Just How Willing?

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
First Presbyterian Church
Washingtonville, New York
April 9, 2006
Palm Sunday

Just How Willing?
Mark 11:1-11
Mark 14:32-42

It is one of the few scenes which all four gospels capture:
Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey,
fulfilling the Scripture prophesied by Zechariah
more than five hundred years earlier:
“Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey…”
(Zechariah 9:9)
The people in the crowded city were in a festive mood
as they waved branches at the passing parade,
giving life to the words from Psalm 118:
“bind the festal procession with branches…”
(Psalm 118:27)
John’s gospel tells us that the branches were palm fronds,
and from that comes our tradition of Palm Sunday.

It is easy in the crush of preparations for Easter
to jump from Palm Sunday to Easter,
but as you have heard me say,
we cannot get to Easter without going through Good Friday:
the crucifixion, the death of our Lord.

But even before we get to the crucifixion,
even before we get to the Last Supper,
if we read through the Bible carefully,
we realize that Jesus did not just get off
the back of the donkey after the parade
and then prepare for the Last Supper.
He was active, busy, in constant motion each of the days
that separated the day he came into Jerusalem
and the day he sat down for supper in that Upper Room
with his disciples.

The day after the parade Jesus was at the Temple
teaching, preaching, speaking to all who would hear him.
He spoke to the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Do you remember who they were?
They were the leaders of the faith,
the leaders at the Temple, the priests, the scribes,
the wise men of authority.

Jesus confronted them, challenged them,
questioned them,
even baited them a bit,
probing, testing the depth of their faith;
was there anything solid there?
Jesus, the Pharisees, the disciples, the Sadducees –
they all worshiped the same God – the Lord God.
They all read from the same Scriptures –
the books of the Torah, the prophets, the Psalms.
Why did they seem to be so far apart,
as though they all lived different faiths?

Jesus taught those around him,
taught them in parables,
those lessons that two thousand years later
we still skim over because they seem to require so much work.
The people around Jesus were no different from us -
they wanted faith that was easy, upbeat,
that would assure them of an easy life.
Today’s televangelists preaching their gospels of prosperity
had their own ancestors in Judea:
“God wants you to prosper –
God wants you to have money
to have all those things you want.”
The speakers change, but the script does not.

Jesus watched, he observed,
he looked at people, watching them go through the motions
coming to the temple, exchanging coins from their hometowns
for local currency so they could buy a dove to offer as a sacrifice.
Why were they still doing this?
Had not God spoken through the prophet
“I desire steadfast love, and not sacrifice;
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
(Hosea 6:6)
Hadn’t God said through the Psalmist
“the sacrifice acceptable to God is a…contrite heart.”
(Psalm 51:17)
Why were the moneychangers
and the priests with their long knives
still doing such brisk business in blood and smoke?
But Jesus knew his father’s words spoken through the Psalmist
so long ago: “You hate discipline
and you cast my words behind you.” (Psalm 50:17)

Still, he had a few moments of joy,
especially when he spotted the widow,
the poor widow who had nothing,
yet who shared what little she had for God’s work.
“There,” he thought, “is a woman of faith,
for she gave from her heart.”
Why were there so few like her?

Even his own disciples could not keep their focus
as they argued among themselves which of them
was the most important.
Through it all Jesus kept teaching, teaching
speaking to all who would hear,
any who would hear:
“Be watchful,
be vigilant,
let your light shine.”
So many words,
and yet they swirled around as though
caught in the eddies blown from the desert to the south,
so few taking root in the hearts and minds of those
who heard his voice.

And then they gathered, Jesus and his disciples,
in that room, that upper room.
Only Jesus understood that it was the final meal
he was going to share with that rumpled group
who had been following,
following,
following so faithfully, but understanding so little.

