Willing To Go Just A Bit Farther
The Rev. Gina M. Stewart
Pastor
Christ Missionary Baptist Church
Memphis, Tennessee

(This sermon is also available in audio)

Lord, Jesus Christ, what a privilege it is to be here at Calvary Episcopal Church again today, to celebrate and to share in this Lenten Series and this worship celebration.

It is always a joy to be extended an invitation and certainly a joy to be extended an invitation to be back twice. There are times when people extend invitations to you and they are glad to see you twice. They are glad to see you come and glad to see you go. I trust and hope and pray that that does not represent the sentiment of those of you who are present today, but that you are here today because you want to hear a word from the Lord.

I am grateful for the members of Christ Baptist who are here, particularly for our senior jewels who boarded our van two days in a row and beat me here for this service. I am also grateful for the colleagues that I see--friends in ministry, brothers and sisters of the cloth, and also for colleagues from MIFA--and all of you, I praise God for your presence.

Since I'm not at Christ Baptist and I don't have an hour to preach, let me invite your attention to Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 26. I am reading from the New International Version:

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." God's word for God's people. AMEN.

Against the backdrop of this season of Lent, I would like for you to consider as a thought going just a little bit farther. Indulge me for just a few minutes as I share some reflections with you, real life experiences, that helped me to appreciate this text in Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 26. I have fond memories of my maternal grandparents. We called them Muddier and Gramps. They were unusual people. They were not wealthy. They were not well educated. They didn't have a lot of material possessions, but they had a lot of love and compassion in their hearts. I remember spending a lot of time over there while I was growing up and. There were times when I wasn't sure whether their home was a hotel or a restaurant, because they were always feeding somebody else, always taking in somebody else. Muddy and Gramps were always willing to go a little bit farther.

Every Monday there's a group of senior citizens from Christ Baptist who board the van and head to Klondike Elementary School to listen to children read. There is a group of children at Klondike who participate in a program that requires that their parents listen to them read. They are required to bring back a signed response slip saying that the parents have listened. The children who return without a signed response slip, are not allowed to participate in certain activities. That's why a group of senior citizens from Christ Baptist heads to Klondike Elementary School every Monday to listen to children read. The senior jewels of Christ Baptist are willing to go just a little bit farther.

About a year ago, MIFA (Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association) was about to move because of some upgrades in the facility. MIFA is in the middle of a $25 million campaign. They were, ironically, about to be temporarily homeless. (It's ironic, because MIFA provides temporary shelter for the homeless in our city.) Thankfully a church in this city opened their doors and offered MIFA transitional housing. That church was First Baptist Church, and the pastor was Dr. Ken Corr. They were willing to go just a little bit farther.

I appreciate the ministry of Calvary Episcopal Church. One of the many ministries that Calvary Episcopal Church has is a ministry to AIDS victims--the 21st century untouchable population. Not only do they bury AIDS victims, but if necessary, they provide them with a decent funeral. Calvary Episcopal Church is willing to go just a little bit farther.

There is something about people who are willing to go just a little bit farther, that restores our faith in humanity. In a world of complacency, in a world of indifference, in a world of survival of the fittest, in a world of self-preservation and self-promotion, in a world where people don't like to be interrupted, don't like to be inconvenienced, in a world where we live out of day-timers and palm-pilots and calendars and schedules, just about everybody has limits to how far they are willing to go. When our paths cross with those individuals who voluntarily, without coercion or without force or manipulation, take the initiative to go just a little bit farther, it leaves indelible imprints upon our hearts.

But I really didn't come to talk to you about Muddy and Gramps. I really didn't come to talk to you about the senior citizens of Christ Baptist or Dr. Ken Corr or First Baptist Church, or even Calvary Episcopal Church. I came to talk to you about Jesus, who really didn't have to go much farther, either, but he went anyway. I came to talk to you about Jesus who was co-equal with God and co-eternal with God. I came to talk to you about Jesus, who though he was a son, learned obedience by the things that he suffered. I came to talk to you today about Jesus whose actions in the Garden of Gethsemane dramatizes that he was always willing to go just a little bit farther.

In the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew, a curtain is about to close on Jesus' ministry, and he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus is in great anguish over his impending death--the physical pain, the separation from the Father and death for the sins of the world. Contextually speaking, the divine die has already been cast. The divine course has already been set. Here in the Garden of Gethsemane we see the Son of God struggling with the reality of suffering and dying for the sins of the world. He makes it quite clear in his conversation with the Father that he would have preferred another alternative. He says to the Father, "If it be possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet, not as I will, but as you will." He took Peter, James, and John along with him, the inner circle of the disciples. But they had already gone as far as they could go, for when he went back to talk with them, they had already fallen asleep.

In just a short while, Judas would betray him, and Peter would deny him. But the a-clause in verse 39 of this twenty-sixth chapter says something that I believe is theologically significant. The a-clause of verse 39 says, "And going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed."

Everybody has his or her limits. The reason why most of us are touched by stories like the ones that I shared at the beginning of this message is because the reality is that we all have our limits. Oh, we go to church, but we have our limits. We believe in God, but we have our limits. We love God, but we have our limits. We are people of faith, but we have our limits of just how far we will go. Not because we are necessarily cold or callous, but it's usually just easier to let somebody else do it, or sometimes it's easier to just look the other way. The statement that Jesus went just a little farther is not just physical or geographical, but theological. The good news of our faith is that when nobody else would go the distance, Jesus was willing to go the distance. He went a little farther in every way.

