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"Important Details"
Ed McNally was in a desperate situation. The building he was in
was on fire. He was trapped and he knew he would not get out in
time. When the floor began buckling, He called his wife, Liz.
McNally hastily recited his life insurance policies and made sure
she knew about all of his employee benefits programs. “He said that
I meant the world to him and that he loved me,” Liz McNally later
recalled. They then exchanged their goodbyes and their last words
to each other, and hung up.
Then Liz McNally’s phone rang again. Sheepishly, her husband, Ed,
said that he had just remembered that he had booked them on a
surprise trip to Rome for her 40th birthday. He said, “Liz, you
have to cancel that.” And then the South Tower of the World Trade
Center collapsed.
Important details. We human creatures are capable of thinking of
the most mundane things, when facing death.
Yet, I suppose it shouldn’t be too big of a surprise. Our everyday
life is filled with mundane, yet important details. We think about
finding time to get to the grocery store. We have to make sure the
bills get paid, and the household is cared for – which means laundry,
cleaning, yard work.
We spend time thinking about the future, trying to manage our
savings and retirement. But then the kids need new shoes, and
our thoughts are pulled back to finding some time in our busy
schedules to get to the store.
We think about having to stop and fill the car with gas, and
at the same time we are planning ahead for birthday celebrations.
There are the little things and there are the big things.
These are the kinds of important details that we are constantly
dealing with. And when you think about it, they mostly center
on taking care of the people around us.
So I guess it shouldn’t seem so strange after all, that if we
are suddenly facing death, we would continue to think about
those important details – that we would continue to think
about taking care of the people we love.
As He faces death on the cross, this is what Jesus is doing. He
is thinking about what needs to be done for the care of His mother.
And yet it is amazing to witness this most private and personal
conversation between Jesus and His mother, and His best friend.
For here, in chapter 19 of John’s gospel, we read about the last,
gasping words of a man whose crucifixion allowed little breath
for speaking, anyway. Among all of His struggle for words, Jesus
said powerful things like, “Father, forgive them,” “It
is finished,” and “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”
But we usually to don’t think much about the obscure little lines
that Jesus gasps from the cross to his mother, “Dear woman, here
is your son,” and to John, “Here is your mother.”
But while it is true that Jesus was - and is - the eternal Son
of God, and while it is true that His business there on the cross
was the redemption of humankind, it is also true that He was a
man and a firstborn Jewish son. And a firstborn Jewish son
believed that when his father died, he was responsible for his
mother's care.
But now, Jesus was crucified. His hands nailed to the cross. Soon
He would die. He couldn't care for her. This - perhaps His biggest
earthly responsibility - He could no longer fulfill. Except… He
could name someone else to fulfill this role.
But Jesus had to pick someone whom He could trust. What about
Jesus' brothers - Mary's second-born or third-born sons? Shouldn't
this be THEIR responsibility? But where were Jesus' brothers?
Their mother's heart was being pierced by the sword of sorrow. Their
mother was living the worst moment of her life. Their brother was
dying. And why weren't these sons of Mary standing by her side? No,
Jesus needed someone who would remain with His mother - someone He
could trust.
The year is 155 A.D. We have just fast-forwarded from the cross
120 years. Persecutions against Christians are sweeping across
the Roman Empire and have come to the city of Smyrna. The governor
of Smyrna, caught up in this persecution fever, has put out an
order that the head pastor, the Bishop of Smyrna, named Polycarp,
be found, arrested, and brought to the public arena for execution.
And now, Polycarp has been found and brought before thousands
of spectators, screaming for blood. But the governor has
compassion on this man, after all he is almost a hundred
years old. He signals the crowd to be silent. Then to Polycarp
he says…, "Curse the Christ and live." The crowd waits for
the old man to answer.
In a surprisingly strong voice, he says, "Eighty and six
years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How
dare I blaspheme the name of my king and Lord!" And with that,
Polycarp becomes a martyr.
