Pastor Edgar Mayer; Living Grace Community Lutheran Church; Message on Mark 14:17-31; Date: 24 February 08

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The Other Worship

Preparations were made and evening came. This should have been a night of celebration for Jesus and the disciples who had come all the way from Galilee to Jersusalem for the Passover but then Jesus squashed the joy of the worship feast when he made an unexpected, unsettling and confronting announcement – Mark 14:18: “While they were reclining at the table eating, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me … ‘“

“One of you will betray me.” Jesus declared to those eating with him: “One of you will betray me.” How would the disciples hear this? They were his friends. How would they react? How would we react if Jesus suggested to us: “One of you will betray me”? I am not sure whether we have ever given much thought to the idea. How would we betray Jesus in our day and age – in Australia? What does it mean to betray Jesus? We may not be quite certain about that but on the other hand we do know that betraying someone is a low act – especially after many years of friendship – and we don’t want to be accused of anything low and therefore right now – if we were accused like the disciples – we might choose to take offense – saying: “Jesus, please watch your words. Watch your suggestions.”

However, the disciples themselves were impacted in a different way. When they heard Jesus’ announcement, they did not take offense but – according to the Bible (Mark 14:19) – they became: “ … sorrowful, and one by one they asked him [original: said to]: ‘Is it I?’” “Is it I?” Jesus had a habit of being right but – I wonder – what made the disciples so unsure and anxious about their loyalty to him? None of them wanted to betray Jesus because the very suggestion made them all sorrowful – caused them grief – but in that case what made them so fearful that they asked: “Is it I?”

Were they under that much pressure? As it happened Jesus was betrayed for money and thus on one level the betrayal of Jesus was nothing more than a greedy deal between the disciple Judas and the religious authorities. I read from the Bible – Mark 14:10-11: “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the religious authorities [original: chief priests] to betray Jesus. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money … “

Is this kind of betrayal common and is that why the other disciples became so anxious? Do we ever betray Jesus for greed? We may not act the same as Judas but is it also betraying Jesus for greed when we are not prepared to give money and time towards his kingdom?

Jesus announced: “One of you will betray me.” When the disciples heard this, they became sorrowful and one by one they asked him: “Is it I?” Then Jesus declared – Mark 14:20: “It is one of the Twelve [one from the inner circle] … one who dips bread into the bowl with me … “ This caused some tension around the table – for a while. Just imagine: “One of the inner circle a traitor! How can that be?” However, then the moment must have passed because the worship feast continued and Jesus drew very near to all of them when the following happened. I read from the Bible – Mark 14:22-24: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread … and … said: ‘ … this is my body.’ Then he took the cup … and offered it to them … and said: ‘This is my blood … poured out for many … ‘“ Thus, after some difficult words in the beginning the manifest presence of God nevertheless came and filled the room. Jesus offered himself completely to his disciples and friends when eating bread and drinking wine became something holy – “his body in the bread” “his blood poured out for many”.

After a difficult beginning this did become one of the best worship evenings which Jesus and the disciples ever enjoyed and then the Bible records – Mark 14:26: “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Now listen to the next few verses and be surprised as I was surprised at the turn of events – Mark 14:27-31: “[After they had sung the hymn] Jesus told them: ‘You will all fall away … ‘ Peter declared: ‘Even if all fall away, I will not.’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘today – yes – tonight – before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.’ But Peter insisted emphatically, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the others said the same.”

What a stunning turnaround in only a few hours. As we know, earlier in the evening Jesus had already confronted the disciples with the announcement: “One of you will betray me.” Now – after the worship feast – after the closing hymn – he comes back to this unpleasant business of betrayal – only this time – implicating everyone by saying: “You will all fall away.” “You will all fall away.” However, now the stunning turnaround: The disciples no longer replied with the fearful question: “Is it I, Jesus” but now they emerged with brand new words of boldness: “Jesus, even if all fall away, I will not. Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” What happened? What caused this turnaround in the disciples?

And – to make this personal – what would make you and I confident that our faith is now firm and that our allegiance to Jesus is able to withstand some pressure? How confident are we that we won’t fall away from Jesus? This is a most important question. There is a reason why the Bible spends so much time on the betrayal of Jesus by his disciples. We are to learn from them and not do the same. Earlier Jesus warned the crowd – Mark 8:34-38: “ … If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and … follow me … If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation [and therefore disowns me – falls away from me], the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Mark 13:9-13: “You must be on you guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged … arrested and brought to trial … but he who stands firm [he who does not betray or disown me] will be saved.”

