THE GOD WHO PRAYED
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Old Testament Lesson; Jeremiah 31:31-34
Gospel Lesson; John 12:20-33
Sermon Text; Hebrews 5:7-9
If we were to assign each one of you with a certain job, everyone here would probably go about that task in just a little different way. For example, if we gave you the job of building a house, we would see many different ways of accomplishing that task.
Some of you would go into action right away. You would go to Home Depot buying all the materials for the project, dig the hole in the ground, and begin to build the house, right away! You are person of action.
Others of you may be people who would sit down and begin to carefully draw floor plans exactly as you want the house to look. You would be people of planning.
Others of you may sit down, asking many questions about the project and the process and the house. "How do we go about building this house? How do we want the house to look? What do we want to have in our house? What would we like to accomplish there, in the house?" You are people who study the situations.
Some of you may be people of caution. You would sit down with your budget. You would first want to know how much money you are going to make, and what kind of house you could afford. You are people of caution.
We all go about our tasks and our jobs that God gives us in different ways. And yet, I certainly hope that every one of us would go about those tasks in the exact same way, in this one sense. Psalm 109 says,
"I am a man of prayer."
I certainly hope that, if we were given the task to build a house, every single one of us would first of all, before anything else, get down on our knees and commit that task into the hands of the Almighty, all knowing, all loving God, trusting that He would guide us, guard us and use us in that task, for His glory. That is the privilege every Christian has. Our hymn says,
"With the Lord, begin thy task.
Jesus will direct it.
For His aid and council ask.
Jesus will perfect it."
People of prayer, are people who begin their tasks on their knees, before God, trusting His guidance. Our Savior was certainly a man of prayer. Our Savior had many tasks to accomplish, while He was here on this earth. And, the Bible makes it very clear that Jesus spent a great deal of time, on His knees, before His Father in Heaven, asking for His Father’s guidance and leadership through the many tasks He had to accomplish. And, the greatest task that anyone ever had to accomplish was the task that only our Savior, Jesus could face. Jesus had a task to accomplish. Jesus had a job to accomplish that is greater than the leader of any country ever had to face, ever, in the entire history of this world! Jesus faced a task so monumental, that there was no one else who has ever lived, who could even begin to accomplish that task! It all rested on His shoulders. There was no one who could help Him. No one could assist Him. It was a monumental task that only He, Jesus, could accomplish. And, with that monumental task, every thing lay in the balance.
The eternal welfare of
every single soul
that ever lived on this earth,
or ever will live on this earth
lie in the balance,
as Jesus was to accomplish the task of
paying for the sins of
the entire world!
As Jesus was about to confront that task, (which was a very, very difficult task, far more difficult than we can even begin to imagine in our wildest imagination) how did Jesus begin that task?
Jesus is a Man of prayer.
Our scripture reading says,
"During the days of Jesus’ life on earth,
He offered up prayers and petitions
with loud cries and tears
to the one who could save Him from death"
As Jesus was about to face that great task lying before Him, He began with prayer. And consider how great this task was. This was such a difficult task that we find our Savior, not on His knees, but lying with His face to the ground, in absolute prayer to His Father in Heaven, pouring out His very soul to His Father in Heaven. This task that He was about to face was so difficult we find that even Jesus’ heart and blood vessels could not contain His blood. It was seeping through His pours, as if it were great drops of sweat. This task was so monumental, that our Savior was crying out to God, as our passage tells us, "with loud cries and tears" before His Father in Heaven. This task was so difficult that Jesus in His human nature, as He looked to the task that He was about to undergo, could see the great difficulty that He was about to endure. He could see what He was about to endure and His human nature shrunk back, from how difficult this task was. His human nature shrunk back from the thought that He was about to suffer in ways that we cannot even begin to comprehend. He knew that the entire wrath of God, against the sins of everyone who has ever lived or ever will live on this earth, was going to be poured out on Him. He tells us it troubled Him so deeply that His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death. He was troubled, as He looked off and could see that He was about to suffer even the eternity of Hell that every single one of us deserves. He, the One who loves what is right and good, saw that on His holy body was to be placed the shame and guilt of sin that so repulses Him. In His human nature He shrank back from that. Jesus knew He was about to face a tortuous death for our sakes, and His human nature shrank back.
