Psalm 127:3a - "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord..."
Do you know what a mantra is? It’s a form of prayer associated with Hinduism. These prayers are spoken repetitiously in the hopes that the power of repetition will mystically bring about the granting of the person’s prayers. One popular example of a mantra, though it’s not exactly a Hindu prayer, is at the end of The Wizard of Oz. The good witch tells Dorothy that if she wants to go home, all she needs to do is click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.” It works, and the movie ends.
If one ever spoke of a “Christian parenting mantra,” it might be something like, “Children are a blessing from the Lord…children are a blessing from the Lord.” I have spoken with parents who have repeated this phrase to themselves to try and induce a calmed state when facing a frustrating parenting situation. Whether it’s feeling helpless with a two-year-old pushing your buttons or feeling hopeless with a teenager pushing his curfew, we have all faced frustrating situations…those times when we feel that we were far passed the “end of our rope.” At those times, we may be tempted to feel that a mantra-like repetition of Psalm 127:3 will bring us back to our senses. We want to replace the exaggerated “I could kill him!” with “Children are a blessing from the Lord,” hoping we can calm down and think clearly.
What I want to ask in this month’s newsletter is this: Is this what is means for children to be a blessing from the Lord? A gift from the Lord? A heritage from the Lord? If Psalm 127:3 is not meant to be a “Christian parenting mantra,” then how are we to think about it? Well, Solomon is the author of this psalm, and he writes about the vanity of living life, building a city, and protecting a city apart from God…it’s almost like a two-verse summary of the book of Ecclesiastes.
Then, in the middle of the psalm, he shifts from what is hopeless without God to what is a blessing from God. Children are a blessing from God…children are a heritage from God. They are created by God, they are given to particular families by God, and the way in which they must be raised is commanded by God. He brought them about in our families…whether through biology or adoption, and the Scripture tells us that this is a gift.
So, what are we to think in those frustrating moments when our “blessings” feel more like “curses”? What are we to do when it doesn’t feel like our children are a blessing? How do we battle feeling as if they are just a burden? Well, the first thing we should be reminded of is that our feelings are not always trustworthy…they are affected by just about every environmental factor (how much we sleep, eat, exercise, our stress level, etc.), and they can shift faster than the weather in central Indiana. Feelings are not to be trusted…when it comes to our security in relationship to God and when it comes to the place of our children in our lives.
Secondly, we need to remember that having children is more than a physical blessing, though it is that. It is a wonderful blessing to know that our families will continue on, that our sons will carry our names, that our daughters will bear grandchildren, etc. Yet, there is a greater blessing that God is concerned to give His children through their having children. It is a spiritual blessing. It is the blessing we find in Romans 8:28-29: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” (emphasis added).
God’s great purpose for us is to be conformed to the image of His Son, and He has designed our lives such that “all things” will work to accomplish His purposes. This process of becoming like Jesus is called progressive sanctification...or, in simpler terms, spiritual growth. Spiritual growth happens as my sin is exposed, I confess it, and then I seek to kill it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual growth happens as I am stretched through Bible study and prayer. Spiritual growth happens as I learn to trust God through great difficulties in life. And, as a Christian, I want to grow…it is a blessing to grow spiritually.
Christians typically pull out Romans 8:28-29 when a friend is grieving the loss of a loved one or when someone loses their job. However, this is not “all things.” One of those “things” is having children. Think about this…God places children in our families and in our lives in order to make us more like Jesus. Parenting children is an activity that exposes our sin in ways that no other activity can. Being selfish, impatient, quick to anger, etc., are all exposed in the day-to-day routine of parenting.
Also, raising children is a constant reminder of our need for the Word of God and for prayer in our lives. It is in the battle of parenting that we see the superficiality of the world’s approaches and we find the depths of the riches of God’s wisdom. We find ourselves on our knees…not just when the parental floodwaters rise…but also in the daily bustle of childrearing.
