09 July 2016

Sermon 25 March 2016 John 18:1-19:42 Year C

There is a sense for me that while much of what we do in the church is dramatic and wonderful and surprising, we can fall into doing it by rote. Although we have the riches of the Book of Common Prayer and many other options, we can get in the habit of doing things the same way year after year. The days during Holy Week can be that way because often it seems as though we are “paying our dues”. It’s a way of saying, “Yeah, yeah, I know Jesus died for my sins. So to get to Easter I have to pay the price of going through these long readings and hearing a story I already know.” Some of us would like to skip Maundy Thursday and Good Friday because they’re such downers anyway. Perhaps the grace of Holy Week is since we only do these things once a year, even a priest can forget “the way we always do it.”
         If you are a little tired of this yearly routine, I have some suggestions to bring back both a little healthy realism and the drama of Holy Week back into your life. I suggest you talk to a child, a teenager, or a new Christian. Their perspective is totally different.
I’m reminded of the drama that occurred with a four-year old in another parish, another year. As the mother explained the story of Jesus’ crucifixion the child listened quietly, hearing it for the first time. But when Mommy told her about the crucifixion, she sobbed out, “No, no, Mommy! Jesus was good!”
         That is the kind of immediacy and drama I would pray for all of us of on Good Friday. I think it has much less to do with getting the details right and more to do with entering fully into the story. I believe putting ourselves in the story has far more to do with the immediacy of the story to a child. It has most to do with hearing the story as though we are hearing it for the first time. Fresh, new, and shocking, all its drama is revealed before us: that God who became flesh died a horrible and unjust death. And, that we recognize that though it may play as drama, it is stunningly real.
         And imagination and wonder, I believe, are the keys to this for us. As adults, our imaginations are sometimes a little rusty and seldom used. I’m inviting you to blow the dust off your imagination. I’m inviting you to imagine yourself with Jesus. There in Jerusalem: smelling the smells, tasting the bread and drinking the wine at the last supper, touching the ground with your dusty bare feet, hearing the yells of the crowd, and knowing you were present at the events.
         Who is Jesus to you? Who are you on this day? Who are you on this day that begins in triumph and ends in despair? How immediate is this part of our salvation story to you?
You and I were there. You and I found the colt for Jesus to ride. You and I waved branches. We threw down our cloaks on the ground and yelled “Hosanna!” We took the bread from Jesus’ hand and then went out to betray him. And we argued over which of us was the greatest.
         We waited in the Garden while Jesus prayed and we fell asleep. We kissed Jesus before we betrayed him. We greeted violence with violence when Jesus was arrested. And we denied Jesus when someone asked if we knew Him.
         We mocked. We jeered. We waited on the road to see Jesus pass by. We heard the nails being pounded. We saw Jesus hanging in agony on the cross. We heard him say, “It is finished” and saw him give up his spirit.
         And when this day ends, we sit in darkness by the tomb. We sit in darkness holding Jesus in our hearts. We wait to see when light will come. We wait to see when his grave will break open and light and love pour out on Easter day. AMEN.

The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2016


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