Written by professors, graduates, and others in
the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary community, these reflections, prayers, and spiritual practices will take you along the journey with Jesus through the cross toward resurrection.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
• Psalm 146
• John 12:20– 36
Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Who talks like this anymore? Certainly not the average Twitter crowd. On Twitter, Jesus’ words might have sounded like this: “Wigged out. Talked out. What’s up with that, dad? Oh well. Bummer.”
In contrast, consider Walt Whitman from Leaves of Grass: “There is, in sanest hours … a thought that rises, independent, lifted out from all else, calm, like the stars, shining eternal. This is the thought of identity … Miracle of miracles, beyond statement, most spiritual … yet hardest basic fact. … In the midst of the significant wonders of heaven and earth … creeds, conventions fall away and become of no account before this simple idea.”
Although Whitman was not musing on John’s Gospel, he might have been. Jesus is making his ascent toward the temple in Jerusalem, staring toward the cross on the horizon. It’s a bit like a marathon runner who has settled into a certain rhythm when suddenly facing a climb. She knows her pulse will pick up and her muscles will ache. Yet, she is committed to finishing the race. It’s also a little bit like us on our Lenten journey. We have settled into a liturgical rhythm. Now, we realize that Holy Week is here and our pulse quickens in anticipation of Easter.
It is, as Whitman wrote, “A miracle of miracles, beyond statement, most spiritual … yet hardest basic fact.” And the most basic fact of life to which Jesus alludes is this: something, or someone, has to die so that someone else might live. As disciples of Christ, we face the same predicament: Are we willing to die so that others might live? When was the last time we laid down our lives—like giving up a dream, taking a job we did not want but that pays the bills, living in a place we would not have chosen? We also might know someone who has literally laid down their life for others.
Again Whitman: “All parts away … all religion, all solid things … all that was or is … before the procession of souls along / the grand roads of the universe.” For this reason, Jesus has come to this hour: to teach us how to strip away all that is insignificant so that that we might worship God by showing us how to die in order to gain life everlasting.
Ever-living God, teach us to live according to your will, not ours, and help us die to all that keeps us from serving others as you have died for us and served us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
– The Reverend Dr. Dieter Heinzl (MDiv’98)
Associate pastor, Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church, St. Louis, Missouri, and President of the Austin Seminary Association
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