1. In
the name of Jesus. Amen. Be prepared.
Don’t be caught off guard. That’s what history has taught us as a nation, and
we’ve learned the lesson well. We’re determined that another 9/11 terrorist
attack that killed so many people in New York and the World Trade Center won’t
happen again. We can’t afford to be complacent.
2. But,
can we also can’t afford to be complacent in spiritual matters and push the
things of eternal value out to the fringe of life. If Satan finds us like the
disciples, asleep, he will rob us of everything that gives purpose to this life
and promise for the life to come. Failure to see the danger and to be prepared
for it leads to a person’s spiritual bankruptcy and ruin.
3. Tonight
we go to a place called Gethsemane. It’s a place where Jesus often gathered
with his disciples to find rest and strength in communion with his heavenly
Father. But this night there will be no rest. Here Jesus is wrestling with God
in prayer, even while he wrestles with Satan’s power. In his humanity, he seeks
the presence and comfort of his disciples. He wants them to be present not just
for himself, but to prepare them for what they, too, must face. “Watch and
pray,” he says, “that you may not enter into temptation” (v 41). He
wants them to find strength for what lies ahead.
4. This
night there’s no time for spiritual complacency for us either. So this night
let’s hear how As Jesus deals with His sleeping disciples, so He deals with us,
to awaken us from any and all spiritual complacency. Matthew 26:36-40 says, “Then Jesus went
with [the disciples] to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his
disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then
he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and
watch with me.’ And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed,
saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless,
not as I will, but as you will.’ And he came to the disciples and found them
sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour?’ ”
(vv 36–40). Two more times Jesus would come and find the same thing—the disciples
sleeping.
5. Notice
that Jesus addressed Peter specifically. Peter had boasted that he wouldn’t
fall away. He above all shouldn’t have been sleeping. Last week we saw that
Peter’s boast wasn’t based on faith, but on pride—confidence, overconfidence,
in his own resolve. Well, if he was going to keep himself from falling, he
certainly should’ve been watchful, alert, ready for anything. But this week
Peter adds to his overconfidence. Peter is oblivious to the threats that might
be out there. No real danger could be coming, not at this hour. And temptation?
That hasn’t crossed Peter’s mind. Temptation to what? Yet by his conduct in the
next few hours, Peter would demonstrate the folly of overconfidence, pride, and
complacency.
6. Peter
and all the sleeping disciples reflect our own state and conduct on many
occasions. Tonight we say, “It’s Jesus, Peter, and me; and it’s all about
complacency.” So we, too, need Jesus’ warning: “Watch and pray that you
may not enter into temptation.” How
would Jesus elaborate on his warning for us today? Maybe like this: “I want
you on guard against all the works of the flesh—things like greed, envy, lust,
hatred, and all the rest. So, watch and pray!” But often we don’t. We doze
off and let these sins move in on us. “Don’t let anyone distract you from my
Word, where I teach you how to have abundant life and how to live forever.
Watch and pray!” But often we don’t. We doze off and so readily neglect the
preaching and teaching of God’s Word and Sacrament in the life of the Church. “Keep
your priorities straight. It’s all right to work hard, to get ahead, to be a
success, to make money. But let those things be your servant, not your master.
Watch and pray!” But often we don’t. We doze off and get comfortable in all
these earthly things and material possessions and put them in first place, at
the top of life’s priorities. And the spiritual side of life languishes.
7. This
failure to watch and pray happens gradually.
In fact CS Lewis writes in his Screwtape Letters, “The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle
slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without
signposts.” This
putting God’s things last, this leaving him out of our thinking, planning, and
living, this ignoring of his divine and loving will has made us complacent.
Jesus’ message is to wake up from any spiritual drowsiness, lest you sleep the
sleep of spiritual and eternal death.
8. As
they slept, look at what the disciples missed. What did it mean, this agony in
the Garden of Gethsemane, this wrestling with God in prayer? Did it mean that
Jesus was afraid of suffering, afraid of death? No, this is what it means: Here
was the ultimate temptation to overcome, the temptation to avoid the cross.
Here’s Jesus in his humanity, praying, “My Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (v
39). And his prayer is answered. God’s will is done. Jesus goes forth to meet
his betrayer. God’s redemptive work is reaching its climax—dead ahead. Now it’s
forward—to the cross.
9. The
suffering in Gethsemane, climaxing on the cross, is deeply personal for each of
us. How important that we are wide awake to it, for only here can we lift our
eyes in hope. Here is the great transfer. The sin of every man, woman, and
child, of all time, the sin of our past, present, and future, is taken from us
and put on Christ. Isaiah said it this way: “The Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Is 53:6). He became sin for us,
writes St. Paul (2 Cor 5:21). With the sin goes the guilt, the punishment,
and the hell for every human being who has lived, who is living, and who will
live. It’s all on Jesus.
10. This
is not how we think. This is how God thinks. This is how God acts. He says it
counts for us. Our sins are on Jesus. Our death is on Jesus. Our hell is on
Jesus. This is God dealing justly with our sin, so that in Christ he can deal
mercifully with us. Let the Good News beat upon your mind and heart. Hear it
from St. John: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
(Jn 1:29). Hear it from St. Paul: “There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). Hear it from Jesus himself: “Take
heart; . . . your sins are forgiven” (Mt 9:2). There’s only one word to
describe it—love! “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:16–17).
11. This
is the Gospel. It wakes you up. It moves you to pray, for now you can “with
confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that [you] may receive mercy and
find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16). This Gospel wakes you up to
confession, to repentance, to forgiveness, to be daily in his Word and prayer,
to say with the psalmist, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to
the house of the Lord!’ ” (Ps 122:1).
This isn’t Law. This is Gospel, because in these things you find spiritual
opportunities to receive from God forgiveness, love, joy, peace, and grace to
come out of sin’s death, to life with God at the center of everything.
12. No
more complacency when you’re awake to your sin. No more complacency when you
see that the agony of the garden, the suffering of the cross, and the victory
of Easter are all for you. This is a great miracle. It takes away your sin. It
bridges the gulf between you and God. It puts God at the center of your
thinking, planning, and living. It makes heaven your home. And it snaps us out
of any spiritual sleep or complacency, to spiritual life and earnestness and
eagerness. This is the story of
Jesus, Peter, and each of us. Amen.
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