if you don't mind believing that it changes everything

time will never matter

The Holy Gospel according to St. John the 13th chapter!

This sermon isn’t about our “nevers,” it’s about Jesus’ always…

On the night as the pot started to boil over. The night before everything hit the fan. The night before the final reckoning. The night even the air was tense. 

Jesus gathered his inner circle around a table. 

Only, instead of laying out a plan to take down the enemy, Jesus took off his robe. Instead of putting on a military uniform, he puts on servant’s rags. And instead of taking up arms, he picks up a bowl.

On the night when all the forces of evil will wage war with Jesus, Jesus doesn’t stand up to the wicked ruler, instead he kneels at the side of his disciples! He wages no righteous war, instead he washes their dirty feet. 

*Even Judas’, who would betray him…

And Peter, along with the rest of us, will have none of it.

He tells Jesus “never.”

“You will never wash my feet,” Peter protests…

Have you ever been there?

Have you ever looked out into the darkness and had the thought to tell Jesus never? I bet you have, because we all have. 

…And, how’d that work out for you?

About as well as it went for Peter, I suspect.

Because we have a savior who’s mighty faithful, don’t we?

A savior who refuses to deal in our “nevers.” A savior who promises us, “later you will understand.”

A savior sho knows this isn’t about our “nevers.” It’s about his always.  

But it’s not always easy to hear, is it? 

Like on those nights when darkness musters all it’s force; and Jesus says love your enemies. Or the days when you come to church with more nevers than anything else, and Jesus says seek and you will find.

We’ve all been there. Like Peter, in the heat of the moment, when we thought to tell Jesus never…

So, what are the “nevers” in your life? 

The “nevers” you hear week after week.

You know, the “he’ll never learn.” The “I’ll never forget.” The “ I’ll never forgive.” The, “Oh, never mind.” The, “this will never get better.” 

Or what about the, “We’ll never stop gun violence?”

Or the, “there’ll never be equality.”

…We have plenty of “nevers,” don’t we?

Are there any other nevers your preacher didn’t mention, that you want to bring to the alter of the Lord today?

Because we have no shortage of them, don’t we?

Today, as we gather together, our news-cycle has more nevers than anything else. And, if we’re being honest, we’ve brought a few of them through the doors with us, haven’t we?

We know what it’s like to stand where Peter stood that night. To look out in the darkness and wonder how Jesus can fix this. Only to see Jesus doing something that looks so trifling— at least in the moment. 

Like on a Sunday morning, in a world full of bad news and nevers, and all the pastor says is, “Jesus loves you.” *And he does.

Yeah, we know how Peter felt that night. We know what it’s like to find Jesus’ plan for the world’s evil is to go on loving, and be tempted to think, maybe even cry, “that’ll never work.” 

We know what that’s like, don’t we?

But here’s the rub, sisters and brothers, it’s not just our “nevers" in this room today. Jesus is here, too. Isn’t he?

And when Jesus shows up, it’s never about our nevers. Instead, it’s always about his always. Always!

Right now Jesus is busy. 

He’s busy doing his Father’s business. He’s busy answering the old, old prayer; “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” 

But the thing is, he’s doing it in a way that’s hard to see, hard to understand—at least in the moment.

Jesus comes bringing the kingdom. 

But he does it, not by strident into the corridors of power, but showing up in a church sitting on the corner of S. Central. 

And when Jesus comes, well he doesn’t come in an Armani suit, does he? No, he shows up wearing the world’s rags. He doesn’t come marching in, either. He comes kneeling. Finally, he doesn’t even demand the microphone, rather he just saddles up next to you, and makes a promise. 

When that happens you might, like Peter, have the thought to tell Jesus, “never.”

But it won’t do much good. Because you have a Lord who’s steadfast. A Lord who hears our nevers and says, “later you will understand.”

Because it’s not about our “nevers,” it’s about Jesus’ always. 

You who are here today, standing where Peter stood. Looking into the darkness, wondering and worrying. Jesus comes to you. 

On a day like this, when our leaders seem unable to do anything to bring a little peace to our schools, of all places. When our country seems more intent on bickering than doing anything else, it is hard to understand what Jesus is up to.

