Betrayed by Sleep

There's more betrayal during the Passion Week than just that of Judas and Peter. How about the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane? Remember that one? Jesus took some of his disciples to a secluded spot in the garden. He was sorrowful and troubled and asked them to keep watch with Him. They fell asleep. He woke them up and asked them to pray, specifically telling them to be alert and pray so that they would not fall into temptation. Their response? They fell asleep again. They only woke up when Jesus called out, but by then it was too late to sit with Jesus in the garden. Judas and the soldiers had arrived. Jesus was on his way to the cross.

I suspect many of the times we betray Christ we are more like the group of disciples than we are like Judas or Peter. We don't usually sell Jesus out for money or outright deny that we even know Him. We just fall asleep. We fail to sit with Him. We fail to listen to His specific command to pray. We're just too tired, too distracted, or too lazy.

I've just finished reading Judges. It's so depressing. By the end of the book you read one bizarre story after another--God's people are just wallowing in depravity. But where did it all start? How did God's people go from fording the Jordan and marching on Jericho in the book of Joshua to anarchy, immorality, civil war and rampant idolatry just one book later?

I imagine that it started with laziness, failing to keep alert as the surrounding culture suggested various options for worship and sex, failing to listen to God's specific commands so that eventually doing things like making a silver object to help in your worship of God sounded like a good idea, taking various concubines sounded like an option, etc. From there it was just a short step to worshipping other gods and their silver idols, demanding that visitors to your city be brought out to the village square for gang rape, and advising your countrymen to steal wives for themselves by carrying off unsuspecting young girls from the fields.

There's an interesting story in Judges 17-18 about a man who apparently stole thousands of dollars worth of silver from his mother. When he hears her cursing about the theft he returns it to her and she consecrates a portion to God. This then somehow translates in her mind into making the silver into an idol for his family so they can better worship God. The son takes the idol and installs his own son as a priest in the house. Later he runs into a wandering Levite--actually a grandson of Moses--and makes him into the household priest. Not only is an idol now involved in their worship of God, but also a totally illegal priest since only Aaron's descendants were supposed to be priests and they were supposed to minister in the tabernacle not private houses. Finally, a wandering tribe of Israelites comes along looking for a place to settle since they have failed to claim the area God set out for them in the Promised Land. They ask the pseudo-priest if they should steal a particular piece of land although it is quite obviously not the land they have been given by God. They steal the idol, convince the priest to betray the man he works for and come along with them as a kind of good luck charm, and go off to kill a peaceful and unsuspecting group of people who happen to have some good land.

Now what does all this have to do with us? Well, when I look closely at the story I see a mother who failed to be alert to what God expects vs. what the surrounding culture suggested was appropriate, and thereby actually bought an idol for her son thinking it was a good thing. I see a man who didn't recognize idolatry when he saw it and in turn taught it to his own son. I see a grandson of Moses who should have known better and could have stopped the whole thing but who instead took advantage of it in order to secure himself a job and a place to live. And I see a whole tribe who failed to step up and take hold of the specific area that God had given to them and so found it necessary to steal other people's land and things. I see a lot of aimlessness and confusion in areas where there was complete clarity from God. God clearly said "No idols;" "Only Aaron's descendants as priests;" and "This is your particular piece of land." But the people were not alert. The downward slide had begun. They were, in fact, asleep.

During the Passion Week, I am trying to wake up. Where are the areas that I buy into the culture and give my children things that actually lead them into sin? What are the specific areas that God has given me (in terms of both responsibility and blessing) that I have failed to claim? Am I trying to worship in a way that is off-base or perhaps even a bit idolatrous? How do my actions measure up to the clear command to pray so as not to fall into temptation?

"So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled." 1 Thessalonians 5:6

Reminders of Betrayal

I learned yesterday that in days gone by churches often put weather vanes with roosters on top of their steeples. My church still has one in fact. I thought it was just a quaint country look. But apparently, the rooster was deliberate, meant to remind the congregation to live publicly what they confessed privately. The allusion of course was to the rooster which crowed after Peter denied Christ on the night of His arrest.

