1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,040 Okay. 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:08,080 I, there was a sound I heard this morning 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:12,120 that I was like, oh, it's one of my favorite sounds. Three little 4 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:16,160 kids right here in the front row just giggling with each other. I'm gonna 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:20,200 miss that a bit because Treehouse is gonna be starting up here in about six or seven 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,240 weeks. If that's something that you're interested in being a part of, let us know. But it's 7 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:28,280 usually during the summer we have just family 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,320 services, but then during the school year, most of the school year we have Treehouse. So, 9 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,360 I love having the little kids in here and hearing them giggle and just explore 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,400 and I love the nature of having a community that just kind of 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,440 parents all the kids and just supports all the kids. 12 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,480 That's not related to the message at all, I just wanted to say that. From the 13 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:52,520 beginning of this series I have been looking forward to doing 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,560 this particular location and for a couple reasons. 15 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,600 I mean, for one, it's because it's directly connected to something that we do 16 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,640 every week as a congregation. Every week 17 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,680 we share something we call communion or the table or the Eucharist 18 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,720 and every week we say something along the lines of 19 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,760 on the night that Jesus was betrayed and handed over to death on a cross. 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,800 Today's location is where that happened. It's 21 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,840 where Jesus was betrayed and handed over. 22 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,880 Second, I wanted to talk about this location because I've been there 23 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,920 in 2019. I was able to go to Israel and spent time 24 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,960 in Jerusalem and so today's location 25 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:41,000 happens to be a place that I was able to go to and take pictures of. So, Liam, if you'll put up that 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,040 first picture, this is what we're going to be talking about today. It is 27 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,080 the Garden of Gethsemane or just 28 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,120 Gethsemane. It is on a place called the Mount of Olives. 29 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,160 I sat and I prayed in a place that Jesus 30 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,200 presumably sat and prayed. And so, I thought 31 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,240 that we could look at this location and consider what we might learn 32 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,280 from what we see happen at this location. So, if 33 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,320 you have your Bibles, we're going to be in Matthew 26, if you want to go ahead 34 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,360 and open that up. 35 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,400 And it's going to be Matthew 26. If you have a digital Bible, it's easy to find. 36 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:25,440 If you have a physical Bible, it's the very first book in what's called the New Testament 37 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,480 or the Newer Testament. If you don't have a Bible and you would like one, they are 38 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,520 out on the bookshelf out in the lobby. You're welcome to take one, take it home. 39 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,560 It's yours. It's free. Otherwise, download one from any of the digital app 40 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,600 stores. Today, I'm going to be reading from the new international 41 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,640 readers version, the NIRV. The NIRV 42 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:49,680 is a very easy version to read. It also changes some words 43 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,720 that make it kind of a little more modern to make it easier to understand. 44 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,760 So, we have a tradition of giving the Scriptures a full attention here at the house. 45 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,800 One of the ways we do that is by standing as we read the Scriptures. If you are able 46 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,840 or would like to join me as I read from Matthew 47 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,880 26, starting in verse 48 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,920 36, it says this, then Jesus went with his disciples to a place 49 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:17,960 called Gethsemane and he said to them, sit here while I go over there and pray. 50 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,000 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him and he began 51 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,040 to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, my soul is overwhelmed 52 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:30,080 with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. 53 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:34,120 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 54 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:38,160 my father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, 55 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:42,200 but as you will. Then he returned to his disciples and found them 56 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,240 sleeping. Couldn't you men keep watch with me for an hour? He asked 57 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,280 Peter, watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. 58 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,320 The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. He went away a second time 59 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,360 and prayed, my father, if it is not possible for you to take, for this cup to be taken 60 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,400 away unless I drink it, may your will be done. When he came back 61 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,440 again he again found them sleeping because their eyes were heavy. 