With a Passion

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The Passion of the Christ.“The Passion of Christ,” Mel Gibson’s movie about the crucifixion, is extremely difficult to watch, but it’s the least I can do in trying to think seriously about Christ’s intense suffering. This year while watching, something new occurred to me.

 

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In the opening scene as Jesus agonizes in Gethsemane just before being arrested, we’re shown 3 sleeping disciples who Jesus had brought with him for support during his darkest hour. I’ve always thought of Peter, James, and John as being irresponsible in their untimely napping while their teacher and friend suffered so terribly.

This year I checked my Bible for more information. Luke says that their sleep came as a result of “exhaustion from sorrow.” Untimely napping, then, isn’t an accurate description of what was happening.

Earlier that night Jesus had given these men a boatload of bad news. They were in the process of internalizing it when they’d been asked to accompany him to the garden, and when they got there, they watched him fall apart. Confusion, fear, and sorrow mixed together to overcome them completely.

Jesus’ response to finding them sleeping was interesting. Although he was “a man of sorrows” himself and knew how they felt, he instructed them to “get up and pray.” He didn’t tell them what to pray about, but he did add, “Pray so that you don’t fall into temptation.”

What temptation was he talking about? Could he have meant the temptation to get stuck in their debilitating sorrow? He needed these men to remain strong, not only to support him but to cope with everything that lay ahead. Even so, Jesus wasn’t harsh with them. He said something like this: “I know your spirits are willing to stay awake, to watch, to pray, but I also know the human side of you has been weakened right now.”

Even during his most excruciating hour, Jesus was still teaching them. Maybe he was saying, “Don’t be tempted to get stuck in your sorrow. I’m fighting the same temptation right now, but I will not give in. My spirit is willing to endure whatever my Father asks, and I want you to do the same.”

Anyone who’s been swamped with grief, even a grief much lesser than that of Jesus, knows the temptation to get stuck in it. Deep sorrow is exhausting and can immobilize us, despite our spirits not wanting to succumb. But sometimes we’re too weak to resist it.

Jesus gives his disciples (and us) the way to successfully resist: watch and pray. He implies we won’t suffer in our grief longer than necessary if we’ll follow those instructions. And when we look at how he victoriously overcame tremendous temptation in the garden that night, how can we do any less?

Sleeping in the garden

“When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow… ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’ ” (Luke 22:45-46)

Keeping Secrets

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DeterminationBirgitta has been a most diligent mother during the last 5 months since Emerald came along. Adding university studies in January forced her to get organized in a way that stretched her limits, and a baby doesn’t sympathize with additional work loads. But Birgitta never once complained about any of it, including the evaporation of her pre-baby social life.

In addition to the many radical changes she’s experienced in the last few months, she also “lost” her sister Louisa to a 2 year commitment to Youth With A Mission. Six months would pass before they could be together again, which amounted to one more difficult adjustment for Birgitta.

But in Montana at the YWAM base, Louisa was feeling it, too, and began praying about a possible visit home during spring break. Nelson counseled her to “try to do it,” and when she unexpectedly walked in our door last night at midnight, Birgitta couldn’t have been more shocked… or delighted!

Klaus had retrieved Louisa from the airport, and since I’d been tipped off to the surprise, I worked to keep the exhausted Birgitta from heading to bed before the arrival. But finally she said, “I’m going to bed,” and I wasn’t sure what to do. Louisa had texted, “Ten more minutes!”

I tried to stall her. “Why don’t you stay up just a few more minutes?” I said.

“Why?”

“Because Klaus is on his way over with a surprise for you.”

“What?” she said. “Now? What is it?”

Stunned...

Unwilling to spoil things I said, “You won’t want to miss it!” And a few minutes later when she rounded the corner and saw her sister, she was dumbfounded.

Keeping a secret is difficult and requires a good deal of self-control. It’s exciting to reveal something only you are privileged to know, and the temptation is to let the news slip out prematurely. In my case I fully intended to keep the secret but came close to spilling the beans several times, by mistake. For 6 weeks I was nearly bursting with anticipation of how Birgitta was going to love the surprise and could hardly wait to have her know.

Maybe that’s how it is with the Lord. He’s got secrets galore about what’s ahead for his children. I envision him bursting with anticipation for us, knowing how delighted we’ll be when we finally see all he’s got waiting for us. And yet he’s a pro at self-control and won’t reveal too much too soon. All he’ll say is, “Just know it’s beyond your wildest imaginings!”

A thrill

Watching Birgitta experience Louisa’s big surprise last night was well worth the weeks of silence, and when I saw that, I was glad I hadn’t spoiled it by letting her know too soon. God doesn’t want to spoil it for us, either, and is surely anticipating our joy, knowing his “reveal” will make us deliriously happy.

“We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” (1 Corinthians 2:7)

Digging Deeper

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The home we raised our family in was a 100+ year old farmhouse located near a creek. I loved to think about the farmer choosing that spot to build his house, up on a rise near free-flowing water that would satisfy household needs. In the late 1800’s, this family probably drew all their water from that creek by way of heavy wooden buckets.

Our old house

After we’d bought the house, we had a surprise visit from the “little boy” who’d been part of that first family. He was in his 90’s then, bent over with age, but his memories of the house were rich. We walked from room to room, and while standing in the corner where he said his mother had worked at a dry sink, he told of the well his father and brothers had dug. It was an upgrade from the creek, but she had complained it was too far from the house.

He then told of the grand day his father had dug a closer well and linked it to a hand pump on the front stoop. (That explained the 3” round hole in the concrete.) Of course eventually they had running water, and just before we moved in, a fresh well had been dug to a depth of 127’. The water quality wasn’t good, but with a line-up of purifying tanks in the basement, it was acceptable.

A creek-water bath

After living there 12 years, one day I drew a bath for the girls, and the tub filled with very strange water. It had gritty soil in it and looked much like the creek water flowing outside. Our girls loved their “black bath” and felt like they were playing in the creek.

The next day a well-man gave us the bottom line: “Your well’s going dry, and you’ll need a new one.”

After accepting our fate, Nate told him, “Dig deeper this time. Maybe you’ll find better water.”

Dig right in.

A week (and $12,000) later, we had water again, this time from a 165’ depth. There was bad news and good: the water quality wasn’t any better, but the well pipe had hit a deep vein of water, assuring us we wouldn’t run dry again.

I thought of how quickly we were willing to “dig deeper” to get the water we needed, both in the yard and in our pockets. Are we just as willing to diligently dig for God’s truth? How much effort and expense are we willing to put forth?

In the USA we can “taste” spiritual water with virtually no effort or expense. It’s on the car radio, at the corner church, on our TVs, on the internet. The question is, have we cheapened God’s pure provision by wading through its abundance without actually drinking it in?

165'

If that’s true, God’s love will see to it that we inevitably “dry out” to the point of craving his water like someone dying of thirst. And when that happens, no effort or expense will be too great to quench our genuine thirst for him.

“Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)