“A Stone’s Throw Away from Sorrow” April
9th 2017 Jacqueline Hines Luke 22.39-46
If
you are looking for Jesus today, you will find him at the Mount of Olives. [slide # 1 alive trees] The Garden of Gethsemane was there. It was a place of
prayer and privacy with the help of the walls made of stone or perhaps trees.
It was an agonizing time. Jesus was preparing to do what no one else could do.
At the tender age of 33, he was ready to give his life as a sacrifice; he had
come unto his own and his own received him not.
He came to
express God’s love in the flesh, to make God’s love real and visible in ways
that the prophets and the law could only partially do. Yet in return for a
message of miracles and a lot of love, he was spat upon. He was wounded for our
transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. He was indeed a man of
sorrow, acquainted with grief. [slide# 2 Jesus praying, angel is near]
There
he knelt in fervent prayer. [slide# 3 Jesus praying in garden] His heart was nearly fainting with grief. Sadly,
God’s people had sinned; someone must go and save them and cover them with the
love blood shield of protective righteousness. God’s people, in their
dedication to sin, were in danger, for their sins would cause much harm and
much trouble. Danger! Danger! Danger! Sin puts us in danger -Sins of omission,
sins of commission. [slide # 4 sin/danger] We, God’s
people, need Jesus to save us from our sins.
Jesus had
gathered a few disciples for a time of prayer. Prayer is serious business. It
was peaceful in the olive garden. The olives reminded them of the anointing oil
used to symbolize God’s call to come, come and be healed. Come, come and be
delivered. Come, come and be saved from all that your sins can do to destroy
your life.
The garden,
where they had prayed so often, was a reminder of God’s love, power, and
presence. Three things happened in that garden that we must never forget.
Number one, the first thing we must not forget is what Jesus said to the
disciples. He said, “Pray.” Pray so you will not enter into temptation. [slide# 5 pray]
Seven days
without prayer makes one weak (week). We must pray to avoid some trouble. As
the songwriter put it, “Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain
we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” Most people
say they pray when they are in trouble. But it is wise to pray so we can avoid
certain troubles.
At our last
Union of churches service, Bob Meissner told me a couple times about activities
for children at the Movie Church. They have activities and a meal for children
and families and his neighbor goes to the Movie Church. Since last Easter at
least we have had no Junior Church. For a few Sundays, I announced that Jr.
Church was under construction. Then Jr. Church was out of sight and out of
mind.
That
conversation with Bob reminded me to start praying again for children’s
ministries at Bethel, because a church with children without a growing
children’s ministry is at risk. A few weeks ago, I heard Mary Tyson speaking
about the heartbreak of seeing two pews full of children and no Jr Church for
them.
We have
certainly done everything possible that we know to do. Now it is time to pray
intentionally, as we prayed two years for a youth worker and Kim Bradbury and
Amy Keller came forward. We have signed up every volunteer we could think of to
participate in Jr. Church. We have paid people, we have set aside money to pay
people and still, we have no Jr. Church. We have done all we know to do, now it
is time to pray intentionally.
When I woke up
Thursday morning, I was reminded over and over again to pray day after day,
year after year until something happens, and I hope you will join me and the
Nurture Committee in the effort to pray for a growing children’s ministry. We
may prune some children’s ministries, but we also want to pray for God to bless
us with ways to touch the lives of our children in consistent, constructive and
lively ways. Prayer can will keep us out of spiritual trouble.
We can’t avoid
having some trouble. The scriptures say, “Many of the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all.” Sometimes we have to
pray to get out safely out of the trouble we’re in. Sometimes we pray to avoid
trouble.
Pray! Pray!
Pray! We must never forget that Jesus warns us to pray.
After he said
that he went to another part of the garden to pray himself. When he left, he
told the disciples to pray so they would not enter into temptation. He did not
go very far, only a stone’s throw away. He got down on his knees and prayed the
most agonizing prayer anyone could every pray, “Not my will but your will be
done, Father.” Here’s my money, Lord. Not my will but yours be done, Father.
Here’s my refrigerator, Lord. Not my will but yours be done, Father….here’s my
time, my attitude, my vocabulary, my lifestyle…my worries, my fears…Not my
will, but yours be done, oh God.
This is the
second thing that happened in the garden hat we need to remember. We need to
remember that Jesus prayed: “Not my will, but your will be done, Father. [slide # 6 your will]
Oh,
how we need to pray more often: “Have your way, Lord. Have your way. I
surrender, Lord. I know you have a purpose and a plan for my life. I know you
intend no harm to me only a future filled with hope. You say so in Jeremiah
29.11. I know I can trust you, so I will obey. I know you know all things. You
know the beginning and the end. You know, Lord, better than I where I need to
be broken in order to be blessed. Not my will, but your will, Lord.
When
Jesus turned, to get comfort from the disciples, they were no more praying than
the man on the moon. Instead they had fallen asleep. At first I felt sorry for
them because the bible says they fell asleep because of sorrow. [slide # 7 sleeping
disciples]
Why
did they have sorrow? For the same reasons any of us have sorrow. It was
dawning on them that the kingdom was coming, but it wasn’t coming as they
expected. They knew they were going to be blessed, but the blessings did not
always come when they wanted them. They knew the Holy Spirit would teach them,
but it wasn’t the lesson they thought they needed to learn. It was dawning on
them that they were on the winning team, but the enemy seemed to be laughing in
their face and getting away with the cruelest treatment. They were afraid, and
they were disappointed.
When
we look around the church universal, do we not also see that we too are a
people of sorrow, acquainted with grief? Have not our hearts bled for the
unkind deeds that Satan has perpetrated against us or our loved one? Have we
not been disappointed time and time again because someone has failed to be
faithful or kind? Have not our bodies been wracked with pain and distress? Have
we not cried out as Satan snatched a loved one into the slavery of sin and none
but Jesus heard us? Do we not grieve the loss of our will and the dawning of
God’s purpose in spite of our fondest wishes? How many times have we cried out
for healing and relief but God seemed to be silent.
Yet,
it seems to me that God is rarely silent. What most often is the case is that
we don’t want to hear the answer. God’s ways are not our ways. God’s thoughts
are not our thoughts. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 53.8,
9)
Just
think about it. A blind man asked for healing and Jesus put mud on his eyes and
sends him to a pool to wash it off. One thing is for sure, he probably needed
someone to go with him to guide him. The Lord always has a way of getting us
together with other people because we need them or they need us or God just
want to bless us with his awesome glory.
Another
man with leprosy who came to Jesus for healing was sent to wash seven times in
the Jordan River across the way where those other people lived. The
first thing the man thought was “I have water in my own back yard among people
I know. Why do I have to go over there, Jesus? Why is my healing wrapped up in
the strength of my relationships? Why is my blessing in a strange place?
--Because God is love and always wanting us to reconcile, and influence more
territory for the good of all. Since Naaman wanted to meet the God who heals,
he had to go to the Jordan and discover that the Lord our God is one God, and
the only God.
Things
were not going as the disciples expected. They were sorrowful. We all
understand the heartache that left the disciples sleeping for sorrow instead of
praying.
That
is why we must never forget the third thing that happened in the garden. That
is that Jesus withdrew merely a stone’s throw away from their
sorrow. [slide #
8 two tossing stone’s]
In
our sorrows, Jesus is close by. All we need to do is call the name of “Jesus.” [slide # 9 power in
Jesus name] He is there all the time.
When we call on him, things change for the better. When we call on him he
promises to bring us through. When we call on him, a light shines in the
darkness and the darkness cannot put it out. When we call on him we feel more
hopeful. [slide
# 10 Jesus is the answer]
At
first I felt sorry for the disciples, exhausted and sleeping because of sorrow.
Now I know that in the time of sorrow, when things are not going as we expect,
it is better to wake up and call on him – Jesus. In the bible, sleeping
is a biblical metaphor for prayerlessness. We need to wake up and call upon the
name of the Lord. He’s right here to
help us. [slide
# 11 wake up…]
In
every area of our life, we need to call on him. If your body needs healing,
call on him. If your neighbor won’t do right, call on him. If you need a
friend, call on him. All we need to do is call on him. Jesus - a
stone’s throw away from sorrow. AMEN! [slide # 12 Call Jesus first]
No comments:
Post a Comment