62 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,480 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time 63 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:14,520 saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, are you still 64 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,560 sleeping in resting? Look, the hour has come and the Son of Man 65 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,600 is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go. Here comes 66 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,640 my betrayer. Let us pray. God of every 67 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,680 tribe, every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank you 68 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,720 for the scriptures that we have them, that they have persisted 69 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,760 throughout the millennia and I pray that today whatever you have for us to learn 70 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,800 pray that it would stick, pray that it would become a part of the framework of our faith, 71 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,840 that our faith would become stronger and that we would become 72 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,880 more like your son Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thanks all. 73 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,920 You can have a seat. Okay, before we get into the context of this passage a little bit 74 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,960 and some of the things that actually happened in the passage I want to ask the 75 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,000 question, was I really praying where Jesus 76 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,040 prayed? Is the current garden of 77 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,080 Gethsemane really where the garden was? The easy answer is 78 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,120 maybe. 79 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,160 We don't really know for sure. Let's put up this next picture of the 80 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,200 city. Tradition tells us that this is the spot where the red 81 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:27,240 circle is with the little red arrow. The garden, that garden 82 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,280 is directly across the Kidron Valley. You can see how 83 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:35,320 there's a separation between it and that blue rectangle is where the temple 84 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,360 is. That is the entire temple mount. The little 85 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,400 globe you see there is an Islamic temple that is on the mount now. 86 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,440 But the entire blue thing is the actual mount that is built up 87 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,480 that things could be built on. And that is, that mount 88 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,520 goes all the way back to the day of Jesus. It was never destroyed. It was never knocked 89 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,560 down. And so this is on the east side 90 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,600 of where the temple is. Let's put up the next picture. 91 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:07,640 I took this picture of the temple 92 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,680 wall. That's the east temple wall. I took this from the garden. 93 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,720 If you've heard of the wailing wall 94 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,760 where many Jews go religiously to pray, 95 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,800 that is on the far other side. And the reason that they go there is because 96 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,840 it's the only full wall that's actually accessible. Like that you can just walk 97 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:31,880 up to and there's a courtyard that's outside of it. 98 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,920 When you look at this, when you stand in that place, obviously there wouldn't have been 99 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,960 a cement wall with an iron rod gate right there. But you can imagine 100 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,000 that it's not that bad of a place to pray from. 101 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,040 A place where you're surrounded by trees that you can look up at the temple 102 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:52,080 that in your religion and Judaism that you've been taught 103 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,120 and you've known that this is the place that all of God's people are meant to come 104 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,160 and worship God in the different times 105 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:04,200 of the year. You can imagine that Jesus is standing there at night 106 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:08,240 only the moon illuminating anything. It wouldn't have 107 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,280 looked like that. You would have just seen a bit of moonlight outlining 108 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:16,320 the line of that temple wall. 109 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:20,360 It's a good story. 110 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,400 But we can't be sure. That's the truth. 111 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,440 I can romanticize this location but the truth 112 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,480 is that we don't know for sure. 113 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,520 That the Armenian church, the Greek church, the Latin church 114 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,560 and the Russian church all accept that this 115 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,600 olive grove is the most likely place of 116 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,640 Gethsemane. Well why? Because in the year 326 117 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,680 about less than 300 years after the ministry 118 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,720 death and resurrection of Jesus, Empress Helena 119 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:00,760 also later known as Saint Helena, the mother of 120 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,800 Saint Helena in the year 327, the first Christian 121 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,840 Roman emperor, she goes on what's called a pilgrimage. 122 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,880 She goes on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem intentionally 123 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,920 to find religious relics and to locate 124 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,960 the holy places that had been mentioned in 125 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:25,000 the gospels. So on that pilgrimage with the help of 126 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,040 local guides, with people, with Jewish individuals that had roots 127 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:33,080 throughout the century, this spot was determined to be the most 128 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,120 likely. Okay, why isn't that enough for us to know for sure? 129 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,160 Olive trees lived for thousands of years. How hard can it be 130 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:45,200 to find an olive grove near the temple that's on 131 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,240 a mount, right? But we have to remember that at least two different times 132 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,280 between the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and when 133 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,320 Saint Helena was there, at least two different times Rome had come through 134 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,360 and completely destroyed most of Jerusalem. Josephus, the historian 135 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:05,400 actually writes that one of those times that Rome intentionally 136 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,440 raised, burned and destroyed all vegetation in the city 137 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,480 because they didn't want anyone to have anything to eat or to live 138 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,520 off in the city because they were forcing and pushing all of the 139 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,560 Jews out of their city. 140 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:25,600 So we can't be sure because the trees that are there only 141 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,640 come back to at the oldest, the 12th century, when they had been 142 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,680 replanted. But this location, 143 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:37,720 based on Saint Helena's pilgrimage, tradition and 144 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,760 consensus of many different branches of the church is what we might call the most 145 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,800 probable location. 146 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,840 Also, it's important in the life of many Christians 147 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,880 and many traditions because according to Acts 1, this is also the location 148 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,920 that Jesus ascended to heaven from. You read Acts 1, 149 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,960 it says that he's talking to his disciples, he sends them to heaven, and then the angels 150 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:06,000 say, what are you looking for? He will return just as he is left. 151 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,040 And then it says, and then they left the Mount of Olives. So let's 152 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,080 this next photo, let's look at this. So on your left 153 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:18,120 is the garden, on your right is the temple mount, and 154 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:22,160 in front of you is a hill that's completely covered with what? 155 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,200 Those are 156 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:30,240 tombs. Every one of those boxes 157 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,280 has somebody in it. And the reason is because 158 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:38,320 it dates back to the, let's see, the 1700s 159 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,360 when in particular, because of the belief that Jesus would return, 160 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,400 some people interpret it as not just in the same way, but to the same 161 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:50,440 place, and because Christians believe that 162 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,480 when Christ returns that the dead in Christ shall rise and see him 163 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,520 and be with him, these people wanted to be the first 164 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,560 to rise and the first to see him. So they 165 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:06,600 painstakingly figured out how to be 166 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,640 buried basically on the east side 167 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:14,680 of the Kidron Valley, looking, facing 168 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,720 the temple. It's pretty 169 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,760 amazing. One sage wrote this about this 170 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:26,800 phenomenon. And they will sprout out of the city like 171 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,840 the grass of the field. How beautiful is that? 172 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,880 Alright, so other than the historical context of the location and 173 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,920 why it's probably, probably the right spot, what can we learn 174 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,960 from what we see happen at this location? 175 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:51,000 Right, so one, the first thing I want to point out, and I've brought this up 176 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,040 a number of times just very momentarily at the end of services when we're talking 177 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:59,080 about communion, the first thing I want to point out is the trust 178 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:03,120 that Jesus had for his Father. Today we sing 179 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:07,160 two different songs connected to the concept 180 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,200 of trusting the Father. We sing Good Plans, we sing a new song 181 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,240 Fear is Not My Future. Both are pointing us 182 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:19,280 to trust in God the same way that Jesus 183 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,320 trusted the Father. And we're not just singing our good intentions. 184 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,360 Christianity and singing and worship isn't trying 185 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,360 to brainwash ourselves into unrealistically being 186 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,400 optimistic. Why? Because the God 187 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,440 that we serve, we know, suffered and died on a cross. 188 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:43,480 No Christian should be under the delusion about whether 189 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,520 life includes some disappointment and pain. 190 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,560 But when we read the Gospels and the pages 191 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:55,600 that lead to this moment in the garden over and over 192 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:59,640 Jesus affirms the positive and healthy relationship 193 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,680 that he had with the Father. 194 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,720 That God had good plans. 195 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:11,760 That fear was never his motivating emotion. 196 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,800 Over and over Jesus talks about 197 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,840 the love that the Father had for him. 198 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,880 And then eventually Jesus turns that conversation in the book of John 199 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,920 in chapters 15 and 16 about how the Father loves him and turns it and says 200 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,960 and as the Father loves me, the Father loves you. 201 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:36,000 Jesus and the 202 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,040 Gospel writers want us to know that the relational 203 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:44,080 dynamic between God the Son and God the Father 204 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:48,120 is the same dynamic that can exist 205 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,160 between each of us and the Father. 206 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,200 Guys, this is huge. 207 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,240 This is so important for us to understand. 208 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:04,280 Jesus is telling us the dynamic between him and the Father 209 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,320 is what we can experience between us and God. 210 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,360 There will be moments 211 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:16,400 that we ask the Father to remove a challenge. 212 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,440 I mean no show of hands but I'm sure it would be every single hand. 213 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,480 You ever ask God to take away a challenge? Remove a challenge? Resolve a challenge? 214 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,520 There's gonna be moments where we ask God 215 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,560 to remove a challenge. To provide a different option. 216 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,600 An alternative path. 217 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,640 We may literally say, God 218 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,680 let this cup pass 219 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,720 and he won't. 220 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,760 But because of the example of Jesus 221 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,800 we're meant to learn that we can still trust him. 222 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,840 Because the situation does not 223 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:04,880 define God's character. 224 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,920 And as 225 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,960 the scriptures say and as we sum today, God can turn anything 226 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:17,000 for good. Jesus knew this as he was asking. 227 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,040 Jesus knew that even as he was asking that if the Father did not 228 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:25,080 provide a different path. So think about this. 229 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,120 Who might this remind us of elsewhere in the Bible? 230 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,160 Somebody being asked to 231 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,200 sacrifice something extremely important hoping that maybe there's gonna be 232 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:41,240 an alternative provided. Anyone? 233 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,280 I'm thinking of Abraham. 234 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:49,320 Abraham waiting and waiting and waiting to have his own 235 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:53,360 son from his wife right? And then there's the passage that 236 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,400 the Father says that God says I want you to go and offer your own son as a sacrifice 237 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,440 and our minds are blown because God has never asked for human sacrifice 238 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,480 before. So this is extremely odd. What in the world is going on? But what we're told 239 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,520 is that Abraham walked in faith believing that the Father would 240 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,560 offer a solution. Would offer something else. 241 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,600 And now he's gone up a mount. Now Jesus is on a mount 242 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,640 praying, hoping that the Father will offer a different solution. 243 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,680 Maybe we are meant to think oh of course God will offer 244 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,720 a different solution. Imagine you're reading the gospel for the first time you don't know how the story 245 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,760 is. There's these videos online. 246 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,800 These like video memes I guess where a guy standing in the circle or sitting in a circle for a Bible 247 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,840 study and he's never read the Bible before and people keep on like ruining the story. 248 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,880 They keep on going well we know you know like later Jesus is gonna die and they're like 249 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,920 ahhhh. They don't know any of the stories. 250 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,960 But if you're reading this especially in the early 251 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,000 church you're reading this for the very first time you don't know any of the story but you know 252 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,040 if you heard about Abraham you knew that story you're like oh yeah God's gonna make a different way. 253 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:06,080 And then he doesn't. 254 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:10,120 And Jesus still trusts him. Jesus still walks through it 255 00:17:10,120 --> 00:17:14,160 and Jesus still trusts because he knows 256 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:18,200 that God can take anything and turn it 257 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,240 for good. Which brings me to the second thing 258 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:26,280 I see in this story. In the same place that we see 259 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:30,320 Jesus completely trusting his Father we also see him 260 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,360 offering trust to people that keep on 261 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:38,400 breaking it. 262 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,440 Hey guys a little bit ago we were at dinner 263 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,480 and I told you hey you know I'm gonna die. 264 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,520 One of you is gonna betray me. It's the one who drinks from the cup. 265 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:54,560 Why don't we go out 266 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,600 and pray. I'm under a lot of pressure. Let's go pray. You three 267 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,640 in particular come with me over here and pray with me. 268 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,680 What you can't, you guys can't stay awake? 269 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,720 Alright just stay awake. I'm gonna go pray. You guys stay awake. Pray for me. 270 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,760 I need it. Come back. Guys! 271 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,800 What is going on? 272 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,840 You didn't drink enough coffee earlier. What's going on? Come back a third time. 273 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,880 Alright guys my betrayer is right there. It's time to go. 274 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,920 We see Jesus trust the Father and then continue to 275 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,960 trust people that fail him. 276 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:39,000 Jesus knew that the Father would never 277 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,040 fail him while he knew that every one 278 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:47,080 of his followers would. And understood that though 279 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:51,120 everyone else around him would fail that because of 280 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:55,160 his trust for the Father he could continue to offer trust to the 281 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,200 people that would fail. 282 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,240 Those of you that are very like math equation minded 283 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,280 that all made perfect sense to you. 284 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,320 We should be realistic. 285 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,360 We should be honest and we should be realistic that every person 286 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:19,400 sitting in this room right now, we're all sitting going 287 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,440 to fail. Every person in this room will 288 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,480 at one point or another fail. Maybe even 289 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:31,520 fail you directly. 290 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,560 You may fail them. 291 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,600 If we give up on our community when that happens. 292 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,640 When? Everybody say when. This isn't an if. 293 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,680 It is when we fail each other. 294 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,720 If we give up on community and give up on each other when 295 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,760 we fail then we might be missing one of the messages of Jesus 296 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,800 in this passage. Because it wasn't the trust Jesus had for his disciples 297 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:03,840 that kept him from kicking them out when they failed. 298 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,880 It was the trust Jesus had for his Father. 299 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,920 That the Father would never fail him. 300 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,960 That shaped how Jesus treated the disciples. 301 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:20,000 When they failed. 302 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:24,040 I think there are plenty of people 303 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:28,080 that are really disappointed in God when what they're really 304 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,120 actually upset about is that the friends around them didn't live 305 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:36,160 up to their expectations or needs. 306 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,200 Which sometimes is fair. 307 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,240 They're probably right. Because we're human. 308 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,280 And we're flawed. Our friends are not going to be perfect all the time. 309 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,320 Jesus, listen to this one. 310 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:56,360 Jesus never puts the failures of his friends onto his Father. 311 00:20:56,360 --> 00:21:00,400 Jesus never puts the failures of his friends. 312 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,440 He never projects those onto his Father. 313 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,480 Jesus had hopes for his disciples. 314 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,520 Jesus more than once throughout the gospels if you read 315 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,560 all the accounts of the gospels more than once he expressed 316 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,600 frustration towards them. But Jesus never lost 317 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,640 sight that they were only humans. 318 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:28,680 Jesus didn't withhold what was good from broken humans 319 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,720 because they were broken. Instead because they were broken 320 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:43,760 Jesus gave them what was good. 321 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,800 Maybe it's hard to 322 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,840 catch the scope of this. Right? 323 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,880 Somebody in this room at one point or another has felt like absolutely everyone has betrayed me. 324 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,920 Absolutely everyone has abandoned me. 325 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:03,960 Right? 326 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:08,000 And then there's Jesus who could actually say 327 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,040 everyone has abandoned me. 328 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,080 Everyone he trusted. 329 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:20,120 Everyone he trusted. 330 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:24,160 Left him and abandoned him to die but he didn't die 331 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,200 Listen, because of them 332 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:32,240 he died for them. 333 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:36,280 So what do we do 334 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,320 with any of this? How do we practice? How do we 335 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:44,360 participate? Well 336 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:48,400 there's a little secret that's hidden in the garden. 337 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:52,440 The word 338 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,480 Gethsemane means oil press. 339 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:00,520 It's one of the reasons that they felt confident that it was on the 340 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,560 Mount of Olives that the garden of Gethsemane had olive trees. 341 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,600 Part of the reason they knew what to be looking for, to be thinking about the history, 342 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,640 to asking people of where this might be. The word Gethsemane means 343 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,680 oil press. And when Luke tells this 344 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,720 same story of Jesus praying in the garden as 345 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,760 his disciples keep falling asleep, Luke being someone that 346 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,800 believed to be by tradition having been a medical doctor, he says 347 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,840 that Jesus, his sweat was like drops of blood. 348 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,880 The metaphor here, the illusion 349 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,920 that's being pointed at here, the connection 350 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,960 is almost sure that Luke is trying to get us 351 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:49,000 to connect to the idea that he is in the place called oil press 352 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,040 and that he is under so much pressure that his very life is being squeezed 353 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:57,080 out of him. 354 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,120 It's one of the best things that we can do, one of the best 355 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:05,160 ways that we can participate with this practice and participate 356 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,200 with this passage is for us to remember. Just look around for a 357 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:13,240 second. Just make eye contact with at least one other person that's 358 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,280 in this room. Ready? Yeah. 359 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,320 Everyone here, everyone you 360 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:25,360 need, every person is under some 361 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:29,400 kind of pressure. 