And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

In this passage in Matthew, Jesus knows that the end of his hourglass is drawing near. He will soon be carrying his own cross.

How does Jesus respond to the will of the Father when it means that he must suffer? How does Jesus do what is difficult? Does he suck it up? Does he pray that God will give him strength to do something begrudgingly? Or is it something else?

Here is something that may be shocking to some: Whether or not you want to do God’s will does matter! Many of you will read that statement and think something like this:

“What are you saying? You just told me that Jesus said, ‘not as I will, but as you will,’ and now you’re saying that I need to want to do what God wants me to do?” Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.

Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus bore the cross for the joy that was set out before him. The joy? I mean, think about that: how do you think he was joyful about dying on a cross, and bearing the weight of sin, and the wrath of a righteously angry Father? It is because Jesus—God in the flesh—spent time with God the Father, knowing him, loving the glory of the Father, and having his will conformed to the will of the Father. Even the Son and the Spirit submit to the will of the Father; don’t you think we ought to as well? Yet, we read verses like Matthew 26:39, and John 6:38, and we get the idea that it’s ok to hate God’s plan, provided that we do what he says anyways. Where do we even get that? That’s not what the text says! In fact, it’s saying just the opposite.

How can it be true that Jesus—who is always perfect—had to submit his will to the Father, while it is also true that we must want what God wants? The answer is this: When the time came, God the Father caused God the Son to want to do what he was obligated to do. When the time came, Jesus endured the cross “for the joy that was set out before him.”

He did not endure the cross despite his will, he endured it because of his will—and his will was to endure the cross because he, as a son, had his will conformed to the will of the Father. Jesus did not sin in Matthew 26; rather, he acted as any son of God ought to act by relying on the Father, not only for his actions, but for his will also.

However, there is a wrong way to take this. Some of you may think that you are now off the hook. You say, “Mark said that if I don’t want to serve God, I shouldn’t.” That is not what I’m saying. I am not saying that we should not obey God because we don’t want to.

Here’s what I am saying: The fact that you don’t want to obey God is itself a sin, and that is the first thing that needs to be changed. Don’t ask God to give you strength to carry out a task before you ask him to give you joy. Do you think that God delights in a heart that doesn’t love the thing he loves?

If I don’t want to do what God clearly wants me to do, it doesn’t mean that I’m off the hook, and it doesn’t mean that I should simply follow the law; it means that my will is seriously messed up, and that it needs to be conformed in a serious way.

Jesus didn’t pray in the garden because his will was messed up. He prayed the way he did because, in his perfect goodness, he was making sure that his will was perpetually being formed by the will of the Father. He wasn’t doing what he didn’t want to do, he was making sure that the Father’s will and his will would be the same thing when it came time for him to endure the worst pain that anyone has ever suffered. If this is true about God himself, how much truer is it about you and me?

And here is the thing about the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane: it worked! Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Matthew 26:36-46 worked, because we know he endured the cross joyfully.

So, let me close with an encouragement. Though you are without a hope to please God by your own strength, and though your righteous deeds are as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6), and though you are a sinner, whose very will is naturally in opposition to the Father, we have been given the gift of prayer. Use it! If you have been born again—not of the flesh, but of the Spirit (John 3:6)—then feed this life in prayer and with the Word of God.

Do everything you can to make sure that you want the things that God wants. And when you don’t want what he wants, repent, and rely on him, and the God who has called you will be faithful to conform you to joyfully do his will.

This is the third post in a series of four.

In my first post, I stated that I’ve found at least five ways we can faithfully listen to a sermon in a way that seeks Christ, honors the word of God and blesses the sanctified believer. In my last post, I discussed the first two of these points. Today, let’s go over the next two:

3. Think about what is being said

How often do we sift through the words that are preached to weigh the biblical truths that are being taught?

Not everything that is said from a pulpit or stage in church should be taken ipso-facto. In the New Testament church, even the prophecies spoken in the church at Corinth were to be weighed (1 Cor. 14:29). We can actively engage the content of the message by asking questions such as: “Is this true?” “Do I concur? And if not, do I need to repent?” “How is this shown from the scriptural passage?” “Is there something I don’t understand about this?” “Is this argument coherent and sensible?” “Does this message exalt Christ or man?”

Part of the problem, I think, is that TV,music and other media has sadly conditioned us to listen passively, expecting to be entertained. We are hoping to be served well–all along getting our proverbial fix–by what we are hearing. Hearing a sermon takes a measure of concentration combined with faith, so that the information doesn’t just come to a standstill in our minds, but rather, it sinks into our hearts and changes us.

4. Pray for yourself

Sound self-centered? It’s not meant to be. Praying for yourself acknowledges that you humbly recognize your place: that through his word, it is God who speaks and it is we who listen.

Preaching is a mysterious and spiritual event, not just a physical one.  From beginning to end, the building up of the church that takes place during a sermon can only take place by the work of the Holy Spirit. The preacher does not just deliver information to those listening; he is speaking words that (in so far as they are faithful to the Biblical text he is speaking) are impingent upon people as God’s word.

Preaching is really an act of  worshipful submission for the Church. Think about it. This is why Paul can remind Timothy of his role as pastor by saying, “Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” (1 Tim. 4:11-12) What we need in order to submit is humility, a right consideration of ourselves and our place. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that my heart is not always in submission mode when I come to hear my pastor preach Sunday mornings. Though, it needs to be.

It helps if we pray  before–or even during–the sermon, submitting our hearts to God and his Word and asking that His Spirit would open our hearts and illumine the truths of Scripture being set before us.

(…to be continued…)

• Part 1
• Part 2

This is the second post in a series of four.

In my last post, I stated that I’ve found at least five ways we can faithfully listen to a sermon in a way that seeks Christ, honors the word of God and blesses the sanctified believer. Today, I’ll discuss the first two:

1. Listen for the big idea

Not every sermon has a clear and concise theme statement that is repeated throughout, nor does every sermon need one. The basic concept is this: everyone who attempts to preach a sermon is talking about something—or rather some theme. Have you ever noticed that good preaching usually has some kind of unity to its message? Thus, it is helpful for us, when listening, to look for this united theme. A helpful way to get at the main theme of a sermon is to ask, What is my pastor saying? or What is the text talking about? then, What is he saying about what he is talking about?

For example: Is he talking about prayer? What is he saying about prayer, other than that we should do it?

Also, when listening for the big idea, it is of foremost importance to mindfully ask ourselves: What does this say about sin? What does this say about sin in my own life? These things considered, what does this say about my wonderful Savior?

After all, Christ and him crucified is always integral to Christian preaching (1 Corinthians 2:2).

2. Pray for the preacher

The act of preaching is very complex. A lot of things happen in sermon delivery both in the minds of the audience and the preachers. We listeners can often be naïve in considering how difficult the preachers task actually is. When listening to a sermon—or even preaching one—becomes routine, it is so easy to ignore how the sermon was prepared, and even how it is delivered.

Your pastors are concentrating on explicating a biblical passage and bringing it to bear on peoples lives in the midst of much unseen opposition. Things like stress, illness, discouragement, hostility from congregants, a sense of personal inadequacy while at the same time guarding against pride, or any fun conglomeration of psychological states that might be impinging upon your pastor as he strives to faithfully deliver a message from the Word of God, to build up the people of God.

Thus, the least we could do is pray for our brother-in-Christ, the preacher, who has been gifted by God with an enormous responsibility. Just as the apostle Paul asked that the Church would pray for him in his own efforts for the Gospel (Col. 4:3, 1 Thess. 5:25), we can pray that the pastor would have clarity of thought and word, personal conviction, and  a right understanding of his role and task. We pray also for the implementation of the message, the pastor’s growth in love for God and the congregation, and even boldness as he inevitably will come across truths that will not be received well.

In considering today’s two points: listening for the big idea and praying for the preacher, let us pray in humility and ask ourselves: Am I mindful of the big idea being preached? Am I allowing the gospel message to confront my sin and exalt my Savior? Do I pray for my preacher in a way that I would want someone to pray for me, if I were in his shoes? Do I love and encourage him as a brother?

(…to be continued…)

• Part 1

Heavenly Father,

If I should suffer need, and go unclothed, and be in poverty,
make my heart prize thy love,
know it, be constrained by it,
though I be denied all blessings.
It is thy mercy to afflict and try me with wants,
for by these trials I see my sins, and desire severance from them.
Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows, temptations,
if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,
and be delivered from it with gratitude to thee,
acknowledging this as the highest testimony of thy love.

When thy Son, Jesus, came into my soul instead of sin
he became more dear to me than sin had formerly been;
his kindly rule replaced sin’s tyranny.
Teach me to believe that if ever I would have any sin subdued
I must not only labour to overcome it,
but must invite Christ to abide in the place of it,
and he must become to me more than vile lust had been;
that his sweetness, power, life may be there.
Thus I must seek a grace from him contrary to sin,
but must not claim it apart from himself.

When I am afraid of evils to come,
comfort me by showing me that in myself
I am a dying, condemned wretch,
but in Christ I am reconciled and live;
that in myself I find insufficiency and no rest,
but in Christ there is satisfaction and peace;
that in myself I am feeble and unable to do good,
but in Christ I have ability to do all things.
Though now I have his graces in part,
I shall shortly have them perfectly in that state
where thou wilt show thyself fully reconciled,
and alone sufficient, efficient,
loving me completely, with sin abolished.
O Lord, hasten that day.