What is it about a man that enables him to behave like this -
to face a martyr's death? Of course it is the power of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. But with Polycarp, there was a little
something extra. Polycarp had received his seminary training
from a man who knew Jesus Christ personally.
Polycarp's mentor was the apostle John - the same John whom
Jesus now looks at below His cross holding His mother, Mary.
Jesus knew He could trust John with His Gospel. He knew that
John would faithfully pass on the power of His love and
salvation to Polycarp and the Christian world.
And so, Jesus knew that He could trust John with His mother.
Most all of us here in this room have probably pondered the
question a thousand times, "Do I trust Jesus?" Of course,
I hope that the answer is a resounding, "Yes! Yes I do! I
trust Jesus Christ completely. I would trust Him enough to
give up wealth and to risk my life," - which is exactly what
our confirmation vows ask us.
But let me ask just once: Does Jesus Christ trust you? Can
He trust you to meet His needs, which are embodied in the
people around you? For Jesus says, "…whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Can Jesus trust you to be a good steward of His money, which
He gives you? Can Jesus trust you to fulfill His mission,
proclaiming His word to people, who need His love? Can Jesus
trust you to properly live Christianity? Can Jesus trust you
to carry His name without embarrassing Him?
It seems to me that Jesus has a long list of volunteers who
are willing demonstrate what it means to be a Christian,
living with success and prosperity. But, there is only a
short list of those who can reveal what it means to be a
Christian, living with suffering, struggle, or failure.
There are many people who would say: "Jesus, you can count on
me to represent You and show the world what a Christian looks
like when a Christian is healthy and wealthy, and lives to
be a hundred." But how many of us are willing volunteer to
show the world what it is like to be a Christian who suffers
from recurring cancer that eventually ends in a painful death?
Many people are quite ready to raise perfect children with
4.0 grade point averages, who go to Ivy League colleges,
have straight teeth, varsity letters, and carry their Bibles
to school. But in a day when the families are fractured and
problems are everywhere, who can Jesus trust to love the
struggling child, the rebellious child, the angry child?
Who can Jesus trust to live as a Christian when marriage and
family doesn't happen the way it is supposed to happen?
Who can Jesus trust? No one. That's why He is hanging on the
cross right now. It's because we can't be trusted to live the
life we have been created to live.
It's because we fail to follow our Lord. It's because we rebel,
as soon as the going gets tough. It's because we have no power
to be patient when He asks us to wait out the painful struggles -
to wait for His will to be done in our lives.
So He hangs on the cross, dying for our sins and our failures. But
here… the miracle happens. In Christ's suffering and death, we
find our victory. Through the forgiveness of sins, and faith in
the saving power of the cross, Jesus gives us new, and redeemed,
and holy lives.
Our new lives are empowered with Christ's own presence. He takes
away our sins, and He gives us His own holiness. And that makes
us trustworthy in God's eyes.
With God's Word strengthening us, with God's energy filling us
through His presence in worship, "[we] CAN do all things
through [Christ] who gives [us] strength." (Philippians 4:13)
Christ gives us the power to BE the kind of Christian He can
trust. Christ gives us His grace and love, so that we can
actually accomplish the mission and challenges that are set before us.
And so, Christ trusts us. He trusts us to be His servant in the
face of illness and death. He trusts us to be the Christian wife,
husband, child, or parent He wants us to be in the face of struggles
and heartache. He trusts us to be His representatives in and to
the world around us.
You wouldn't think this was such a good idea at first, but you
see, as St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, "God is able to make
all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
Through his faith and with God's grace, Jesus knew He could trust
John with His mother.
Through YOUR faith and with God's grace at work in you, the same
is true for you.
Now, go and serve the Lord. Whatever God has given you, whatever
burden He has allowed, whatever hardship or struggle you are
enduring, whatever joy He fills you with, whatever fear you are facing…
…“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things
at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
So go, and serve the Lord.
Amen.
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