Location, Location, Location - Holy Wednesday
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
March 27, 2024
If you’ve ever
bought or sold a house, you’ve heard a real estate agent say that the three
most important factors are “location, location, location.” Where your home is located has an enormous
bearing on its value, because location dictates factors like the quality of
your neighborhood, the school system you’re in, and traffic congestion.
Location, location, location. It matters just as much in this
sanctuary. If you sit beneath the air
conditioning units, you’re going to feel cold, even if I’m up here sweating
under the spotlights. Sound bounces
around this one-of-a-kind sanctuary in very unique ways too.
Actors and
dancers always have to be conscious of location, because where they stand
greatly impacts the way the story unfolds. I received an education in this 20 years ago when I was on-stage each
December as part of a local Maine production of the Nutcracker Ballet. When I did the opening announcements, I had
to stand center stage. At other times,
it was important that I be off to the side, so I wouldn’t distract from what the
other actors on stage were doing.
Even here at Grace,
there’s a certain choreography to where the pastors stand. I do the announcements from the first step,
with my heels against the second step, so that I’m in the spots and not shrouded
in shadows. Some things, like preaching,
happen here at the ambo, to emphasis the presence of God’s Living Word. Other things take place at the altar, to
emphasize how God comes to us through Holy Communion. Our location – where we stand – is all part
of the story.
With all of
this in mind, let’s turn to our Gospel lesson. The plot of the story itself is a familiar one, especially during Holy
Week. It’s the famous Last Supper, and
the moment of high tension when Jesus reveals that Judas will betray him. He doesn’t try to talk Judas out of his plans
or call upon the other disciples to restrain Judas. Instead, Jesus encourages Judas to get on
with it, because Jesus knows that the pathway to an empty tomb and his supreme
glorification has to run through a betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and
death. These are the high points of the
last days of Jesus that we will dwell upon at length tomorrow during Maundy
Thursday worship, and on Good Friday.
Now let’s consider
this old familiar story from a fresh point of view. Let’s view it from the perspective of location, location, location. Aside from Jesus, there are three main
characters in this story, all disciples, and their location speaks volumes about them. The first character is the one whom Jesus loved – the one who was
reclining next to Jesus. This is John,
which is why we often refer to him as “the beloved disciple.” He’s right next to Jesus. He’s leaning in, able to hear all of Jesus’s
quietest conversations, able to feel his breath and listen to the beat of his
heart.
Further across
the room is Peter. Evidently he was too
far away from Jesus in distance or too distant in his relationship with Jesus to
ask Jesus the question that’s preoccupying everyone there, namely, “Which one
of us is going to betray you?” And so he
motioned to John to ask for the details on that juicy piece of gossip.
Finally, when
it comes to location, location, location in our Gospel lesson, the one who’s farthest away from Jesus in every
conceivable way is Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. Immediately after getting his bread, the
betrayer’s mark of identification, he would leave the gathering, exit the
building, and slink away into the night, empty of Spirit and filled with Satan.
The location
of these three disciples, relative to Jesus, is consistent with the outcomes
they experienced. As we know, Judas
would be consumed by guilt and regret and meet a very sad and lonely end. He had decided that he knew better than Jesus
what true doctrine was, and he believed that only he – Judas – had the wisdom
to protect the faith. He consistently
substituted his own judgment for that of Christ and always put his own selfish
interests above all other considerations.
Peter, whose
location was somewhere in the middle, would stumble as well. After Jesus’s arrest, Peter would try to save
his own skin by denying even knowing Jesus. He too had gotten in the habit of thinking he knew better than Jesus,
especially when it came to the question of how a Messiah should act. Fortunately for Peter, he would eventually
recover. He would be healed and
reconciled by Jesus’s forgiveness, and go on to lead the fledgling church until
eventually he bravely and faithfully ascended his own cross and died the
honorable death of a martyr.
And what of
John the Beloved, the one who stayed so close to Jesus during Jesus’s life? He is the one disciple who we know stayed just as close to Jesus in death. He was there at the crucifixion, and even in Jesus’s last minutes of
life, he remained beloved – so much so that Jesus entrusted his own mother to
the loving care of John. John is also
the only disciple who would die not as a martyr but from old age.
And so what
lesson can you draw from all of this? Well, quite simply, it’s this: as you reach the final days of Lent –
this season of reflection and repentance – now is the time to assess your own location, location, location when it
comes to Christ.
Are you like
Judas or Peter? Have you distanced
yourself from Jesus by regularly dismissing his wisdom and counsel and
embracing only your own? Do you find
yourself ignoring Jesus because you’ve become convinced that he’s irrelevant,
old fashioned, and out of touch? Have
you moved away from him because you no longer feel the desire to talk with him
or spend time with him? Could this
distancing be the source of the restlessness, emptiness, and lack of peace you’re
feeling? How do you think your location,
far from Jesus, will ultimately impact you?
There’s still
time to follow the lead of John the Beloved. There’s still time to draw close to Jesus. After all, that’s where Jesus most wants you
to be. So get next to Jesus. Just like John, lean in, so you can hear all of Jesus’s quietest
conversations. Lean in, so you can feel his breath. Lean in,
so you can listen to the beat of his heart. But how?
You already
know how. It’s not a mystery or a grand
secret. It doesn’t require an advanced
degree in theology or elegant words. In fact,
it doesn’t require any words at all. If
you wish, be silent, just like John in our Gospel. Just be present with Jesus, in prayer and in
worship. And then spend time serving and
caring for the people Jesus loves. They
may not be the people you love, but
that’s sort of the point. You won’t
always understand why Jesus does what he does, says what he says, or endures what
he endures. And you won’t always
comprehend how and why Jesus can love people you consider to be among the most
unlovable of all.
But you don’t
have to understand. You don’t have to
comprehend. You just need to stay close
to him. Because that’s where you find
true purpose. That’s where you find true transformation. That’s where you find true belonging. That’s where you find true love.
What matters
most? Location, location, location. Stay close to Jesus. Amen.
GOSPEL
LESSON: John 13:21-32
21 Jesus
was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you
will betray me." 22 The disciples looked at one another,
uncertain of whom he was speaking. 23 One of his disciples-- the one
whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; 24 Simon Peter
therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" 26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I
have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he
gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. 27 After he received the
piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly
what you are going to do." 28 Now no one at the table knew why
he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the
common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the
festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was
night.
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified,
and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in
him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.”
Copyright Rev. Scott E. Schul, 2024 All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission.
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