Worship Videos

The Pastor’s Piece for March 2025

“He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. When he reached the place, he said to them, ’Pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’ Then he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, ’Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done’ Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground. When he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping because of grief, and he said to them, ’Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not come into the time of trial.’”
Luke 22:39-46

I was thinking on my drive in to church from Au Train this Wednesday morning that the month of March is kind of like a Wednesday. We often refer to Wednesday as “hump day” because after we make it through Wednesday, well, the rest of the week seems more manageable and the coming weekend is in sight with all of its hopes and promise. March is like that for me. As we enter March, we have made it through January and February and now, once we get through March, spring seems to be in sight, and with the longer days blossoming before us, everything seems to be much brighter and full of promise. Perhaps that was the way it was for the disciples. They had just celebrated Palm Sunday, at the beginning of what we now refer to as “Passion or Holy week,” and they were full of hope and promise as they accompanied Jesus throughout Jerusalem. Now, in the above verses from Luke’s Gospel, the disciples and Jesus have just gotten over “hump day” and the coming events of Jesus’ arrest and trial are right before them. But, unknown to the sleepy disciples, the rest of Thursday, Friday and the coming weekend would quickly materialize into something they all never thought they would see. Thinking of how the disciples approached those final hours with Jesus, I am reminded of a story about a man who could not climb out of a well even though he was standing just a few inches below the end of a rope. Ordinarily, this might sound extraordinary. However, it ceases to be so when we realize that this was a man who never looked up even on the good days when the sky was blue and the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Whether out of habit or insecurity or maybe just his temperament, he never looked up. So, we have to wonder what good his consistent focus on the ground did him when he fell into the well anyway. And after his fall he screamed himself nearly hoarse for help, but still, he didn’t look up. When a child finally did hear him and looked down into the well, he finally did look up. That is when he saw the rope. Perhaps the disciples who slept while their Lord suffered in prayer were unwilling to look up as well. For whatever the reason, it seems that their focus was very close to the ground-that they were incapable of expecting or imagining anything they had not expected or imagined before. But that would soon change in the coming hours, days, months, and years! However, in those moments in the garden, the power of life and death was not held by a traveling Rabbi from the north country named Jesus, but instead it was held by Rome and those who were willing to serve the Roman authorities. Perhaps for those early disciples standing by in the garden, their struggle was with motivation? Perhaps they thought that the problem with Jesus and his way of self-sacrifice is that he did not seem to gain anything by doing what he did. Even for the most dedicated disciple, self-sacrifice was all right every once in a while, but with Jesus it was a steady theme. Not only did it confuse the disciples, it probably left them feeling that to follow him would be impossible. That was until they realized that what Jesus wanted, they needed-the teaching, the living, the healing, the praying and the bleeding and dying were all part of his mission on earth. And ultimately, by means of Jesus’ resurrection, God ended death’s power over humanity and our times of trial. So, this March, as we gather together for Lenten services, I am reminded that we know where the power of life comes from and we can see clearly that it comes from a source that is not like armies or political power, which, while they may seem awesome, can be destroyed or dissolved in a day. Not only is our Lord’s power a power that will never be destroyed or dissolved, it is a power which lifts our heads up out of our self-imposed weariness and gloom and gives us the joy to expect what we could not have otherwise imagined…our belonging to God forever. So, let’s keep our eyes and attitude upward as we wait for spring to come! I am looking forward to being with you all in church this March as we prepare ourselves for the events of Holy week in this time and place.

See you in church!
+LLL