But the promise you have, and from Jesus his, is that, later you will understand.

And that’s how it always works for the faithful…

It’s only later, in hindsight that we catch a glimpse of what God has been up to all along. 

That’s how it went for Peter, didn’t it?

It wasn’t until after that he understood.

Until after denying Jesus three times. After he saw Jesus stripped naked and dying on the cross. After Peter turned tail and ran. After Peter had gone back to his old day-job, fishing. After a night of not catching a thing, and as he went to call it a day he saw Jesus on the lakeshore. After Peter ran back to the one him. After Jesus undid Peter’s denials by asking him three more times if he loved him. 

After all that, Jesus told Peter, “follow me.”

And then, and only then, did Peter begin to grasp what Jesus was up to. Getting to the heart of the problem; by getting at our hearts.

By making a promise; this isn’t about our nevers, it’s about Jesus’ always.

And this is a promise Jesus is willing to die for. And it’s one God raised Jesus from the dead to show us just how trustworthy it is. 

Because Jesus always has a way of doing that, doesn’t he?

Of staying faithful when we don’t. Of carrying us kicking and screaming to the cross where he won our redemption. 

But in the moment, it looks so weak. 

And it’s only when we look back that we begin to see Jesus’ love is stronger than the world’s darkness. That Jesus’ blood is enough to clean away the worst we can do. 

That it’s true; it’s not about our “nevers.” It’s about Jesus’ always.

Let me give you a few examples.

At my college, the library’s great window is a modern, abstract depiction of Jesus holding his arms open. Only up close, you can’t make out the image. Up close all you can see is random shapes and colors. 

But when you step back, it comes together. You see Jesus there, hold out his arms to you, holding together the chaos all around him. 

Under Jesus’ feet is the verse from Colossians, “In Him all things cohere.” Hold together.

Here’s how the college came into that window.

One of the past presidents had it commissioned after his son was killed in a tragic car crash. Because he learned to trust, in the school of the cross, what Jesus said was true, only later do you understand. 

So in the meantime, he clung to the old, old words we cling to. He could think of no greater a memorial for his son than those words.

O it’s like how it went for Joseph. 

Remember? How after everything. After all those years, he found himself embracing the brothers who tried to kill him, and then sold him in slavery. 

How only now the tables were turned, and Jospeh could repay their evil. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Because after it all, Joseph stood there and looked back, shocked by what he saw. 

He said it to his brothers like this, “What you intended for harm, God intended for good all along!”

Or Saint Paul who put it like this, “all things work together for the glory of God.” Or what about Peter in the letter he wrote, when he dared to take the prophets words for his own and insist,“By his wounds you have been healed.”

Because the faithful see what the cross has revealed. God’s triumph over our tragedy. God’s refusal to let our never be the final word. 

But it’s only in looking back that the washed see this! 

Later we understand. 

But until then, our feet trod the stony path of faith. And we sing the old hymns, like “Jesus blood never failed me yet.”

Or, “Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last / where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.” The old hymns that help us walk the stony path of faith, until our faith is transformed into sight. Until later we understand. Confess it’s been true all along, it was never about our nevers, it’s been about Jesus’ always all along!

But right now, our nevers threaten to overwhelm us. Don’t they?

So know this, in the midst of that, Jesus kneels by your side. And, washes you in his blood. And his blood never failed you yet. 

Has it?

And it won’t. It’ll carry you to the day when you can finally look back. 

Look back and see Jesus wading into the muck of this world. Taking off his heavenly glory, and putting on our world’s rags. Setting his power aside to kneel next to us. Taking the bowl of heavenly purity, only to dirty it up with what he cleans us from. 

And on that day, when we look back, we will understand. 

Now that day might not be today, or tomorrow. Or the next. It might not come until the great last day. But when it does, our faith will be turned to sight. We will understand. We will see.

Because on that day, every last one of our “nevers” will be undone once and for all. We will see them in light of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And when we see that, we will understand how Jesus was right all along; it was never about our nevers, it’s been about Jesus’ always all along!

And that’s a promise that’s rang true again and again, and it’s not about to stop now.

It’s how it always goes.