Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 30, 2003
“Reduce Speed: Keeping Calm Under Pressure”
Luke 22:47-53
INTRODUCTION: Today’s scripture shows Jesus being ushered into a pressure packed situation almost immediately upon leaving a time of intense prayer. A crowd of angry, hostile people from out of no where appeared led by Judas, one of Jesus’ own disciples.
1. He Knew the Will of the Father: How could Jesus stay so calm under all of this pressure? It was late at night, people were confronting him with angry words, waving clubs, and torches. It was a pressure-filled time for him and his disciples. Should he fight, should he run, should he call on God to send a rescue team? What would we have done under such a pressure-packed moment? How do you usually respond when confronted by angry people, when you feel you are in a tough situation, trapped with no way out, when you feel the top of your head is ready to explode? You could go on and on picturing pressure-filled situations. Jesus here is clearly speaking to the angry mob in a very calm voice. How could he do this?
One of the reasons was that He knew the will of God concerning his whole mission to the cross. Earlier in this chapter he wrestled with this when he prayed, Father, if you are willing take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Matthew’s gospel says, “Father, if it IS POSSIBLE, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” A little different slant is found in Mark’s gospel which says, “IF POSSIBLE that this hour might pass from [me]--everything IS possible for you--take this cup from me. Yet not what I will but what you will.”
Jesus had earlier wrestled with the will of God, and He knew exactly what it was and he was reconciled to what God wanted above what he wanted. He had settled the question of his mission. I think that in itself took a lot of the pressure off of him when the angry mob approached him. He knew in this particular situation that he was not going to resist because his “hour” had come. God’s will in his mission to the cross was unfolding according to plan. It didn’t matter that they came as an unfeeling, hostile group. It didn’t matter that one of his disciples, Judas, was there to betray him with a cruel, hypocritical kiss. It didn’t matter that the make up of the crowd was composed of religious, political and military people. His “hour” had come--the time of opportunity for them to arrest him. Jesus knew God’s will in his situation and could therefore speak calmly without fear and anxiety.
Many times when pressure of many kinds build up in our life we feel pulled in all directions, we feel as if we are going to explode at any moment, we don’t know whether to stand firm, to run, to quit--because we do not have the slightest idea of what God’s will is in our particular situation. We are still wrestling with it. At that point Peter probably did not understand that Jesus was actually going to the cross because Jesus, knowing by now that everything was coming down on him asked, “Do you think for a minute that I’m not going to drink this “cup” that the Father gave me?” (John 18:11 Message Bible).
I don’t think Peter knew what to think because in Luke’s account he says, “Master should we fight? We brought the swords.” (Luke 22:49 New Living Translation)
We know that pressure situations will come to all of us when we least expect it. We’ve got to reduce the 21st century speed of our lives and find out what is God’s will in the various pressure situations of our life. Our keeping calm under pressure requires it. When we don’t wait upon the Lord for answers we mess up just like Peter did.
True, he asked Jesus, “Lord should we fight? We brought the swords.” But Peter didn’t even wait for an answer. Most of the time we don’t either. He was in too much of a hurry to wait for an answer.
STORY: The story is told of a man who decided that “in” and “out” baskets on his desk weren’t sufficient. Instead he labeled them: Urgent, Frantic, Overdue, and Forget it. (source unknown)
Peter just impulsively took a swing at one of the men and cut off his ear. He messed up in this pressure cooker situation. Jesus healed the man’s ear.
2. Running on Empty: Jesus was able to stay calm in a pressure packed situation because he was not running on empty. He had told Peter earlier, “Pray that you enter not into temptation.” Don’t be running on empty. You need inner resources when you are faced with pressure. Peter, you will remember, fell asleep. He was not ready for the pressure of this situation. Maybe he wanted to pray at the time, but he was not able to keep his eyes open. He was running on empty. Scripture tells us to be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Why? Because the Holy Spirit gives us the spiritual strength we need to hold up under a pressure packed day. The early church had more power in their lives after the day of Pentecost.
ILLUSTRATION:
The scriptures often tell us to be filled with various godly virtues--which means what? How do we know if we are “full of goodness” for example (Romans 15:14)
Think about a water-saturated sponge. If we push down with our finger even slightly, water runs out onto the table. We immediately know what fills the interior pockets of the sponge. The same is true of ourselves. We can tell what fills us on the inside by what comes out under pressure.
Sometimes we find that it is not the power of the Holy Spirit, or goodness or any of the other fruit of the spirit. We are running on empty concerning the things that really matter.(source unknown)
We say, “I don’t have time to pray or take in the strength of the Word of God. I’ve got things to do and places to go.” After all, we live in the 21st century. Times have changed.
STORY:
There is a story about an old fox hunter. He had been extremely successful, but finally decided to retire and go south for the winter.
Before he left for his first winter in a warmer climate, an energetic young man came to him and asked how to become as successful as the old hunter was. He offered to buy the old man’s shop, his hunting rights, and even his secrets for successfully hunting foxes. The old hunter agreed; he sold the young man all his goods and carefully told him all the secrets to his great hunting success.
When the old man returned in the spring, he looked for the young man and asked how his first season as a fox hunter had gone. Discouraged, the young man admitted that he had not caught a single fox. The old man pressed further: had he followed the instructions given him?
“Well, no,” answered the young man. “I found a better way.”(source unknown)
We, too often say, “I’ve found a better way.” and we find out we haven’t “even caught one fox”--we haven’t begun to be calm in our pressurized situation.
It is not wise to continually run on empty. When you are feeling the pressure building up, ask yourself, “Am I running on empty? Do I think that I have found a better way?”
3. Fighting Our Way Out of a Pressure Cooker Environment: Peter used the sword causing pain and conflict. Jesus said, “Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).
Jesus knew that Satan had inspired the mob. Paul realized this when he spoke to Christians in II Corinthians 10:4. He said, “we use God’s mighty weapons, not merely worldly weapons, to knock down the devil’s strongholds.” More than likely we take our “swords” and try to do like Peter did--take things into our own hands. Maybe we give people a “piece of our mind,” Maybe we give people a good “tongue lashing,” maybe we try to “hurt them by our actions.”
STORY: My mother used to tell of a person who would go around acting real stuck up and saying things to get people upset. She called my Mother, “Chow, chow face.” I don’t know what that meant, but it fired my mother up. One day she came up on the porch and said, “Hi, chow, chow face,” and my mother saw the opportunity--she reached out and pushed her off the porch into the mud.
This was probably not the way to go. I think Peter would have done the same thing. I just imagine some of you would have too.
Many pressure situations involve more than somebody calling us “Chow, chow face.” We need different kinds of weapons to come against the attacks of Satan. We think we have to take matters into our own hands. Jesus knew that ordinary weapons don’t always work. Paul in II Corinthians 1:8 said, “we do not want you to be uninformed about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. On him we set our hope.”
CONCLUSION: Today’s scripture gives us some added help in facing the pressure situations in our life. We are reminded that
1. First of all we can find out what God’s will is concerning the things that are causing us concern. When we have settled that we have a new sense of God’s direction which begins to take the pressure off of us.
2. We can avoid running on empty. Keep filled with the Holy Spirit so that you are equipped with power and strength to handle anything.
3. Recognize that the weapons of our warfare are not merely worldly ones but spiritual ones. Don’t take matters into your own hands but expect God to work in these pressure situations.
Let us pray:
