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Last updated on
Mar. 20, 2002
Beyond Good Intentions
Delivered March 9, 2003
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text: Matthew 26:36-46
Main Idea: Spiritual disciplines are necessary to enable us to move beyond good intentions to the point where we are able to obey God at the right time in the right way and with the right spirit.
Purpose: To challenge the listeners to dedicate themselves to lives of spiritual discipline and godly devotion. To encourage the listeners that the spiritual disciplines are a means of grace. When we practice them we place ourselves in a position where God in his grace can transform us.
Opening Comments: On this first Sunday of Lent we are going to continue with our series on the spiritual disciplines. Lent is a good season to consider the disciplined life, for historically many churches have emphasized Lent as a season for Christians to give themselves over in a special way to times of prayer and fasting, and abstinence from other pleasures, as a means of identifying with Jesus on the way to the cross. Even this week, for example, the pope called upon people everywhere to fast and pray for world peace, particularly on Ash Wednesday, but also throughout Lent. So far we have had two general messages on the importance of the disciplined life; today will be the third and final one, and next week we'll begin looking at specific disciplines. Our Scripture reading for this morning is Matthew 26:36-46
Introduction: Peter spoke with great sincerity: "Never will I desert you Lord, not even if everyone else abandons you, I will always remain by your side." Jesus looked at him sadly: "Oh Peter, not only will you desert me, but this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny even knowing me, three times." These words hurt Peter deeply. He was convinced of his own ability to stay the course. He couldn't understand why his friend and master would doubt him. Therefore he only protested with greater intensity: "I will not deny you, even if it means I must die with you."
There is no disputing Peter's good intentions in this anguished exchange. He loved Jesus, and he wanted to prove it, even though Jesus gave ominous warnings of impending suffering. But if we know the rest of the story, we know Peter's good intentions were not enough. Immediately after this exchange Jesus took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was the eve of his crucifixion, and in his grief and agitation he wanted to withdraw to pray and spend time with his Father. But he also wanted his disciples to be near him, he needed the human companionship of his closest friends. Yet Peter and James and John, whom Jesus took with him deeper into the garden, kept falling asleep when he needed them the most. Shortly afterward he was arrested, and Peter began to put up a fight, and used his sword to cut off the ear of the high priest's slave. But Jesus told him to put his sword away, and shortly after that all of the disciples deserted Jesus and fled. Even Peter, although he came slinking back a little later and followed Jesus and the arresting party from a safe distance. He followed them into the outer courtyard of the high priest, where he tried to look inconspicuous and sat with the guards. But while he was there he was asked three times if he had any associations with Jesus. The first two times he denied it. And the third time he became very disturbed and began to curse, and he swore an oath, "I do not know the man."
What went wrong? Peter had such good intentions when Jesus specifically alerted him to the danger of disloyalty, but still he couldn't keep from falling. What was the weakness within Peter that was stronger than his fervent desire to stay by Jesus' side?
We have undoubtedly experienced the same weakness within ourselves. In a very real sense Peter represents all of us, for it is a general human failing to want what is good and right, but not to be able to follow through. How many times have we yearned to be more obedient to God? How many times have we wished we could be more Christlike in the way we respond to people? How many times have we spoken a hasty word that we regret, or been jealous of another's success, or been quicker to judge others than to show them mercy? To our frustration it often seems we cannot make the progress we desire, and we continue to fall short of our best intentions. Why is this? What weakness do we share with Peter? And more importantly, is there any hope of overcoming it?
The Spirit and the Flesh: The account of Jesus and his disciples in the garden sheds much light on these questions. The words Jesus spoke to his disciples when he first found them asleep are terribly important: "So, couldn't you three stay awake with me for a single hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (vv. 40-41). One sunny day by the sea Jesus had called these three to follow him, but now in the gathering darkness they are unable to follow through on their high commitments. Notice once again that the problem didn't lie in their desires. Jesus actually paid tribute to that element in his disciples which was genuinely turned to God: "I see that in spirit you want to obey me." No, the problem lay elsewhere, a problem which we share. It lay in the weakness and disability of their bodies. "You cannot obey me because your flesh is weak," said Jesus. In answer to our first question, then, the weakness we share with Peter is the weakness of the flesh. If we want to be faithful followers of Jesus, we need to strengthen the flesh.
