We can mail them a card – it is lovely to receive mail that is not an ad or a bill, but is actually something personal. We can reach out to people to remind them that they are not forgotten..
Even Jesus, our Lord and Savior, asked his friends to support him when he was facing a challenging situation. His friends dropped the ball a bit. Let us work to do better….let us work offer support and care when people we know face burdens of their own. As Christians, it is our calling to represent God and Jesus to the people of the earth. God cares deeply about us…God loves us no matter what. God has compassion for us despite the challenges we face. As representatives of God, we must work to care for other people in supportive, non-judgemental, and compassionate ways. So, let us work to offer support and care to each other no matter what burdens we carry.
May we do so today and all days. Amen.
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