SUMMARY KEYWORDS

jesus, god, life, pray, suffering, skiing, called, surrender, moment, father, puts, plan, tragedy, give, pain, eternity, sleeping, feel, prayer, law.

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SPEAKER

Phil EuBank

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Well, Good Morning, Menlo Church. I know that for some of you, maybe you feel that way; as Jenny describes losing your husband and processing how she gets out of bed every day as a holding on to God's belt loop through the day and the journey of uncertainty. That's maybe even why you're here. And so if that's maybe one end of the spectrum, you feel there are others that feel like you're just on cloud nine, everything is going great, you feel nothing but joy and fulfillment. And in a room like this, and really at campuses all around the Bay Area. For us at Menlo, there are people that are really experiencing this full entire reality.

As matter of fact, at all of our campuses. Here at Menlo, today, there are people who are on a journey, discovering who Jesus is. Some of whom have been on that journey for decades, and they have experienced deep difficulties in their life, like Jenny, and have walked through and figured out how to endure that suffering and others for whom today represents maybe giving God one last shot. And no matter what brought you in today, why you logged on today, I just want to say thank you. And I pray that God meets you right where you are.

And I know that this is a really heavy way to start a message. And I hope that what you hear is that we are a community that is willing to step into and wade through difficult waters, in hopes of finding healing to the hurts of a broken world, to the elements that all of us feel maybe not today, but someday very soon, maybe not to you, but someone you love and care about. As a matter of fact, that's what we're going to see and discover from Jesus today. as well.

We've been in a series called the Path of Surrender, in which we have been walking with Jesus through the final week of His earthly ministry on his way to the cross. And we only have a couple of weeks left before we celebrate Easter together. And I'm thrilled for that. I just want to ask you, maybe you've been with us for these weeks for this series, and you had at the beginning of it decided over the course of Lent, this practice of preparing for Easter that

Christians have been celebrating for 1,500 plus years, how is that fast going? Maybe for you, I just reminded you that you were supposed to be fasting from something as great not not a not a problem, maybe it's a chance for you to re-up between you and the Lord with that. Or maybe for you, you started doing the devotional with us in the YouVersion Bible app. And somewhere along the way, you kind of forgot where that app was on your device. And you don't feel like you have to go play catch up. But maybe just join up again today. And let these last couple of weeks be incredibly special as you prepare for Easter with us.

I hope that this season God has used to produce fruit in your life for you to be able to see and experience it in a different way. Even if God has used it to bring challenges in your life, where he's showing you areas that he wants you to surrender in a more profound way to the plan that He has for your life. I'll just say this, even if you don't understand it all the way, as you're gonna see in a minute. You are in really good company from Jesus himself. But before I dive in, I'm gonna pray for us. And if you've never been here before, or never heard me speak, before I speak I pray kneeling. And part of the reason that I do that, actually is informed by the scene that we're about to study together where Jesus models this exact same posture of surrender. So no matter where you are in your pursuit of Jesus, no matter what your journey of faith would you join me in praying together?

God, thank you so much. Thank you for this moment that we get in the week that we've been through, and the week that we're headed to and the month that we find ourselves God that there are things you want to do. Areas, you want to shine a light to the innermost parts of who we are. God, would you help us to push away the distractions to be able to hear from you before anything or anyone else that you might shape, the truest part about us, and that that might shape everything about us. We love you. It's in Jesus name. Amen.

Now, about a week ago, I joined some pastor friends of mine from around the country that I've known for several years and our spouses, and we spent a few days together, and I went skiing. And for you, that may not seem like a noteworthy or newsworthy item for me to share with you. But the last time that I had been skiing, I was 15 years old. And before you say anything, no, I'm not 15 anymore. I also had two good knees at the time. And I am a couple of years older than 15. And I have a couple less good knees now. And I had to basically re-learn a whole bunch of details about skiing. And some of you I heard this, were like, hey, good news. It's like riding a bike, apparently, like I'm terrible at riding a bike. Because that metaphor did not work for me. There were things all day where I had to figure out and learn how to ski again.

But over the course of the day, I got way more proficient at and way more comfortable with falling down and getting back up. Like by the end of the day, I was incredible at putting my boots back in the skis, I probably could have taught a class about it. And now by the end of the day, I also had some clean runs on the slopes. And even though my knees were hurting for a couple days after that, it was a really sweet time to be with friends. And it's this really small example, when we think about skiing, that we all learn in life, which is we all get knocked down over and over and over again, we can all relate to that. And the question really is how many times can you get back up? In the words of the fictitious famous 21st century boxer theologian Rocky Balboa. “It's not about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning…” I would argue that's how living is done.

Whether you're a person of faith or not, you know this; a life that is unmarked by suffering does not exist. But here's the problem, especially if you call yourself a Christian, we can sometimes be fooled into thinking that if we are pursuing God's plan in our life, if we've made a deal with God, what we've made the deal with is saying you know what, we're gonna have less pain, we're gonna have less suffering, we're gonna have less tragedy, if we follow Him. But in my experience, it's actually not about less of that. It's about more meaning, more peace that comes in the midst of the realities that we face. in a broken world. It's way more about that, than avoiding the hurt, that we would love to avoid.

Some of you actually have walked away from God, or you're thinking about walking away from God, because that was the deal you thought you made. That was the prayer you prayed, God, I will follow you. And I will follow the plan that you have for my life as long as it will help me. As long as it will help me to avoid pain, to avoid discomfort to be able to pursue the things that I want. And I am so sorry. But that's not the way that God works. It's not even the way he worked with his own son.

As we're going to look at really one of my all-time favorite passages from Jesus’ life, we will see that just like Jesus, our pain is a tragedy and a tool in God's plan. We want it to just be one. We want it to just be the other. But it really is a reminder of our broken world when we experience pain. It's a tragedy. And it is used by God to shape us for what's ahead. It's a tool. It's both it's always both.

Last week we were around the table as Jesus took a celebration that his disciples had practiced their entire life called Passover. And he modeled what we now call communion, as he told them about the sacrifice that he knew was coming. Now, this week, we begin when Jesus wanted out. Now just hours from that meal, and I know that that is really strong language, but I'm using it intentionally.

I mentioned this but when I went skiing for the first time in about 25 years last week, I skied mostly the green hills. If you're a ski person, you know all the different hills are given different difficulty levels based on color. I don't think human beings actually ski the Black Diamond ones. I think they're robots or something just to make us think that it's possible. I don't even know why you try and do that. But I stayed mostly on the green all day. But near the end of the day, my friend who I was with, he talked me into trying a blue one, which is like the next one up, let's, let's not get crazy. And as we got off the left, you could turn left to go to the Blue Hill, or you could turn right to go to the green. And I turned left to go to the Blue Hill with him. And as I watched my friend, my experienced at skiing friend disappear over the other side of what at the moment seemed like a cliff, I instantly fell to my button. I was like, I'm not doing this that my family needs me, you know. And so I turned around and literally climbed up the hill and went to the green side. That's what I did. Thank you appreciate that.

The thing is, maybe for you, you can relate to that maybe for you actually, you feel like you got pushed down the double black diamond Hill, and you're just trying to survive, right? There are moments where we see the steep hill ahead, and we're just trying to claw our way back from the steep drop that we feel like is right in front of us.

Jesus had a moment like this dinner is behind him, his arrest is before him. And this is how Matthew records this moment, says “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples sit here, while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death, remain here and watch with me. And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it'd be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, so could you not watch with me one hour, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The Gospel writers they give us deep detail into this moment, we are given a description of these moments in the biographies that we call the Gospel accounts for Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Here, in Matthew's account, we see Jesus with His disciples, and He doesn't even begin by asking them to pray. He just says, would you stay awake, when he eventually asked them to pray, he says, pray for yourself, that you wouldn't enter into temptation for what they don't even yet see, coming. He takes Peter, James and John a little bit further from the rest. And before he begins praying, he's going to pray in a way that they really hadn't seen before. Jesus has been sharing about the suffering that he would have to endure for them, the suffering that Jesus would have to endure for you and me. Even at dinner he was sharing about this, but now it wasn't intellectual. It was emotional. It wasn't just let me tell you the facts. He was demonstrating and showing the suffering that he knew was ahead of him. He could feel the weight of what he was saying. Matthew gives us the words sorrowful and troubled.

Jesus said, to these three that he brought with him his sorrow was so deep it was even to death. And he says, Well, you just wait. He's basically saying, Would you keep an eye out for the guards? They don't even know those guards are coming to arrest Jesus.

Luke actually tells us that on a night when the guards had a fire lit to keep themselves warm, that Jesus, the creator and savior of the world was sweating profusely. He wasn't working out. It wasn't the middle of the day. Jesus was so overwhelmed that his body responded to the stress with sweat. It would eventually become bloody from a medical condition called hematohidrosis, in which his sweat glands ruptured, and produce blood so that His sweat was mixed with blood. That's the level of real stress and pressure that Jesus felt in this moment. He was not faking it. He was not pretending, he was not putting the show on so that they would see that they might write down, that we would read thousands of years later, Jesus is really experiencing the grief for what he is about to endure for you.

He goes a little bit further than the three and he's brought deeper into the garden. The original language has this idea that Jesus begins by praying, kneeling, and then at one point he falls to his face and laying down before the Father he begins this prayer. This prayer was specific. But I think it's also a prayer that if you're honest, you've probably prayed a version of as well, which is God, if there is another way, can we do that way?

Maybe for you, it's the loss of a loved one. Maybe for you it's an opportunity that fizzled. Maybe for you it's the consequences of your own actions. Maybe for you it's an estranged child. Maybe for you it's a diagnosis you don't know how to handle. Maybe for you it's something getting cut short that you thought would go on much longer in your life. But we say God, if there is another way, than the way that's in front of me, can we go that way?

But Jesus, he acknowledges something that I don't know about you I sometimes forget. He says, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. That’s the part I forget to pray sometimes. And sometimes I think, in Western Christianity, what we seem to believe, is that actually God's will is my will. That God doesn't have a plan or a will beyond my desire. God will just give me what I want. But Jesus knew there was a bigger plan, a bigger plan that his life was supposed to submit to, and before the purpose of and so after this prayer, Jesus finds Peter, James and John sleeping.

Before you're too hard on them, think about the week that we have taken weeks to study. They have been living that week, every moment that we've been studying, minute by minute, an hour by hour, they are exhausted, physically, emotionally, spiritually. Even Jesus calls this out, he says, look, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. I don't know about you, but I can certainly relate to that. We want something but our wants and our will aren't enough. That our human effort is just incapable. Maybe for you it's the singleness that you never asked for. It's the marriage that you hoped for more from. It's the children that you struggled to connect with. It's a job that feels more like a sentence than a success.

What does it look like for you to believe that suffering could be a part of God's plan?

The author of the book of Hebrews gives us a beautiful reminder of Jesus when he says, “Since then we have a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who is in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence, draw nearer to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”

I think sometimes we take the truth of that. And we can get pretty twisted that actually Jesus really was never tempted. There's a theological conversation called the peccability and impeccability of Jesus that really debates whether or not Jesus had the capacity to sin on Earth. Some of the earliest false teachings that the church had to grapple with, surfaced around this idea that Jesus wasn't really a man.

