Some Lenten Reflectin’
“There is no Christian who does not have the time to pray without ceasing” – Martin Luther
You may have noticed that the last several days (i.e. 13, 20, 23,24 etc) of Bread and Wine seem to be focused on the experience of Jesus and the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Matt 26:36-38 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (NIV)
I am just like the disciples here. Jesus is only hours away from being torn to shreds for the Sin of all humankind and he asks his friends only to stay awake, while he prepares himself for certain death. No sooner does he leave than they begin to snore, the first of several naps which are rudely interrupted by Jesus. It seems that they have learned the wrong lesson from Matthew 8:23-27.
In Matthew 8 it is Jesus who sleeps confidently while the disciples find themselves in the midst of storm and chaos. They fight against wind and waves until the boat is being swamped and then they cry out. Jesus stands while the storm rages and chides them, calling them “littlefaiths. Then calmly halts the chaos of the sea. By Matthew 26 they have become complacent, believing that having Jesus with them means that they are invincible to storms. They miss the fact that Jesus is overwhelmed by the ominous clouds lloming on the horizon. They sleep confidently, drunk with his blood, never imagining that Jesus is fulfilling the call he will place on the lives of every disciple. They are a “eager to be happy with him; few wish to suffer anything for him” (Thomas a Kempis B&W 36). They are in the words of Kierkegaard still “admirers and not followers…mak(ing) the same demands that are made in the theater: to sit safe and calm” (B&W 56-57).
For me, and likely for the Church at large, we use communion to dull minds rather than letting it quicken our hearts and spur us to greater watchfulness. The last supper is not a sedative, it is a reminder of the claim that Grace has on our lives. We must not abuse it, deluding ourselves that the kingdom is far off. It is here and now!
