The Honor Roll

This is the message given at the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Mark 14:12-26.

             This Thursday is Thanksgiving.  And despite what you may have heard on the news, there is nowhere in this country that Thanksgiving has been cancelled.  There are places where the numbers are limited, and the types of gatherings are limited.  But Thanksgiving is not cancelled.  It is always, always, legal and proper, and a good thing to do, to thank God.  As we talked last week, we are to be thankful in all circumstances, even when it’s a really hard thing to do.

            Now, God understands why, in times like this, it can be hard for us to feel thankful.  But that even though God understands when we cannot feel thankful, feeling thankful should still be our goal.  Not in the sense of feeling guilty if we don't feel thankful, but in the sense of knowing that we'll feel better if we do.  It's okay for us to feel whatever we feel, but we also need to try to find ways to not feel it any more, to start feeling the thankfulness that really will help us once again feel joy and feel that we are one with God.

            And that's why we read the story from the gospel of Mark about the Last Supper.  Some of you might have wondered about that, because we’re not taking communion tonight, and besides, we usually read that story when it's getting close to Easter, not at Thanksgiving.  But it seems to me, when I read that story, that one of the things Jesus does there is give us an example of being thankful in all circumstances.

            Let's look at what's going on here.  Jesus is about to take the Passover meal with his disciples.  This is the last time he's going to be with them before he gets arrested—that, of course, is why we call it the Last Supper.  The arrangements are made.  The meal is prepared.  Jesus comes, and the way it's written, the first thing he tells the disciples is that one of them is going to betray him.

            The disciples—other than Judas—are shocked.  Judas himself might be shocked, at least shocked that Jesus knows what he's going to do, anyway.  But Jesus tells them it really is going to happen, and that it really is one of them.

            Then, it's time to eat.  What happens then?  Here's what it says:

            "Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it, this is my body.”  Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it."

            Think about that.  Jesus knows exactly what's going to happen.  He knows that later on that night, he's going to be arrested.  Then he's going to be beaten, he's going to be tortured, and he's going to be killed in a very hard way.  And he knows that the person responsible for turning him over to the authorities and making all this happen is sitting right there with him.  And yet, Jesus gives thanks.  He gives thanks twice, once before giving his disciples the bread and once before giving his disciples the cup.  Knowing everything that's going to happen, Jesus still gives thanks to God the Father.

            I wonder what Jesus actually said.  There's no way to know, of course.  None of the gospels quote Jesus there.  They just say he gave thanks.  It may have just been a ritualistic Jewish prayer, just a formula prayer that Jews always said before taking a meal, especially the Passover meal.  That would explain why we don't have Jesus' words.  On the other hand, all the gospels that talk about this specifically point out that Jesus gave thanks twice.  If it was just a ritual, there'd have been no need to say it at all.

            What would Jesus have had to be thankful for, at that point?  The food?  What good was that going to do him?  This was the last meal he would have on earth.  His friends?  One of them was going to betray him, and all of them were going to abandon him.  The coming day?  Jesus knew what that was going to bring for him.  Yes, he knew he would eventually triumph over death and would later go to be with God the Father in heaven, but he was going to have to travel a long, hard road to get there.  And as we learn from Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane, it's not a road he particularly wanted to travel, any more than anyone else would.  If you were Jesus, what would you be thankful for right then?  Anything?

            Again, there's no way to know what Jesus was thankful for.  The only thing I can think of, though, is that Jesus was thankful for the chance to serve God the Father.  Jesus was thankful for the honor of being the one who would bring salvation to the world.  Jesus was thankful that, as the Divine Son, he had the privilege of being the one who would suffer, die, and then conquer death so that our sins would be forgiven.

            Maybe some of us would look at that and think, “Oh, yeah, that was some honor, all right.”  But if we think about it, it really was an honor.  After all, who else could've done it?  Who else could have been fully divine and fully human at the same time?  Who else could've been sent from heaven to do what Jesus did?  Who else could have left the presence of God the Father, abandoning the power that comes from God the Father, leaving the joy and beauty and peace and love that comes from being in the presence of God the Father, in order to bring salvation to us?  No human could've done it, obviously.  No angel could've done it, either.  None of the cherubim or seraphim or any other heavenly beings could have done it.  Out of all the earthly beings and all he heavenly beings, there was only one who could do it.  The only one who could be sent from heaven, the only being capable of doing what Jesus did, was Jesus himself, the divine Son of God.

            Only the divine Son was uniquely qualified to suffer, die, and then conquer death so our sins would be forgiven.  And we're told that Jesus was honored for it.  If you wonder why we're told that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father, well, that's one of the reasons why.  To be seated at the right hand of the king was the place of greatest honor.  And Jesus was given that honor because he accepted the chance to serve God the Father in a way that only he could do.

            You and I are asked to serve God the Father, too.  We are asked to serve God in a way that no one else can.  Each of us is.  There is some way in which you are uniquely qualified to serve God, just like Jesus was.  And maybe some of you are thinking, “Oh, yeah, right.  I'll just bet there is.  I'm no better than anyone else.  There's nothing I can do that lots of other people cannot do.  In fact, they can all do those things a lot better than I can.  There's nothing special about me.”

            I understand why you think that, but it's not true.  Each of us is special and unique.  God knows everything about us.  God knows when we get up and when we go to bed.  God knows when we go out and when we come back.  God has known us since before we were born.

            What that means is that there is something about you that is different from everyone else on earth.  There is something about me that is different from everyone else on earth.  If I was exactly like someone else, there'd have been no need for God to put me here.  If you were exactly like someone else, there'd have been no need for God to put you here.  The fact that you are here, and the fact that I'm here, shows that there is something we are supposed to do, something that no other being on earth or in heaven can do.

            That's part of what it means to be one of God's children.  Those of you who have children, think about it.  Are any two of them alike?  Even if you have twins, are they exactly alike?  Of course not.  Even if they're identical twins, they're still not exactly alike.  Each of us is different.  Each of us is unique.  Each of us is special.  And each of us has something God wants us to do that no one else can do.  Each of us is asked to serve God in some special and unique way.

            Think of the honor that is.  Out of all the billions of people on this earth, out of all the heavenly beings, there is something you, and only you, have been chosen by God to do.  It may be easy.  It may be hard.  It may be enjoyable.  It may not be.  It may be something you do with a group of people.  It may be something you do alone.  It may not be the same thing all your life.  In fact, it probably won't be.  But God has chosen you, and only you, to do something.  Out of all the billions of people on earth, God has selected you.

            So if you have a hard time thinking of something to be thankful for, be thankful for that.  Be thankful that, out of all the billions of people on earth, out of all the billions of people who are and who have been and who will be, God knows your name.  God knows everything about you.  God has known you since before you were born.  There is no one else on earth like you.  And there is something God wants you to do that no one else can do.

            Think about what an honor that is.  And be thankful for the honor of serving the almighty, all-loving, eternal God in your own special, unique way.