Dr. William A. Ritter
First United Methodist Church
Birmingham, Michigan
Scripture: Luke 22:35-38
Maundy Thursday -April 8, 2004
Let me begin with a couple who both appreciated the finer things in life and were comfortably able to afford them. When it came to travel, they went by the best means to the best places. That is, until their plane went down….suddenly….dramatically…..into the choppy waters of the sea. But the emergency exits opened (as engineered) and the inflatable slides were positioned (as instructed), meaning that virtually all were evacuated (as scripted).
There they were, crammed into lifeboats, with barely room to breathe, let alone move. When the woman turned to her husband and said: “Tell me, George, do you think we are still in first class?”
I suppose you can be progressing comfortably in life….knowing how things work….knowing how things fit….knowing how you work and how you fit….and then the wings come off the airplane, the leader takes leave of the ship, or (for any number of reasons) somebody shouts “Fruit basket upset.” And you find yourself facing the demise of the old order and figuring out what niche you are going to fill in the new order. Which can be unsettling.
Picture the disciples of Jesus. There they are….that night. Which is also this night. Breaking bread. Drinking wine. Celebrating Passover. Being Jewish. Being very Jewish. When from his lips come troubling words. Not that he hasn’t said them before. But never with such urgency before. Words about betrayals and arrests. Words about suffering and dying. Words about going away and not coming back. At least not anytime soon.
And the first thing they want to know (as we discussed a few years ago) is what all children want to know whenever they see telltale signs suggesting that one or both parents are going out for the evening. Namely: “Who’s gonna stay with us?” And being told that their sitter is to be none other than the Spirit….who will both comfort and advocate, as well as teach them whatever they need to know….they are temporarily all right with that. Until it occurs to them that even this Sitter may not be able to guarantee their security, given all this talk about death and danger.
Which is fueled, somewhat strangely, by Jesus himself. Nowhere more clearly than in this strange little passage in Luke 22:35-38. I don’t know why things keep leaping out of the predictable passages of the Bible, saying: “Look at me, Ritter. You’ve never pondered or preached me before.” But they do.
Jesus turns to the disciples and says: “Remember when I sent you out without a purse….without a knapsack.…without sandals. Was there anything you lacked?” Well, even Jesus didn’t remember it perfectly. He got the words right. But he didn’t get the audience right. He is presently talking to the twelve. But when he first sent a group out, telling them not to worry about money, supplies (or even shoes, for that matter), he was talking to the apostles….the seventy rather than the twelve (see Luke 10).
At that time, Jesus was saying: “There’s work to be done and you’re ready to do it.” Or, to be more precise: “The harvest is ripe. You are ripe. Go to it. Go do it. There will be folks to share it. So don’t sweat it. Travel light. Move quick. Don’t pack. Whatever you need will turn up. People will receive you, house you, feed you and clothe you. And if some don’t, others will.”
That’s what Jesus said then. Now he’s asking if they remember. They do. And he’s asking if it wasn’t as he said it would be. Which it was. The world into which they were sent was receptive and benevolent. To which they said: “Amen.”
And to which he now says: “Not anymore. Things are different now. Harder now. Troubled now. O the times, they are a-changin’.” So Jesus cancels the old instructions and gives them new ones. “If you’ve got a purse, carry it. If you’ve got a knapsack, pack it. And if you don’t have a sword, find something to sell so you can get on down to Swords R Us and buy a couple.”
The new message is twofold. They must be on guard. And they must provide for themselves. No more easy trekking for the friends of Jesus….then. Nor any guarantee of easy trekking for the friends of Jesus….now. The Christian faith is a glorious journey. But sometimes a dangerous journey. I forget that from time to time, having lived a rather large portion of my life “at ease in Zion,” as they say. But there are stories galore of Christians who have found it otherwise…. including the young couple (well known to me) who were recently robbed at gunpoint while doing the Lord’s work.
As concerns the “two swords,” most scholars think that Jesus was speaking allegorically rather than literally. Later that same evening, when an armed disciple did a little midnight ear surgery on the slave of the high priest, Jesus said (concerning the sword): “Sheath it.” And as I read moments ago, when the disciples said to Jesus (concerning the availability of swords): “Look, we’ve got two of them,” Jesus did not say (as it may be translated in your Bible) “It is enough.” A more accurate translation reads: “Enough of that.”
But the message, literal or figurative, drips with reality. “No easy sledding from this point forward,” he says. Kiss your free ride goodbye.
But this is the night….and tomorrow is the day….when we recognize that we are not the first to have it hard. Nor will we be the last to have it hard. Because the best once had it hard. Evidenced by this, with which I close.
Eavesdrop with me on a great gathering in heaven, where all the people who ever lived have assembled before the throne in order to be judged for their lives on earth. However, they were far from a submissive crowd. They had complaints to make. It was a lot like a clergy meeting at Annual Conference, or sessions of some Administrative Boards I have known.
One group of complainers consisted of Jews who had suffered great persecution. Many had died in gas chambers and concentration camps. How could God judge them? What could he know of their suffering? “Who is God, that he should be our judge?” they cried.
They were accompanied by several slaves who had suffered the indignities of indentured servitude. How could God possibly judge them?
Next came a group of homeless people who had spent far too many nights on far too many streets. How could God know how they felt?
Their chorus of complaint was joined by the voices of poor folk….people who had sweated and toiled but had never been able to make ends meet.
Finally came the sick and the sufferers….each with a complaint against God. How lucky God is to live in heaven where all is sweetness and light….no tears….no worries….no fears….no hungers….no inhumanities.
So a commission was appointed to draw up the case against God. It was simple. Their conclusion was that before God could judge them, God must first endure what they had endured in their troubled world. So instead of God judging them, they judged him. Finding God guilty, they issued a verdict. And the verdict was that they sentenced God to live on earth as a human being and personally submit to the painful and troublesome knocks of life. A list of particulars was read. One after another, they shouted them out.
Let God be born a Jew.
Let God be born poor.
Give God hard work to do.
Let God be rejected by the people.
Give God for friends those who are held in contempt.
Let God be betrayed by one of those friends.
Let God be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced jury, and convicted by a vacillating judge.
Let God be abandoned.
Let God be tortured.
Let God be lonely.
Then let God die.
As each group announced its sentence on God, cheers of approval went up from the throng. Then, suddenly, there was silence. A long silence. No one moved or made a sound. There was utter silence in heaven. As someone quietly informed the multitude that God had already served that sentence.
