Watching and Praying in a Time of Anguish Preached during online worship on 4-5-20 for Wollaston Congregational Church Scripture: Mark 14:32-52 “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’” After Jesus and the disciples had eaten the Passover supper in the upper room, Jesus needs some air. He needs a place where he can pray undisturbed. Gethsemane is a grove of olive trees. It is a quiet, calm place to go for someone who is in anguish. And few would go to an olive grove at night. It is a shadowy place, easy to bump into the low hanging branches and trip over the gnarly roots. Jesus and disciples are out in the cool of the evening after the hot, stuffy room of the supper. They are away from the crowds, giving them a much needed space to be with God, the Father. Jesus asks the group to sit and pray. Then he takes Peter, James and John, his closest disciples, a little way off. He needs them to stay and keep watch while he prays. In his state of anguish he needs their support. We don’t know what they are to keep watch for. We just know he wants the three to watch and pray. The theme of Mark’s gospel continues. Jesus wants the disciples to come with him, to be with him, present to the moment, in this very dire time. He knows that it is only a matter of time now. The authorities are on to him. It will not be long before the crowd arrives, armed with swords and clubs, sent by the temple authorities to arrest him. When they finally arrive, he reminds them that he has taught daily in the temple. He has not hidden away. He has laid it all out there … to his followers, to the people of Jerusalem, to the temple authorities. Henri Nouwen writes “this is the great drama of Jesus’ Passion: he had to wait for their response. What would they do? Betray him or follow him? In a way, his agony is not simply the agony of approaching death. It is also the agony of being out of control and having to wait.” And in the midst of all this Peter, James and John fall asleep. What are they thinking? How could they possibly fall asleep? Do they think Jesus can just go it alone? They have been asked to watch and pray and yet in their present condition that is a very hard thing. They are not up to it. The events of the past days have brought them to their knees. Perhaps they are physically and emotionally exhausted. Perhaps they are overwhelmed to the point of shutdown. I am sure we can identify. In this moment, we are being asked to do some hard things. Many of us are following directives to remain at home, even though we feel lonely and scared. Others, in essential services, are working night and day to the point of exhaustion. In the midst of this, Jesus asks us to stay awake … to remain present to the moment … to tune in wisely and carefully, to remain engaged in watching, waiting and praying … to be aware of needs within our community and to be ready to respond if we can. This may seem too hard at this time. We may not feel up to it. We may feel physically and emotionally exhausted. We may feel overwhelmed to the point of shutdown. Perhaps you have decided that you are going to watch Netflix and eat ice cream for the duration. Perhaps you have drifted off into fantasyland with Disney plus. Honestly, a little escapism is probably very good for us right now. On the other hand, maybe you are tempted, like me, to binge on the news. I’m tempted to spend my days checking and re-checking the coronavirus statistics: how many are infected, how many have died … in our city, in our state, in our nation and in our world. We peruse the lists … is there anyone in our family, our neighborhood, our circle of friends … who has gotten sick? Who is in the hospital? Who has been out shopping? Then perhaps we stop and think of what might happen. That is overwhelming in itself. Tears well up. Our minds go to our loved ones, those near to us and those far away. Will mom be OK? How will she cope, not being able to see me? How will dad manage if he has the go into the hospital? They will be so confused and frightened, and I can’t do anything about it. And then there are our friends and family members who go out daily into danger. Those who are nurses, doctors, eldercare providers, hospital housekeeping staff … those who keep watch, police, firefighters, the first responders … those who are keeping things going, grocery store employees, delivery persons, transit workers. Our minds may be going into overdrive. Who can even think about sleeping at a time like this? When we have tasks to do, our minds work slowly. We find it hard to process information and to make decisions. We are in overload. And so we might ask: how will we find calm and quiet in the midst of this storm? Where is our Gethsemane, our place of calm and quiet on the darkest of nights? Let’s say it out loud … this is anguish. This is the kind of watching and waiting the disciples were expected to do that night. It is waiting and watching for the next shoe to drop. It is waiting and watching for the next directive. Waiting and watching for who will be next to get sick. This is the sort of thing no one should be expected to do alone. And in fact, it is the sort of thing no one is being asked to do alone. Jesus did not go to Gethsemane alone. He went with his closest friends, the disciple community. They are the ones who would become the very early church after he was gone. And so still today, Jesus goes to the quiet place, and he takes us with him. He asks us to remain with him, present with him, witnessing to what will unfold. He asks us to remain in prayer, quietly acknowledging God’s presence in the midst of the storm. We are not expected to weather this crisis alone. And yet we are expected to remain awake, hard though it is. We are expected to keep watch, wisely filtering the news. For our own health and safety we need to monitor how much is enough. We are to determine the best sources of information, and to look to trusted community leaders. We are expected to take care of own bodies and spirits, to rest when we need to rest, to eat when we need to eat. One thing I have learned is that in a time of overload and overwhelm, frequent times of prayer and meditation are necessary. Take the time to listen to music you love or watch something that will make you laugh. Take a daily walk if you can. Check in with you body throughout the day, do I need to pause and breathe? When I heard the news that we could no longer meet as church in person, I immediately went to our snow-day plan. “No problem” I thought “I’ve done it before, I can give the service online.” That was fine for week one. But I soon realized that we would be meeting in this way for many weeks to come. Lent would be disrupted. Easter would be completely different. The UCC and other organizations posted invitations to webinars in which pastors would become online worship experts overnight. We’d learn Zoom, and discuss various online worship strategies with one another. I discovered I could not summon the energy to participate in any of the webinars. Between checking in with members of the congregation, family members and working for the next week’s service, I needed to give myself time. I needed to pray more than ever, check in with my colleagues, rest, and try to adapt to this new reality. This past week I read an article that resonates with my experiences. It says “Our essential mental shifts require humility and patience. Focus on real internal change. These human transformations will be honest, raw, ugly, hopeful, frustrated, beautiful, and divine. And they will be slower than [you] are used to. Be slow. Let this distract you. Let it change how you think and how you see the world. Because the world is our work.” [1] You may have heard the expression: “Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though every depended upon you.” Wise words for a crisis … and yet, we have to be mindful of the words. The “you” is not you-singular, it is you-plural. So long as we try to work alone, as individuals or even as our own small church, we might as well be asleep. We are called upon to remember that we have co-workers in this time … other churches and other faith communities, community groups, and governmental organizations. Humanity will only begin to deal with this global pandemic when we learn to work together. And we may as well begin to do that in the small places we find ourselves right now. We are being called upon to wait on a future that is as uncertain as it possibly can be. Like Jesus, we are in the agony of being out of control and having to wait. And so today we go to a Gethsemane of our own to meet Jesus. And we simply say “here we are … we want to remain with you, watching and praying … help us to do just that.” May all God’s people say Amen. [1] https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-You-Should-Ignore-All-That/248366/?fbclid=IwAR2CJzsTX8QrZVBBbzAuyDvL2R5G-eQCXF-xU5gjNMApzbgRpAHHVK0x7Ow#.XoIUB9Y7Wu0.facebook
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