Finally, parenting children, especially when they rebel against us, presents us with opportunities to trust God. Raising children will break your heart…over and over again. There will be plenty of dark days in seeking to raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. However, it is when we are in the parental valley of the shadow of death, we can know that God is with us and His rod and staff comfort us. We can trust our heavenly Father for He has entrusted these children to our care, and He wants to grow us through the difficulties of parenting.
Children are a heritage from the Lord. It’s not a mantra to keep us sane in the midst of chaos. It’s a promise…a promise that parenting is not an activity that we must merely endure until we get our children out of the house. It’s a promise that God is so committed to your spiritual growth…to your sanctification…to your being like Jesus…that He gave you children. You will laugh, cry, rejoice, mourn, experience victory, suffer defeat, and have your heart broken as you raise them, but it is all part of God’s amazing plan to conform you to the image of His dear Son. Don’t chant Psalm 127:3…memorize it, meditate on it, and rejoice in it as you raise your children.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Monday, January 03, 2011
Follow in His Steps
[This entry follows a sermon preached at Gray Road Baptist Church titled "The Irony of the Crucifixion." Click here to listen to the audio.]
Charles Sheldon wrote a book published in 1896 under the title In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? It is the story of a pastor who meets a destitute man and then challenges his congregation to take a one-year challenge. This challenge was to not do anything until they answered the question, "What would Jesus do?" Just under 100 years later, in 1989, a youth leader from Holland, Michigan, decided to use the question from Sheldon's book to challenge her teenagers. She had the original bracelets made for her students, and one thing led to another. The American culture popularized the idea so that, eventually, one could get "WWJD" on anything from necklaces to T-shirts to hats to shoes to dog tags...and much, much more. The question even became the object of parody.
Now, while the question "What would Jesus do?" seems relatively helpful at first glance, it is actually not. The answer to the question (and, thus, the behavior that follows) is typically based on one's opinion of what Jesus would do in a given situation. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not make decisions based on our opinion of what Jesus might do in a given situation. We must live our lives based on the actual teaching of the Scripture. Rather than dream up Jesus' response to one situation or another, God would have us know His Word and respond to life's circumstances in ways based on His guidelines...not our guesses.
In saying all this, I do not mean to imply that Christ has not given us an example to follow, for 1 Peter 2 tells us that He has. "...while Christ's perfect obedience is elsewhere said to earn for us God's approval which Adam failed to earn and which we could not earn ourselves (cf. Rom. 5:18-19), Peter here emphasizes that Christ's obedience through unjust suffering has left us an example to imitate, an example of the kind of life that is perfectly pleasing in God's sight" (Wayne Grudem, 1 Peter, in The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, p. 129).
This is where we intersect with the text from Mark 15. In Mark 15:16-32, we see Jesus being mocked by Roman soldiers, mocked by the crowds, and mocked by the chief priests and scribes. How did Jesus respond? He took all of it! 1 Peter 2 puts it this way, "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly" (v. 23). It is in this way that Jesus was "leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." [That's where Sheldon got the title of his book, by the way.]
The mocking of Jesus was unjust and uncalled for. There was nothing valid for which to mock Him. Yet, He did not revile in return...He did not threaten. If anyone had the power to exact revenge on His assailants, it was Jesus Christ. He was their Creator, and with a word, He could end their existence. As surely as He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, He could have sent them to their deaths. However, He did not. He knew that vengeance was not His to take in that moment. Instead, Jesus entrusted Himself to His heavenly Father. And, in a very real sense, He entrusted the justice these men deserved to His heavenly Father.
This glimpse at Jesus' life reminds us of just how unique our Savior was as He lived on earth. He was fully God and fully man. Yet, being fully man, He did not respond the way that we would respond to such mockery. Our instinctual response is to bow up, to bark back, and to begin a verbal assault in return. Rather than humbly accepting the mockery as part of following Christ and inwardly being honored (even counting it joy) to suffer for Christ's sake (Acts 5:41; James 1:2), we want to win the argument, prove that we are not "mock worthy," and turn the tables on those who mock us. We want to revile...to threaten.