Jesus expects us not to betray him or disown him – no matter what the circumstances are. The Bible promises that – 1 Corinthians 10:13: “ … God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear … “ but at the same time this promise does not guarantee us a safe passage through life. Temptations will come and we are meant to resist them even at the point of death.

The other day I heard a testimony where a missionary in South America asked a congregation this question: “What do you tell a man who is about to be shot for his faith in Jesus Christ?” And his question was not hypothetical. The missionary himself was asked this question when one of their newly planted congregations was surrounded by a few dozen men with guns. The gun men were angry because the new Christians weakened the power of the witch doctors. Now what do you tell more than a hundred men, women and children who are about to be shot for their faith? The missionary quoted the Bible – Mark 8:34-38 – Jesus said: “ … If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and … follow me … whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it … If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him … ”

Was the missionary insensitive or too radical? He was not soft and this seems to be a long way from Australia where we live comfortably in a world of soft moral compromises. Sunday mornings many western Christians may be in church but then at other times they are less than decisive in their choices when it comes to what we watch, what we play, what we drink, what we say, … The whole notion that the Christian faith is an “either – or” proposition almost sounds foreign to our ears. “Either” we are with Jesus “or” we are with the world. “Either” we live and die for Jesus “or” we live and die for a lost world under the power of Satan. In the case of those that were about to be shot: Either you confess Jesus and die – and then live with him in heaven – or you walk away from Jesus and for a few years live on earth but then die in eternal darkness. There is no middle ground and there is no compromise between holiness and sin – Jesus and the world.

Consider the following headlines which are from current news stories: [I might add that in the story from before no one denied Jesus and the gun men opened fire from close range – with automatic rifles. However, in that particular instance Jesus shielded them all from the bullets. Miraculously, none of them was hit. The missionary asked: “How does this feel.” The pastor said: “Like being in a heavy hail storm and not being hit and the sound is deafening.] “One Christian was killed and 60 others injured; churches, businesses and homes were set on fire in the latest Muslim attacks on Christians in Bauchi state, Nigeria (Feb 08).” “Protestant clergyman killed in Ampara, Sri Lanka.” “China – Hedong District: 21 Major House Church Leaders Sent to Labor Camp in Shandong at the Same Time (20 Feb 08).” “Pakistan: A Christian doctor described receiving various death threats while kidnapped recently by Islamic extremists in an area of Pakistan reeling from extremist violence.” “At least eleven Christians remained behind bars (February 17 2008) in India’s troubled state of Orissa after deadly clashes with Hindu mobs attacking churches, Christian homes and other properties … ” “Nigeria: A Muslim man's failed attempt to marry a young Christian woman resulted in him accusing her of ‘blasphemy’, triggering violence in the Nigerian town of Yana that left at least one person dead, seven Christians hospitalized and five churches destroyed … (Feb 11 2008).” “Bangladesh: A 70-year-old woman convert from Islam died on Friday (February 1) from burns she suffered when unknown assailants in a Muslim-majority area about 150 miles northwest of the capital set her home on fire last month.” “There was increased concern … (April 2007), about the plight of active Christians in Turkey after investigators revealed that three evangelical believers were ‘satanically tortured’ last week before being killed.” “Jordan has closed down an evangelical church after expelling many devoted Christians from the country (Feb 08).” “A car-bomb exploded outside a Chaldean church in northern Iraq yesterday, injuring two people, a Baghdad bishop said. The blast is the 10th reported attack on Iraqi churches in two weeks (Jan 08).”

Right now Christians die in India, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the list goes on. Christians die in great numbers all over the world right now. According to one figure: 480 people every single day.

They know what we should also know. The Christian faith is not a soft life-style option and when Jesus’ declares: “One of you will betray me” and “You will all fall away”, this is as serious as it gets because with the betrayal of Jesus we forsake our life with him.

Therefore, this is urgent. How can we be assured that we will remain loyal to him – no matter what? Coming back to the disciples – we have another look at them because they seemed to have broken through their fears and their uncertainty. They no longer asked Jesus – anxiously: “Is it I”, but declared with boldness: “Jesus, even if all fall away, I will not. Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”

What made them so bold all of a sudden? From what we know they simply proceeded to worship with Jesus, ate and drank, experienced the presence of God and finished with a rousing hymn. Thus, during that time the glory of God must have descended on them and therefore – in that environment – they began to feel like being giants of the faith – ready to face anything. And from a certain perspective we can understand that. When we worship and have a good time in church, then that should get us ready for anything.