In order to understand this statement, in fact in order to understand ourselves, we need to carefully define the meaning of flesh here. What does it mean to be weak "in flesh?" Sometimes in the NT "the flesh" refers to that part of our human nature which is set against the Spirit and is in rebellion against God. Human rebellion against God was set in motion when Adam and Eve refused to acknowledge the boundaries for life God had set in the other famous garden, the garden of Eden. That is the meaning Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Romans, "to set the mind on the flesh is death" (Rom. 8:6). But "the flesh" must have a different meaning here, for Jesus clearly implies that if the flesh were only stronger the disciples could have obeyed him: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." What we must realize is that many other times in the NT "the flesh" simply refers to our bodies, to the entirety of our physical existence, including not only skin and bones, but our personalities as well, our mind and our emotions and our will. And there is no blame attached to this. More than once, for example, the NT affirms that Jesus himself came in the flesh. That is enough to show that there is nothing inherently evil or wicked about our physical existence. In fact, we should gladly celebrate our bodies and the life God has given us. We were created by God as physical beings. When God looked upon all the world he had made, including his human creation, he said, "It is good, it is all good." Jesus came to redeem us in the entirety of our beings; sometimes preachers wrongly give the impression that the only salvation Jesus came to bring was the forgiveness of our sins. Certainly Jesus forgives all who turn to him and ask, but his salvation goes deeper than that. He came to give us new life in every element of our living, he came to renew our flesh, to renew our personalities, our bodies, our minds, our emotions, our wills. He came to transform us, to make it possible for us to live in an entirely new way.
What we do need to realize about ourselves is that as a result of our disobedience against God, our bodies and our personalities set within our bodies have become weak. They are not evil, but they are weak, they are not what God created them to be, they are in need of strengthening, or in theological language, they need to be sanctified. In our weakened state we are prone to choose our own way above God's way. That is why we often fail to follow through on our good intentions. We see examples of the weakness of the flesh when we consider some of the unhealthy habits we develop. Some of us have lazy habits, and we are prone to procrastination; others of us have compulsive habits, and are prone to speak or act without thinking. Some of us have excessively timid habits, and are conflict avoiders; others of us have unhealthy habits like seeking comfort in food or other pleasures rather than in God. All of these habits, and many more, can become so ingrained in our weak natures that our good intentions are simply not strong enough to overcome them. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
In C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, there is a scene where Uncle Screwtape, who is a caricature of Satan, reproaches his apprentice demon, Wormwood. He is upset because Wormwood allowed his "patient" to become a Christian. Nevertheless, Screwtape says to him, "There is no need to despair; hundreds of these adult converts have been reclaimed after a brief sojourn in the enemy's camp and are now with us (again). (For) all the habits of the patient, both mental and bodily, are still in our favour." Dallas Willard quotes these words in his book, and then adds: "Uncle Screwtape has deep insight into the psychology of redemption. If a convert's habits remain the same they will realize little of the life in Christ" (The Spirit of the Disciplines, pp. 113-114). If we want to make progress in the Christian life we must overcome the negative habits ingrained in our flesh and replace them with holy habits, with habits that please God and bring life to ourselves and others. The scene of the battle we daily face if we wish to grow in godliness is our very own bodies.
Contrasting Jesus with the disciples: But once again we come back to the decisive question we asked earlier: Is there any hope of overcoming our failures, is there any hope of developing consistently good habits and growing in godliness? The answer is a resounding yes! So far we've only considered one set of characters in the garden, we have examined the weakness of the disciples in the face of imminent danger. But Jesus, of course, was also there, and the behaviour and actions of this one, who shared our human nature, provide a stunning contrast to that of his followers. In the garden we find the disciples groggy from sleep, and anything but ready to stand with Jesus when the soldiers come. Jesus himself, however, is fully ready, for he has followed his own advice to watch and pray. Jesus came to the garden in fearful trepidation of what was to come. He cast himself to the ground before his Father and said: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet now what I want, but what you want." And when his Father affirmed that the cross could not be avoided, Jesus tarried with him and found the strength and composure to go peacefully with the soldiers when they crowded around him with their swords and their clubs. He didn't take the sword and cut off anyone's ear; rather, he healed the one whose ear was amputated. Jesus provides us here with a wonderful example of the obedience and success that are possible in the Christian life.
Spiritual Discipline: But how did Jesus do it? How did he succeed where the Peter and the disciples failed? What was the difference between Jesus and his disciples? We shouldn't be too quick to answer "Well, Jesus is God, he can do anything," for Jesus deliberately laid aside his divine powers and took on true humanity, with all of its potential for weakness and failure. No, the answer lies elsewhere, and knowing that this is a series on spiritual disciplines, and realizing I haven't yet stressed the disciplines, you can probably guess where I'm going! Jesus succeeded because his life was characterized by steadfast adherence to a life of spiritual disciplines. Nowhere is that more obvious that in the Garden of Gethsemane. For just before the hardest test of his life, Jesus deliberately withdrew to practice two of the disciplines that meant so much to him during his life, the disciplines of solitude and prayer. He didn't practice these for their own sake, he practised them in order to draw upon the strength of his Father. Even though he was the Son of God, he needed to watch and pray and prepare himself, because he is also the Son of Man. The disciples needed to watch and pray too, Jesus instructed them to do so, but they didn't, they fell asleep, and consequently had no strength at the point of trial.
In a book entitled "The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People," John Ortberg gives what I consider an excellent definition of a disciplined person (see overhead). He writes: "A disciplined person is someone who can do the right thing at the right time in the right way and with the right spirit" (Ortberg, p. 50). That is an excellent description of Jesus. It was discipline that enabled him to give himself up to his captors in the garden. This definition also serves as a good rebuke of the disciples. They were undisciplined, which is why they could not respond in the right manner at the right time in the right way. Notice something else about this definition–it clearly highlights the fact that the spiritual disciplines are not ends in themselves. A disciplined person is not simply someone who exercises many disciplines. Neither is it necessarily someone who is highly systematic and rigidly scheduled. A disciplined person is someone who can do what is called for at any given moment. This is the purpose of the disciplines. From this we can derive a good definition of spiritual disciplines. A spiritual discipline is "any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modelled it" (Ortberg, p. 48).
Jesus' practice: Jesus regularly engaged in such activities. His instinct to withdraw and pray before the cross is one vital example. A further reading of the gospels will yield many more references to Jesus practising disciplines like solitude, prayer, fasting, and study. Let's take one more example. Do you remember what Jesus did just before he began his public ministry in Galilee? He was led by the Holy Spirit to withdraw into the solitude of the wilderness where he fasted for forty days. Why? Because he needed strengthening for all that still lay ahead of him. He needed to get away from all the distractions of everyday living to a place where he could clearly commune with his Father. He needed power to resist the temptations of the devil, who tempted him after the 40 days by suggesting he choose an alternate route to accomplish his Father's purpose rather than the road of suffering. But because Jesus had fasted and prayed and meditated and spent much time alone with God he was able to resist, just as he was able to resist the temptation to avoid the cross in the garden. We must not make the mistake of taking Jesus' strength for granted; his strength arose directly out of his life of spiritual discipline. And so must ours, which is why God calls all of us to a life of discipline. God calls all of us to train for godliness, to run in such a way as to win the prize, to make every effort to support our faith with goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection and love. We are weak, but God promises all believers that if we offer our bodies to him as living sacrifices he will renew us and make us strong.
Discipline and Grace: Before we conclude this general introduction to the spiritual disciplines, there is one important, final point which must be made. The impression must not be given that our spiritual growth depends entirely on us. To speak of spiritual growth only as a product of training could make it sound like something we can engineer. Ultimately the Bible is very clear that spiritual transformation is God's work, not ours. At all times, therefore, we must continue to trust like children in the goodness of our loving heavenly Father. Faith must remain the foundation of our every effort to engage in the disciplines. For we can do nothing on our own to transform ourselves, no matter how disciplined we are, or how hard we try. That is nothing but a restatement of the heresy of legalism. Rather, we engage in the spiritual disciplines to open up a space within ourselves where the Spirit can dwell and transform us. We engage in the disciplines in order to cooperate with the grace of Jesus, who is knocking on the door of our hearts, wanting to have fellowship with us. The disciplines are simply a means of opening the door and letting Jesus in.
Jesus once said of the Spirit that the Spirit blows where it will. We cannot harness the wind of the Spirit. We cannot control the working of God. We cannot manipulate God through the disciplines and insist that God must transform us at our bidding. Rather, it may be helpful to think of the spiritual disciplines as the sails of a sailboat. If we do not put the sails up, the boat cannot be guided and carried along by the wind of God when it blows. Sometimes the wind blows hard, and sometimes it is still. But if the sails are up, if we are practising the disciplines, then when the Spirit of God chooses to blow over the water, we will be in a position to go wherever God chooses to take us. This truth helps us to see that we must continue to trust in God and not in our own efforts. For only God can provide the winds of change. And again it emphasizes our need to cooperate with God's grace. We put up the sails, but only the Spirit can lead us and bring us safely home on our voyage of transformation.
Conclusion: In the garden Peter couldn't move beyond his good intentions. He failed his Lord miserably. But later, on the day of Pentecost, when he was practising the discipline of prayer in the upper room with the other disciples, suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and Peter and the disciples were never the same again. They became the great apostles of the good news of Jesus Christ. Peter and his friends didn't achieve perfection on that day, in the book of Acts we see that they still stumble around somewhat, but we also see tremendous growth. And we also see that they learned an invaluable lesson. For in the same book of Acts we hear these same twelve disciples say, "We must not be distracted from devoting ourselves to prayer and the service of the word." In the same way, if we want to move beyond good intentions to the point where we are able to obey God at the right time in the right way and with the right spirit, we need to hoist up our sails and practice the disciplines, and the breath of God will come and billow in our sails and strengthen us from within. Yes we are weak, but God promises to make us strong if we ask for it. And it is the spiritual disciplines which enable us to receive all that God would give us. So let us set our sails and set out together as a royal regatta on an exciting voyage of discovery and adventure.