PALM SUNDAY, 2012
MARK 14:1 – 15:47
I'M SURE MOST OF YOU ARE
AWARE OF THE TRADITION THAT JESUS SPOKE SEVEN “SAYINGS” FROM THE
CROSS. WE COULD EVEN RECITE SOME OF THEM: “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM,
FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” “FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I
COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” “WOMAN, BEHOLD YOUR SON. SON, BEHOLD YOUR
MOTHER.” "TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN
PARADISE."
BUT THE GOSPEL OF MARK,
THE OLDEST GOSPEL, REMEMBERS ONLY ONE SAYING: “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY
HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN EXPLAINING AWAY
THIS CRY FROM THE HEART OF JESUS. BUT IT IS NOT TO BE EXPLAINED. IT
IS A MYSTERY.
THE PASSION ACCORDING TO
MARK HAS TO DO WITH ABANDONMENT.
HE IS ABANDONED BY HIS
FRIEND, JUDAS. WE DON'T KNOW WHY. JUDAS TURNED HIM OVER FOR THIRTY
PIECES OF SILVER, BUT SURELY THAT COUDN'T HAVE BEEN THE ONLY REASON.
YOU DON'T FOLLOW JESUS FOR THREE YEARS ONLY TO GET HIM TO TRUST YOU
SO THAT YOU CAN SELL HIM. WE CAN ONLY WONDER, WHAT MOVED JUDAS TO DO
THIS? IF YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE BEING ABANDONED
BY A FRIEND. ONE DAY THE WHOLE RELATIONSHIP CHANGES – OR PERHAPS
OVER A PERIOD OF TIME YOU JUST DRIFT APART. AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHY,
BUT LOSING A FRIEND FOR ANY REASON IS PAINFUL.
HE IS ABANDONED BY HIS
RELIGION; THE AUTHORITIES OF THE JEWISH RELIGION ACCUSE HIM OF
BLASPHEMY AND DECIDE HE DESERVES DEATH. MANY OF US HAVE GONE THROUGH
FEELING ABANDONED BY OUR RELIGION. SOMETIMES THE CHANGES IN THE
CHURCH ARE JUST TOO MUCH TO TAKE. SOMETIMES WE FEEL BETRAYED BY OUR
PRIESTS AND BISHOPS. SOME HAVE FELT ABANDONED WHEN THE CHURCH THEY
HAVE BEEN ATTENDING FOR MOST OF THEIR LIVES IS CLOSED AND TORN DOWN.
SOMETIMES WE FEEL TORN BETWEEN A CHURCH THAT SAYS ONE THING AND A
WORLD THAT SAYS ANOTHER, AND WE WONDER WHO TO FOLLOW.
THEIR IS THE ABANDONMENT
BY PILATE, THE EMBODIMENT OF THE LAW OF ROME. PILATE RECOGNIZES
JESUS' INNOCENCE, AND MAKES AN EFFORT TO TAKE HIS SIDE AGAINST THE
CROWD. BUT IN THE END HE WITHDRAWS HIS PROTECTION AND THE PROTECTION
PEOPLE WERE ACCORDED BY ROMAN LAW. IN OUR COUNTRY WE PRIDE OURSELVES
THAT WE ARE A SOCIETY OF LAWS. BUT HARDLY A DAY GOES BY WHEN WE
DON'T READ ABOUT SOMEONE WHO HAS BROKEN THE LAW AND IS NOT PUNISHED,
OR SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN MISTAKENLY PUNISHED, AND AFTER YEARS IN
PRISON IS FINALLY RELEASED. AND WE KNOW THAT THE LAW HAS
DISCRIMINATED AND WILL DISCRIMINATE AGAIN, BASED ON THINGS LIKE THE
COLOR OF YOUR SKIN, OR WHETHER YOU HAVE AN ACCENT, OR WHETHER YOU CAN
AFFORD A LAWYER.
HE IS ABANDONED BY PETER.
WE DON'T KNOW WHY JUDAS ABANDONED HIM; BUT WE DO KNOW WHY PETER DID.