362 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:33,440 Did they slip up? 363 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,480 Okay, well olive oil is slippery. 364 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,520 It's hard to stand firm 365 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:45,560 when you're standing on oil. 366 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,600 When it feels like your very life is being squeezed out the bottom of your feet. 367 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:53,640 It's hard to be perfect 368 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,680 and to make all the right decisions when the person in front of you doesn't know all the 369 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,720 pressures that you're under. 370 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,760 And it's also difficult to have the expectations of the person you're 371 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,800 looking at to be perfect when 372 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,840 you have not asked what pressures 373 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,880 that they currently feel. 374 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,920 Very few people that I know or have ever met 375 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,960 wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say to themselves, man I really 376 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,000 hope I let someone down today. 377 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,040 I'm gonna bullet journal my day and that's the first thing on my to do list. 378 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:38,080 As long as I get to the end of the day 379 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:42,120 I've let someone down I'll feel like I accomplished something. 380 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:46,160 It's not what anyone does. 381 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,200 Most of the people 382 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,240 that are currently or have failed us, they're just not 383 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:58,280 doing it on purpose. They're just under 384 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,320 a lot of pressure. 385 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:06,360 I've said it before and I'll say it probably 386 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:10,400 a hundred or a thousand more times that one of my favorite 387 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,440 things about the scriptures, one of my favorite things about 388 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:18,480 the Bible is that it spends zero time 389 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:22,520 trying to hide how flawed humans are. 390 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,560 And even more, 391 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,600 it spends zero time trying to hide the flawed humanity 392 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,640 of the people in the Bible that we turn into heroes of the faith. 393 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,680 The three that 394 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,720 were closest to Jesus, Peter, James and John. John was the one that in the book 395 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,760 John that he wrote, he's always describing himself as the one whom Jesus 396 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,800 loved. He's the one that fell asleep. 397 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,840 Couldn't stay awake for the one who loved him. 398 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:58,880 Peter. Peter was the one 399 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,920 who first said that you are the Messiah and Jesus said you are right. 400 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:06,960 You are the rock and on this rock I will build my kingdom. 401 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:11,000 The rock 402 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,040 fell asleep. 403 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:19,080 These are the people 404 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:23,120 that could not stay awake for an hour 405 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:27,160 and pray with the one they believed was 406 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:31,200 the answer. 407 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:35,240 But Jesus didn't write them off. 408 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,280 And we are going to be like Jesus. We have to keep 409 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,320 in mind that everyone is under pressure. 410 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,360 We can give them the same benefit of the doubt that we would want them 411 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:55,400 to give to us when we fail. 412 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,440 When we are under pressure 413 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:03,480 we can turn to the Father and I think that we're 414 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,520 meant to bring our friends along 415 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,560 and we're meant to remember that while those friends 416 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,600 may fail us in our moment of need 417 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,640 the Father has good plans. 418 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,680 His love will never fail. Even the failure 419 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,720 of our friends will be turned 420 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:31,760 into something good. Amen? 421 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,800 Let's pray. 422 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,880 God some of us have felt under pressure to the point that 423 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,920 life was pouring out of our skin. 424 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,960 We have felt that there are no more 425 00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:00,000 options. 426 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,040 There is no possible way that this is still going to end up good. 427 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:08,080 Today we confess 428 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,120 that we sometimes if not often believe 429 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:16,160 a lie. 430 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:20,200 And instead today we choose to believe the truth. 431 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:24,240 That you 432 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,280 can turn all things together for good for those 433 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,320 who are true and are called according to your purpose. 434 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:40,360 I pray that you help us remember that every moment of every day. 435 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,400 That you help us to be 436 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:48,440 pressure informed, trauma informed when we are interacting with other people 437 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,480 that are failing. Maybe we don't take it so 438 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,520 personally. We think of what they might need. 439 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,560 How we might be a part of 440 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:04,600 turning something difficult to something good. 441 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:29,640 Amen.