The pride of the human heart is quickly revealed when we are treated unfairly...particularly for things to which we are deeply committed, like the gospel. The human heart is also desperately wicked and deceitful...making us feel as though this is the way we should respond. We desire the temporal triumph rather than trusting in our faithful Creator. Of course, there is a time to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15). Yet, even then, we must behave with gentleness and respect toward the unbelievers, so that when they continue reviling us, our good behavior shames them (1 Peter 3:16).
In thinking about this line through Peter's letter, one place where such humility, gentleness, and respect is especially needed is in the marriage relationship between a believer and an unbeliever. The stories of unbelieving husbands reviling their believing wives must have been as real and widely-known in Peter's day as they are today. The mockery of unbelieving husbands toward their believing wives can be particularly reviling...deeply hurtful. It is bothersome and divisive enough for only half of a marital relationship to be committed to following Jesus Christ, but certainly, some unbelievers take every opportunity they can get to mock and criticize and tear down the faith of their spouses.
What is a wife to do with that? Peter's answer is "Likewise, wives, be submissive to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives - when they see your respectful and pure conduct" (1 Peter 3:1-2). Peter's counsel is to not revile and threaten in return. Repaying evil for evil does nothing for the soul of your husband. It does not glorify God, and it does not reveal "the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit" (v. 4). Only those who have walked in these shoes could truly speak of the difficulty of doing so, but God's Word is clear...as believers, we do not revile and threaten in return...we follow the example of Jesus Christ, who entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly.
Last Friday, I attended the funeral of Virginia Merrett. I was her pastor and knew her for only about 15 months, but I was so encouraged by every interaction I had with her. Her funeral service was a beautiful testimony to God's grace and Virginia's faithfulness. It was wonderful to hear, over and over again, how God used this humble woman to pave a path of godliness for her family.
During the service, her daughter recalled that Virginia was converted in 1941, upon her first hearing of the gospel. She was married at the time, and the Lord immediately gave her a burden for the salvation of her husband. For over 20 years, Virginia prayed for her husband and lived, as her daughter testified, "as a 1 Peter 3 wife." She did not seek to win an argument with her husband about religion...she sought to win his soul through her prayer and submission. In the early 60s, God answered Virginia's prayer, and her husband was saved.
I recall this story because, due to our pride, we often fail to see how humility and even silence can produce fruit of lasting value. Jesus' silence in the midst of mockery is an amazing example for all Christians. If we would please God, then we must "follow in his steps" (1 Pt. 2:21).
Charles Sheldon wrote a book published in 1896 under the title In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? It is the story of a pastor who meets a destitute man and then challenges his congregation to take a one-year challenge. This challenge was to not do anything until they answered the question, "What would Jesus do?" Just under 100 years later, in 1989, a youth leader from Holland, Michigan, decided to use the question from Sheldon's book to challenge her teenagers. She had the original bracelets made for her students, and one thing led to another. The American culture popularized the idea so that, eventually, one could get "WWJD" on anything from necklaces to T-shirts to hats to shoes to dog tags...and much, much more. The question even became the object of parody.
Now, while the question "What would Jesus do?" seems relatively helpful at first glance, it is actually not. The answer to the question (and, thus, the behavior that follows) is typically based on one's opinion of what Jesus would do in a given situation. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not make decisions based on our opinion of what Jesus might do in a given situation. We must live our lives based on the actual teaching of the Scripture. Rather than dream up Jesus' response to one situation or another, God would have us know His Word and respond to life's circumstances in ways based on His guidelines...not our guesses.
In saying all this, I do not mean to imply that Christ has not given us an example to follow, for 1 Peter 2 tells us that He has. "...while Christ's perfect obedience is elsewhere said to earn for us God's approval which Adam failed to earn and which we could not earn ourselves (cf. Rom. 5:18-19), Peter here emphasizes that Christ's obedience through unjust suffering has left us an example to imitate, an example of the kind of life that is perfectly pleasing in God's sight" (Wayne Grudem, 1 Peter, in The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, p. 129).
