Test of Sorrow


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TESTED: Lenten Messages March 16: The Test of Sorrow: Mark 14:32-42 (Gethsemane) Intro: I have been at or near the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus and his disciples prayed. In fact, it was at Gethsemane where I witnessed an argument that caused me more concern than any other event in my two trips to the Holy Land. An Arab and a Jew just about went to blows over our group being present in the Garden. Sorrow builds toward a Crisis Point: “he began to be deeply distressed and trouble” (Mark 14:33). The sorrow had already begun in the heart of Jesus. He was already emotional at the Last Supper. He was talking about how he had been longing to have this time with them before he suffered. Already he was aware of the great storm that was gathering. He knew the events that had already been set in motion. Jesus was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” I think I know what that looks like. I have seen it. I don’t know what that feels like, but I have been pretty close a time or two. Here are FOUR THINGS TO SAY IN SORROW that will help you pass the test: I. CONCERNING CIRCUMSTANCES SAY: “Not my will” (Mark 14:36). Sorrow upsets your communication, your routines, and the rhythm of your life. A. You sense what is coming 1. Jesus knew what was coming toward him like an unstoppable freight train. He knew this was his destiny weeks ago when he told the Twelve on the road to Caesarea Philippi. He was going to suffer and die. 2. Nobody looks forward to dying or to their dearest loved one dying. It is a strange and unfamiliar experience for us all. It only happens once to us. We cannot know how it will go down. 3. At some point you are likely to sense your own impending death or the coming death of those you love the most. Often we are aware and conscious that we ourselves are dying. Often we know that those we love are dying. B. Your feelings are raw when sorrow comes. 1. Jesus is feeling more burdened, more turmoil and agony than he has ever felt. I know that some people want to interpret Gethsemane in the context of the deity of Christ. I think that the Gospels consistently view Gethsemane from the perspective of Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Man. 2. Your feelings are a huge part of sorrow. You cannot deny your feelings. You can work to make them healthy. C. You are not in control of what is going down. 1. This is not your will, perhaps. Something inside of you does not want to drink this cup. These are bitter dregs. 2. You have never been so out of control of your life. Sorrow gives you the feeling of loss of control. That is frightening to all of us. ***As long as I am behind the wheel, I feel like I can make it no matter what the traffic does. But when someone else is behind the wheel, I am anxious even when the road is clear. D. Your life narrows to this single channel of pain II. CONCERNING PEOPLE SAY, “Watch and Pray” (Mark 14:38) A. Jesus basically told the Twelve that they could do two things for him during this greatest test in his life. 1. THE VIGIL. They could stay awake and keep watch. They could be part of the vigil that sorrow introduces into a person’s life. Sorrow creates a vigil. We are watching when we are in sorrow. Sometimes we know what we are keeping watch for, sometimes not. But we are keeping watch. We are up all night. We are waiting for the next thing to happen. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? (Mark 14:37). 2. THE PRAYER. The disciples could pray. These two practices, watching and praying, do not involve giving advice or counsel or speaking a single word to the one in sorrow. They are simply the ALERT PRESENCE of the ones who love us. a. Prayer is the most important thing we do for those in sorrow. The comfort of the Holy Spirit is the greatest comfort that we have available to us. b. People can be “comforters.” But they will be miserable comforters if they think that their counsel is what we need. c. SORROW will test your PRAYER LIFE whether that sorrow belongs to you or to one that you love. If you fail to pray when sorrow comes, then you forego your first spiritual privilege.

B. Sorrow Will Test Your Faith in People: “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping” (Mark 14:37). 1. Jesus was in the struggle of his life. He was weeping, sweating blood, crying out to God. His best friends observed his condition, but they fell asleep instead of staying up with him. 2. People cannot really understand what you are going through. They may have similar experiences. They may have a theoretical understanding. But they do not and cannot share the full emotional impact of your journey. Therefore, they can sleep when sleep is the furthest thing from your mind. C. Sorrow will create distance, make you isolate yourself. You do not want to be in the public eye when you are in deep sorrow. It is a very private matter, the baring of your soul before God. 1. Jesus went some distance away perhaps so that his weeping would not be heard by even his closest friends. He separated from all except the Twelve. He separated from all except Peter, James, and John. He separated from all and prayed alone. 2. This pulling away is natural and to be expected. 3. We should not read it as rejection but personal preparation for a path that each of us must ultimately walk only with the Father. 3. Sorrow will bring you to your shelter of last resort, to the one place or person upon which you can depend. III. CONCERNING GOD SAY: “Father” (Mark 14:36) A. The AFFECTION of the Father is paramount in the Fatherhood of God: Abba, pater. Aramaic, familiar Abba together with the common Greek for “father.” Joseph may have been known to Jesus as Abba in his childhood. It is a term of affection. B. The DIRECTION OF GOD is also expressed with “Father. The Good Purposes of God are confessed. 1. Jesus did not blame the devil for his pain. Even though it is perfectly true that “wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross” (Acts 2:24). 2. Throughout his terrible ordeal he believed that he was walking a path given to him by the Father in heaven, that this was the Father’s will and the Father’s cup. 3. This may be very difficult for you to accept—that the Father would plan pain in your life. But you can confess right now that death is coming for the dearest people in your life. If you precede them in death, their hearts will be broken. If they precede you, your heart will be broken. The Father in heaven has configured things in such a way that death comes to us all. C. The SOVEREIGNTY of God even in sorrow is expressed with Abba. “Everything is possible with you,” Jesus said to the Father (Mark 14:36). 1. Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15). Job believed that in his sorrow he was dealing with God. Not once in all of his trouble did he blame the devil. 2. Jesus was no doubt tempted by the devil and attacked by the devil many times. Yet in Gethsemane he is focused upon the Father. The cup that he is drinking is given to him by the Father. The will of the Father is what he wants to see unfold in his life. D. The WORLD IS MESSED UP. It’s not a perfect place. This is not the original plan, all this death and sorrow. One day it will be set right. When we enter the FATHER’S HOUSE we are not going to have to deal with all this. But for now, we live with the consequences of disobedience and rebellion against a perfectly GOOD AND LOVING FATHER. IV. CONCERNING YOURSELF SAY, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38) A. You are in an unfamiliar place. Nobody lives with this depth of sorrow perpetually. We all have somewhat ordinary lives even if we deal with physical and psychological pain on a daily basis. B. You are at risk. You cannot really prepare for this depth of pain. You get on this train reluctantly. You do not control where it is going. All you have is what you carry in your heart to sustain you. And that will have to be enough. C. The Spirit is Willing. Jesus said this of his disciples. I wonder if it was also a comment on his own spirit and flesh. He was certainly willing to go to the cross. But the flesh rebels against pain. D. The Flesh is Weak. Jesus is commenting on the ability to pay attention and to appreciate the spiritual dimensions of any situation. That is what the phrase seems to address here in regard to the disciples—and for

us. We do not always appreciate the spiritual natural of the warfare we are in. You may need to confess that truth this morning. Identify the spiritual nature of the struggle and you may find your true source of strength. 2. “Weak” is the word for “strength” with the alpha privitive: “no strength.” The flesh has no strength. When the sorrow comes, the flesh is not going to help you. The “flesh” refers to your fallen humanity, the part of you that is prone to sin.