The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
I appear before you clean-shaven. Yes, my month of deep humiliation from losing the chili cook-off to Fr. David is over. It really ended up being an interesting exercise, though. I learned that I am not a very gracious loser, or perhaps better put, you learned that I am not a very gracious loser. It was actually fun growing a beard and changing my appearance. And it really was great that several of our vergers grew beards in solidarity with the Rector. And it seemed like everybody had an opinion about it. The funniest opinion expressed was when one of our parishioners, who has a beard, said that when he saw mine he was persuaded to shave his off! I’m glad I still have some ability to move at least one person to action!
That’s what the preacher hopes to do, you know – move people to action. The whole season of Lent is intended to be that kind of movement. Lent can be likened to the making of a journey. Imagine for a moment that you are going on a trip to a distant land and that you are going to be gone for several weeks. Long before you actually leave you must do several things. Preparations must be made.
You need a passport, airplane tickets need to be purchased, hotel accommodations reserved. And you need to plan what kinds of things you will be doing in the place you will be visiting and what kinds of clothes you will need.
At the same time, you need to think about who will water the plants while you’re gone, what to do with the pets, how the bills will be paid on time. It is not unreasonable to say that a long journey takes more lead time to plan than the time you will be away.
And then, after all of the preparation, you get to the airport with your baggage, get on the plane, and as it lifts off the ground you feel a rush of excitement. After all, you’ve been looking forward to this for some time. You have not yet arrived, but you’re finally on your way!
Lent is like making a journey, but most of Lent is a preparation to make that journey. Today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, we have finally arrived at the airport. We haven’t yet taken off, but the plane is in view, and we will soon be buckling our seatbelts for the journey. And guess what? There is even a picture of our destination at the airport!
But wait a minute. That picture has been before us throughout all of Lent. Most of the crosses have been covered, as have the paintings and chapel reredos. The only images that have not been covered are the crucifix near the pulpit and the Stations of the Cross. For that is the picture of our destination – our Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.
Thus far in Lent we have repented of our sins, been reminded of the reality of temptation, we’ve been exhorted to self-denial and to set right priorities, to make needed change in our lives.
We jump ahead of ourselves somewhat, for in today’s Gospel Jesus has already entered the Holy City of Jerusalem in triumph, to shouts of Hosanna and the spreading of palm branches along his way. Many who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover were aware that the One who might be the Messiah was also in Jerusalem. St. John tells us that some Greeks, that is, some people who were not Jewish, approached Phillip and asked to see Jesus.
When Jesus hears of the Greeks, he responds, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” In other words, “This is what I have been preparing for. My mission is not simply to be the Messiah for the Jews, but the Savior of the world.” To be glorified meant to those who heard Jesus that Jesus would be the ruler of the world, by conquering the world. That is the way of the world, whether we’re talking about the conflicts in Israel, the worldwide problem with The Islamic State, the problem of human trafficking, or domestic problems in our own homes and families. It starts with this need to glorify ourselves by conquering the world.
What Jesus meant by being glorified was being crucified.
Thus, we have finally arrived at that time in Lent when we catch a glimpse of what we have been preparing to experience. Jesus has announced that we are on the threshold of the redemption of the world, which will take place on Good Friday. The journey is close at hand.
Yet this journey is unlike any other journey, for it beckons us to enter so fully into its mystery that our lives are changed forever. Unlike the disciples, we know where the journey will lead—to the cross and resurrection. So we are at an advantage—we can be much more prepared than they were. On the other hand, because of our familiarity with the journey, we could miss the radical call to change our lives and be transformed by its power. Some of us, for various reasons, will not be present for part of the journey.
But for those who make the entire journey, it can be a renewing, even converting, experience as we see Jesus entering the Holy City of Jerusalem, at the Last Supper with his disciples, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, dying on the cross, and being raised from the dead.
The journey begins next Sunday, Palm Sunday, yet we have caught a glimpse today as our Lord says, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” We have also heard what he hopes for in a response from us, that we should take up our cross and follow him, that we should die to self, that he may live in us. “If anyone serves me, he must follow me.”
What does it mean for you, at this moment in your life, to follow Jesus? What act of self-sacrifice are you being called to make at this time in your life? For as our circumstances change, what our particular cross looks like also changes.
Today is an invitation to follow Jesus to the cross, to make the journey with him, and allow him to transform our lives.
Sermon preached by The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
22 March 2015