Farther, by definition, means to go to a greater extent or to a greater degree. When we examine Jesus' life, we discover that Jesus lived and acted in history on the stage of life where we live. He was not detached from us. John 1 tells us that, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." This translates to me that Jesus literally pitched his tent among us and we beheld his glory. When we see his life, we see clearly that Jesus was always willing to go a little farther than everybody else. He went farther with people who were isolated by human suffering. He went farther with people who were isolated by status, and, yes, Jesus even went farther in his willingness to suffer for the will of God.

What are some of the ways that Jesus went farther? Jesus went farther in service to others. Jesus' life was not characterized by indifference or apathy or complacency, Jesus had a clear sense of mission. This clear sense of mission was the reason for his constant display of empathy and service to others. Jesus was never indifferent to the suffering in the lives of others. Jesus collected an array of broken lives, broken promises, broken dreams, broken characters, and redeemed them and redirected them. Who else but Jesus would take the time to deal with the woman with a curved spine who had been bent over for eighteen years? Who else but Jesus would go to the house of a slick tax collector and not only talk to him, but have dinner with him? Who else but Jesus would take the time to minister to an epileptic child? Who else but Jesus would take the time to deal with the schizophrenic or demon-possessed folk? Jesus was willing to go a little bit farther in his concern and compassion for others.

Jesus also went farther in inclusiveness. In the widening of the circle of fellowship, Jesus--who was born and reared among people of intense pride who believed that a political kingdom with a Davidic King was destined to be theirs--modeled a ministry of inclusiveness. Jesus stayed in trouble because he always went just a little bit farther. He got run out of the temple. He preached about a kingdom that was for everybody, not based on the color of one's skin or their social class or their national history, but a common destiny that was based on faith in the living God and following the claims of the kingdom. Jesus opened his heart to a Samaritan woman, to Canaanites, to homeless beggars and persons from every strata of society.

Not only did Jesus go farther in terms of race, but he went farther in terms of gender, thanks be to God. In a culture steeped in patriarchy, Jesus was a trailblazer in the affirmation of women. He made Mary sit at his feet while Martha was in the kitchen cooking chicken. He praised the women. He dared to risk social contamination by talking with a woman that was drawing water in the middle of the day at Jacob's well.

Finally, Jesus went farther in his personal commitment to carry the cross. Our whole approach to discipleship, unfortunately, is much like those of the disciples who fell asleep in the garden. We will follow Jesus as long as it doesn't cost too much. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Mark's Gospel tells us that they all forsook him and fled. Then Matthew reminds us that Peter, one of Jesus' brightest pupils, the one who had said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God," followed at a safe distance when Jesus was taken to Pilate's Court.

Because of Jesus' life and his caring and his circle of friends, the authorities wanted to destroy him. They wanted to destroy him because he was willing to go just a little bit farther. Nailed to a cross, nails driven in his feet and wrists, a spear hanging from his side and blood streaming down his face from a crown of thorns around his head.

What would make Jesus go that far? I tell you what I believe. I believe that he went farther so that lepers could be cleansed. I believe he went farther so that a blind man could see the smile of a baby for the first time. I believe he went a little bit farther so a woman at a well could go running through the streets saying, "Come see a man who told me everything I ever did, surely he must be the Christ." I believe he went a bit farther so that the veil in the temple could be split in half so that we could come boldly before the throne of grace and obtain mercy to help us in the time of need. I believe Jesus went a little bit farther because it was the Will of God and because he was the Son of God, and his desire was to do the Will of God.

But that's not the only reason why I believe Jesus went a little bit farther. I believe the other reason why Jesus went a little bit farther was because he was the only one that was qualified, uh-huh, to go a little bit farther. He was the only one that could save me from my sins. I believe he went a little bit farther because he knew that a Doug Bailey would need a Savior. I believe he went a little bit farther because he knew that a Martin Luther King would need a Savior. I believe he went a little bit farther because he knew that a Gina Stewart would need a savior. I believe he went a little bit farther because he knew that we needed to be saved.

I need to be realistic today because even in our good intentions, we must admit that going a little bit farther is not always the easiest thing to do. It's not always the safest thing to do. It's not always the most practical thing to do. Dietrich Bonehoeffer was right when he said that when God calls a man [or a woman, since they really weren't into inclusive language back then] he bids them to come and die. To go a little bit farther involves a measure of courage. It takes sacrifice. It takes commitment. Sometimes it may even mean death.

Perhaps that's why Muddier and Gramps were always feeding somebody. Perhaps that's why every Monday a group of seniors from Christ Baptist goes over to Klondike Elementary School to listen to some children read so that their response slips can be signed. Perhaps that is why Dr. Ken Corr and the First Baptist Church opened their doors to MIFA and gave a space for several months without a lot of overhead expense. Perhaps that's why Dr. Doug Bailey and Calvary Church have a ministry to people with AIDS to provide them with a decent funeral, because to be a disciple, to follow Jesus, is really to go just a little bit farther.

Copyright 2001 The Rev. Gina Stewart

(Return to Top)