And, so what did Jesus do?
He went to His Father
in prayer.
He cried out to His Father,
"Father,
if it is possible,
may this cup pass from me."
There Jesus was begging and pleading with His Father that if there is any way that the human race could be saved, any way other than having to undergo what He was about to undergo, please help that to happen in some other way, if it is possible. But then Jesus said,
"May this cup pass from me,
if it is possible.
Nevertheless,
not
my will but
Thy will
be done."
There is our Savior, in prayer, facing a task that is so monumental that we cannot even begin to imagine. Our scripture reading goes on and says,
"He was heard
(He was heard)
because of His reverent submission."
As Jesus prayed, begging and pleading that if it were possible for us to be saved in some other way, that other way be accomplished. What was it that Jesus wanted more dearly than anything else? In His prayer He said,
"Never the less,
not my will
but Thy will be done."
More than anything, He wanted the good and gracious will of His Father to be done. He knew that His Father was all knowing and all loving. And so more than anything else, Jesus wanted the will of His Father to be done. In reverent submission, not to His own will, but to God’s will, Jesus prayed, "May Thy will be done."
And, our Bible passage says, "He was heard." He was heard. The Father answered Jesus’ prayer, and the Father’s Will was done. When Jesus heard the soldiers and the people coming up the side of the mountain, Jesus then knew what the will of the Father was. The will of the Father was that Jesus go forward. He was to accomplish that task. He was to suffer. And, He needed to die for the sins of the world. And so, Jesus went forth, resolutely. Our scripture passage says,
"Although He was a Son,
He learned obedience
from what He suffered."
There is no greater obedience. Oh, it is easy to do something that we don’t mind doing. But there is no greater obedience, than to do something that we shrink back from, something that troubles us and bothers us. Here we see our Savior, in absolute obedience, not to His own will, but the will of His Father, doing the most difficult task that anyone has ever had to face. Jesus went forward, suffered and died, because that was the will of the Father.
Then our passage goes on and says,
"Once made perfect
He became the source of eternal salvation
for all who obey Him."
Now when it says, "Once made perfect" it doesn’t mean that He was made morally perfect or that He wasn’t perfect prior to this time, because we know that our Savior was always perfect. Jesus never sinned. A better translation from the Greek would be,
"Once completed,
once made complete,
He became the source of eternal salvation
for all who obey Him."
Once He completed the task that our Father gave Him to do, then Jesus became the source of eternal salvation for anyone who believes. God’s will is so good and so gracious, that when He answered the prayer of Jesus and told Him, "My dear Son, go and die for the sins of the world," God’s good and gracious will was accomplished. And now, because of what Jesus did, He is the source of salvation, eternal salvation, for you and for me!
Now I, a sinner, can go to God my Father in Heaven. And there, I can go to the cross of Jesus, take all of the sins that could condemn me for all eternity, and lay them at the feet of Jesus. Jesus, who was obedient to the will of His Father, suffered and died for me, and bore the wrath of God against all of my sins. I can lay my sins there at the feet of Jesus, throw my arms around Jesus in faith, and have the source of eternal salvation! There my sins are forgiven! There I am declared God’s friend! There I am declared not guilty! There God gives me the gift of Heaven itself! And, all of this because God’s will was accomplished through Jesus, my Savior.
Our savior loves us so dearly! You see how He submitted to the will of His Father, for us! How greatly we benefit from that! But, we all need to understand this. Our Savior loves us so dearly, that not only does He want us to have our sins forgiven, not only does He want us to have a home in Heaven, but He also wants to be with us, work in our hearts and in our lives, through every task that we accomplish in this life! So Jesus, our Savior not only gives us the forgiveness of sins, and the promise of Heaven, but He gives us the great gift of prayer. Yes! He gives us the great gift of prayer, when He tells us,
"Whatever
you ask the Father
in My name,
it will be given to you."
There Jesus promises us that, as His people, not only can we throw our arms around Him in faith, knowing that we are saved, but we can also throw our arms around Him, as our Savior. And, even though we don’t deserve to have any of our prayers answered, for the sake of Jesus, God will answer our prayers. God will answer our prayers, because we are His children, for Jesus’ sake!
