Corinth Reformed Church
150 Sixteenth Avenue NW
Hickory, North Carolina 28601

Robert M. Thompson, Pastor
March 29, 2009
(more sermons)

Holy Ground

I want to ask you to do something rather unusual today. I won't force you, of course, but I am being both serious and literal.

For the next few minutes, we will be on holy ground. We will be contemplating and responding to an intimate conversation between our Lord Jesus and his Father the night before he died.

Do you remember what the voice said when Moses first saw the burning bush? "Take off your shoes, because you're on holy ground" (Exodus 3:5, paraphrased). So join me in taking off your shoes as we stand on holy ground in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The sermon title this morning, "Total and Constant," reflects not only twin themes of this story, but of two descriptors of discipleship. If you know us very well, maybe it won't surprise you to know that Pastor Paul will speak on "Total," and my part is "Constant."

Total -- Paul Cummings

(These sermon notes are only from Bob's manuscript)

Constant -- Bob Thompson

I have to tell you that there is not an iota of judgmentalism on part when it comes to the disciples falling asleep in the garden that night. I would have been at least dozing if not totally out.

My wife has always said I have "the gift of sleep," meaning that if I'm tired I can sleep almost anywhere. Just a power nap will do. Then I'm good to go.

With the disciples, it's been a long day of uncertainty, turmoil, and interaction. As an introvert who doesn't like surprises, that would have been enough to wear me out.

But it's also probably somewhere between midnight and 3 AM when Jesus is praying on the Mount of Olives. I sleep most soundly during those hours. If you ever need a pastor between about 11 PM to 3 AM, you should probably call Bill or Paul.

That happened a few years ago. I was sound asleep about 10:30 or so when the phone rang. Since it was right beside the bed, I stirred a bit -- but Linda, who was still awake, answered it. A few minutes later she came upstairs and said, "There's an emergency surgery up at the hospital." I groaned and rolled over. I didn't mean to, but I was just totally out.

A few minutes later, Linda came back in the bedroom and said, "Don't you think you should go up there?" I did, and was glad to be there with them during a frightening crisis.

I'm just sayin' -- please try to plan your emergencies after 3 AM or before I go to bed. Otherwise, expect a small delay.

So I can't really fault these men for sleeping.

When Jesus says to them, "Why are you sleeping?" (v. 46), he is not equating sleep with laziness or suggesting that his followers don't need sleep. Jesus himself slept, including on at least one occasion when his disciples felt imperiled by a storm (Mark 4:38).

His concern about sleeping is rather two-fold. First, it's about timing. Sleep all you need, but don't sleep now.

The word for "temptation" can also be translated "test." Every temptation is also a test. Temptation is an enticement to evil, an invitation to do the wrong thing. Sometimes we treat our temptations as inevitable failings. But every enticement to evil is a chance to do the right thing.

If you're a student, sleep all you want. Sleep in class if you must. But never sleep during a test.

Second, and perhaps more significantly, it's about their failure to heed his warning in verse 40: "Pray that will not fall into temptation." That one night was to include the greatest set of temptations any of them would ever face. They would be tempted to fear, to presumption, to forsake Christ, to deny Christ, to run from him when he most needed their companionship and advocacy. He wanted them ready for that temptation.

Instead, they slept. And so he repeated himself in verse 46, "Pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

The opposite of sleep is prayer when it comes to temptation. What is prayer? It is conversation, but it is so much more. It is dependence. It is the opposite of saying, "I've got this covered."

"Exhausted from sorrow" though they may have been, these disciples were evidently unaware of all that could happen to them and to Jesus that night. They thought a few minutes of sleep -- or just closing their eyes for a power nap -- would give them strength to face whatever came. It never was about them having strength to face whatever came.

It was about an awareness that they needed help. It was about a trust that help would come if requested. It was about calling on power that exceeded their own.

What are your temptations right now? What are your tests? Where are you being given a choice between doing the wrong thing and doing the right thing?

Are you facing those tests with an "I can do it myself" mentality? Or have you learned to pray, saying, "God I can't pass this test on my own. I need help or I'll make the wrong choice."

In the other gospels, Jesus says, "Watch and pray" (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38). Being alert is key to facing temptations.

Let me close with this story. I was about 23 or 24 years old -- I don't remember exactly. Linda and I had been married just a year or two. I think it was before our oldest son, Philip, was born. Had the story turned out differently, there either never would have been a Philip (or Cara or Jeni), or Phil would have grown up without a Dad.

A double railroad track lay between the church where Linda and I served right after college and our little four-room house. There were, as I recall, lights and bells as a track warning, but no gates.

I was going home for lunch one day, running a few minutes late (apparently a lifetime habit), when I came to the tracks. I heard the bells and heard the whistle, but the train was still a little ways down the track. I thought I could beat it -- easily.

But as I was getting ready to step on the gas, I thought better, and used the brake. I waited for the train to pass, then hit the gas.

What I didn't realize was that another train was coming the opposite direction on the other track. I neither saw it nor heard it, but he sure saw me getting way too close. And he laid on that whistle.

Temptation is like that second train. The disciples that night thought they knew something about the danger coming. They figured on conflict, and they brought swords, ready to fight. They assumed a few minutes of sleep would rest them up for battle.

But events unfolded in a way that completely blindsided them. Does that happen to you? Jesus said, "Watch...and pray." Temptation will come at you when you least expect it.

But remember...every temptation is a chance to pass a test. Amen.

Copyright 2009 by Robert M. Thompson, Pastor. Unless otherwise indicated, Scriptures quoted are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright 1978 by New York International Bible Society.