PETER WAS AFRAID. AND WE ARE OFTEN AFRAID – AFRAID TO SPEAK OUT
ABOUT WHAT'S RIGHT, AFRAID TO PUT OURSELVES ON THE LINE TO PROTEST
THE EVILS IN OUR SOCIETY; LIKE PETER, WE DON'T WANT TO BE NOTICED;
LIKE PETER WE DON'T WANT ANYONE TO THINK WE TAKE JESUS AND HIS CHURCH
SERIOUSLY.
HE IS ABANDONED BY ALL
HIS DISCIPLES, INCLUDING THE THRONGS THAT WELCOMED HIM INTO THE CITY
OF JERUSALEM. IN MARK'S ACCOUNT, NONE OF HIS FOLLOWERS ARE WITH
HIM. WE KNOW THAT JESUS IS THERE WITH THE POOR, THE ABANDONED, THE
LONELY, THE SICK, THE IMPRISONED. BUT WE AREN'T THERE. WE ARE IN
OUR COMFORTABLE HOMES, DRIVING OUR LATE-MODEL CARS, GETTING THREE
SQUARE MEALS A DAY, WORRYING ABOUT BEING OVERWEIGHT – AND SOMEWHERE
THERE IS ANOTHER PERSON, LOVED BY GOD JUST AS MUCH AS WE ARE, WHO HAS
A CLAIM ON OUR STUFF – BECAUSE THOSE WHO HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH
ABANDON THE CHRIST IN THOSE WHO HAVE LESS THAN THEY NEED.
AND FINALLY, THERE ON THE
CROSS, HE IS ABANDONED BY HIS FATHER. IT IS A REAL ABANDONMENT, ONE
WHICH THE SAINTS SPEAK OF, A DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL. IT IS A MOMENT
WHEN THE ABIDING PRESENCE OF GOD – WHICH SOME FEEL VERY STRONGLY,
BUT OTHERS ONLY WHEN IT IS MISSED – THAT COMFORTING AND UPLIFTING
PRESENCE IS SUDDENLY GONE, AND THE SOUL GAZES INTO THE BLACKEST OF
PITS. IT IS A MOMENT YOU MAY HAVE FELT WHEN YOU'VE LOST A LOVED ONE,
OR FOUND YOURSELF SUDDENLY OUT OF WORK, OR CONFRONTED THAT MEDICAL
DIAGNOSIS THAT MEANS YOU WILL NEVER BE WHAT YOU ONCE WERE. THE
MYSTICS TELL US THAT GOD DOES THIS TO STRENGTHEN OUR DESIRE FOR HIM,
TO ENLARGE OUR SOUL. BUT THOSE WHO GO THROUGH THIS CANNOT EVEN PUT
THEIR HOPES IN THAT POSSIBILITY, BECAUSE PART OF THE DARK NIGHT IS
DOUBT.
WE CAN'T GET THROUGH OUR
LIVES WITHOUT BEING ABANDONED. IF NOTHING ELSE, SOONER OR LATER WE
WILL REACH THE POINT WHERE THE WORK THAT DEFINED US CAN NO LONGER BE
DONE, AND WE BECOME IRRELEVANT; THE CHILDREN THAT NEEDED US DON'T
NEED US ANYMORE; THE BODY WE COULD DEPEND ON BECOMES FRAIL, AND THE
MIND BEGINS TO LOSE MEMORIES.
AND FOR ALL OF US, THE
MOMENT WILL COME WHEN WE TOO WILL CRY OUT, “MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU
FORSAKEN ME?” FOR EACH PERSON HAS TO FACE THAT MOMENT, HAS TO LIVE
THROUGH IT. BUT THE KNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS WAS THERE WHERE WE ARE,
THAT JESUS CONTINUES TO BE THERE IN THOSE MOMENTS, KEEPS US FROM
SINKING INTO UTTER DESPAIR. BECAUSE JUST AS THE RESURRECTION
FOLLOWED FOR HIM, OURS WILL AS WELL, BECAUSE OF HIM.
