Sermonette: March 20, 2023

Peace and Grace to you, brothers and sisters in Christ.

For those people who work a Monday to Friday job, Wednesday is often called “hump day.” The meaning being that once we get past Wednesday, we’re over the hump and the weekend is almost here. In many of our professional sports, approximately halfway through their seasons they have an all-star break of a few days and play an all-star game before getting back to their regular season schedule. In college basketball, the regular season is over, conference tourneys have been played, and “March Madness” is upon us. The end of the year national tournament to decide the number one team. This is for both men and women. Nearly every office in the country has a bracket contest for those who wish to try and guess the ultimate winner. The sports books in Las Vegas say that the final weekend is second only to the Super Bowl weekend for the amount of money wagered.

We are approximately at the middle of the Lent. No, we don’t take a break for an all-star game. Nor do we consider ourselves over the hump and the rest all downhill. And we certainly don’t have wagering contests about how it will all turn out. What is happening is Jesus is spending less time preaching to large crowds and spending more time with his disciples. He has his run-ins with the Pharisees but for the most part, He is preparing his disciples for what is going to happen in a short while in Jerusalem. While it is possible that the gospel writers just didn’t record their reactions, it seems as if they didn’t really care all that much. Peter was the only one with a significant response and it was the wrong one. He tried to tell Jesus to not go through with it. There isn’t another reaction until Jesus tells them that he is going to be leaving them. This must have been quite a shock to them. They left home and family to follow him. For the last three years they have been with him nearly every day. He has provided lodging and food for them. They have had nothing to do but follow and observe and listen to his teachings. He has been their everything and now he is saying good bye. Yes, they must have been scared and it likely was showing on their faces. Jesus tries to comfort them. He tells them to not be afraid. Jesus tells them that the Father has prepared a mansion with many rooms and he is going to prepare a place for them and in time will come back for them. Thomas speaks out and says we don’t know how to get there. Then comes one of the most well-known verses in the bible. Jesus tells them “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also.”

What a great and comforting thing to hear. Not only for the disciples nearly 2,000 years ago, but for us today. Lent is a season of repentance. It is a season of making a choice. It is a season of preparing ourselves to focus on Christ’s death and resurrection. No, we don’t take a break. We should renew our efforts to get to know Jesus. We should acknowledge that we don’t get to God’s mansion except through him. This season of Lent is a time for us to examine ourselves. Are we making the attempt to know Jesus? Are we ready to accept him as the way, truth and life? This isn’t something upon which we can afford to gamble. We need to know He is ours and we are His. I pray we all use this remaining part of Lent to work on doing just that. God’s peace to you all. Amen.