Lent Midweek 0609– “God’s Truth vs. Satan’s Lies.” Matt.26:36-46

 

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.  The text for our sermon meditation is taken from the Gospel account of St. Matthew, the 26^th Chapter:

 

      Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."

      He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."

      Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

      Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter.  "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

      He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."  When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.  So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.  Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"

 

So far the reading.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln.  The story goes, that Carl Sandburg was attending the dress rehearsal of a very serious play written by a very serious author, and slept through most of the performace.  This highly offended the the author and he chewed out Mr Sandburg asking, “How you could sleep when you knew I wanted your opinion?” 

 

      Mr. Sandburg replied, “Young man, sleep is an opinion.”

 

      When I worked as a draftsman, a few of the older men spoke of being able to fall asleep at the drafting table and making it look like they were awake by wiggling their pencils.  I don’t know if that was true or not because I never witnessed them doing such a thing.

 

      Why did these men fall asleep at their work station and why did Mr Sandburg fall asleep at the dress rehearsal?  Why did the disciples in the reading from St Matthew fall asleep in the garden?  God’s Truth is that we must confront the things that are of great importance.  Satan’s Lie is that if you ignore a problem it will go away.

 

      For Carl Sanburg the lie of Satan may well have proved to be true, except that he had to address the other man’s anger.  For those old timers on the drafting board, the work was still there when they woke up and actually put their pencils to the paper.  For the disciples, their trouble became magnified when Jesus roused them one final time as Judas approached with the Temple Guard.

 

      What of you and me?  I have seen many people fall asleep during worship.  Without my prompting or questioning some of those people confessed if not their sleeping, they confessed the closing of their eyes.  They said it was to help them concentrate and avoid any distraction during the sermon.  Others had been awake for hours, usually rising in the dark hours of the morning to feed and milk dairy cows. 

 

      Parents will close their eyes to rebellious children.  They may receive notes from the teacher reporting on some act of disobedience at school.  Instead of disciplining their child and expecting obedience, the parent blames the teacher for losing control in the classroom.

 

      A wife or husband suffering from the abuse meted out by their spouse may ignore the abuse, or accept the abuse thinking it is their fault.  Or a parent will turn a blind eye to the abuse given to their child by a step-parent for fear of being alone, or some other equally indefensible reason.  These last three or four weeks, numerous articles of just this manner of sin have been recorded in the newspaper.  How many children have to suffer before people wake up from their denial of sin?

 

      Do you begin to understand the lie Satan places before your eyes?  He is tempting you to ignore sin.  He is tempting you to think that it’s not so bad.  He is tempting you to close your eyes and sleep as it were, and when you wake up everything will be okay.  The child’s failing grades mean the teacher failed to teach.  The child’s disruption in the class room is because the teacher lost control.  The pain or bruises on the mind or body caused by emotional and physical abuse are hidden, or in some way covered up with trembling smiles, heavy make up or weak excuses.

 

      Our Lord did not shrink from such sins, or from any sin for that matter.  His eyes were not blind to the temptations which Satan places before our eyes.  He does not want us to sleep the sleep of denial.  No, he wants us to face such sinfulness with our eyes wide open.  Hear Jesus’ exhortation to watchfulness and attentiveness.

 

      "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit   is willing, but the flesh is weak."

 

      With these words, Jesus is addressing and revealing the nature of our sinfulness.  We have seen the weakness of the flesh already as we talked of our tendency to ignore our sin and the sins of others.  Our hearts may recognize what is wrong, but in our sinful flesh, we choose to ignore it.

 

      Moreover, consider the prayer which Jesus offers for himself.  Three times Jesus prays these words.

 

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

 

      Perhaps Jesus’ eyes were closed as he knelt in prayer.  Yet those eyes were not closed in denial.  No, those eyes were closed in deep concentration upon what lay ahead.  Jesus was focused heart, mind, soul and body on the cup he was to drink in a few short hours.  That cup was filled with the bitter shame of our denial, the grievous guilt of our sin and the eternal wrath of God upon our excuses for sin.  This cup was waiting for Jesus on the hill outside Jerusalem.  Jesus knows that he will have to hold this cup in he hands and drink it to the very last drop.  All the while looking at the contents of the cup, and feeling in his soul the anguish accompanying the payment, the atonement for our sin.

 

      As we look to the cross of Jesus, we know and see that everything is not all right when it comes to sin.  For, the cross shows that Jesus confronts sin in all its degrading power.  The cross shows that God does not turn a blind eye to sin. He does not treat sin as something insignificant.  He does not treat sin as something that will go away if it is ignored.  No, God shows the reality of sin and its consequences as he did in the past when he spoke this word of warning through His prophets:

 

      “The soul that sins it shall die.”

 

      Yet, there is more to Jesus death than just punishment for sin.  Jesus’ death for sin is our death.  The Lord has laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all.  This means, where we fail to confront sin, or fail to avoid the temptation to marginalize sin, Jesus bore the responsibility for these failures in our place.  He suffered what we should suffer.  He died the death that we deserved.  He endured the hell that we should face in eternity. 

 

      Jesus exchanges our punishment with his atonement.  Notice I say exchanges.  This is a daily exchange effected by Jesus.  For, each day we are in need of the great exchange.  It is effected in us through confession of our sin and the absolution of our sin as we return to the promise of God made to us in Holy Baptism.  So cleansed by Jesus Christ, we are empowered to remain awake and vigilant in soul and body that we may recognize and confront our sin, and lay such sin at the foot of Jesus’ cross.

 

      May the Lord always work in you to remain awake and so live in His atonement for sin.  

 

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.