Slaves Set Free
Sermon
The Courage to Carry On
Sermons for Lent and Easter During Cycle B
It is believed that the Passover was first celebrated on the very night that Israel was set free from Egypt. Since that time, including the time of Jesus, the people of Israel have remembered that they were slaves set free by God.
Rescued and redeemed, the connections are solidified as Jesus lifts the cup and blesses the bread. "Take and eat. Drink from this cup."
Tonight the setting is the Garden of Gethsemane and the upper room. Jesus is celebrating the Passover with his disciples. The event would become known as the Last Supper thereafter. Let's crack open the door for a moment and peek inside.
Let's consider Jesus in relationship to those who were with him.
Picture them -- Peter, Judas, Thomas, and the sons of Zebedee: James and John.
Some sat smugly folding their hands, pondering positions of influence in the new kingdom. Others sat with clenched fists, lest they reveal any sign of weakness. One, at least, was anticipating a devious plot.
Jesus was surely aware of all the motives and distractions. But scripture reminds us how he took a basin, a cup, and a loaf of bread. In this humble yet powerful way, Jesus is reinforcing what he taught them all along: love, service, compassion, sacrifice, discipline, peace of heart and soul, and a presence that would sustain them. We gather for the same perspective, the same peace, and the same presence.
We, too, have gathered with all our needs and insecurities on this sacred day to watch and witness, to receive the blessing of his real presence, and to be transformed and refocused.
The intimacy and the witness of the passion returns our hearts to where they ought to be. We know that. That's why we are here.
I read somewhere of a tape recording that is used in maternity wards to stop the crying of certain babies. When one infant after the other begins to howl, within moments they all are quiet. What do you imagine? Is it music? Is it a certain theme that is played? No! It is a recording of the mother's heartbeat as heard by the fetus within the womb before it was born. Apparently the infant's cry of discomfort and fear is stilled by the sense of security invoked by the sound of a mother's heartbeat.
We gather to receive this gift of our Lord's real presence again. It is an intimate affair. There is a spiritual linkage that has a way of reducing the fear and anxiety in our lives in addition to reconnecting us with a strength of renewal and purpose this world can never give.
Rescued and redeemed, the connections are solidified as Jesus lifts the cup and blesses the bread. "Take and eat. Drink from this cup."
Tonight the setting is the Garden of Gethsemane and the upper room. Jesus is celebrating the Passover with his disciples. The event would become known as the Last Supper thereafter. Let's crack open the door for a moment and peek inside.
Let's consider Jesus in relationship to those who were with him.
Picture them -- Peter, Judas, Thomas, and the sons of Zebedee: James and John.
Some sat smugly folding their hands, pondering positions of influence in the new kingdom. Others sat with clenched fists, lest they reveal any sign of weakness. One, at least, was anticipating a devious plot.
Jesus was surely aware of all the motives and distractions. But scripture reminds us how he took a basin, a cup, and a loaf of bread. In this humble yet powerful way, Jesus is reinforcing what he taught them all along: love, service, compassion, sacrifice, discipline, peace of heart and soul, and a presence that would sustain them. We gather for the same perspective, the same peace, and the same presence.
We, too, have gathered with all our needs and insecurities on this sacred day to watch and witness, to receive the blessing of his real presence, and to be transformed and refocused.
The intimacy and the witness of the passion returns our hearts to where they ought to be. We know that. That's why we are here.
I read somewhere of a tape recording that is used in maternity wards to stop the crying of certain babies. When one infant after the other begins to howl, within moments they all are quiet. What do you imagine? Is it music? Is it a certain theme that is played? No! It is a recording of the mother's heartbeat as heard by the fetus within the womb before it was born. Apparently the infant's cry of discomfort and fear is stilled by the sense of security invoked by the sound of a mother's heartbeat.
We gather to receive this gift of our Lord's real presence again. It is an intimate affair. There is a spiritual linkage that has a way of reducing the fear and anxiety in our lives in addition to reconnecting us with a strength of renewal and purpose this world can never give.