This is where we intersect with the text from Mark 15. In Mark 15:16-32, we see Jesus being mocked by Roman soldiers, mocked by the crowds, and mocked by the chief priests and scribes. How did Jesus respond? He took all of it! 1 Peter 2 puts it this way, "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly" (v. 23). It is in this way that Jesus was "leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." [That's where Sheldon got the title of his book, by the way.]
The mocking of Jesus was unjust and uncalled for. There was nothing valid for which to mock Him. Yet, He did not revile in return...He did not threaten. If anyone had the power to exact revenge on His assailants, it was Jesus Christ. He was their Creator, and with a word, He could end their existence. As surely as He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, He could have sent them to their deaths. However, He did not. He knew that vengeance was not His to take in that moment. Instead, Jesus entrusted Himself to His heavenly Father. And, in a very real sense, He entrusted the justice these men deserved to His heavenly Father.
This glimpse at Jesus' life reminds us of just how unique our Savior was as He lived on earth. He was fully God and fully man. Yet, being fully man, He did not respond the way that we would respond to such mockery. Our instinctual response is to bow up, to bark back, and to begin a verbal assault in return. Rather than humbly accepting the mockery as part of following Christ and inwardly being honored (even counting it joy) to suffer for Christ's sake (Acts 5:41; James 1:2), we want to win the argument, prove that we are not "mock worthy," and turn the tables on those who mock us. We want to revile...to threaten.
The pride of the human heart is quickly revealed when we are treated unfairly...particularly for things to which we are deeply committed, like the gospel. The human heart is also desperately wicked and deceitful...making us feel as though this is the way we should respond. We desire the temporal triumph rather than trusting in our faithful Creator. Of course, there is a time to give an answer for the hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15). Yet, even then, we must behave with gentleness and respect toward the unbelievers, so that when they continue reviling us, our good behavior shames them (1 Peter 3:16).
In thinking about this line through Peter's letter, one place where such humility, gentleness, and respect is especially needed is in the marriage relationship between a believer and an unbeliever. The stories of unbelieving husbands reviling their believing wives must have been as real and widely-known in Peter's day as they are today. The mockery of unbelieving husbands toward their believing wives can be particularly reviling...deeply hurtful. It is bothersome and divisive enough for only half of a marital relationship to be committed to following Jesus Christ, but certainly, some unbelievers take every opportunity they can get to mock and criticize and tear down the faith of their spouses.
What is a wife to do with that? Peter's answer is "Likewise, wives, be submissive to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives - when they see your respectful and pure conduct" (1 Peter 3:1-2). Peter's counsel is to not revile and threaten in return. Repaying evil for evil does nothing for the soul of your husband. It does not glorify God, and it does not reveal "the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit" (v. 4). Only those who have walked in these shoes could truly speak of the difficulty of doing so, but God's Word is clear...as believers, we do not revile and threaten in return...we follow the example of Jesus Christ, who entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly.
Last Friday, I attended the funeral of Virginia Merrett. I was her pastor and knew her for only about 15 months, but I was so encouraged by every interaction I had with her. Her funeral service was a beautiful testimony to God's grace and Virginia's faithfulness. It was wonderful to hear, over and over again, how God used this humble woman to pave a path of godliness for her family.
During the service, her daughter recalled that Virginia was converted in 1941, upon her first hearing of the gospel. She was married at the time, and the Lord immediately gave her a burden for the salvation of her husband. For over 20 years, Virginia prayed for her husband and lived, as her daughter testified, "as a 1 Peter 3 wife." She did not seek to win an argument with her husband about religion...she sought to win his soul through her prayer and submission. In the early 60s, God answered Virginia's prayer, and her husband was saved.
