“And Remember, I Am With You Always”

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

February 21, 2016

Second Sunday in Lent

“And Remember, I Am With You Always”

Selected Texts

The disciples watched from a distance,

a safe distance,

every one of them fearful, nervous, anxious.

They all knew they should

scatter with the wind,

disappear into the wilderness,

but still they also knew they could not;

they knew they had to stay,

they had to watch.

Even as far away as they were,

they could hear the hammer ring

against the nails.

They watched in silent sickness

as their Lord was lifted up on the cross,

the post dropping into the ground

with a visible jolt.

They looked upon their Lord hung on the cross,

his cross between two other crosses,

the Romans always zealous with executions,

Jesus condemned to die

between two petty thieves.

None of the disciples said a word;

all of them were transfixed, numb.

But even in their silence,

all of them were praying,

praying that death would come quickly,

and mercifully for Jesus.

From where they stood,

they couldn’t hear the taunts,

the crowds jeering at Jesus,

mocking him:

“He saved others,

but he cannot save himself”

 (Matthew 27:42)

“You who would destroy the temple

and build it in three days,

save yourself

and come down from the cross!”

(Mark 15:29)

“He trusts in God;

let God deliver him now.”

(Matthew 27:43)

Quietly, the disciples slipped away,

the sight was just too much to bear.

Besides, they all knew it was over,

all over.

By sundown Jesus would be dead;

and within a week,

he’d be all but forgotten,

all but forgotten by everyone but them.

They knew they’d all have to go back to

the vocations they’d come from

before Jesus called them.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John

would take up their fishing nets again;

Matthew would go back to his work

as a tax collector.

They’d all go their separate ways.

Would they ever see one another again?

If they bumped into one another

on the streets of Jerusalem

at some future Passover celebration,

would they acknowledge one another,

or would they walk by,

heads down,

eyes averted,

as if they were strangers?

None of them, not even Peter,

recalled Jesus’ words to them

spoken not just once,

or twice,

but three different times:

“The Son of Man will be handed over

to the chief priest and scribes,

and they will condemn him to death;

then they will hand him over to the Gentiles

to be mocked and flogged and crucified;

and on the third day he will be raised.”

(Matthew 20:18ff; Matthew 17:22;

Matthew 16:21)

None of them remembered.

None of them:

“On the third day he will be raised.”

For all of the disciples, it was over.

Over.

But, of course, we know – it was not over.

On the third day Jesus was raised,

raised by God,

the linen wrappings of death

left behind in the tomb.

Christ alive, alive to Mary Magdalene,

alive to the eleven,

alive to all the world,

the promise fulfilled:

“And remember, I am with you always”

(Matthew 28)

This is the joy we will celebrate in just 5 weeks

as we gather here on Easter Sunday,

as we wave our alleluia wands,

as we shout out, “He is risen indeed!”

Jesus with us,

with us – always.

Jesus died on the cross,

and as we talked about last week,

we have to understand that,

acknowledge it,

accept it, in all its painfulness.

We cannot embrace the resurrection

without embracing the crucifixion.

We cannot get to Easter

without going through Good Friday.

But once we get to the resurrection,

we get to the promise,

the promise that Jesus will be with us,

with us here and now

calling us to new life here and now.

Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection

was as much a turning point in human history

as the flood in Noah’s day.

We talked about that last week.

But in the resurrection,

what was obliterated,

what was wiped away,

wasn’t humanity,

but the power of sin,

and the power of death.

We capture it in words we say

in our Brief Statement of Faith:

“God raised this Jesus from the dead,

vindicating his sinless life,

breaking the power of sin and evil,

delivering us from death to life eternal”

(Brief Statement, 10:23-26)

The Risen Christ calls us to new life

and in this new life

the only power sin has over us

is the power we let it have over us.

In this new life the Risen Christ calls us to

we have nothing to fear,

not even death,

for even though we will all take a final breath,

the promise is true, that

Christ is with always,

in this life

and in the life to come.

As the poet John Donne put it so lyrically,

“one short sleep past,

we awake eternally

and death shall be no more,

death, thou shalt die.”

Christ’s resurrection calls us to new life,

new life here and now,

As Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans,

“just as Christ was raised from death

by the glory of the Father,

so we too … walk in newness of life.”

(Romans 6:4)

This new life is hardly new, though;

it is the life God has called us to

through the pages of Scripture,

both Old and New Testaments.

It is the life that Jesus points to

in the gospel of Matthew,

when Jesus says that

what we do to the least,

we do as well to him:

how we talk about and treat

the poor,

how we talk about and treat

the hungry,

how we talk about and treat

the homeless,

and yes, how we talk about and treat

even the alien,

the immigrant, the stranger.

It is life one of our Ash Wednesday readings

calls us to

as we repent and turn back to God:

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,

and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.
…If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness

and your gloom be like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you continually,

and satisfy your needs in parched places,

and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters never fail.

Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations

of many generations;
you shall be called

the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to live in.”

(Isaiah 58)

This is the life our Lord’s resurrection

calls us to live

This is the life that gives life to

the Risen Christ,

for aren’t we the Body of Christ?

Aren’t we Christ’s hands, arms, feet, voice,

Don’t we reflect Christ’s presence?

Don’t we reflect Christ’s light and love?

God challenges us through the prophet:

“Why do you spend your money

for that which is not bread,

and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me…

listen, so that you may live.”

(Isaiah 55:1-9)

Listen to what our Risen Lord teaches us;

listen to the life he calls us to live,

listen that we might live

and have life, true life,

truly rich life

in this life

and in the life to come.

Lent reminds us just as surely as Advent does

that we are living in the in-between time,

the time between our Lord’s birth,

and the day when our Risen Lord

will come again.

We are in a time of waiting.

But Lent reminds us even more than Advent,

that our waiting time should not be idle,

that we are to prepare ourselves for that day,

for the life to come,

shaping our lives now,

modeling our lives on Christ’s life,

living as Christ calls us to live – now:

“whoever says, ‘I abide in him’

ought to walk just as he walked.”

(1 John 2:6)

The Christ who is with us always

teaches us

guides us,

encourages us,

and at times, disciplines us,

even rebukes us.

when we stray from being

“repairers of the breach,”

when we stray from welcoming,

building,

nurturing, forgiving,

loving.

“The death of Jesus is for us nothing

if we have not died with him

[to the old ways, to the old life].

The resurrection of our Lord is for us nothing

if we have not been raised with him,”

(E. Brunner)

The resurrection of our Lord is for us

nothing,

nothing,

if we have not been raised with him,

raised to new life,

new life…

new life…

in and with

our Living Lord.

AMEN