September 14, 2006
sermon thinking
Continuing with the garden theme for the month, I am stepping away from the lectionary and will preach from Matthew 26:36-46. Here Jesus is praying in Gethsemane and the disciples keep falling asleep. I am especially interested in the whole "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" bit. Is Jesus speaking to the disciples or about himself? I have always assumed that he was speaking about and to the disciples. But someone recently suggested to me that he was likely speaking about himself. Likely there is a little of both involved.
In either case, this is one of Jesus' encounters with disillusionment. He comes face to face with the limitations of his community. His response is incredible. He simply names what he sees. This is how Jesus judges. It is not moralistic. It is simply the statement of what is true. Your flesh is weak. Can't you stay awake for a single hour? No. Of course not. There are limits.
And the sooner we discover that and come to peace about that reality in any relationship, the sooner that reality may be redeemed and overcome by God's grace and forgiveness. Often we are asleep at the wheel and miss much of life and what is important. We fail this way. It happens. There should be no denying this in any church.
A garden, again with that theme, has weeds. There are critters. There is no "perfect" garden. Why should we expect our church communities to meet our needs in some perfect way? The "perfect" Christian community is not utopian. It is where forgiveness lives. Thus faith destroys the illusion that there is no sin, that there are no moments of sleep, that there are no times when we let one another down. Faith destroys illusion and build up a community of freedom and grace through forgiveness.
Amen! You have a profound and helpful truth to proclaim . . . thanks for the insight and the reminder to release my tendency to judge others for not measuring up to my expectations.
Steve