Only, in the case of the disciples their boldness was misplaced. They rejoiced in a great evening of heavenly glory – oh sweet worship – glorious anointing – beautiful singing – the throne room of heaven – but then they failed to do the other worship – the other worship – which involves hard work – hard praying – against the onslought of temptations. They worshipped when it felt good but then fell asleep when God needed to do some deep surgery within them. I read from the Bible – Mark 14:32-42: “ … Jesus said to them: ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.’ … Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping … He said to Peter: ‘ … Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.’ … When Jesus came back, he again found them sleeping … [and he did so again] … “

Jesus tried to stir up his disciples but I have some sympathy for them. They had already been to church. They had already prayed and sung hymns. They had already done more than enough in terms of worship and praise. And – what’s more – worship bore some results. Now they felt good and strong and confident. Surely – at this point of the night it was safe and proper to snooze a little.

So the disciples were sleeping when Jesus woke them up with the words – Mark 14:41: “ … The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners … “ Then the disciples rose to their feet – and to give them their due – they had indeed retained some boldness. There was a crowd armed with swords and clubs but when – Mark 14:46-47: “ … the men seized Jesus and arrested him, one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear … “ Therefore, the disciples meant it when they said: “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” They did make a stand – cut off an ear – before they ran away.

The disaster of betrayal struck in a different setting. Jesus was led to the house of the chief priest. Peter followed him at a distance and ended up waiting in the courtyard. Then the Bible records – Mark 14:66-72: “ … one of the servant girls … saw Peter warming himself. She looked closely at him. ‘You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,’ she said. But he denied it. ‘I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,’ he said and went out into the entryway … After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, ‘Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.’ He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know this man you’re talking about.’ … “

What do we learn from that? It is one thing to be a hero of the faith – draw your sword on the main stage – the eyes of the world on you – exit in a blaze of glory – this is one thing but it is an altogether different matter to remain loyal to Jesus in a non-descript courtyard when a servant girl asks you a question. It is one thing to have the adrenalin pumping for a decisive showdown with the forces of darkness – a glorious battle – but it is an altogether different matter to remain loyal in everyday chance encounters (when the adrenalin is not pumping but the outcome might nevertheless see you waste away as a forgotten prisoner in a disease-ridden dungeon).

Peter was not prepared for that. The servant girl threw him because he had not prepared himself with the hard worship of sleepless prayer watches to overcome these temptations beforehand. He didn’t quite believe Jesus when he said: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.”

Can we hear this word now? Can we believe what Jesus said and so remain loyal to him – with confidence? No matter what the circumstances you and I – we – will not betray Jesus. We will not disown him. We will not be ashamed of him and so he will not be ashamed of us.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” We may feel like sleeping. We may feel like we’ve had a hard week but Jesus is not soft. The disciples had been running around all day – preparing for the feast. It was hot and dusty and then they had already worshipped for hours. They were tired. Nevertheless Jesus called them to more prayer. We are to pray because in prayer we break down temptations. Watching – being on the alert – for hours – makes the truth of God and his power seep into our spiritual bones and marrow so that when a chance encounter tries to catch us off-guard, we are prepared. “Are you one of those Christians?” “Yes, I am.” “Do you believe that nonsense about the cross?” “Yes, I do.” We’ve worked through the implications beforehand – prepared ourselves beforehand for the necessary sacrifices.

This is what Jesus himself did – for us. He managed neither to betray us or disown us despite what he knew that people would do to him. The cross is a cruel instrument of death. Jesus did spend the hard hours in worship – watching in prayer at night – and thus prepared himself beforehand for what was to come – saying to his disciples – Mark 14:32-42: “ … My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch [with me] … “

The key was to come to a place of surrender where he could agree to do the will of his Father in heaven. Jesus prayed for many hours and he prayed – Mark 14:36: “Dear Father, … not what I will, but what you will.” “Not what I will, but what you will.” “Not what I will, but what you will.” And then Jesus did, what the Father wanted and died for us. He poured out his blood for the forgiveness of many.

Peter and the other disciples let Jesus down and this was serious – causing Peter to shed some bitter tears – Mark 14:72: “ … He broke down and wept.” In their case – as Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins – our Saviour granted them repentance and a new chance but the seriousness remains: Will you – will I – betray Jesus? Will we disown him? Will you – will I – be ashamed of him? There may not always be another chance to repent. Death may come suddenly or our hearts become hardened. And we simply cannot presume on cheap grace. Jesus judged Judas – saying – Mark 14:21: “ … woe to the man who betrays me [original: the Son of Man] … “ Therefore, we consider in all seriousness the announcement which Jesus made to his disciples: “One of you will betray me. You will all fall away.”

This must not happen to us. Forewarned is forearmed. Watch and pray. Watch and pray. “Dear Father in heaven, not what I will, but what you will.” Amen.