The bread was passed around,
but who understood what Jesus meant when he said,
“this is my body, which is given for you.”
And then the cup went around the table,
but who understood when Jesus said,
“this cup that is poured out for you
is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19-20)

They sang the final psalm to end the meal,
end the evening with bellies filled,
minds softened by a little too much wine,
bodies worn by the late hour.
They went down the narrow stairs, unsteady on their feet,
spilling out onto the street,
all comfortable that they had followed Scripture,
and observed the Passover as their ancestors in faith
had for more than a thousand years.
Now their minds turned to sleep, sleep,
and they followed Jesus,
assuming that they were following him
to a comfortable place
where they could sleep off a good meal with good friends.

They walked east, just outside the city gates,
Jesus trailed now just by Peter, James, and John.
Even at the late hour, the sounds of laughter and merriment
floated over the walls of the city
and drifted down among the branches of the olive trees
there in the garden of Gethsemane.
The stars in the night sky glimmered above the foggy heads
of the three followers, all of them wondering about their Lord,
“Doesn’t this man ever slow down?
Doesn’t he ever take a break?
It is late and we are tired;
Can’t we carry on in the morning?”

But they did not understand that come the morning
it would be too late.
Exhaustion overwhelmed them,
sleep demanded their full attention,
and yet Jesus said to them, “Keep awake.”
Ah but the hour was so late,
and sleep can be such a relentless adversary...
As Jesus prayed so fervently in the garden
the men drifted off under the night sky.
And Jesus saw them asleep
and said more with pity than anger
“could you not stay awake one hour?
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
But they couldn’t keep their eyes open,
and as Jesus turned to pray yet again,
the three men drift off again.
oblivious to their teacher’s prayers,
oblivious to their teacher’s anguish.

And then it was too late,
the time came, and there they were:
Judas and group of men with swords and spears.
Peter sprang to action, adrenalin pumping through his veins,
the flesh no longer weak, the spirit more than willing,
but it was too late; the hour had come.


As we begin this Holy Week, just how willing is your spirit?
How willing is your spirit to follow our Lord,
follow the one who was obedient to God,
obedient even to death?
Is your spirit that willing?

Our flesh overwhelms our spirits;
our flesh governs our spirits.
In his letter to the Christians in Rome Paul wrote,
“For those who live according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit
set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
To set the mind on the flesh is death,
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God;
it does not submit to God’s law – indeed it cannot,
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans 8:5-9

When we think about having our minds on things of the flesh,
we tend to think that the allusion is to limited
to certain types of thoughts,
thoughts we are told it is a sin to have,
thoughts that are simply not talked about in polite company.
But the point Paul makes in this statement
is that our minds can be only one of two places,
either focused on the things of this earth,
or focused on the things of God.
Flesh or Spirit; you cannot have it both ways.

And so we choose the life of flesh
over the spirit.
We allow ourselves to be spiritual,
but only a few minutes here and there.
Let me ask you:
Where will your mind be in the week ahead?
Where will your focus be,
your principal focus?
The work you need to get done before Easter?
Who you are having Easter dinner with?
Plans for the vacation week?
Why won’t your thoughts be on our Lord Jesus Christ?
This is Holy Week, the week our Lord went to the cross.
On Friday will you be part of the millions and millions
of disciples of Christ who will think of the day
as an opportunity to sleep in, to shop, to relax,
to prepare for visitors,
to plan for a week’s vacation?
How many disciples of Christ
will spend time in prayer and devotion
thinking about crucifixion of our Lord:
why he died;
for whom he died?
Ah, but the flesh is too strong.

Here’s a suggestion:
Why not start each day of this Holy Week
with prayer that includes words from Psalm 51,
Psalm 51, verse 10 to be specific:
“ ‘create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.’(Psalm 51:10)
Put a new and stronger spirit within me O Lord
help me to be stronger in spirit than in flesh, O Lord,
so that I might keep awake,
and follow your Son that much more faithfully."

In this Holy Week, start each day with prayer,
and a few verses from one of the gospels.
In this Holy Week, set the flesh aside
and live in the Spirit.
In this Holy Week, let the Spirit of God fall afresh upon you,
Let the Spirit of Christ fill you,
Let the Spirit lead you.
Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

AMEN