I recall this story because, due to our pride, we often fail to see how humility and even silence can produce fruit of lasting value. Jesus' silence in the midst of mockery is an amazing example for all Christians. If we would please God, then we must "follow in his steps" (1 Pt. 2:21).
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Lessons from the Garden
[This entry follows a sermon preached at Gray Road Baptist Church titled "In Christ Alone". Click on the title to listen to the audio.]
Mark 14:27-52 contains a dramatic series of events. Having finished giving the full interpretation of the Passover meal...namely that the bread is His body and the cup holds His blood...Jesus takes His disciples toward the Mount of Olives. Moving through these verses, Jesus goes from being surrounded and sharing a meal with His disciples to being alone and in the custody of the religious leaders who hate Him and want to destroy Him. In the midst of it all, we find Jesus in Gethsemane...a garden...praying about the death He must die in order to "give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45).''
One often-requested hymn at funerals is "In the Garden." It begins, "I come to the garden alone..." Now, while Jesus' disciples were physically with Him in Gethsemane, He was alone. While He struggled in prayer, they slept. In these moments, we see a picture of the humanity of Jesus Christ...the real humanity of Jesus. Jesus was not pretending to be distressed or troubled. In v. 33, it is Mark, the narrator, who points out that Jesus "began to be greatly distressed and troubled." That means it was apparent...it was visible...Jesus was wearing His heart on His sleeve, so to speak.
Distressed and troubled, Jesus prayed: "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will" (v. 36). The point of this prayer is to see the real humanity of Jesus as He struggles with His mission, but to see the commitment of Jesus to the Father's will through His submission. His struggle was unique in the history of mankind...no other man has faced what Jesus faced. However, I do think we can find some lessons for our own prayer lives...particularly when we are "distressed" or "troubled".
1. When we are distressed and troubled, we should pray. This seems quite elementary, but how often does it escape our mind when we are in the midst of trouble? How often are we wringing our hands in anxiety rather than casting our cares upon Him, because He cares for us? The Lord Jesus, who was truly troubled, cast His cares on His Father. Since that is the case, how much more do we need to be regularly casting our cares on Him? After all, God is our refuge and strength...a very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).
2. God must be our Father if we are to expect His help. Jesus called out to God as "Abba, Father." This type of intimate title for God was not normative in Jewish life. Yet, Jesus was uniquely the Son of God, and His utter dependence on the Father goes uninterrupted as He enters distress and trouble. Now, those who are in Christ by faith...who have been justified by His blood...have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of adoption...by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Rom. 8:16). Because of the Spirit of adoption, we are sons, and sons have an audience with the Father. We can pray expectantly, knowing that God will intervene and do what is right and good. If God is not one's Father...if he is not in Christ...if he has not received the Spirit of adoption...then he has no confidence that God will answer.
3. Our prayers must be influenced by the attributes of God. Jesus has a clear understanding of who God is as He prays..."all things are possible for you" (v. 36). There is no doubt in Jesus' mind that God can do whatever pleases Him. The Father's sovereign power and prerogative are settled matters in the heart and mind of Jesus. His relationship to God as Father gives Him confidence that God will hear His request. Jesus' knowledge of the Father's abilities gives Him confidence that God can accomplish what He asks.
Here, we find a great intersection between our study of the Scripture and our confidence in prayer. If we are weak in our knowledge of God, then we will approach God wishing He could do something about our situation. "Here's the problem, God...I hope you can do something about it." We know that we should pray, and that's good...but we must also know the God to whom we pray. Being our Father, He will hear us and care for us...being the God revealed in Scripture, He can intervene and help us.
4. Confidence in God's power does not erase our pain. This is striking to me. Jesus Christ never doubted the character of God...He never wavered in His perfect confidence of God's sovereignty. Yet, He was still distressed and troubled...His soul was still sorrowful within Him. He felt like His grief was killing Him! This is encouraging to me. The last few weeks of my life have been up and down, and distress and trouble has marked many of those days. When we begin to feel distressed or overwhelmed, it is tempting to think we have lost faith...we have lost sight of God's sovereignty in all things. After all, if I was really confident about His sovereignty, would I really be this troubled?
