Some time ago Judy (my wife) and I attended a funeral on a Sunday afternoon. At that funeral I had an embarrassing experience with drowsiness. In fact, to be totally honest¡I fell asleep at the funeral. Falling asleep was not so bad. The embarrassing part occurred when Judy elbowed me and I jumped. I felt like the whole world was watching me at that moment. There are times when falling asleep is appropriate. However, there are times when falling asleep is totally inappropriate. Falling asleep at a funeral is inappropriate. Falling asleep in your spiritual life is also inappropriate. When this occurs Jesus will issue a wake up call. He will spiritually elbow you into alertness. We find such an example in the Gospel record. We will use Mark 14:37-41 for a text. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was nearing the cross and was struggling with the agony of the cross. He asked His disciples to pray, while He prayed. Three different times Jesus left the disciples and went into the inner recesses of the garden to pray. Three different times he returned to find them asleep. They were asleep physically but also spiritually. Jesus gave them a wake up call. That call is still active upon God¡¦s people.
Will you accept Jesus wake up call? I heard about a pastor in a small church who was annoyed by one of his elderly members who fell asleep during his sermon every Sunday. After the service one Sunday, the pastor struck a bargain with the old man¡¦s grandson, who always sat with his grandfather. He told the boy if he could keep his grandfather awake he would pay him a dollar a week. This worked for two weeks; the aged man was very alert and listened to the sermons. On the third Sunday, however, there he was, up to his old tricks again, sound asleep in the pew. After the service the pastor called the boy over and said, ¡I am disappointed in you. Didn¡¦t I promise you a dollar a week to keep your grandfather awake?¡¨ ¡Yes,¨ replied the boy, ¡but Grandpa gives me five dollars not to disturb him.¡¨
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Lynn Malone)
Some people do not want to be disturbed. What does Jesus¡ wake up call mean to us? What does he desire that we wake up and see? Notice three principles in this text.
I. Wake up and see your spiritual deficiency. I believe those disciples did the best they could. They were tired and exhausted. They meant well. They had good intentions. However, in spite of their best intentions they were unable to come through. They were unable to deliver.
Illustration: When our youngest son (John) was a boy Judy had an encounter with him that illustrates this point. John was at a stage when he gave Judy a run for her money in trying to sit through a worship service. Since I was the pastor there was little help I could offer during these times. On one particular occasion John was warned to keep quiet. After several warnings he was carried from the sanctuary and given a spanking. At the conclusion of the spanking he was asked if he could return to the worship service and behave. Judy said he merely shrugged his little shoulders with a questioning ¡I don’t know.¨ Judy said she realized this hyperactive child was unsure if he could be quiet. She said he was being as honest as he knew to be.
We sometimes do the same thing with Jesus. We mean well. We have good intentions. Our best laid plans are inadequate to supplement the spiritual deficiency in our hearts. The wake up call means we admit our failure and our shortcoming to Jesus. Spiritual success begins with confessing failure. Spiritual success begins with admitting inadequacy. None of us are adequate to live the Christian life. Jesus spoke of this in the Sermon on the Mount. In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus shared what we call ¡ "Beatitudes.¨ There were nine of these. The first four "beatitudes¨ address our spiritual inadequacy.
First--- Blessed are the poor in spirit. (Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy.) For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Second---¡Blessed are those who mourn, (Those who are sad now are happy) For they shall be comforted.¨
Third--- ¡Blessed are the meek, ( Those who are humble are happy) For they shall inherit the earth.¨
Fourth--- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, (Those who want to do right more than anything else are happy), For they shall be filled.¡¨
If we are spiritually deficient what should we do about it.
1. Recognize it!
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replies, "I see millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" Watson ponders for a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Theologically, it¡¦s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.¡¨ After a pause, Watson says: ¡Well, Holmes, What does it tell you?" Holmes is silent for a moment and then he speaks. "Watson, can¡¦t you see that someone has stolen our tent."
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Martin Dale)
2. Recognize the symptoms of spiritual deficiency. Spiritual deficiency is spiritual anemia. Anemia is the state of lacking vitality and strength. Let me ask you a series of questions that will help you evaluate your spiritual deficiency.
Do you regularly set aside time to spend with God in prayer and reading the word?
Do you have people in your life with whom you are seeking to share your faith?
Do you regularly share with other believers in study, prayer, and service to God?
Do you set aside regular times to engage in private and group worship?
A young boy participated with a group of young people from his church who took the Lord’s Supper to homebound or hospitalized members of the church. He and his friends visited one elderly gentleman who was in the hospital. The young people were disappointed to find that the gentleman was fast asleep. Nothing they did could stir him from his sleep. Well, they were disappointed. They hated to leave without performing their duty. So, one of the eleven-year-olds pointed out that the gentleman’s mouth was open. The young boys looked at each other, as if to say, "Why not?" They broke off a tiny little piece of a wafer, and placed it in the elderly gentleman’s mouth. They poured in a tiny sip of grape juice; and sure enough, the man swallowed. He never woke up. Neither do many people today.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Jason Cole)
II. Wake up and see the conflict within your heart. Jesus agonized over the prospects of the cross as He prayed in the garden. As Jesus agonized in the garden there was a conflict raging within the hearts of the disciples. This conflict still rages within the hearts and minds of Jesus’ disciples.
