In the Garden

Luke 22:39-53

 

 

What is the most difficult experience you have ever faced? For me it was our still born. She was our first born, and at about eight months my wife, at her doctor’s orders, went into the hospital. After the delivery, my wife stayed and I returned to an empty house. Our little girl would never eat in her highchair, sleep in her crib or nurse in her nursery. It all seemed so pointless; so empty.

 

In the moments before his betrayal, Jesus was with his closest disciples, which included Peter, James and John. They were stricken with sorrow, probably even depressed, as they fell asleep. In a parallel passage, Mark tells us that Jesus cried out, “Abba, Father”, as his sweat was like drops of blood. In desperation, he cried out for God to take the cup of wrath from him, but ultimately to do His will.

 

Then, with a crowd following him, Judas arrived to betray Jesus. This time, Peter decided to stay awake, and cut the ear off from a servant. But that wasn’t how Jesus would deal with this situation. Instead, he said something that I find very unsettling.

 

“Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” And then to the religious
leaders, “But this is your hour – when darkness reigns”.

 

We all like to think of ourselves as “good people”. But what if we aren’t? What if in our deepest places we are terrible, mean people? You would never do anything like betray Jesus would you? Darkness doesn’t reign in your life. Or does it? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. It was because of your sin and mine that Jesus went to the garden, triggering the events that lead to the cross.

 

In a way, we’re all just like Judas! Every time we disobey the Lord, aren’t we driving a nail into his wrists or feet? Aren’t we betraying him with a kiss on his cheek? We are responsible for Jesus’ death because that was the only way that God could bring us into a relationship with Him.

 

If there had been anything that I could have done to save my little girl, I would have done it; but there wasn’t. It must have pained God deeply to not do something for His one and only son Jesus when he cried out to Him in the garden.

 

God, our Heavenly Father, loves us enough to have let his one and only Son die for us; for the darkness within us; so that we might live in the light of his Son. He listened to Jesus’ anguished cries; and did nothing. Why? Because He loves us.

 

Thank you Abba, Father.

 

 

Dear Joe: Carry on the Work

1 Timothy 6:11-20

 

What if Paul was to write a letter to you to carry on your Christian service? What would he say? Would he tell you to take care of your relationship with Christ? Would he say to fight the good fight? Would he tell you to reach out to those who have been entrusted to your care? Would he say to share the Gospel openly?

 

When Paul left Ephesus he put Timothy in charge of leading the church. That would not have been an easy task. You could compare it to being the head coach at Ohio State following Woody Hayes. Timothy was following in the footsteps of a legend. Yet, Paul believed in Timothy’s ability to lead others. But first things first.

 

With Paul’s final charge to Timothy, he instructs him to first take care of his own relationship with Jesus. Paul writes:

 

“Flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”

 

I’m an alum of Michigan State and a big basketball fan. Last weekend was the Big Ten Tournament and Tom Izzo had his team in the thick of it. Following their first game against Ohio State, Thad Matta made the statement that that game was the most physical game he had ever seen in his ten years in the Big Ten.

 

Following Jesus can be just like that. It’s a war with eternal consequences where you must “fight the good fight of the faith” - or lose. You fight it for yourself, and for others.

 

In todays passage Paul addresses a specific issue that some of the believers were struggling with – money. Apparently, money had become a stumbling block, or even an idol for some. Paul instructs Timothy to, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life”.

 

That’s the deal with idols; they are not “truly life”. They’re a lie. They present themselves as bringing life, as providing all that you need, as making life worth living. But they can’t; because they are not God.

 

Jesus didn’t write letters that we know of, but if he did, what would he say to you right now? Dear Joe: Flee from evil. Pursue righteousness and godliness. Resist idols. Help others to do the same. Your Brother, Lord and Savior, Jesus.

A Mother's Love

Jude 17-25

 

Mothers will do almost anything to protect their children if they feel they are threatened. My brother tells the following story about our mother that illustrates this point.

 

As a little boy, he was playing with some friends when things turned ugly and the other boys started throwing crab apples at him. He couldn’t find anything to retaliate with except for a small broken piece of brick. So he threw it at one of the boys, hitting him in the forehead.

 

Shortly after running home, there was a loud knock at our door. Our mother answered the door to find an enraged mother with her bloodied son in tow. She yelled at our mom saying, “Look what your son did to my poor boy”. Perceiving a threat to her child, our mother responded, “Well… well… he probably deserved it”.

 

In today’s passage Jude wrote to those who have been called to follow Jesus to “watch out for scoffers”, “to build yourself up in your faith” and “save others by snatching them from the fire”. In other words, he told them to protect yourself and others against the evils of this world that can drag you down from following Christ.

 

I like how The Message makes this point of motherly protection:

 

^“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.”               Jude 20-23

 

Jude uses the phrase “Dear Friends” twice in today’s eight verses. He might as well have addressed them as, “Dear Children”, because he is as loving and protective as a Mother’s love trying to protect her children. His message is as relavent today for you and me as it was then.

 

Therefore, “keep your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ”. And when you see a brother or sister who is taking the wrong way, go after them and “snatch them from the fire”.

 

 

 

Unbroken

Matthew 9:9-13

 

In the movie Unbroken, Louie Zamperini is stranded on a raft for 47 days when his bomber is shot down in the South Pacific during WWII. He is rescued by the Japanese, taken as a prisoner of war and abused for years. The movie ends when he returns home, a triumphant war hero. But the book tells the rest of his true story.

 

To survive all that happened to him is truly amazing, but when Louie returned home he became an alcoholic. His life changed however, when in 1949, at a Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles, Louie went forward to accept Christ. He was a broken man, and he knew it.

 

Matthew was a tax collector. Jews viewed tax collectors as traitors and hated them. They collected taxes for the Roman government, and then extorted whatever fees they wanted for personal gain and wealth. After calling Matthew to follow him, Jesus went to dinner at Matthew’s house where other tax collectors and sinners joined them. It was a gathering of broken people.

 

“When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

 

If you’re a follower of Jesus, doesn’t his response make you cringe just a little bit? After all, who wants to think of themselves as sick? As a sinner? As broken? Who wants to identify with the kind of people who followed Jesus? They were common fishermen, lepers, prostitutes, social outcasts, and yes, even tax collectors.

 

We go to church on Sunday dressed in our Sunday best; hair combed, makeup on, saying all the right things. We want to put forth a good image. We want others to think well of us. We don’t want them to know about our hidden thoughts, our anger and resentments, our language, our sinful attitudes and behaviors, how we use and manipulate others. We don’t want to appear broken.

 

Listen though to what God’s word has to say about being broken:

 

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”     Psalm 34:18

 

“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you God, will not despise”.                        Psalm 51:17

 

 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”          Isaiah 61:1

 

If we are honest with ourselves and with God, we would admit that we are sick; that like Louie Zamparinni, we are broken. And when we do, God takes hold of our heart and does something miraculous. We become a new creation in Christ, not perfect, but by His grace and mercy, following him in all we do.