I think the answer is...yes! There are troubling things in this world. Jesus promises we would have trials and tribulation (Jn. 16:33), and He tells us that each day has enough trouble of its own (Mt. 6:34). Sin and its effects are troubling to our souls. As long as we live in a sin-cursed world, this will remain the case. The caricature of Christianity is that nothing should phase a real Christian...real Christians are stoics that are moved by nothing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality of suffering troubled and distressed the real Christ...even with His knowledge that after three days, He would be raised to life. Apparently, not even knowing God's sovereign power over the permanence of death took away the pain.
The reality of suffering today will trouble and distress us. So, while we want to beware of hopelessness and questioning the character of God in His actions, we must realize that a deep, abiding confidence in the sovereignty of God does not excuse us from the pains of life.
5. We should feel free to ask the Father anything. Notice what Jesus requests. "Remove this cup from me" (v. 36). Jesus knew what was coming. In Mark 8:31, 9:30-32, and 10:33-34, Jesus expresses that He will die. In Mark 10:45, He says that this death will be a ransom paid for many. The only way His death would be a ransom for many is if it were a payment...a payment that would satisfy God on behalf of man. Jesus knew that He would be man's substitute in suffering the wrath of God, so that all who believe in Him would escape the wrath of God.
Yet, the firmness of this knowledge did not keep Jesus from asking for the cup of God's wrath to be removed. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, makes a request in prayer that is contrary to the will of God. This, too, encourages us, for it lets us know that asking for things outside God's purposes is not sin. Asking to be relieved of suffering is not sinful. We often do not know what God's will is in the resolution of one situation or another. Yet, we can have confidence that all our requests are heard...our hearts' desires should be poured out in intercession to the Father.
6. We must submit to God's will. It's not simply that once we get to the end of our rope, we throw our hands up in submission. Rather, a knowledge of and willing submission to God's will should mark the entire course. As we go to God in prayer, it must be with the full knowledge that the trouble we face did not "slip past Him." He ordained the trouble...it is His will that we suffer in this life. While this trouble does develop perseverance and proven character (James 1, Romans 5), it also serves as a reminder of our dependence on God. When we are distressed and troubled, He is not, for He uses such trouble to continue His work of conforming us to the image of His Son.
Then, having gone to Him, as our Father, we express our pain and make our requests known to Him...leaving it to Him to answer as He would please. Jesus prayed this way, and He did not get what He requested. As Judas betrayed Him and the crowd seized Him, He had His answer from the Father. The hour would not pass from Him...the cup would not be removed from Him. He would face this moment and drink this cup. Yet, Jesus' greater desire...greater even than having the cup of wrath removed...was to please His Father and to do His will.
"Yet not what I will, but what you will" should not be an empty phrase in our prayers, and we should not say them as if they were an asterisk that gives God a way out of doing what we ask. Instead, their presence in our prayers should be genuine. Our hearts must beat with the fact that our holy God will only do what is good and right because He is good and right. Our skewed, sinful, finite perspective tempts us to question God when He does not answer our request exactly as we would prefer. Rather than shake our fist at the heavens as if we had the right to command God's response, let us remember the example of our Savior and accept God's answer (whatever it may be) with humility.
These are some lessons I think we can all learn from the garden. When distressed, pray...pray to God as Father, which means in a real awareness of our salvation and adoption as sons. Our prayers should be shaped by God's attributes. Our prayers may be borne out of pain, but the presence of pain does not mean our faith is weak. Because God is our Father, we can ask Him for anything at all, but however He answers, we must submit to His will.
One final thing...Jesus kept on praying. He went and prayed the same thing three times during that evening. His dependence on God was seen in His repetitious approach to God in prayer. We find an example of persevering prayer in the apostle Paul, as he went to God on three occasions to seek the removal of his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). We find an example of persevering prayer in the widow seeking justice from an unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). If we are still unconvinced of the need to persevere, then let's look back to the garden, where we find our dear Savior...prostrate, in pain, and repeatedly praying to His Father.
