What have we Done? By Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

Sara Miles is one of my favorite contemporary Christian writers. She was an atheist who wandered into a church in San Francisco one day. She received Holy Communion that day and it really meant something to her. She writes that she ate some bread and felt the holiness of this Sacred Meal. She felt she was feeding on the presence of God. Soon she joined that church and felt called to help them feed hungry people in their neighborhood. Because that is what Jesus would do: help people who are hungry by feeding both their bodies and their souls. She runs an amazing feeding ministry where hundreds of hungry people get food they need, but people who are wealthy and those who are economically poor also build relationships and discover what it means to be in community with one another. It is beautiful.  

Sara tells a story that one of her friends met up with her one day near Easter and said, “Hey you’re a Christian, you must be really busy because it’s almost Easter. What should I say to you? ‘Happy Holy Week’?’” 

Sara told her friend, “You could say ‘Happy Easter’ on Easter day but to be honest this whole week gives me whiplash. Think about it.”

·         On Palm Sunday – Jesus enters Jerusalem and the crowds celebrate Jesus as if he is a king. He is the long awaited Messiah. We love him. 

·         Then we share a loving meal and he washes our feet and feeds us. 

·         One of us sneaks out and betrays him. (That’s Judas.) 

·         Another promises never to deny him, and then later denies him. (That’s Peter.)

·         Then crowd has a chance to save him and instead we give him up with the words “Crucify him.” We all just said those words.

·         We run away, leave him to be crucified, alone, and yet he forgives us. 

·         Jesus is killed we place him in the tomb and we give up. 

·         But wait, he is not dead.

See? Whiplash. Is this a Holy Week? (source: http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20140407JJ.shtml). 

I am wearing this bright colored dress that sort of fits the celebration of Palm Sunday and spring.  But I feel like I should put on black, a color of mourning, to represent the betrayal and denial that comes later in the story.  Holy Week is a tough week.   Whiplash is a great word for it.  Holy Week is hard.

Just take a closer look at this scene before Pilate.  The Roman Governor Pilate has an opportunity to let Jesus go. His wife tells him that she has had a troubled night’s sleep because Jesus is a noble man but he has been arrested. Pilate is looking for a way out. He does not want to be the one to sentence Jesus to death. He is impressed that Jesus remains silent while the list of trumped up charges is read. He knows the priests’ motives are not pure. But Pilate’s hands are tied. 

Now the custom says that the Jews can have one prisoner released on that day, but the crowd chooses Barabbas. The chief priests are out working the crowd. They persuade the people to ask for Barabbas instead of Jesus. Pilate asks for a basin of water and he washes his hands of the matter. He sends Jesus off to be crucified. The people say: “We’ll take the blame, we and our children after us.”

But here is the thing. They simply could not have known. They could not have known what they were doing. These poor people. How could they possibly have known what it would mean to send the Saviour of the world to his death? Who, Who in their right mind, could willingly take the blame for that? 

There were so many mistakes that night. This is a textbook case for human sin and imperfection, a psychology class would go to town with this . Think about it. Jesus’ own friends were used to betray him. Judas sold his soul. For 30 pieces of silver, Judas identified Jesus, and then Jesus was taken away to be arrested. Judas later commits suicide because he cannot forgive himself. 

Peter says at dinner that he would never deny knowing you Jesus. But just like that, after Jesus is arrested, they all get scared. A young girl standing by a fire in the yard says to Peter, “I know you, you were one of Jesus’ disciples.” Peter says, “No, you must be mistaken.” Three times he denies knowing Jesus. This is Peter – Peter who was part of Jesus’ inner circle. This would be like Ringo Starr denying that he knows Paul McCartney; or Scottie Pippen denying that he knew Michael Jordan. It’s unthinkable, unimaginable. Why did they do it?  Why did Judas do that?  Why does Peter do that? 

What human sin can overtake us so that we would deny our best friend? For Judas it was probably greed or the desire for power. They may have promised him some important role in the temple. Peter’s denial seemed likely born out of fear. He knew Jesus had been sentenced to death. He did not want to be sent to death with him.        

You see the Peter froze. He failed to trust in God.   In the moment he froze. That is what happened to the crowd too.

Think about it. On Sunday, that same crowd was cheering for Jesus. He came into town and they waved palm branches. They threw down their coats on the road which was to say this is royalty entering our town. They proclaimed – THIS IS OUR KING. They knew in their hearts this is the one. This is God’s Son, the Messiah. We can trust this one. We have something to live for. We can point our lives in this way and even though we live under the oppression of Roman rule, we have hope, we can focus on God and God’s love and it will be okay. 

But how soon they turned. They lost their focus. They got scared. They started listening to the religious leaders who wanted to keep the power for themselves and they were threatened by Jesus and by his radical message of love. Have you ever noticed how nervous people get when they see really pure love and courage? They just can’t handle it.   What is it about pure love and courage that causes people to be so afraid and turn on it?  People get so afraid of pure and courageous love they will send it to the cross and crucify it. 

Holy Week is a week for us to ask ourselves: where are we in this story of whiplash? What have we done? When we see Jesus how do we respond? When we see pure and courageous love in our world do we celebrate it? Do we point it out and say “Yes! That person is being like God and I am going to follow that person, even if it is unpopular.” 

Or when we see love that is pure and courageous, do we deny any association? Think about when you see an outcast being bullied, and someone sticks up for that outcast. Jesus did that all the time. That is pure and courageous love. But sometimes the bullies of this world are the popular people. Often they are the people with the power. Often the bullies are the status quo. It costs us social capital to stand with the outcast. I have been there. Sometimes I want to just sit by and let someone else take a stand. Can’t someone else take this one?  I want to be invisible. Peter never thought he would deny Jesus but he did. I don’t want to be the person who lets the outcast be oppressed but sometimes I let it happen, I do. 

When we refuse to stand with the outcast, and stand up to the bully, we are denying the power of love. We are failing to stand with the courage of Jesus. Sadly, we are in the company of Judas, and Peter and the crowd who waved palms and then shouted “Crucify him.” 

We all know what it feels like to be the outcast. But can we also put ourselves in the place of being the one who will love the outcast. There will always be someone with less status than you, for one reason or another. Because we human beings will always find another reason to put someone down.  We will always find a reason.

We can always find a way to think we are better, and someone else is worse. That’s why Holy Week is a week of whiplash and we just have to keep asking ourselves, “Whose side am I on?” 

Looking back at the story it is easy to judge Judas, to judge Peter and judge the crowd who condemned Jesus. We think: we would never have done that. Hindsight makes everything so clear. But we crucify Jesus every day: when we turn our backs on love and courage. 

So as we walk through this Holy Week, let’s make it mean something to us. Let us turn this week around.  When we see opportunities to act with pure love and courage, let’s do it. Jesus died once and for all. We don’t have to crucify him all over again. That is the good news.  This does not have to be a week of whiplash where we betray and deny Jesus. We know the whole story. 

When we look back this week and ask “what have we done?” let us say, “We have followed Jesus. We have acted with love and with courage.”  Let’s do it.  Amen.