For us, we think about the idea that, you know, Jesus, maybe he's not fully God. That's not what they dealt with, people believe that he was really God. They, weren't sure that he was really man. One teaching Docetism, which comes from a Greek word, Dokein, which means “to seem” taught that Jesus only seemed to have a physical body. But at this moment, we see Jesus fully man suffering, honestly, and genuinely and fully God willing to die without sin so that he might become sin for us. As Paul puts it, “For our sake, he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus can relate to whatever you are facing right now. Maybe no one knows but you, but God does.

And I know that in whatever you face, surrendering that to God, grieving that to God, whatever you lost, whatever you thought you were going to have, surrendering that to God feels impossible, but I'm telling you, what's more impossible is continuing to live with the illusion that you're really in control.

What does it tell us that even Jesus wanted a different plan than the cross, and who can blame them? In his humanity, he knew the pain that was coming. He wanted to avoid it for his own suffering and pain, but he was willing to embrace it so that you could have relationship. We ask God for a change to the suffering to right? 20th century author and Pastor AW Tozer puts it this way. He says “The reason why many are still troubled still seeking still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders and interfering with God's work within us. How wild is it that Jesus, the creator of the universe, recognize that he needed to submit his plans to Gods, but we don't. So what is God trying to bring you to the end of in your life? Where are you the most desperate, and God is the only one left to turn to.

Maybe you're not a follower of Jesus. And the reason that you're here is because you've come to the end of yourself, it's been said that there are no drowning atheists, when we get to the end of ourselves hardwired into our DNA is the reach for something or someone greater, something that can help. Maybe that's exactly why God has allowed you to face the tragedy that you're in the middle of right now. He is using it, that he might redeem it. He's the only one capable of doing that; to point you forward in your life. That it could become a tool in the hands of a potter to shape and redirect you maybe that's exactly why God has allowed whatever you're facing today. It's not that the pain isn't difficult or that God doesn't care he does, and it is. But then our pain is a tragedy and a tool at the same time in God's plan. And God's plan is bigger and better than yours.

See, God had a world-shaking plan for Jesus’ final days. But it was going to involve the tragedy of suffering for Jesus, the agony of surrender, and it was all for the sake of you, for the sake of people that might choose to follow Him. This sets the stage for the second half of our scene, which is when Jesus kept asking. See, Jesus offered a prayer and he didn't get an immediate response from his father. Isn't that reassuring?

If the creator of the universe in his prayer life had times where he would talk to his heavenly Father - and I'm guessing he was really good at praying - and the father didn't immediately respond. Doesn't that make you feel so encouraged that sometimes when you pray, it's not you like you can talk to God, and he may have a good reason for you having to wait. Even Jesus had times when his prayers seemed to go unanswered.

Now, this is a skill that we see being modeled by Jesus that we don't have to teach our kids. They all understand persistence don’t they? As parents, I think sometimes we can project on God, how we feel about this when our kids come talk to us and nag I mean, talk to us repeatedly over and over again, right? We have four kids, our youngest is four and so around our house, we will hear choruses of my mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, and then like less but still their dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, right? And as a parent, don't tell my kids are not in the service. It's kind of annoying. But God is never annoyed by you. God never feels like you're nagging him.

As a matter of fact, here's one reminder from the New Testament it says, “Rejoice always pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” People go What's the will of God in my life, pray all the time. Talk to God all the time trying bother him, he'd love it. We see these reminders scattered all throughout the scriptures that you cannot bother God. He wants you to go before him all the time. You can't overdo it.

Early in a relationship you're trying to figure out is it too soon to call him or her as well? We don't call.. is it too soon for me to text him or her? You know, I don't want to I don't want to seem too pushy. I don't want to seem too high maintenance. You don't have to worry about that with God.

Jesus knew his father's heart. He kept going back he was persistent. Scene continues again for the second time “he went away and prayed my father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. And again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again he went away and prayed for the third time saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man has betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise. Let us be going see my betrayer is at hand.”

It's the same song, the second verse, right? Jesus goes back and he prays some more and he asks the father to remove the cup of suffering the cross that was ahead, the tragedy he would face but he is willing to ultimately submit to God's will resulting in his death and our life.