Mark 14:27-52 contains a dramatic series of events. Having finished giving the full interpretation of the Passover meal...namely that the bread is His body and the cup holds His blood...Jesus takes His disciples toward the Mount of Olives. Moving through these verses, Jesus goes from being surrounded and sharing a meal with His disciples to being alone and in the custody of the religious leaders who hate Him and want to destroy Him. In the midst of it all, we find Jesus in Gethsemane...a garden...praying about the death He must die in order to "give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45).''
One often-requested hymn at funerals is "In the Garden." It begins, "I come to the garden alone..." Now, while Jesus' disciples were physically with Him in Gethsemane, He was alone. While He struggled in prayer, they slept. In these moments, we see a picture of the humanity of Jesus Christ...the real humanity of Jesus. Jesus was not pretending to be distressed or troubled. In v. 33, it is Mark, the narrator, who points out that Jesus "began to be greatly distressed and troubled." That means it was apparent...it was visible...Jesus was wearing His heart on His sleeve, so to speak.
Distressed and troubled, Jesus prayed: "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will" (v. 36). The point of this prayer is to see the real humanity of Jesus as He struggles with His mission, but to see the commitment of Jesus to the Father's will through His submission. His struggle was unique in the history of mankind...no other man has faced what Jesus faced. However, I do think we can find some lessons for our own prayer lives...particularly when we are "distressed" or "troubled".
1. When we are distressed and troubled, we should pray. This seems quite elementary, but how often does it escape our mind when we are in the midst of trouble? How often are we wringing our hands in anxiety rather than casting our cares upon Him, because He cares for us? The Lord Jesus, who was truly troubled, cast His cares on His Father. Since that is the case, how much more do we need to be regularly casting our cares on Him? After all, God is our refuge and strength...a very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).
2. God must be our Father if we are to expect His help. Jesus called out to God as "Abba, Father." This type of intimate title for God was not normative in Jewish life. Yet, Jesus was uniquely the Son of God, and His utter dependence on the Father goes uninterrupted as He enters distress and trouble. Now, those who are in Christ by faith...who have been justified by His blood...have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of adoption...by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Rom. 8:16). Because of the Spirit of adoption, we are sons, and sons have an audience with the Father. We can pray expectantly, knowing that God will intervene and do what is right and good. If God is not one's Father...if he is not in Christ...if he has not received the Spirit of adoption...then he has no confidence that God will answer.
3. Our prayers must be influenced by the attributes of God. Jesus has a clear understanding of who God is as He prays..."all things are possible for you" (v. 36). There is no doubt in Jesus' mind that God can do whatever pleases Him. The Father's sovereign power and prerogative are settled matters in the heart and mind of Jesus. His relationship to God as Father gives Him confidence that God will hear His request. Jesus' knowledge of the Father's abilities gives Him confidence that God can accomplish what He asks.
Here, we find a great intersection between our study of the Scripture and our confidence in prayer. If we are weak in our knowledge of God, then we will approach God wishing He could do something about our situation. "Here's the problem, God...I hope you can do something about it." We know that we should pray, and that's good...but we must also know the God to whom we pray. Being our Father, He will hear us and care for us...being the God revealed in Scripture, He can intervene and help us.
4. Confidence in God's power does not erase our pain. This is striking to me. Jesus Christ never doubted the character of God...He never wavered in His perfect confidence of God's sovereignty. Yet, He was still distressed and troubled...His soul was still sorrowful within Him. He felt like His grief was killing Him! This is encouraging to me. The last few weeks of my life have been up and down, and distress and trouble has marked many of those days. When we begin to feel distressed or overwhelmed, it is tempting to think we have lost faith...we have lost sight of God's sovereignty in all things. After all, if I was really confident about His sovereignty, would I really be this troubled?