Who of us, in this life, cannot begin even the most simple task, without committing it into the hands of our Savior, Jesus, in prayer? Who of us cannot begin that task, without asking Him to guide us, watch over us, and work through the events of our lives to accomplish His good and gracious will? It is then, that we can go forward in absolute confidence, having put it in His hands, in prayer.
Even the most simple task, like preparing a meal for your family, is a wonderful opportunity of committing that task into God’s hands, in prayer.
Dear Jesus,
I am about to prepare a meal for my family. I pray that you would guard over me and watch me so that the meal that I prepare would be of service to them, so that it will build them up in their strength so that they can go forward in this life, living for you and serving you.
What an opportunity and privilege our Savior gives us! What confidence we can go forward with, when we know that we have put our task into His hands, asking for His leadership, His guidance, and His will to be done.
There are so many great tasks that we face, during this life. For instance, the young people who are sitting here today have a wonderful task ahead of them. Many of you, in the near future, will be choosing a spouse for the rest of your life. What a wonder task it is, to choose a spouse. But who of us would pass up the opportunity, the blessing, the privilege to get down on our knees in prayer, as we begin that task, asking our Savior to guide us.
Dear Jesus,
I want a companion for life. I am praying that you would guide me, lead me, and help me to find someone who is good, loving, and kind. I am praying that you would help me find someone who is good Christian, who will keep me safe in this life, spiritually. Guide me and guard me while I date, so I find the person who would be best for me.
Who of us would pass up that awesome opportunity, to begin that task, on our knees in prayer, to our loving Savior?
Our young people have another awesome, wonderful task, which many are about to undergo. That is the task of choosing a career for the rest of your life. That is such an awesome choice to be able to make! Who of us would pass up the opportunity to get down on our knees, and begin that task, in prayer?
Dear Lord Jesus,
You have purchased me. You have redeemed me to be your own. I am yours. I am here on this earth to live for you. You have given me certain skills and abilities. I pray that you would guide me, as I go about choosing a career, a job, for the rest of my life, where I would be able to serve you and serve others to the best of my ability.
And then we can go forward, knowing our Savior will hear and answer that prayer.
We as a congregation, also have some very difficult tasks that we are going forward with. We have made the human decision to go forward with relocation, if it is God’s will. I certainly hope that every single one of us understands that we need to go forward with that decision on our knees, in prayer. And every one of us, I hope, does not pass up that blessed opportunity to get down on our knees, and commit that task into His hands and ask that His good and gracious will be done. And, if it is His will that we relocate, He makes that possible for us. And, if it is His will for the good of His people in His church that we stay here, we pray with all of our hearts, that He would make that evident to us. And, then whatever His answer is, we can all go forward absolutely united and confident that God’s good and gracious will has been done, and that we will blessed. As our committee members and boards go forward with these difficult tasks, such as choosing a new site for our congregation, I hope we all are on knees in prayer, asking that God guide, guard, and lead that decision, because He knows what is best. He knows what location would be best for us. And so, we all pray. We put it in His hands. And then we trust, trust that He will lead us, according to His will. And then we can all go forward, united in absolute confidence that God’s good and gracious is done among us, for the sake of His church and His people.
We have some young people here at Holy Cross who are facing a task that is probably more difficult than the vast majority of us will ever have to go through in our lives. That is the task of defending our country at the risk of their own lives. We have two young people, Lucas Vogt and Brad Zemp, who grew up here in our church, went to our school, and were confirmed here. Now they are in Iraq, facing a very difficult task. I hope that none of us pass up the opportunity to get down on our knees in prayer and pray that God will be with them in that most difficult task. Commit them in to the hands of God. Ask that God give them the strength to go forward and the courage to go forward in accomplishing their task. Ask that God send His holy angels to guard over them, watch over them, and protect them. Ask that God be with them and build them up in their most holy faith, so that they trust in Him for the forgiveness of sins and for guidance.
Our Savior, Jesus, accomplished the most difficult task for us, when He died for our sins. It is our privelege, as His people, to be people of prayer. God grant that for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.
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