Of all the disciples, Peter was the one who had confessed Jesus as the Messiah--at least when the group was alone. He "got it" when the others were just tagging along. Yet when the opportunity came to acknowledge Him publicly, Peter hesitated. Well, actually, he failed and outright denied that he even knew Him. The good news is that Jesus forgave Peter--as He is ready to forgive all of us--and within two months Peter was publicly proclaiming Jesus to thousands of people. He went on to write several books of the Bible. He was the rock upon which Christ built the church.

I imagine that for the rest of his life every time he heard a rooster crow--perhaps as often as every morning--Peter remembered his failure. At first it was probably with a sinking heart, but after awhile maybe the cock's crow became more of an inspiration. Almost a battle cry. Perhaps he thought, "One more day. I've been given one more day to live publicly what I believe privately. One more day to speak out."

Now, I see this reminder of potential betrayal all the time. In fact, I think I have about five roosters in my kitchen alone (not real of course--just decorative). When I see them each morning I'm going to let them remind me that today is an opportunity to live publicly what I have confessed privately.

Peter's betrayal and his dramatic turnaround are not bad things to think about as we head into this Passion Week. And how about on Easter morning--when we gag over all those brightly colored marshmallow chicks? They can serve as a reminder of the potential for betrayal just waiting to grow in all of us and a reminder that with His resurrection power we can actually live up to the opportunities presented to speak His name.

What Really Happened on Easter Morning?

Here's something to mull over as we try to get our heads around the events of Good Friday and Easter morning...

The great work which Jesus began on earth of reconciling God and man in His own body, He carries on in heaven. To accomplish this, He took the conflict between God's righteousness and our sin into His own person. On the cross, He ended the struggle once and for all in His own body. Then he ascended to heaven, where He carries out the deliverance He obtained and manifests His victory in each member of His body. This is why He lives to pray. In His unceasing intercession, He places Himself in living fellowship with the unceasing prayer of His redeemed ones....The redemption of human nature into fellowship with His resurrection power and His glory was intensely real. The taking up of our humanity through Christ into the life of the triune God was an event of inconceivable significance....

From Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer

Resurrection Power for Your Habits

When we try to establish good habits that increase our time with God and our capacity to hear His voice, we begin to realize how very often we fail. We get busy; we get tired; we forget. We become conscious of “the body of death” that we are lugging around. (In Romans 7, Paul wrote about how, on the inside, he loved God and longed to do what was right yet constantly discovered that his outward actions failed in many ways. He said he was trapped inside a “body of death.”) It can be overwhelmingly discouraging.

Yet the good news of Easter is, of course, the resurrection—victory over death. You and I know that Christ’s resurrection on Easter meant victory over the ultimate death that is the penalty for sin. But do you realize what the resurrection means for the body of death and the sinful, half-hearted tendencies we deal with everyday? It means the same thing--victory. Because the resurrected Christ lives, that power is available to you every day.

This is what Paul was talking about when he said, “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised as He was. Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.” (Romans 6:4-6). Later in the discussion Paul says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you. So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.” (Romans 8:11-12). He goes on to say there is no need to live like powerless, defeated, fearful slaves (v.15). As an example of the power at work in us, Paul says the Holy Spirit helps us, “for we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying….”(v.26-27).

I know this is hard to get your head around. It’s especially hard for those of us who have been believers a long time and have gotten a little too familiar with the factual story of the resurrection to think much about its practical ramifications today. The truth is, Christ seeks to live His life through you and that life is not just a regular life—it is a resurrected life. And the truth is that the Holy Spirit, who possesses the kind of power that can bring a dead man back from the grave, lives in you and is actually there helping you do things like pray. No need to get discouraged or act like a powerless slave to sin or sleep or the TV. You do have the power to do what pleases God.

Think about these truths as we head into Easter. Think about them during your daily prayer minutes. Let’s ask God to help us understand them more fully and to live in their reality.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21.