I think the answer is...yes! There are troubling things in this world. Jesus promises we would have trials and tribulation (Jn. 16:33), and He tells us that each day has enough trouble of its own (Mt. 6:34). Sin and its effects are troubling to our souls. As long as we live in a sin-cursed world, this will remain the case. The caricature of Christianity is that nothing should phase a real Christian...real Christians are stoics that are moved by nothing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality of suffering troubled and distressed the real Christ...even with His knowledge that after three days, He would be raised to life. Apparently, not even knowing God's sovereign power over the permanence of death took away the pain.
The reality of suffering today will trouble and distress us. So, while we want to beware of hopelessness and questioning the character of God in His actions, we must realize that a deep, abiding confidence in the sovereignty of God does not excuse us from the pains of life.
5. We should feel free to ask the Father anything. Notice what Jesus requests. "Remove this cup from me" (v. 36). Jesus knew what was coming. In Mark 8:31, 9:30-32, and 10:33-34, Jesus expresses that He will die. In Mark 10:45, He says that this death will be a ransom paid for many. The only way His death would be a ransom for many is if it were a payment...a payment that would satisfy God on behalf of man. Jesus knew that He would be man's substitute in suffering the wrath of God, so that all who believe in Him would escape the wrath of God.
Yet, the firmness of this knowledge did not keep Jesus from asking for the cup of God's wrath to be removed. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, makes a request in prayer that is contrary to the will of God. This, too, encourages us, for it lets us know that asking for things outside God's purposes is not sin. Asking to be relieved of suffering is not sinful. We often do not know what God's will is in the resolution of one situation or another. Yet, we can have confidence that all our requests are heard...our hearts' desires should be poured out in intercession to the Father.
6. We must submit to God's will. It's not simply that once we get to the end of our rope, we throw our hands up in submission. Rather, a knowledge of and willing submission to God's will should mark the entire course. As we go to God in prayer, it must be with the full knowledge that the trouble we face did not "slip past Him." He ordained the trouble...it is His will that we suffer in this life. While this trouble does develop perseverance and proven character (James 1, Romans 5), it also serves as a reminder of our dependence on God. When we are distressed and troubled, He is not, for He uses such trouble to continue His work of conforming us to the image of His Son.
Then, having gone to Him, as our Father, we express our pain and make our requests known to Him...leaving it to Him to answer as He would please. Jesus prayed this way, and He did not get what He requested. As Judas betrayed Him and the crowd seized Him, He had His answer from the Father. The hour would not pass from Him...the cup would not be removed from Him. He would face this moment and drink this cup. Yet, Jesus' greater desire...greater even than having the cup of wrath removed...was to please His Father and to do His will.
"Yet not what I will, but what you will" should not be an empty phrase in our prayers, and we should not say them as if they were an asterisk that gives God a way out of doing what we ask. Instead, their presence in our prayers should be genuine. Our hearts must beat with the fact that our holy God will only do what is good and right because He is good and right. Our skewed, sinful, finite perspective tempts us to question God when He does not answer our request exactly as we would prefer. Rather than shake our fist at the heavens as if we had the right to command God's response, let us remember the example of our Savior and accept God's answer (whatever it may be) with humility.
These are some lessons I think we can all learn from the garden. When distressed, pray...pray to God as Father, which means in a real awareness of our salvation and adoption as sons. Our prayers should be shaped by God's attributes. Our prayers may be borne out of pain, but the presence of pain does not mean our faith is weak. Because God is our Father, we can ask Him for anything at all, but however He answers, we must submit to His will.
One final thing...Jesus kept on praying. He went and prayed the same thing three times during that evening. His dependence on God was seen in His repetitious approach to God in prayer. We find an example of persevering prayer in the apostle Paul, as he went to God on three occasions to seek the removal of his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). We find an example of persevering prayer in the widow seeking justice from an unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8). If we are still unconvinced of the need to persevere, then let's look back to the garden, where we find our dear Savior...prostrate, in pain, and repeatedly praying to His Father.
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