REFLECTIONS ON THE SUNDAY SERMON
Linda Waltersdorf Cobourn, EdD
March 9, 2025
Pastor Amy Peters, Speaker
And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” Luke 19:34.
“We don’t want to miss Jesus!” Pastor Amy said at the beginning of Sunday’s message. A small boy who had been too sick to attend Sunday School responded this way when his dad came home from church bearing palm leaves and explaining the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. “The one Sunday I miss and Jesus comes!”
I settled into my pew to hear the beloved story we had heard before, the herald to our Lenten study in the days before Easter. My thoughts returned to an often-overlooked passage: The Lord requires it. The colt owners let the disciples untie the animal without protest. God needs us all, I reflected. But do we respond? Do we miss Jesus because we do not answer the call?
The people along the path didn’t want to miss Jesus. They lined the rocky dirt road, cutting down palm branches, throwing their cloaks before the Messiah, and shouting “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Some of the Pharisees, those wet blankets, wanted Jesus to stop the people from their joyous celebration.
He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Luke 19:40
Jesus thus fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey
The arrival of the Messiah began a new chapter in the history of Israel. In 2025, it is still a call, Pastor Amy reminded us, “to start something new.”
That was when our dear Amy told us she herself was doing “something new” and stepping down as the Pastor of Atonement Methodist Church. That announcement surprised many; some were stunned. Her tears expressed sorrow, not happiness. She asked for our prayers as she faces some health challenges; she asked for our patience as leadership is changed; she asked us to continue our own walks of faith as she made, in her words, her “triumphant exit.”
I want to concentrate on that triumphant exit. Amy has served God for years. She has borne our various burdens and her own. She has led us into a new chapter as we transitioned from “Church of the Atonement” to “Atonement Methodist.” She has held hands with each of us, crying with us, praying with us, encouraging us, and rejoicing with us. Her retirement decision, though difficult, stems from a divine call for rest. God needed Pastor Amy here at Atonement; none of us who attended and paid attention could “miss Jesus” because she always and everywhere exuded His love and compassion to us. Amy’s continued rest, healing, and devotion remain important to God.
And what of you, dear friends, who have heard the words from our dear Pastor’s lips? Do others see the joy in us that the ancient believers displayed? Will we wait for the stones to cry out because we do not? Do we collectively proclaim God’s blessings, personal and communal?
The Lord said, “Amy Peters, I have need of you.” And Amy responded, “I am here, Lord. Send me.” Her words reflected those of Isaiah 6:8: Here I am. Send me. God sent Amy to Atonement. To Hope Church. To Knollwood.
We can honor Amy’s legacy by starting “something new.” We can respond, as Amy did, to “The Lord has need of you.”
What is the Lord asking of you?