Now Luke's biography of Jesus’ life and other Gospel accounts. Remember if you don't know this, Luke is a physician who interviews everyone he can find, all these eyewitnesses so that he can offer a comprehensive look of Jesus life and ministry. He says the reason for it is so that we would have certainty in the things that we believe that's why he wrote it the way he wrote, that's why it's the longest of all the Gospels. He writes that Jesus prayed this and God sent an angel to strengthen Jesus, in response to his prayer, strengthen him for what was about to happen. It's kind of an old preacher line that it will be amazing to meet Jesus when you get to heaven.

But don't you want to meet the angel that got sent to minister to Jesus in this moment?

Imagine how confusing that is. Book of First Peter tells us that angels look and wonder with the way that God loves you. Angels are going Why do you love those people that way? What are you gonna do for them, and the creator of the universe, the one who reigns and rules, an angel a created being, gets sent down to minister to him. In this moment of Jesus’ deepest torment during His earthly ministry, when eternity seems to hang in the balance of his decision to submit to the will of the Father as our substitute, he ministered to him. It's as though Jesus says dad, I know that you can make another way I know you're capable of it, Father, would you make another way and by sending by sending this angel it's as though Jesus was saying, Would you make another way and the father saying no.

This is really challenging to consider. God chose to allow this pain for his son to adopt you. That's the truth of the scriptures. If that doesn't feel direct enough for you, a messianic prophecy, a prediction about Jesus, written hundreds of years before his life, described it this way, it says “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put Him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”

Easter isn't an accident and low church. This was always the plan, Jesus helped write it in the Trinity.

The plan of God involved the pain of surrender for the maker of creation the entire time. Think about this, Jesus is the voice of God in creation, he spoke it into existence. And now the same voice that creation heard creating it is listening as he beggs his father for another plan.

Jesus can relate to your suffering. Whatever you're facing, whatever you're going through, whatever feels insurmountable, Jesus would say I have been there too. To your agony, to the tragedy that you are headed to or you are going through, he has been there. And he went there for you.

So that anyone who would turn their lives to Him would confess their sinfulness, their propensity to rebel against God, and follow him would have their judgment that they deserve, that you deserve, that I deserve poured on Jesus. That's what we celebrated Easter, not just that he was willing to do it, that he was capable of getting it done.

Jesus' disciples, they are so exhausted, that every time he goes back, they've fallen asleep again. Has that ever happened to you? Someone shoves you repeatedly going back to sleep, it happens so fast, you don't even realize that you're sleeping. Maybe you're like I wasn't sleeping, or like I'm the one that's awake. I know you were sleeping, right? But the last time it's different. The last time Jesus, he wakes up his disciples, he let them know that they would have plenty of time to sleep later. But right now, he was about to get arrested. And Judas, who had very recently been at a table with them, very recently had been the treasurer of the group, very recently had been a follower of Jesus for the last three years, he had betrayed Jesus, he had sold him out literally to the authorities and then led them to find him that he would be arrested, falsely accused, wrongly convicted, and then ultimately crucified.

This vision of tragedy being a tool to shape us for the plan that God has for us is almost completely foreign to us, isn't it? We are being shaped every day we are swimming in cultural waters, that are designed for you and me to communicate the idea that we can avoid pain at all costs, all while ignoring the incredible costs of this very approach. It's not working. And without Jesus, there is no meaningful hope for you to find in the midst of your suffering. But with him, you can see a bigger plan that other people might come to know him. That eternity is more than just the chronological time you have on this plane of existence.

Jesus died for you. But before he died for you, he wept for you. He sweat drops of blood for you.

Theologian and Pastor Charles Spurgeon puts it this way, “A Jesus who never wept could never wet wipe away my tears.”

Aren't you glad that that's not just the kind of Jesus who died for you? That's the kind of Jesus who reigns and rules today. who invites you into relationship.

