Sermons

If you did not know I am the oldest of three, and the last in line is my little brother. I don't think that younger brothers really pay attention to what older siblings are doing, or maybe its just my brother. Anyway, if you were to ask my brother what I do he would say I’m a pastor, but I only work on Sunday. I know this because we have talked about this before when he asked me what I do all week. His exact words were "you only make money on Sunday, so what do you do during the week?" What a loving sibling.

I wouldn’t say it’s a good question to ask, but I also wouldn’t say it’s a stupid question either. But coming from my little brother, I definitely didn’t want to answer. So, for  those of you who always wanted to know what the pastor does during the week, I’m going to give you a glimpse of my busiest week of the month for me.

The week begins on Monday morning, I know yall think we just disappear until next Sunday but there is a lot that goes on throughout the week. There are meetings that happen regularly among the staff to keep things moving, certain meetings that happen at night with many of you and for me every week I gather youth together. So during my busiest week, I tend to have a meeting each night of the week with various meetings on certain days in the morning. Which means I work through most of the day and then come back for more work at night.

Therefore, I am working during the week and typically I spend a lot of time preparing for things that are coming up. Don’t worry, I have told my little brother this but I still think he believes I don’t do anything during the week.

Body

Today is Palm Sunday and it’s a pretty exciting day in the life of the church. You know the stories because you hear them every year. You recognize the palms and know the meaning or maybe you don’t. This is a day that many people look forward to. But do you know what it takes to get to this day? Because we have been on a journey together.

We began with Ash Wednesday to start the season of Lent. The season of Lent is a time of prayer, fasting and self-examination in preparation for the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord at Easter. It is a period of 40 days as you know. We are probably on day 35 or so, which means this time is coming to a close. But you and I have been preparing for Christ this entire time.

Do you know what it means to prepare? Like have you ever looked up this word in the dictionary? Don’t worry I did it for you. First thing to know about the word prepare is that it is a verb. Verbs are words that show an action, occurrence, or state of being. I know you didn’t think you would get a grammar lesson this morning, but here we are and it is important to understand what we are reading today.

Now let’s define the word. According to Merriam-Webster prepare means (1) to make ready beforehand for some purpose, use, or activity, or to put in a proper state of mind; (2) to work out the details of : plan in advance; (3) to put together : compound, or to put into written form. One word with a variety of meanings.

For the last 35 days or so you have been preparing to meet Christ at the cross. You have been reflecting, praying and fasting, making sacrifices as we journey together as a community. Finally, we have reached Palm Sunday and Holy week.

Here’s how we as Presbyterians define this day: “Passion / Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, a time in the church year when we remember how Christ gave his life in love for the world. On this day we remember Christ as he enters Jerusalem, the crowd waves palm branches, wanting to crown Jesus as king. But as the story of the passion unfolds, their shouts of praise turn to demands for his crucifixion; he receives a crown of thorns as he is handed over to be mocked and killed.”

So where are we in the story? Well Jesus has entered Jerusalem in celebration ready for Passover. Passover, also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, is a special time when the Israelites come together to remember when God deliver them from Egyptian captivity. Jesus came in on a colt with the people waving palms and cheering him on. However, as he enters, he notices a few things that are not right in Jerusalem and then he clears out the temple. You know what happens, he flips some tables, tells people to leave, if you don’t know the rest of the story I encourage you to go back later and read it. From that moment forward he is questioned when people see him, people try to prove him wrong, Jesus tries to explain to the people what is to come but no one is listening.

In our passage today, it is the day of Unleavened Bread and Jesus sends a few disciples to prepare for the Passover Feast. 8 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” 9 They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” 10 “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.”

Our passage today begins with preparations, but not just for the Passover meal, but also for Jesus’ death. It is not uncommon for Jesus to send a few disciples ahead to prepare a place, actually it is what he does every time he enters a new city or village. He gives them what seems like simple, yet oddly specific instructions to find who he is looking for. This preparation is more than just cleaning the house for guests or learning the ten commandments or learning enough scripture to win a bible quiz. This preparation is a lifelong habit and requires trust. Both trust from Christ and the Disciples he is sending.

We as humans have two sides, either we are overly organized with everything in its place, that’s me. Or we are more willing to go with the flow of whatever is happening without thinking twice about what could happen. Yet, there’s one thing I cannot shake after spending time with this passage today. And that is the fact that Jesus is a vague guy to be with in times of change. Hear me out. His preparations/instructions are always limited to the bare minimum.

He says listen go find the man with a jar of water. What, really Jesus? Not a name or an address? Well what color is he wearing? What about his hair or the color of his shoes? I need more. Maybe this is how I know I would not make a good disciple.

However, this idea of preparation sent me all over the place this week. Because there is beauty, mystery and even stress in preparation. We have been preparing our entire lives for different events, moments, situations, even jobs and we can still feel unprepared at times.

Beauty. We find beauty in the process of preparing. How? Well, I’m glad you asked. For those of us who like to be organized, preparation fills us with a sense of accomplishment. That we are ready for whatever may happen good or bad. Peter and John were given some really vague instructions to prepare for the Passover feast and because they followed them they found everything they needed.

Mystery. We find mystery in preparing because after we have done all we can the outcome can be anything. A reminder of the mystery of life with Jesus Christ. They prepared a place for Jesus and the rest of the disciples and had no idea what would happen at dinner. Jesus shares his last meal with them and begin to prepare them for the next event, his death.

Stress. Do you know everything? We feel the need to know everything at times, which can be the source of stress. Life with Christ is not about knowing everything, yet we convince ourselves that if we don’t know all the scripture or aren’t knowledgeable of the Spirit or know all the rules of church we are lacking in some way. This stress can trick us into thinking we are not prepared or not ready to meet Christ.

What all these things have in common is the level of trust that is required. Jesus gives the disciples just enough information to confuse them I think and let them know he is the one in charge. Just enough words to get them to realize I have to trust this guy if I want to see this through. Even still some things don’t require preparation from us at all.

Then we read 14 When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…

It is time.

Jesus has sat with disciples to share this final meal, and he uses the moment to prepare them once again for when he will be gone. He lays out this beautiful moment of the communion teaching them the ritual and telling them that someone will betray him. The disciples have wandered around with Jesus for years and he has always said there will come a time when he will no longer be with them.

Yet nothing could have prepared them for hearing that someone will betray Jesus. Someone very close.

Jesus shares a transformative experience with the disciples as he takes the cup and bread to share with them. Are they ready? That’s not what Jesus asked anyone. Instead, he says the hour is here and time for you to remember what I have taught you.

Here’s what I discovered about Jesus in this passage. In the preparation there will be a lot of places where we are not sure why we are preparing, and places where we feel that there is not enough time to prepare for every scenario. Instead, Jesus shows us that trust and preparation go hand in hand. Jesus constantly shows up with a limited list of instructions, I think he understands that we need to focus on the task at hand rather than trying to control every moving part. So, when he says go meet a man with one shoe on in the garden, go find him because what comes on the other side of that is beauty still waiting to be discovered.

Jesus sat with his disciples one last time when he knew the hour had come, he laid out a ritual that would forever connect us to him and said someone will betray me. He didn’t go over all the things he taught them again, instead he accepted the moment and enjoyed it with them.

Preparation can only take us so far. Preparation can only prepare you for what you think will happen or what might occur. It won’t prepare you for what God will do, because God’s plans are bigger than ours. God’s plans surprise us, shock us and even inspire us to something greater. The hour has come, trust the one who has brought you here and trust the outcome.

Speaker: Rev. Khayla Johnson

April 13, 2025

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