This conflict is much like that which two country men from Montana faced. An organization in Montana once offered a bounty of five thousand dollars for every wolf captured alive. Two hunters named Sam and Jed decided to head for the hills and make some money capturing wolves. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests searching for their valuable prey. Exhausted after three days of hunting without any success, they both fell asleep. During the night, Sam suddenly woke up to find that he and Jed were surrounded by a pack of fifty wolves, with flaming red eyes and bared teeth, snarling at the two hunters and preparing to pounce. Sam nudged Jed and said, "Hey, wake up! We¡¦re gonna be rich!"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by David Elvery)
A. There is the conflict of our flesh versus our faith. In verse 38 we find this illustrated. Jesus shared his assessment of man’s heart. ¡§The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. (NKJV) No doubt Jesus disciples had a desire to pray and support Jesus. However, the faith nature struggled against the human nature. Sometimes the human nature wins and sometimes the faith nature wins. In the garden the disciple¡¦s human nature prevailed. Jesus was disturbed by this fact.
*When we become a believer the flesh (human) nature is still alive. The fact that a person is a disciple does not remove the human need for sleep.
*The fleshly (human) nature strikes at the worst possible times. Jesus was nearing the cross and at that critical moment the disciples went to sleep. Have you ever caught yourself thinking weird thoughts in the middle of your prayer time?
*The fleshly (human) nature will pull you down spiritually and will hinder your spiritual impact.
B. There is also the conflict of the self centered nature versus the Christ centered nature. Jesus wants His disciples to center their lives in Him and draw strength from Him. The self centered nature compels us to focus attention on our needs and our desires above those of Jesus. This causes a conflict within our hearts. This conflict rages within us. It requires a daily yielding of our will to Him. Jesus spoke of the need to yield our wills to Him. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.¨ Luke 9:23 NKJV This verse emphasizes the ¡daily¨ yielding of our wills to Christ.
There is a conflict within that we should seek to control. Jesus disciples struggled with this issue. Jesus gave them a wake up call.
III. A third principle we discover is that we should wake up and see our need for Jesus.
A. We need His strength. The disciples failed miserably in the garden. Their failure is representative of man¡¦s failure throughout the ages. Our best efforts are subject to fail. Our best attempts are subject to come up short. This is why we need Jesus so desperately This is why our gospel must center on Him and not personal efforts and religious accomplishments. The truth is we will always fail apart from Him. In Mark 14:38 you observe a very interesting but subtle truth. Jesus said ¡The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." (vs. 38 NKJV) In this verse Jesus used a small ¡§s¡¨ for spirit instead of a large ¡S. This indicates that Jesus is referring to the human spirit and not the divine spirit. It is as if Jesus is saying ¡the human spirit will always fail.¡¨ Jesus was teaching us the necessity of our dependence on Him. We need His strength.
Illustration: This truth was witnessed in Simon Peter¡¦s failed attempt at walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. (Mt. 14:28-32) Peter started out well but when the wind and waves of doubt came upon him he began to sink. He needed Jesus strength and Jesus help.
All of us have failed in our attempts to live Godly lives. All of us have experienced times when our faith lapsed. At those times we realize how desperately we need Jesus.
MAX LUCADO, in his book, "Six Hours One Friday¨, tells the story of a missionary in Brazil who discovered a tribe of Indians in a remote part of the jungle. They lived near a large river. The tribe was in need of medical attention. A contagious disease was ravaging the population. People were dying daily. A hospital was not far away¡across the river, but the Indians would not cross it because they believed it was inhabited by evil spirits. To enter the water would mean certain death. The missionary explained how he had crossed the river and was unharmed. They were not impressed. He then took them to the bank and placed his hand in the water. They still wouldn¡¦t go across. He walked into the water up to his waist and splashed water on his face. It didn¡¦t matter. They were still afraid to enter the river. Finally, he dove into the river, swam beneath the surface until he emerged on the other side. He punched a triumphant fist into the air. He had entered the water and escaped. It was then that the Indians broke out into a cheer and followed him across. That¡¦s exactly what Jesus did! He told the people of His day that they need not fear the river of death, but they wouldn¡¦t believe. He touched a dead boy and called him back to life. They still didn¡¦t believe. He whispered life into the body of a dead girl and got the same result. He let a dead man spend 4 days in a tomb and then called him out and the people still didn¡¦t believe Him. Finally, He entered the river of death and came out on the other side. No wonder we celebrate the Resurrection!
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Bruce Howell)
B. We need His strength but we also need His grace. As Jesus returned from the garden He addressed Simon Peter, the spokesman for the group. In this conversation Jesus addressed Peter by his pre-conversion name of ¡Simon¡¨ instead of his new name, Peter.¡¨ This probably indicates Jesus disappointment with Simon Peter and the disciples. It is as if Jesus recognizes a pre-conversion behavior in Peter. However, Jesus does not leave Peter and the disciples in this state of mind. At the conclusion of this conversation Jesus instructs the disciples to "Rise up, let us go¡¨ (vs. 42 NKJV) He had not given up on His disciples. Disappointed, yes, but there was no giving up on them. He was prepared to carry them with Him to the next level of commitment. They had failed but He looked beyond their failure. That is grace! All of us need that grace.
In a small cemetery of a parish churchyard in Olney, England, stands a granite tombstone w/ this inscription: ¡John Newton, clerk [pastor], once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.¡¨ You may not remember his name, but all of us know the song he wrote as a testimony of his life: ¡Amazing Grace.¡¨
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Robert Renberg Jr.)