Where do you need to hold on to God's belt loops today, where you don't have answers where you feel confused and discouraged, but you want to ask him to walk you through the valley of the shadow of death that feels so close to you today?

Menlo, I'm telling you this from personal experience, even in the darkest of times, when you are most overwhelmed, God is with you. He's just waiting for you to turn to him.

What are you really surrendering in your life anyway? Some time on your schedule, and maybe a few dollars to a charity that you care about. Jesus calls all of our lives to grow closer to him. And our faith grows, the more we move, the more we give, the more we live this life towards him.

It's not about an easier life. It's about a life that's more in line with a plan that lasts for eternity. That in a broken world means that you and I will still suffer, we will still face tragedy, but God will use it as a tool, not only in our lives to grow us, but to show other people the path of heaven.

When Jesus describes this kingdom, this kingdom of heaven, he uses a picture of someone who discovers a treasure in the middle of a field. This person goes and sells everything that they have, so that they can buy the field and have the treasure. And if you just saw that person in the moment that they were selling everything you would say what a sacrifice that's incredible that that person would sell everything they have. Because that's what a sacrifice is a sacrifice is giving everything. But if you saw that person after they bought the field and dug up the treasure, you would realize it wasn't a sacrifice. Sacrifices when you give everything and get nothing, or you get less than you give. No, what he was picturing was an investment, where you give a little and you get a lot. And that's what we see as we pursue Jesus, a life surrendered to God is the ultimate investment for eternity.

It does what the law never could. Every single person who had been trying to follow Judaism believed that the law and the systems of it, hundreds of them could get them to God, but it could never accomplish what Jesus did instantly.

See theologian called Trueman, and he puts it this way, “The law says, do this, and it is never done. Grace says believe in this, and everything is already done.” You may not be following the Jewish law, may not know what the Torah is, but you have a law. And if you're not a follower of Jesus, you probably are following the laws of this world, the laws of success, the laws of status, the law of whatever ladder you're trying to climb, to get to the thing you hope will give you the peace it's incapable of giving you that's what Jesus came to solve.

And that's good news worth celebrating. That's good news that can help us endure the suffering the pain, the tragedy that God can use as a tool at the same time to take us to places that we would never have been able to go, never been able to endure without it.

20th century missionary Elizabeth Elliot, who went on to minister after her husband was killed by an unreached people group, out of her love for God and her love for this group of people, she went as a missionary to the same group of people. She has a famous quote, “There is nothing worth living for, unless it is worth dying for.” And I would just caution you that if you have a faith that requires no surrender, if you have a faith that may not be living according to the will and plan of it, you’re God.

And if you're thinking about following Jesus, I just want to make it very clear. It includes eternity, it's the hope of heaven, but you will feel the hurts of this world.

It will not remove the pain and suffering that all of us experience, it will just give purpose to the pain that you will not find without him.

So let's pray. Let's pray that God would light a fire in us that follows the example of our Savior in the garden. That could say God, we want this suffering to pass from us. But ultimately, it's not about what we want, it's about what you want. Can I pray for you?

God, I don't know every story in this room or in rooms across the bay area or wherever people are joining us from but you do you know each and every story. And so God I pray that You would speak into the heart of each and every person right now. That no matter how many times they've been distracted this week, how many times it feels like they've gotten knocked down and

they've had to get back up. But God you would just show them remind them that you love them that you are there with them, that you've not given up, that they haven't gone too far that they haven't done too much. And the way that you communicated that was by what you allow to happen to your son.

And so God as we get ready to celebrate Easter, reminded us of the weight of that burden. Remind us, God of the suffering that it took for your plan to come to fruition. And give us hope God, that the suffering we are going through or headed to today that that suffering has a purpose too, and that we have a Savior who can relate to us in all of it. Would you be with us now. Give us your perspective for what we face that we might walk through it faithfully with you. It's in Jesus name. Amen.

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